We all love to get good news and what a better way to start off the week than with "Good News Monday." Starting today I will be sharing some highlights from my pastor's sermon on my blog (who also happens to be my handsome husband).
This weekend Pastor Lucas continued his current study of the book of 1 John. His sermon, "It's All About the Attitude" was straight out of 1 John 2:7-8. The three main points that he made were:
1. Jesus showed us love in a whole new level.
2. Jesus challenged us to love differently.
3. Attitude of love starts in the mind.
Jesus showed us love in a whole new level
In these verses, John writes a new commandment to us which is really not so new. What is this commandment? Basically it is the commandment which can be found in Luke 10:27 which reads, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and , 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' " If it's not new, then why does John say it is a new commandment? Well, simply because in the Old Testament when this commandment was given (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus19:18), no one really modeled how to do these things. Lucas used an excellent illustration to demonstrate this. He said that when he was on the swim team in Brazil his swimming coach used to scream at the top of his lungs, "Faster! You are all so lazy!" Yet he never got into the water with them to show them how he wanted them to swim. He always stood outside screaming at them. Lucas always wondered if he himself knew how to swim (he never did find out). Jesus, on the other hand, is not like Lucas' former coach. "He is the type of guy that will jump into the pool with us." He came to show us how to love.
Jesus challenged us to love differently
As believers we don't just go to church, give our tithe and read our bible to cross it off our to do list. In Matthew 5 we are given a list of things that are considered sinful. Jesus does not only challenge us to resist the sin but asks us to avoid it completely. Pastor Lucas used the illustration of trying to cross the boundary line. Many times we think we can "flirt with temptation" by trying to see how far we can go without crossing over the line but the problem is that "Sin is not a line, sin is a vacuum cleaner which sucks you in." The closer you get to it, the easier it will be to get trapped.
Attitude of love starts in the mind.
We choose to love every day by what we meditate on. One way we do this is by living out 2 Corinthians 10:5. We take wrong thoughts captive to the Lord. Although some may say, "You are what you eat, the truth is that, "You are what you think."
So there you have it folks. Our first official "Good News Monday." I hope you enjoyed it.
This weekend Pastor Lucas continued his current study of the book of 1 John. His sermon, "It's All About the Attitude" was straight out of 1 John 2:7-8. The three main points that he made were:
1. Jesus showed us love in a whole new level.
2. Jesus challenged us to love differently.
3. Attitude of love starts in the mind.
Jesus showed us love in a whole new level
In these verses, John writes a new commandment to us which is really not so new. What is this commandment? Basically it is the commandment which can be found in Luke 10:27 which reads, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and , 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' " If it's not new, then why does John say it is a new commandment? Well, simply because in the Old Testament when this commandment was given (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus19:18), no one really modeled how to do these things. Lucas used an excellent illustration to demonstrate this. He said that when he was on the swim team in Brazil his swimming coach used to scream at the top of his lungs, "Faster! You are all so lazy!" Yet he never got into the water with them to show them how he wanted them to swim. He always stood outside screaming at them. Lucas always wondered if he himself knew how to swim (he never did find out). Jesus, on the other hand, is not like Lucas' former coach. "He is the type of guy that will jump into the pool with us." He came to show us how to love.
Jesus challenged us to love differently
As believers we don't just go to church, give our tithe and read our bible to cross it off our to do list. In Matthew 5 we are given a list of things that are considered sinful. Jesus does not only challenge us to resist the sin but asks us to avoid it completely. Pastor Lucas used the illustration of trying to cross the boundary line. Many times we think we can "flirt with temptation" by trying to see how far we can go without crossing over the line but the problem is that "Sin is not a line, sin is a vacuum cleaner which sucks you in." The closer you get to it, the easier it will be to get trapped.
Attitude of love starts in the mind.
We choose to love every day by what we meditate on. One way we do this is by living out 2 Corinthians 10:5. We take wrong thoughts captive to the Lord. Although some may say, "You are what you eat, the truth is that, "You are what you think."
So there you have it folks. Our first official "Good News Monday." I hope you enjoyed it.
1 comment:
I loved it and definitely needed to hear it:) Thanks for sharing...
amy[www.theprikazskys.com]
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