2 Persons to Love

Wow! Love the weather so much! So cooling=) Had band BBQ yesterday, sad to have to leave early and missed the games but it's alright. Today had lit lessons early in school. Paula and Petrina leaving for njc soon, so good for them. Will definitely miss their CHATTERS, especially Paula. Anyway, I'm posting the second one...

2 Persons to Love

Hook
Look at the Cross. It is made of two pieces of wood. The vertical piece symbolizes our vertical relationship with God. The horizontal piece symbolizes our horizontal relationship with man. Notice that the two pieces of wood are connected to each other.

If our relation with God is good, our relationship with man will be right. If our relationship with man is bad, then it is an indication that there is a problem with our relationship with God as well.
Look

-Love God

-Love Neighbour
key verse
"Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke 10:27

Book
1 Christianity is the only religion that emphasises love.

2 Without love, life becomes meaningless. Without love, a marriage is just a contract. Without love, a home is nothing more than a house. Without love, parents are no more than child-care guardian.

3 The world needs more love, but where are ppl going to get more love? From God. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19-"We love because he first loved us."). Jesus Christ died on the Cross for us to prove once and for all that God loves us (John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."). Only after we receive God's love can we love God in return and love others as ourselves.

5 We must get our concept of love form the Bible, not form the world.

6 In the Bible, love always involves sacrifice for the ones we love. We do not sacrifice the things we like to sacrifice but the things that our loved ones need. We must sacrifice what God desires of us and what our neighbours need from us.

7 We are commanded to love God. It's a command; not a suggestion

8 We are also told how we must love God: with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. We are not to love God with our heart or mind only. We must love Him in all four ways. This means loving Him with every part of our being: emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally.

9 We must not love God with only half a heart, half our strength, etc. We are to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind. This means we must love God without doubt, without reservations, without divided loyalty and without compromise.

10 We are also commanded to love our neighnbour. This is also not a suggestion. It is a command, not a recommendation.

11 The Bible also tells us how we must love our neighbour. We must love them as we love ourselves. Loving others as ourselves is the same thing as following the Golden Rule: Do to others what you would others do to you. (Matthew 7:12- "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.")

12 The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37-"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" In reply, Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled,came whre the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse yuo for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

TOOK

Key response: Love.

1Read John 21:15- "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"" Who or what do you love most in the world?

2 What must you do if you are to love the Lor? See John 14:15

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

3 Read Deuteronomy 10:12 and 12:2-7. Think of some things you can do to show that you love God in all four ways- with your heart, soul, strength and mind.

-> Cut off past religious ties -> Stop immoral lifestyles

-> Destroy past religious objects -> Stop past religious practices

-> Worshiop God in the way He wants -> Offer Him offerings and gifts

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but ot fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your hear and with all your soul - Deuteronomy 10:12

Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for dwelling. To that place you must go, there bring your burnt offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord Your God, yuo and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 12:2-7

Case studies:
4 A Christian asks you if it is alright to burn jossticks (incense) at his father's funeral. Read 1 Kings 3:3 and Deuteronomy 12:2-7. Do u think King Solomon loved God with all his heart? Would u advise your Christian friend to burn the josstick or not?

Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except thqt he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 1 King 3:3

5 Read Psalm 91:14. How can this teaching abt loving God comfort u when u faced with danger?

"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. Psalms 91:14

6 Your son asks yuo for a bicycle for Christmas. He says all his friends oin sch got one. (Actually only two of the have bicycles.) You know that there is a poor boy in his sch who doesd not even have $ to buy textbooks. How can yuo teach your son to love God and love his neighbour?

This is how we what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children,let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth- 1 John 3:16-18

8 If ppl do not love God, what do they love? Which of the following do you love?

-> I love myself -> I don't love goodness

-> I love $ -> I love pleasure

-> I don't love parents/others -> I love God

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy - 2 Timothy 3:2

treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - 2 Timothy 3:4

Loving the ones you like is peanuts but loving your enemies, wow, it's a challenge even for me somtimes. However, we canno be like that, we must love even the ppl whom we dislike, only then will this world be peaceful and full of warmth =) Don't hold grudges. Forgive, forget, love! Don't ponder about the past but think positively and rightly for the future! Be holy. Live the kind of life that pleases the Lord!

Love you all,

Shanny