Notes from DCF Talk: Love God, Love People

I just wanted to post my notes from last nights talk. FYI my notes are just that, notes. I don't manuscript my sermons so I apologize in advance for my Random thought process.

Chad

Love God, Love People

Text: Matthew 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

Love God

- Illustration: Who or What is it in your life that you would default to…What is the one topic that you could always talk with passion about…What or who do you think most about…

- Text: V. 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

- Translation: Jesus is referencing Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

o With all your heart: Passion and desires

§ This means that we point our passions at God, or that we relinquish our passions to Him. We desire what He desires and are burdened by what burdens Him. Ultimately he becomes our passion and the desire of our Heart.

o With all your soul: Very essence of who you are

§ We acknowledge that everything we have and everything we are is from Him and we give our all to Him, not to pay Him back, but because he loved us first. We long for our essence to line up with Him, so that we are defined not by who we were, but by who He is.

o With all your mind: Thoughts and wisdom

§ We think long and deep about our God and we pursue Him with our intellect. We read and meditate and ask questions, and seek the mind of God until we think about people like He thinks about them and we think about our sin the way He thinks about our sin.

- Application: The point here is that we are to love God in such a way as to leave no room in us for anything else. We are to Love Him with everything that we are.

Loving God is Paramount

- Illustration: I need to like the parents if I am ever going to like the kids in a family…If I don’t like the parents there is no way to like the kids…How can we love anything in creation without loving the Creator?

- Text: V. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

- Translation: Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was and He ups the bet by calling this the first as well.

- In other words Loving God is foundational. If we don’t start with loving God we have no basis for loving others, b/c God is Love (1 John 4:7-8)

- Application: We know Love b/c of God and therefore knowing and loving God is foundational.

Love People

- Text: V. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

- Translation: Jesus continues to up the bet by continuing His answer.

- The second is like it, so loving people is like loving God.

- It is like the first in that both take the proverbial hoe to the root of sin, namely “pride” in order for us to accomplish them.

- Supporting Text: Matthew 7:12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

- Translation: When we love others we are fleshing out the law and the prophets.

- Supporting Text: Romans 13: 8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

- Translation: We fulfill the law when we love others.

- Application: How we love others is the visible expression of how we love God.

- It is literally the fleshing out of the Law.

- Supporting Text: Romans 8:3-4 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

- Illustration: My truck broke down…God is teaching me to view others as more important than myself…

- We must remember that this is only possible with the help of the Spirit. Jesus already fulfilled the law to perfection.

Everything depends on these

- Illustration: High pressure situation…1 second on the clock down by 1 you have two free throws, you need them both to win…if you miss all the other shoots in the game were made in vain…

- Text: V. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

- Translation: Everything hangs on these two commandments.

- Everything written in the entire Old Testament hangs on these two chains. Without these everything else falls apart.

- Is it possible to be religious without loving God and People? Yes, we see it all the time, religious people who love the law and pridefully think they uphold it. They neither love God nor people.

Vision & Values

Journey The Way

Vision:

Love God . Love People . Turn the World Up-side Down

Love God (Matthew 22:35-40)
It is vital for disciples to have regular encounters with God in which they worship Him, hear from Him, and respond to Him in obedience. Bible reading, prayer, private and corporate worship, baptism and communion are all part of what it means to Love God.

Love People (Matthew 22:35-40)
As we interact with God, it is vital that we not approach glorifying God on our own, but that we intentionally interact with others who Love God. These “connections” will bring about transformation in us as we authentically encourage, instruct and support one another. Jesus’ love of people was radical and unconditional and so we need to Love People with no strings attached.

Turn the World upside-down (Matthew 28:18-20)
True Disciples will use their gifts, talents, vocations, and time not only to touch our church, but also to touch the communities they live in, and the world. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life. When we live as Jesus lived we will be a movement of servants that have the potential to turn the world upside-down, by bring the Gospel in word and deed as we go.

Core Values: To be leaders of a movement through which God can produce changed lives, we must embrace and live out these values:


Truth We live by truth, Jesus is truth


Humility We live life without taking ourselves too seriously


Community We live our lives with/for others who know the real us


Worship We live a lifestyle of worship to our God


Missional We live our life as we go, intentionally on mission


Image-bearers We live as those who resemble Jesus

Your Word is Truth Part 2

When we live the word we live truth. See previous post here. Jesus prays that we will be sanctified by the truth, so that we can be sent into the world. Your sanctification isn't exclusively for you. You are sanctified for a purpose.

John 17:14-18

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

As Christians were should look different from the world b/c we are like Jesus, but we must engage the world and live in the world. We are sanctified for this purpose. Jesus was sent into the world and now he sends us. How can we engage the world? Do you feel like you have been sent into the world, or do you feel like you have retreated from the world? Or maybe you feel like there is no distinction between you and the world. Does the world hate you? They should and when they do we better make sure we don't retreat into our Christian bubble. Can you imagine if Jesus had retreated? The call to follow Christ is a call to die to self.

Chad

Your Word is Truth Part 1

In John 17 we read Jesus' High Priestly prayer.  In the prayer Jesus prays for several things: He prays that he will glorify the Father, He prays that we would know that He (Jesus Christ) is the only true God sent from the father, He prays that he would finish his work on earth and return to the glory he had before creation.  Jesus then goes into a section where he talks about Christians and how we are saved by His name (Jesus) and how he and the Father are one, and how the Father sent Jesus.  Jesus makes a statement that He isn't praying for the entire world, but only those who are believers.  Near the end of this prayer Jesus talks in more detail about how we are to live in this world.  

John 17:14-18 

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.  ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Jesus prays here that we would live by the "word" which he gave us.  He tells us that when we receive the "word" the world will hate us, b/c we aren't of this world.  A lot of Christians stop there and conclude that since we aren't of this world then we should separate ourselves from the world.  But Jesus doesn't stop there.  In verse 15 He continues by saying that he isn't praying that God the Father would take them out of the world, only that He (the Father) would keep them (us as Christians) away from the evil one (Satan).  Then Jesus prays these words: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.  Focus here on two words, the word THE and the word IS.  Jesus says that there is one truth, and that the "word" is truth.  Jesus isn't saying that the "word" (The Bible)  holds exclusive truth, but that the "word" is truth.  Let me say it another way, Truth will not contradict the Bible, because there is one truth and, the Bible is truth.  Truth can be found in other places, but for it to actually be truth it won't contradict other truth, namely the "word" (Bible).  

So we are to live by the Truth, and we are sanctified or made more like Jesus by the Truth.  The reason we live by the Truth is so that we can live sent lives...more on that later.

Humility, is it in you?

Humility is one of those elusive characteristics.  If you focus too hard on being humble you are in danger of being proud about your humility.  My good friend and former student Jamie wrote an excellent piece on Humility and the Church you can read it here.  

The Apostle Paul said in the book of Philippians 2:3-8 that Humility isn't about us at all.  

Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.

Paul challenges us to look out for the interests of others.  This was exemplified to me this week by some amazing friends of mine who dropped what they were doing to help me out.  I had three friends drop what they were doing to help me paint my garage so that we can hopefully close on our house at the end of this week.  I don't think they realized it but when they did that they were reflecting the image of Christ.  You see when we stop thinking of ourselves and start thinking of others we have the mind of Christ and model Humility.  True humility helps point people to the cross.  

Chad

Love People

So I was people watching all day yesterday since I flew from Wichita through Atlanta to Orlando.  My prayer all day was that I would see people like Jesus sees people.  Be careful when you pray that.  There are a lot of hurting people in our world.  God gave me a window into fractured marriages hurting students, confused and bitter people.  I did get to see some joy and some laughter.  One thing that struck me was just how isolated we in America have become.  Most people sit in an airport surrounded by life, and do everything they can to disconnect from it.  They listen to the ipod or read a book or check the email.  I saw very few conversations.  So then I was convicted, b/c I am the same way.  Even though I didn't have my book out or ear buds in, I was still just observing people, instead of engaging them.  I must admit loving people is hard work.  Lets face it loving us is hard work.  I want to issue a challenge, a challenge to engage the world around you.  I not saying start going door to door or anything like that, but at least have some conversation with those God has placed around you.  

I will leave you with this story.  So after feeling convicted while sitting in the airport, I did what I rarely do, and I immediately obeyed, and did what I thought God wanted me to do.  I began to engage with the people around me.  Some blew me off but others were willing to talk.  I got to talk with a lady who was trying hard to disconnect and when she finally started talking I could tell that she really wanted to connect.  Turns out it was the lady's head basketball coach for the University of Central Florida.  Joy is her name and she has a tough job, with lots of people to impress, and I could tell she works hard at it.  Our conversation wasn't deep or very long but after just a few moments of talking I knew how I could pray for her.  God wants us to be His representatives in this world and to do that we have to engage people.  

Core Team

So the cat is out of the bag so to speak.  Journey the Way has been almost 4 years in the making.  God placed the seed of a Church Plant in my heart the summer of 2005, while in Seattle on a mission trip.  A lot has happened since that summer and God has grown this seed into a full blown passion to see God's mission lived out.  We want to start a movement of people who Love God, Love People, and desire to Turn the World Up-Side Down.  It is my firm belief that God has been working on the hearts of others to join us in this mission.   We are actively looking for people to be a part of what God is going to do.  If you are interested in this we should talk.  email me at chad.theway@gmail.com.