Do You Love Me?
Sunday Evening English Worship
February 2, 2020 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: Mark 12:28-31 & others
Introduction: Well, as of today, I have two more chances to talk to you from God‘s Word. The church has decided that starting from April, we will finish doing this Sunday evening English worship time. The church would like to focus on other things, so tonight and next month we will finish talking about the different aspects of God.
And since this is the month of February, I’ll be talking about the topic of love tonight. Now, let’s begin with what looks like a simple question but it’s actually very difficult. “What is love?“ And we use that word so casually that we don’t think much about how deep it is. I often like to say that I love coffee and I love chocolate! In fact, I REALLY love chocolate! Which is good, because this is the month of Valentine’s Day and I’ll probably get some chocolate from friends and family. I also like to say that I love my dogs, I love you, my friends, and I love God. But each of those is a very different kind of love.
So, let’s just go ahead and dive right in and talk about this aspect of God which is love. The title of my lesson tonight is Do You Love Me? and we’re going to begin with Mark 12:28-31.
1. The Greatest Commandment - Mark 12:28-31 (NIrV)
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29 Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) 31 And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”
And I'd like to begin this evening with this story from the book of Mark. It seems that a certain teacher of the law was pretty interested in this conversation that Jesus was having. So he asked Jesus a serious question about what was the greatest commandment of all. And Jesus gave a very famous answer that we all have heard many times before, to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. Now if we just look at that for a minute we can see every part of us. The heart is our emotions, the soul is our spiritual part, our mind is our mental part and our strength is our physical part. That's all of us! Then without stopping, Jesus adds a second commandment which is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. So, we need to love others and we need to love ourselves as well. Now, I'm going to get to this at the end of the message, so let's put this on hold for a short time.
2. The Greatest Question - John 21:15-17 (NIrV)
15 When Jesus and the disciples had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. “You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 Jesus spoke to him a third time. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He answered, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Not long before Jesus went back to heaven, he and the disciples were out at the seaside having a meal together. Jesus decided to talk to Peter about an important topic, loving God and loving others. And Jesus asked Peter a very straight question, "Do you love me?" Now, Jesus didn't have to ask that question. He already knew Peter's feelings completely. But he wanted Peter to think about this seriously and so he asked him seriously. So, after Peter confesses his love to Jesus, then the Lord tells Peter to take care of those around him, Christ's sheep and lambs. And here it is again, love God first and then love those around you. This is an important order for us to think about. Are we putting God first in our lives? Do our family and friends have priority over God? What about our job? That's something that we need to think about often.
3. The Greatest Love - 1 John 4:7-12 (NIrV)
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him. 10 Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us.
And now our last Bible passage to study tonight is also by the apostle of love, John. And here John gives us an answer to the question that I asked at the beginning, "What is love?" First, John tells us that love comes from God. Then he tells us that we need to love one another. And where does the power and motivation come from? John stated very clearly: God is love! And that's the answer to the question. Do you want to know real love, true love? Then you have to know God, because God is love itself! So, let's ask another question: how does God show us that he is love? And the answer comes in verse 10: "He loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins!"
Conclusion: This brings us pretty close to the end of our study time tonight, so let's finish up with one more thought. Can you see the order of how we should love through these different Bible passages? Jesus is first, others are second and we ourselves are last. Have you heard that before? Those three things spell out the word JOY!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading one of our Bible passages together.
1 John 4:7-9
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him.
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Lord Jesus, we want to thank you tonight for coming into our world, the world that You made, to be our loving savior. We also want to thank You so very much for showing us that You are love itself. Please help us every day to love You more and more. Help us also to love everyone around us and to pray for them every day. May we enjoy this Valentine's season even more because Your love is deep in our hearts. We pray this now in Jesus' precious name, Amen.
February 2, 2020 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: Mark 12:28-31 & others
Introduction: Well, as of today, I have two more chances to talk to you from God‘s Word. The church has decided that starting from April, we will finish doing this Sunday evening English worship time. The church would like to focus on other things, so tonight and next month we will finish talking about the different aspects of God.
And since this is the month of February, I’ll be talking about the topic of love tonight. Now, let’s begin with what looks like a simple question but it’s actually very difficult. “What is love?“ And we use that word so casually that we don’t think much about how deep it is. I often like to say that I love coffee and I love chocolate! In fact, I REALLY love chocolate! Which is good, because this is the month of Valentine’s Day and I’ll probably get some chocolate from friends and family. I also like to say that I love my dogs, I love you, my friends, and I love God. But each of those is a very different kind of love.
So, let’s just go ahead and dive right in and talk about this aspect of God which is love. The title of my lesson tonight is Do You Love Me? and we’re going to begin with Mark 12:28-31.
1. The Greatest Commandment - Mark 12:28-31 (NIrV)
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29 Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) 31 And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”
And I'd like to begin this evening with this story from the book of Mark. It seems that a certain teacher of the law was pretty interested in this conversation that Jesus was having. So he asked Jesus a serious question about what was the greatest commandment of all. And Jesus gave a very famous answer that we all have heard many times before, to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. Now if we just look at that for a minute we can see every part of us. The heart is our emotions, the soul is our spiritual part, our mind is our mental part and our strength is our physical part. That's all of us! Then without stopping, Jesus adds a second commandment which is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. So, we need to love others and we need to love ourselves as well. Now, I'm going to get to this at the end of the message, so let's put this on hold for a short time.
2. The Greatest Question - John 21:15-17 (NIrV)
15 When Jesus and the disciples had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. “You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 Jesus spoke to him a third time. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He answered, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Not long before Jesus went back to heaven, he and the disciples were out at the seaside having a meal together. Jesus decided to talk to Peter about an important topic, loving God and loving others. And Jesus asked Peter a very straight question, "Do you love me?" Now, Jesus didn't have to ask that question. He already knew Peter's feelings completely. But he wanted Peter to think about this seriously and so he asked him seriously. So, after Peter confesses his love to Jesus, then the Lord tells Peter to take care of those around him, Christ's sheep and lambs. And here it is again, love God first and then love those around you. This is an important order for us to think about. Are we putting God first in our lives? Do our family and friends have priority over God? What about our job? That's something that we need to think about often.
3. The Greatest Love - 1 John 4:7-12 (NIrV)
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him. 10 Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us.
And now our last Bible passage to study tonight is also by the apostle of love, John. And here John gives us an answer to the question that I asked at the beginning, "What is love?" First, John tells us that love comes from God. Then he tells us that we need to love one another. And where does the power and motivation come from? John stated very clearly: God is love! And that's the answer to the question. Do you want to know real love, true love? Then you have to know God, because God is love itself! So, let's ask another question: how does God show us that he is love? And the answer comes in verse 10: "He loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins!"
Conclusion: This brings us pretty close to the end of our study time tonight, so let's finish up with one more thought. Can you see the order of how we should love through these different Bible passages? Jesus is first, others are second and we ourselves are last. Have you heard that before? Those three things spell out the word JOY!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading one of our Bible passages together.
1 John 4:7-9
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him.
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Lord Jesus, we want to thank you tonight for coming into our world, the world that You made, to be our loving savior. We also want to thank You so very much for showing us that You are love itself. Please help us every day to love You more and more. Help us also to love everyone around us and to pray for them every day. May we enjoy this Valentine's season even more because Your love is deep in our hearts. We pray this now in Jesus' precious name, Amen.