Sunday Recap: Love Is The Difference (10/1/23)

Sunday Recap outlines sermon notes, testimonies, and announcements to encourage you throughout your week and inspire you to fear less and love more.

Love Is the Difference

Being a Christian isn't simply about praying to God for success and blessings. Our relationship with Him goes much deeper and is less transactional. As Christians, we have committed our lives to loving God and, perhaps even more challenging, loving people. In short, love is what sets us apart.

When we show love to one another, we not only fulfill Jesus' greatest commandment, but we also demonstrate the difference it can make.

Don’t you know how difficult it is to love? Have you not personally experienced the miracle of showing charity to those who do not deserve it?

This is what’s supposed to make us “special” and why Jesus noted that “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John‬ ‭13‬:‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our first pillar of “love more,” we reviewed our 4th value: love all. We were challenged to be the difference in the world by intentionally loving those around us. See John 15:12-13

Here are the three (3) points to keep with you as you strive to be a better disciple:

Love drives everything God does [John 15:12] - God is love. Evil comes from Satan. God cannot make a decision based on evil. It’s outside of His character. God’s love is therefore charitable. It does not focus on feelings. Because feelings don’t influence God’s love, his love cannot be changed by emotion. It is intentional. Love therefore is a choice that God makes.
Love should drive everything we do [John 15:13] - Our love is to be like God’s love, intentional. To become disciples of Jesus Christ, we must choose to love, even when we “don’t feel like it.”
Love is life giving [John 15:13] - Agape or charitable love seeks the benefit of someone else. It is not transactional. It is sacrificial, knowing that it might not receive the same charity back. It desires to give anyway because it’s the right and godly thing to do. Therefore God’s love is sacrificial for the giver, it’s life giving for the recipient.

While there are levels to love, no form is greater to God than that of charity. Every attraction we have or opinion has to submit to the priority of true, benevolent love.

If our love only serves what we want, then it’s not love at all.

Friends & Family Day

This weekend (Sunday, October, 8) we’ll host our first Friends & Family day! Meet us in the Canterbury athletic center at 5400-D Old Lake Jeanette Rd, Greensboro, NC at 10am for a life giving word, inspirational music, and food and games for kids of all ages. Food and video game truck will be available for all.