Pastor Josh continues the series on love, focusing on how God’s love flows from our relationship with Him to others, specifically the church community. Here’s a summary:
Opening and Prayer: Josh opens with gratitude for being together despite the weather and prays for revival, healing in the nation, and for the church to grow in love and truth.
God as the Source of Love: He revisits Ephesians 3:17-19, highlighting that true love originates from God, who is love itself. Without God as the foundation, human love falls short.
Vertical to Horizontal Love: Josh emphasizes that love for others flows from our love for God. We cannot effectively love others (horizontal) without first loving God (vertical).
Prioritizing Love: Josh begins by discussing that Christians are called to prioritize loving one another within the church, even before loving the world. He supports this with scriptures like John 13:34-35, where Jesus commands His disciples to love each other as He loved them. This love within the church is meant to be a witness to the world.
Telling the Truth in Love: Ephesians 4:15 teaches that love includes telling the truth in humility. Josh warns against lying, gossip, and hypocrisy. He emphasizes that love involves being honest and transparent, even when it’s difficult.
Overcoming Obstacles to Truth: Josh addresses common barriers to speaking truth in love, including impure motives, pride, fear, and hypocrisy. He highlights the importance of humility in both speaking and receiving truth.
Mimicking Christ’s Generosity: Josh refers to Ephesians 5:1-2 and 1 John 3:16, calling Christians to imitate Christ by laying down their lives for one another—not necessarily through physical death, but by sacrificially giving time, resources, and care.
Actions Over Words: 1 John 3:17-18 stresses that love must be demonstrated through action, not just words. Josh shares a personal story about learning the importance of following through with what we say.
Summary of Love: He concludes that love involves prioritization, honesty, generosity, and actions. He encourages believers to focus not on how they are loved but on how they can show love to others.
Closing Prayer: Josh prays for the church to embody sacrificial love and to inspire one another to good works. He asks for the Holy Spirit to guide them in practical expressions of love.
In summary, Josh urges the church to prioritize love for fellow believers, speak truth with humility, give generously like Christ, and show love through actions.
