THE TRUTH IS NOT ENOUGH PART V

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

LOVE!!!

It's just that huge for God. God...Who IS Love.

For your group time, lead primarily out of this reality- that beyond any kind of conceptual, theoretical, romantic notion- God, Who is Love, places love above faith. Beyond any idea or tradition, Jesus sums the Bible up with two of its commands; love God with everything you have, and love others the way you are inclined to love yourself.

Let the selfless, sacrificial, Agape love of Christ transform your group.

Thaw

• How many popular saying can you think of that include the word "love" (see leader note below)
• How do you think most people define love?
• How do you define it?
• What's something from the message Sunday that really struck you?

• What is the difference between the romantic kind of love that we normally think of, and the selfless love of the scriptures?

Leader note: Help the group, from the first moments, draw a distinction between that which we say we love, but are really only feeling positively about, and Biblical love; the giving of the self sacrificially, on the merits of God and His nature- rather than on the merits of the sinner.

You may also, depending on the group and how well they are grabbing ahold of this, take time to see how our view of love has been cheapened in that the english language only has the one word. We "love our Schnauzers", we "love our spouse" and we "love cheeseburgers". The word has lost its punch. So it's wise to take some time and see that when we say love, we mean much more than a mood affected by whether or not the cook held the onions!

Read

• Romans 5:8
  
• First thoughts?

Discuss

• How is this description of God's own love different from our modern notions about love?
  
• If we, the sinners, were loved by God before we made good prospects for love, then what does this say about whom we give ourselves to in our own circles?
  

Leader note: The idea here is to uncover the love hierarchy we consciously/subconsciously create with those around us. Some people we love and behave more selflessly around, because we have somehow deemed them "worth it". Others annoy us or owe us somehow, in that they have made enough deposits for us to continue loving them,  or that they just don't make life easy. This is not love for others. This is self-love. It is not similar to God.

Read

• John 15:9-17
  
• Thoughts?
  
• What is the relationship between love and obeying Christ's commands?

Leader note: Be mindful that some people carry some baggage with "obedience". As Jesus speaks of being in His love and being His friend only insomuch as we obey His commands, some people will only be able to hear conditional love. But if you follow His thinking all the way through, you find that His command is love. So not obeying His command (loving as He loves) brings you outside of his love. This is not a verdict He made up- He pointing to the reality that if you don't love, you're not plugged into Christ. It's almost an observation more than it is a rule: If you haven't loved, you have disobeyed and our out of sync with the central rule of the Universe!

• Why would Jesus command love and not holiness or purity?
  
• In light of verse 17, how would you define sin to someone who knows nothing of Christian faith?

Discuss

• Why do people believe God doesn't love them?

Leader note: The conversation may steer itself toward natural disasters as proof of their NOT being a loving God. Though that is a valid discussion, try and center it on the sense of guilt and shame people carry. They think that, since the love of broken people is performance-based, then there is no way an all-knowing God could love them. Table the "how could a loving God allow suffering?" issue for later, if possible.

• Why do people believe you don't love them? What evidence might they have?

Read

• Acts 2:41-47
  
• This is the account of the first believers- the birth of the church. Note that they found the favor of all the people. Why?

Leader note: Though miraculous signs are mentioned, overall this new community seems to have been identified by their dedication to Christ ( who commands love and gave Himself!), their togetherness, and their genuine sense of selflessness. They weren't being marked merely by what they abstained from or by their belief code- They were remarkable to onlookers for the same reason Jesus dying for sinners is remarkable; It's simply not what we typically see in people. Real love is just that attractive.

Apply

• Who are the persons or types of people that you withhold love from? How can you remedy this?
  
• How does loving the "unlovable" and those who have earned or disgust more than our favor equal spiritual growth?
  
• What's blocking you from loving a specific person or people group?
  
• How can this group behave, as a group, in love:

Toward the each member?
Toward others on the community?
Towards others locally/globally?

• How can this group help individuals members with an ongoing sin of resentment, revenge and/or withheld love toward someone else?

Closing text:

• Read aloud 1 John 4:7-21.

Additional texts for further study:

• Acts 10:1-36
  
• 1 Corinthians 13