What is Love? Love is an awakened lifestyle. This is a lifestyle of embracing God’s love for us and expressing this awakened love in our lives for others.
1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. NIV
The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you. The big news isn’t that you can know God but that God already knows you and he loves you! He fully sees you, fully knows you and yet fully loves you. This will change your life! This will make you OUTRAGEOUSLY LOVING.
2019 we will be focusing as a congregational family on the revelation of being fully known and fully loved by God. There is something fascinating about being fully loved. There is something terrifying about being fully known. He who knows you the best loves you the most! Saturday, January 26th we will be hosting a free workshop from 9-12 to help you discover your strengths. Understanding the hidden mechanisms of your life and the lives of those around you empowers you to love yourself and others.
Over these first 40 days of the year I want to challenge everybody to shift from evaluating me to evaluating you. Shift from listening to see if you like the messages you hear to letting God’s Word lovingly convict you as you invite a deeper walk with Him. Fasting will make you more aware of Him so take advantage of this season of fasting and prayer as we join together for 21 days of a Daniel Fast. At the conclusion of this time of fasting we will have a Sunday night worship and water baptism on January 27th. We are expecting this to be a time of great advancement and breakthrough.
Let’s pray in agreement for an openness to what God wants to do in all of our lives together as a church family. The Bible says, “Iron sharpens Iron.” You’ll settle for being spiritually dull if you practice disconnected Christianity.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how loving do you believe you are? On a scale of 1-10 how loving would others say you are? We are discussing this in our Community Groups this week with the goal being to become more loving. We want to become outrageously loving!
GOD LOVES YOU WITH A PERFECT LOVE! GOD’S FAMILY LOVES YOU WITH AN IMPERFECT LOVE. #FullyKnownFullyLoved
God’s family is a family of forgiven, dysfunctional people. Our mistakes are frequent and our love is imperfect. But we are still the bride of Christ. Even in the church’s imperfection our spiritual well-being is tied to our submission to her.
We bring GP2RL Action Point:
Begin praying about those God has entrusted to your 5’ circle in life. Write their names down and start praying for them specifically.
DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP LEADERS
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
2019 will be a year of exploring what it truly means to be fully known by God and fully loved by God. We are fully known and fully loved. There is something fascinating about the idea of being fully loved. There is something terrifying about the idea of being fully known.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are the characteristics of a loving person?
2. On a scale of 1-10 how loving do you believe you are?
3. On a scale of 1-10 how loving do others believe you are?
Mark 22:37-40 (The greatest commandment) is to “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” NIV
We are to love God and then we are to love others as we love ourselves.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
4. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you love yourself?
Not loving yourself can prevent you from forming healthy relationships. Low self-esteem and self-worth drags down thoughts and emotions. The general outlook of the person tends to be negative. Without even realizing it, your lowered self-esteem can breed bitterness, resentment, and jealousy towards others. Insecure people often use manipulation, oppression and guilt-trips with those closest to them.
To truly embrace yourself keeps you from feeling like you need to hide your imperfections from others. This awakens a freedom of transparency that develops more intimate community.
2 Cor 10:18 For the Lord’s approval of a man is not dependent on his opinion of himself, but on the Lord’s opinion of him. (BBE)
The original sin was the pursuit of perfection. Give yourself a break by embracing imperfection as a reminder of your daily need for Jesus! Loving yourself is a key that unlocks your love for others and this is central to the church!
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. NIV
We bring GP2RL Action Point:
Begin praying about those God has entrusted to your 5’ circle in life. Write their names down and start praying for them specifically.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
5. Share the names of a few people you are beginning to pray for. Conclude your group by praying in agreement over those people.