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“Let’s love each other, because love is from God”
“Let’s love each other, because love is from God”
Thursday, 3 August 2017
1 John 4:4 You, children, are from God and have overcome the false prophets, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world’s viewpoint; and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us. This is how we distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
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Who (or what) we worship shapes the kind of person we become. That was why John’s letter located the source of our ability to love, not within us (no matter how temperamentally “nice” we may—or may not—be), but in God’s self-giving, sacrificial love for us. We do not worship to earn God’s love, but in response to the amazing, saving love that God has already shown to us.
• Most Romans (we still have some of their writings) ridiculed a thought like “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” But we have the record of over 2000 years of history. How did God’s love, which lived in those early Christians through the Holy Spirit, not only survive, but in the end outlast, the Roman Empire’s military and economic power? Can God’s love, dwelling in us, still “defeat the world” today?
• The Christian message is truly “counter-cultural.” It calls us to draw our motivations and values from a God who exists before and beyond our culture. What are some ways, if any, that you have overcome hurtful cultural habits or patterns because of your faith in Jesus? What culture-based fears and pressures make it hard for you to offer your best to God? How can the principles in this passage strengthen you to resist those pressures?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you showed the transforming power of love and faith. Dwell in me, Holy Spirit, shaping the kind of love and faith that can change my world for the better. Amen.
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Chris Abel
Chris Abel is the Young Adults Pastor at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. [1 John 4:7-8]
In a few hours I’m going to be driving to Colorado with a friend to backpack in the Rockies. As I write this, my gear is strewn about, and I can almost feel the cold mountain air already. For some people, vacation is a time to slow down and soak up the sun. For me, it’s another chance to do something exciting and challenging. I don’t want to lay around. I want to summit something. Push myself. Get outside my comfort zone.
Which is also why I love being a Christian.
So often Christianity can be seen as something so passive. Most of us have been taught that being a Christian means you’re supposed to “love” people, go to church on Sundays, and pray. That’s great stuff. But it’s also… boring. Ever feel this way? It just seems trite.
But we follow a leader who simultaneously angered an entire empire and a religious system because he believed in a new kind of Kingdom. We follow someone who was so threatening to people that they murdered him. He created a movement of people from all walks of life who were hungry for something more in this life. And those people survived hundreds of years of persecution, all the while loving on those society had forgotten. Jesus doesn’t just want us to go to church. Jesus wanted to challenge us. He wanted to push us, transform us, grow us into our full potential.
That is exciting to me.
So when our passage today talks about love, it’s not talking about a passive attitude. It’s talking about a challenge. If “everyone who loves is born from God and knows God,” then the reverse is true—those who don’t love don’t know God.
If you’re like me, then you’ve met a lot of Christians who didn’t have love in them. And according to the Bible… they don’t know God.
I’ll let that sit for a second.
Because that’s a big idea to come to terms with.
But it also means that there are times when I don’t know God, either. When I lose my temper, judge another person, speak harshly, refuse to help someone in need, objectify people who are different than me, and fall short of love in millions of other ways, then I pull away from knowing God.
And while this can be worrisome or anxiety-inducing… to me it’s a challenge. It’s a call to be better. It’s a chance to analyze where I’m falling short and take steps to grow. I want to know God. And I want to let love live in me. But it’s not easy. But neither is climbing a mountain, or being in a relationship, or raising kids, or being a leader, or most of the things that make life good.
Your faith is anything but passive.
So let it challenge you. And let it change you. Because this God thing is anything but boring.
It's an adventure.
-------
“You have drawn near to Mount Zion…heavenly Jerusalem”
Friday,4 August 2017
Hebrews 12:18-24, 28-29
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The letter to the Hebrews originally spoke to Christians who faced severe persecution (cf. Hebrews 12:3-4). Under those conditions, they wondered if it was worth holding to their faith in Jesus. In answer, the writer contrasted the fearsome scene in Exodus 19:9-25 with their joy in worshipping Jesus. When the believers worshipped, they were a part of something truly awesome—a cosmic, world-changing reality worth any price they had to pay. • Verse 28 invited believers to worship God “with reverence and awe.” Which of the images in these verses speak most powerfully to your sense of awe? What are the moments in a worship service (if any) that most evoke in you a sense of respect and awe, an awareness of being in the presence of “the living God”?
• As you prepare to worship this weekend, ask God to lift your imagination beyond the earthly building, musicians and speaker. Pray for a spiritual glimpse of “countless angels in a festival gathering,” of offering worship and praise to the living God in “the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” Picture how God desires to transform you, and your surroundings, in Leawood, Olathe, downtown Kansas City or Blue Springs or elsewhere.
Prayer: Great God, in the awe-inspiring beauty of a baby’s face, of a grandparent’s wisdom, of a good friend’s care and concern—touch my heart. In the glory of worship and praise, increase my capacity for awe. Amen.
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“Let every living thing praise the Lord!”
Saturday, 5 August 2017
Psalm 150:1-6
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The collectors and compilers of Israel’s psalms chose this vibrant poem/song of praise to cap the collection. In Israel’s context, it took in both traditional ways of worshipping (“the blast of the ram’s horn”) and more “contemporary” expressions (“drum and dance,” “clashing cymbals”). In the light of God’s “incredible greatness,” it invited God’s people to use the full range of their creativity to celebrate God’s mighty acts, to bring their best energy and skill to the act of worship.
• Pastor-scholar Donald Williams wrote, “This psalm is a little introduction to and summary of what real worship is: expressing joyful delight in the presence of God. Commentators identify this psalm as a hymn. Its author and date are unknown; it is timeless. The thought moves from what to do before God and where to do it (v. 1) to why to do it (v. 2) and concludes with how to do it (vv. 3–6).” * In what ways do your attitude about, and participation in, worship reflect the spirit of this psalm? In what areas do you want to ask God to help your worship experience grow toward this ideal?
Prayer: God of wonders and might acts, by your love draw me ever more fully into your awe-inspiring presence. Guide me to worship you more deeply in spirit and in truth. Amen.
* Donald Williams, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 14: Psalms 73–150. Lloyd John Ogilvie, gen. ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, p. 530.
Family Activity: Create a special worship box or chest for your home. (You can use a shoebox or other container or buy a plain one at a craft store.) Design the outside with words, pictures and symbols representing your family and faith. Inside, place objects that help your family worship together. You might include a Bible, a prayer cloth, a candle, items from nature, pictures, art supplies, and music. Each week spend some time worshipping together at home using the items in your box. You might also try going on a nature walk and praising God for creation, serving in a nursing home or soup kitchen, or even giving a worship box to another family to design and use. Give thanks to God for the blessing of worship!
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You might also like
Beast: You came back. Belle: Don't leave me. I love you.
Lumiere: What if she is ‘the one’ who will break the spell?
Mrs. Potts to the Beast: “Must help her to see past all that”
Belle: He's no monster Gaston. You are!
Mrs. Potts to Belle: The master's not as terrible as he appears!
Or download this week's printable GPS.-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Pat Tackett and family on the death of her mother Betty Grayson, 7/25
• Jon Chamberlain and family on the death of his sister Roberta Landreth, 7/20
•Cran Cederlind and family on the death of his mother Alme “Jackie” Cederlind, 7/20
•Ryan Aldis and family on the death of his mother Sarah Gillman, 7/20
•Family and friends of Melissa Owen on her death, 7/20
• Jim Smith and family on the death of his sister Joyce Winters, 7/19
• Mary Shewmake and family on the death of her brother-in-law James “Jim” Hess, 7/5
•Steve Hechler and family on the death of his father George L. Hechler, 7/4
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1 John 4:4 You, children, are from God and have overcome the false prophets, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world’s viewpoint; and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us. This is how we distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
-------
Who (or what) we worship shapes the kind of person we become. That was why John’s letter located the source of our ability to love, not within us (no matter how temperamentally “nice” we may—or may not—be), but in God’s self-giving, sacrificial love for us. We do not worship to earn God’s love, but in response to the amazing, saving love that God has already shown to us.
• Most Romans (we still have some of their writings) ridiculed a thought like “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” But we have the record of over 2000 years of history. How did God’s love, which lived in those early Christians through the Holy Spirit, not only survive, but in the end outlast, the Roman Empire’s military and economic power? Can God’s love, dwelling in us, still “defeat the world” today?
• The Christian message is truly “counter-cultural.” It calls us to draw our motivations and values from a God who exists before and beyond our culture. What are some ways, if any, that you have overcome hurtful cultural habits or patterns because of your faith in Jesus? What culture-based fears and pressures make it hard for you to offer your best to God? How can the principles in this passage strengthen you to resist those pressures?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you showed the transforming power of love and faith. Dwell in me, Holy Spirit, shaping the kind of love and faith that can change my world for the better. Amen.
-------
Chris AbelChris Abel is the Young Adults Pastor at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. [1 John 4:7-8]
In a few hours I’m going to be driving to Colorado with a friend to backpack in the Rockies. As I write this, my gear is strewn about, and I can almost feel the cold mountain air already. For some people, vacation is a time to slow down and soak up the sun. For me, it’s another chance to do something exciting and challenging. I don’t want to lay around. I want to summit something. Push myself. Get outside my comfort zone.
Which is also why I love being a Christian.
So often Christianity can be seen as something so passive. Most of us have been taught that being a Christian means you’re supposed to “love” people, go to church on Sundays, and pray. That’s great stuff. But it’s also… boring. Ever feel this way? It just seems trite.
But we follow a leader who simultaneously angered an entire empire and a religious system because he believed in a new kind of Kingdom. We follow someone who was so threatening to people that they murdered him. He created a movement of people from all walks of life who were hungry for something more in this life. And those people survived hundreds of years of persecution, all the while loving on those society had forgotten. Jesus doesn’t just want us to go to church. Jesus wanted to challenge us. He wanted to push us, transform us, grow us into our full potential.
That is exciting to me.
So when our passage today talks about love, it’s not talking about a passive attitude. It’s talking about a challenge. If “everyone who loves is born from God and knows God,” then the reverse is true—those who don’t love don’t know God.
If you’re like me, then you’ve met a lot of Christians who didn’t have love in them. And according to the Bible… they don’t know God.
I’ll let that sit for a second.
Because that’s a big idea to come to terms with.
But it also means that there are times when I don’t know God, either. When I lose my temper, judge another person, speak harshly, refuse to help someone in need, objectify people who are different than me, and fall short of love in millions of other ways, then I pull away from knowing God.
And while this can be worrisome or anxiety-inducing… to me it’s a challenge. It’s a call to be better. It’s a chance to analyze where I’m falling short and take steps to grow. I want to know God. And I want to let love live in me. But it’s not easy. But neither is climbing a mountain, or being in a relationship, or raising kids, or being a leader, or most of the things that make life good.
Your faith is anything but passive.
So let it challenge you. And let it change you. Because this God thing is anything but boring.
It's an adventure.
-------
“You have drawn near to Mount Zion…heavenly Jerusalem”
Friday,4 August 2017
Hebrews 12:18-24, 28-29
-------
The letter to the Hebrews originally spoke to Christians who faced severe persecution (cf. Hebrews 12:3-4). Under those conditions, they wondered if it was worth holding to their faith in Jesus. In answer, the writer contrasted the fearsome scene in Exodus 19:9-25 with their joy in worshipping Jesus. When the believers worshipped, they were a part of something truly awesome—a cosmic, world-changing reality worth any price they had to pay. • Verse 28 invited believers to worship God “with reverence and awe.” Which of the images in these verses speak most powerfully to your sense of awe? What are the moments in a worship service (if any) that most evoke in you a sense of respect and awe, an awareness of being in the presence of “the living God”?
• As you prepare to worship this weekend, ask God to lift your imagination beyond the earthly building, musicians and speaker. Pray for a spiritual glimpse of “countless angels in a festival gathering,” of offering worship and praise to the living God in “the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” Picture how God desires to transform you, and your surroundings, in Leawood, Olathe, downtown Kansas City or Blue Springs or elsewhere.
Prayer: Great God, in the awe-inspiring beauty of a baby’s face, of a grandparent’s wisdom, of a good friend’s care and concern—touch my heart. In the glory of worship and praise, increase my capacity for awe. Amen.
-------
-------
“Let every living thing praise the Lord!”
Saturday, 5 August 2017
Psalm 150:1-6
-------
The collectors and compilers of Israel’s psalms chose this vibrant poem/song of praise to cap the collection. In Israel’s context, it took in both traditional ways of worshipping (“the blast of the ram’s horn”) and more “contemporary” expressions (“drum and dance,” “clashing cymbals”). In the light of God’s “incredible greatness,” it invited God’s people to use the full range of their creativity to celebrate God’s mighty acts, to bring their best energy and skill to the act of worship.
• Pastor-scholar Donald Williams wrote, “This psalm is a little introduction to and summary of what real worship is: expressing joyful delight in the presence of God. Commentators identify this psalm as a hymn. Its author and date are unknown; it is timeless. The thought moves from what to do before God and where to do it (v. 1) to why to do it (v. 2) and concludes with how to do it (vv. 3–6).” * In what ways do your attitude about, and participation in, worship reflect the spirit of this psalm? In what areas do you want to ask God to help your worship experience grow toward this ideal?
Prayer: God of wonders and might acts, by your love draw me ever more fully into your awe-inspiring presence. Guide me to worship you more deeply in spirit and in truth. Amen.
* Donald Williams, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 14: Psalms 73–150. Lloyd John Ogilvie, gen. ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, p. 530.
Family Activity: Create a special worship box or chest for your home. (You can use a shoebox or other container or buy a plain one at a craft store.) Design the outside with words, pictures and symbols representing your family and faith. Inside, place objects that help your family worship together. You might include a Bible, a prayer cloth, a candle, items from nature, pictures, art supplies, and music. Each week spend some time worshipping together at home using the items in your box. You might also try going on a nature walk and praising God for creation, serving in a nursing home or soup kitchen, or even giving a worship box to another family to design and use. Give thanks to God for the blessing of worship!
-------
-------
You might also like
Beast: You came back. Belle: Don't leave me. I love you.
Lumiere: What if she is ‘the one’ who will break the spell?
Mrs. Potts to the Beast: “Must help her to see past all that”
Belle: He's no monster Gaston. You are!
Mrs. Potts to Belle: The master's not as terrible as he appears!
Or download this week's printable GPS.-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Pat Tackett and family on the death of her mother Betty Grayson, 7/25
• Jon Chamberlain and family on the death of his sister Roberta Landreth, 7/20
•Cran Cederlind and family on the death of his mother Alme “Jackie” Cederlind, 7/20
•Ryan Aldis and family on the death of his mother Sarah Gillman, 7/20
•Family and friends of Melissa Owen on her death, 7/20
• Jim Smith and family on the death of his sister Joyce Winters, 7/19
• Mary Shewmake and family on the death of her brother-in-law James “Jim” Hess, 7/5
•Steve Hechler and family on the death of his father George L. Hechler, 7/4
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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