Key Verse: Matthew 22:36-40
Story about a mother and her baby in a zoo. Baby crawls into a lion’s den. Mother realizes it and immediately gets into the den where the lion is poised and eyeing the baby. Mother’s first instinct was to grab the lion’s neck with ferocity. Lion decides that this lunch was too difficult to get and gives up.
Boldness: An uncommon ferocity, love and passion for the kingdom of God
This boldness is derived from:
1) Understanding of God’s heartbeat
2) Keeping ourselves spiritually fit for God
3) Living in a love-driven community
The mother’s tenacity and strength – where did it come from? Her love for her child.
- It is only when we love our neighbors, the people of Singapore, then will we have the motivation to fight for them.
What are the Steps to take to Live in a Love-Driven Community?
1) LOVE Our Neighbor
Leviticus 19:18 (NASB)
The New Vision of FCBC:
To serve the Nations by effecting Community Transformation in Singapore and Gateway Cities in Asia.
This may sound very far-fetched and one may even ask how it would apply to oneself? I’m only but this much.
The new vision can be summed up in one verse:
Galatians 5:14 “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Before we enter into the next 6 years of transformation, we need to get our hearts right.
- It’s not about the instruments, the methodology used to effect transformation. It’s not about ourselves or our desires but OUR HEARTS.
- We need to love our people, the people around us.
What is the greatest command of all?
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Or
Leviticus 19:18 (NASB)
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Jesus took these 2 verses and combined them – the rabbinical significance of this combination is that the 2nd verse explains the 1st verse. The greater command of these 2 is: to love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 5:14
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Why? Why not the first verse?
- How will God know that you love Him with all your heart and all your soul, strength and mind?
- The only way you can show how much you love God is to love your neighbors.
Love is not just affection, but an ACTION. It’s the strongest bonding agent between people.
This is the basis of LoveSingapore, the basis of effecting transformation in this nation.
2) LIVE in Community
To love others, we cannot do it on our own, because by our own strength, we will fizzle out very quickly.
- We need to start out in a community filled with love and the church is our training ground.
John 13:34-35 (NIV) “… so you must love one another”
Hebrew 10:24-25 (NIV) “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The importance of cell groups: Cell group is the place where we learn to love, to love people who require much tolerance, love and patience on our part, to love leaders who are imperfect and still learning how to lead us.
1 Corinthians 13:3
“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
How can someone who gives everything up for the poor but yet have not love at the same time? Isn’t sacrificing also love?
- It’s altogether possible to show pity to the poor out of pride, out of impulsiveness, out of wanting to impress others.
- But only true love, God’s love, is constant, is never failing.
- notice that 1 Corinthians 13, the famous chapter about love, is placed between 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, which talk about God’s community, about using our gifts to serve one another in the body of Christ.
Interdependence:
Love is deciding to make your problem my problem.
If we cannot even love the people in our immediate community, how can we expect to love the people of Singapore, the people of the world?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment