We Love Others
Loving God completely influences us to love other people. Loving other people sounds like a good idea but can become difficult and complicated. What does it look like when we love other people extravagantly?
Read Matthew 22:37-40. How would loving God completely caused Jesus’ questioner and original audience to respond to Jesus? How does loving God completely influence us to respond to Jesus and to others?
Remember a time when it was challenging for you to love another person or group of people or a time when someone else may have found difficulty in loving you. What made it difficult and what was that experience like?
Read the story Jesus told in Luke 10:25-37 in a conversation similar to the one in Matthew 22. Imagine yourself as one of the characters in that story or a bystander watching it all happen. What do you see, hear, and feel? What do you think Jesus is teaching us from this story?
Who might Jesus be calling you to love right now? Can you identify a person or group of people difficult for you to love or in need of love? How will you show that person or those people Jesus’ love?
As we’ve discussed loving God completely, loving each other unselfishly, and loving people sacrificially—how have you been challenged? Did you hear anything that you’re unsure of or that sparked disagreement? Are there any areas of life where you feel challenged to grow?
Take a moment for prayer. Ask the Lord to help you become a person whose heart is full of devoted love for him and whose life shows his love to others. Ask the Lord to help LifePoint Church become a place where people feel and find Jesus’ love for them, and where we are actively engaged in loving others.
Doubting Doubt
Doubt is the presence of uncertainty. This uncertainty can present itself at anytime, for both believers and skeptics alike. The aim for both is to consider their own positions of doubt and consider these beliefs in view of a risen Jesus. Whether a believer or a...
When Jesus Restores…
Receiving forgiveness and experiencing restoration can become pivotal moments that shape our character. Peter received a course correction for life as Jesus gently but powerfully restored their relationship and Peter’s role. Together, we can grow deeper into Jesus’...
Overcoming Failure
Failing is a common but disappointing life experience that always seems to catch us by surprise. When our failures are placed into the hand of Jesus, he can use even our shortcomings to fuel our growth. Let’s discover the part failure played in Peter’s life and how we...
Forgiveness
As God has forgiven us, we are to forgive each other. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus is teaching His disciples, and us by extension, that forgiveness should be in like proportion to the amount forgiven. The first servant had been forgiven all, and he...
Peter’s Confession and Jesus’ Church
Jesus accomplishes his mission through his Church, but our part in a local church can be challenging as well as rewarding. In Matthew 16, we discover part of the foundation for God’s work through his Church and our part in it. How might God be calling you to be part...