05 Aug “Loving in a Like World” | Noah Aguiar
15 WISHES:
We still have 6 more to do! You can help by giving to the Wishes or providing a Wish! Let’s BE THE CHURCH!
JUNIOR ELEVATE:
Is half-way done and the room will be twice the size as the old room when done! The name will be changing to Activate. You can click here to give to Kingdom Builders.
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This is a story about unexpected love from and unlikely candidate. The man asking the questions here is a lawyer and knew everything about the law. He knew all of the Jewish traditions his people stood by. These laws were set up not only for Israelites to live by but to have eternal life and to be able to follow God and do exactly what He called them to do. This lawyer, when he asked the question ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life’, was given an answer he did not want to hear. Then Jesus tells him in a parable.
A LAWYER LIKES. A FATHER LOVES.
The man in the story who was lying on the side of the road was a Jew. The first guy to come across the him was a priest. A priest is one who upholds the law and he walks right over him. The priest, who follows the law , fails to figure out this man is actually dying. He cared more about the law than God’s people. The second man does the same thing. He also completely misses the point (as did the lawyer Jesus was telling the story to). The third person to come by was the Samaritan (a half-breed Jew). Samaritans were not even allowed to walk on the same side of the street as a Jew, however he not only bandaged him up but took him to get help and paid his way. He went the extra mile.
LOVE REQUIRES ACTION, SO GO THE EXTRA MILE.
Q. When has someone gone out of their way to help you? What do you think their motivation to help you was (was it out of love or something else)?
Our love comes from the Father. This is the kind of love we should have. This is the kind of love that when someone is broken and beaten and dirty and nasty, exactly the way we were when Jesus picked us up, we should help them. Jesus loves us no matter what we look like, no matter what our past had been.
Q. What natural inclinations make it easier for us to act the like the first two men rather than the Samaritan? Why is it so important for us to be more like the good Samaritan?
TO THE BELIEVER TO THE EXTRA MILE.
Don’t just go the one mile you were asked to go, go another mile. That ‘pack’ you are carrying for someone else is their burden and they need you. Jesus did it for us. He did not ‘like like’ us, He loves us.
Q. What does this ‘extra mile’ mean to you? What is something you can do to go the extra mile for someone?
TO THE SEEKER, CONNECT TO THE SOURCE
Love comes from Jesus. His steadfast love is for those who are connected to Him. He came down from heaven to die for us, to carry our burdens. He was rejected by His own people just as the man was on the side of the road. Jesus is the True and Better Samaritan. He cleans us up and pays our debt!
Q. What, if any, is the reason you are holding back from completely surrendering to Jesus? Why is it so difficult to love instead of ‘like like’ others?
JESUS DIDN’T DIE BECAUSE HE ‘LIKES YOU’ HE DID BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU.
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, THE LOST, THE CHURCH, WOONSOCKET, NEW CHURCH PLANTS, NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES AND PASTORS, LEADERS AND GOVERNMENT.
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