Loving God, Loving Each Other Part 3
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. GALATIANS 6:2
Today’s Focus: God’s people care for one another.
My Decision: I will relax and rely on God.
Paul shares great wisdom with us in his epistle to the Galatians. He isn’t revealing any mind-blowing theology; he is stating the obvious. People who have been touched by the love of God should share that love and look after the needs of those around them. In one sentence, the Apostle Paul gives us the blueprint for true Christian community.
CARING FOR EACH OTHER LIGHTENS THE LOAD FOR EVERYONE:
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. James 2:8
1.Care of the _____________.
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? James 2:5
2.Care of the _______________.
In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. Ezekiel 22:7
3.Care of the ________________
This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in
this place. Jeremiah 22:3
CARING FOR EACH OTHER PLEASES GOD:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
1. The church is called to confront _____________ poverty.
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Psalm 31:19
2. The church must never ignore love and _______________ .
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, . . . 2 Thessalonians 2:16
CARING FOR EACH OTHER UNLEASHES THE SPIRIT OF GOD:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give live to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:11
1. It begins with __________________ prayer.
I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 2 Timothy 1:3-4
2. It continues with servanthood.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Philippians 2:14-17
This Week:Spend an hour with someone in this fellowship and discover what you can do to serve them.