January 10, 2010 Sermon: Living without regret–Love Others

Sorry this took so long…but here is the sermon from January 10, 2010. It’s from the “Living 2010 Without Regret” series. This sermon is called, “Love Others.” The sermon notes are below.

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2010 Without Regret: Loving Others
(Matt. 22:34-40)

When we live our life following God’s priorities, seeking after Him, we find what’s best (not just what’s good). That leads to a year (& a life) without regret.

First, we looked at how we can make God-honoring choices. Last week, we talked about the importance of pursuing a relationship with God, who deserves first place in our lives.

Today, we look at how we treat God’s greatest creation: people.

1. What does it mean to love others the way you love yourself?
Words of Jesus: Mt. 7:12 Lev. 19:18
**It sums up ethical teachings of law.
**if we followed this law, commandments that cover human interaction wouldn’t be necessary (expand)

2. Description of this kind of love :1 Cor. 13:4-7, Rom. 5:8
it’s the kind of love God has for us (sacrificial)

3. Who is our neighbor? Lk. 10:25-37
Those who show mercy/need mercy are neighbors
Includes friends/other believers & enemies/unbelievers
John 13:34-35 Gal. 6:10 Mt. 5:43-48
Definition of neighbor: anyone we have contact with who needs God’s love & mercy
**doesn’t this describe everybody?

4. What does it look like when we love others this way?
it means we will be forgiving. Eph. 4:32
it means we will be thankful for others & what they do for us. Rom. 1:8, Eph. 1:16, 1 Thes. 1:2
we will pray for others. 1 Sam. 12:23
we will encourage others. Heb. 10:24-25
**we can cripple people with careless, hurtful words.
James 3:8
**church should be one place people can go to hear encouraging, loving truth
we will help people in need. Acts 2:44-45
we will help other believers grow to be more like Jesus
Col. 1:28-29 Gal. 4:19
**Our goal as a church: “Help as many people as possible become completely committed followers of Jesus Christ.”
**worship together, learn together, pray together, live together
we will tell others about Jesus
2 Cor. 5:14, 20-21
**We can’t honestly say we love our community if we don’t tell them Jesus died to pay for their sins
**No outreach=we love ourselves, but don’t care about people around us
**We’re called to share Good News of salvation with everyone

What does this mean to me?
If we want to love like this, we will need to:
1. depend on God every minute 1 John 4:10-11
**love we have for others reflects God’s love for us.
2. completely change our thoughts and attitudes. Loving others the way God tells us to means laying our selfishness aside to serve others.
3. be willing to pay the price. Loving/serving people is messy & costly. Are we willing to go beyond what’s safe & comfortable to love people the way Jesus loves ?

Challenge: will we devote ourselves to loving & serving others in a me-first world? Will we commit to using everything God gives us to show His love to everyone we come into contact with?

When we make that commitment, & act on it, we are on our way to living without regret.