Posts Tagged ‘love’
What Christianity Is All About
Text: Ephesians 1 https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/What-Christianity-Is-All-About.mp3 by Don Bunting One (or Two) Chapter Lessons
Read MoreCalling Attention to the Heart
by Doy Moyer One can work and not have faith, but one cannot have a living faith and not work. One can do for others and not have love, but one cannot love and not do for others. We may be prone to evaluating the outward works, the visible doing, “but the LORD looks on…
Read MoreYour First Love
by Terry Wane Benton “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4). The first love was the focused and enthusiastic love they had at the early stages of their conversion. As John in his epistle stated, “We love Him because He first loved us” (I John 4:19) and…
Read MoreThe Christian’s Attributes
by Jefferson David Tant “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities…
Read More45th Birthday
by Matthew W. Bassford Today is my 45th birthday, a time for reflection if ever there was one. From an earthly perspective, this is a grim milestone indeed. It is almost certainly the last birthday I will ever celebrate. When I was in elementary school, I learned about Huntingdon’s chorea, what they call Huntingdon’s disease…
Read MoreLove the Brethren
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Love-of-the-Brethren.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreLove of God Poured Out in the Heart
by Terry Wane Benton You know the Holy Spirit has poured the love of God in your heart (Romans 5:5) when you have listened to what the Holy Spirit has revealed about it. When you read what the Spirit revealed to Paul (Ephesians 3:3-5), it spills over from Paul’s heart into your heart, and when…
Read MoreThe Hound of Heaven
by Rick Lanning Do you remember this quote? “No one is good but God.” Most readers will immediately think of Jesus’ reply to the rich young ruler who had run to the Lord, fell on his knees, and asked, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Christ jolted…
Read MoreTalking with Your Neighbor
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton (Short Talk) Text: Zechariah 8:16-17 I. Undoubtedly there are evil people around us A. There are people who plot the harm of others, even though it disrupts the safety of those around them – Proverbs 3:29 B. This was one of the many problems that led to Israel’s downfall – Micah 2:1-3 C. Typically…
Read MoreGood Neighbors
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Good-Neighbors.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 12:16-21 I. Putting off the old man A. When we become a Christian, we are supposed to become a new person – II Corinthians 5:17 B. We are supposed to have the mind of Christ – Philippians 2:5 C. That isn’t so hard when everything goes well D. But 19th century English…
Read MoreThe Truth About God’s Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Truth-About-Gods-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 5 I. The world is filled with varying and confusing ideas about how God loves us. A. Typically the emphasis is placed so heavily on God’s love that many think that God is incapable of a negative thought against anyone. B. Others see God as so remote and unapproachable that…
Read MoreA Life Defined by Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/A-Life-Defined-by-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 16:13-14 I. The story of Ruth is a popular love story from the Bible A. It isn’t how most people see as a typical love story. 1. She doesn’t go out searching for love but she eventually finds it anyway B. Rather, we see the story of a woman whose…
Read MoreHow can there be love in heaven when sinners are in hell?
Question: Good Evening, Thank you so much for all the resources included on the La Vista Church of Christ website. My son and I have been using these articles for years. Unfortunately, my son is now a wayward Christian, and he asked me the following questions in a recent Bible study that we did together. Can…
Read MoreIs Romans 8:35 about our love for Christ or Christ’s love for us?
Question: Hello, I am going over some studies on the Perseverance of the Saints. I came across one site that stated Romans 8:35 was talking of our love for God and not His love for us. Do you have any insights on this? Answer: In the Greek text, “from the love of Christ” (apo…
Read MoreThe Problem of People
by Doy Moyer While many turn away from God due to some perceived problem with God (e.g., allowing evil to exist), I have found that just as prominent is a problem that they have with those who call themselves Christians. Because Christians have been hypocritical, unloving, divisive, and abusive, some have walked away thinking that…
Read MoreGoing Before and Following After
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Going-Before-and-Following-After.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 5:21-25 I. The phrase “lay hands upon” in I Timothy 5:22 deals giving your blessing to another person A. Such as when Jacob blessed his grandchildren – Genesis 48:14 B. Such as when someone is appointed to a duty – Acts 6:6; 13:2-3 C. It can also be a sign…
Read MoreConsider the Lord’s Loving Kindness
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Consider-the-Lords-Loving-Kindness.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 107 I. Whatever our life, we need to acknowledge God loving kindness toward us – Psalms 107:1-3 A. Many talk of Psalms 107 as a song of God redeeming the nation of Israel from Babylonian captivity. 1. But this isn’t about a nation. It is about groups or categories of…
Read MoreUnconditional Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/Unconditional-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 136:1-26 I. I was reading a book that began to speak of the love of God. A. As many denominational writers do, he referred to the unconditional love of God. B. By this, he and others believe that God loves all people, no matter how they behave. 1. Often a parallel…
Read MoreLove and Respect
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Love-and-Respect.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 5:25-33 I. There are some topics that are joined such that you cannot have one without the other. A. Faith and obedience are two sides the same subject. 1. You can’t really have faith without obedience – James 2:14-18 2. And you can’t really have obedience without faith – Romans 4:2-5…
Read MoreUnconditional Love?
by Terry Benton in Answering Religious Error, April 15, 2015 That God’s love is “unconditional” means one thing to one person and a different thing to someone else. The Bible does not use the expression “unconditional love” but does imply it. God “so loved” the world (John 3:16). That would mean that love is what…
Read MoreOld Tricks From Satan’s Playbook
by Austin Hausner “Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:10). Solomon reminds us that there is nothing new. This is important to remember because many things that people say are new are actually the same old tricks repackaged…
Read MoreLove and Repentance
by Terry Wane Benton It is common these days to hear people use scriptures that say that God “loves” everyone and commands us to love everyone. But they use this to mean that God “accepts” everyone regardless of their sin and attitude toward sin. They often call this “unconditional love.” Often we are told that…
Read MoreMaintaining the Same Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Maintaining-the-Same-Love.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreIdentifying a New Testament Church
by Steve Dewhirst Sentry Magazine, December 2002 Traditionally, we gospel preachers have spoken of “identifying the New Testament church” in an effort to distinguish it from the sects roundabout. But in so doing, we have sometimes obscured the true nature of the body of Christ. We begin to preach about the church Jesus said He…
Read MoreWhat Happened to Our Love?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/What-Happened-to-Our-Love.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreGod’s Mornin’
by Whit Sasser Cameron S. Smith tells a wonderful story. It is about the only white person in the state of Georgia buried in a cemetery reserved exclusively for African-Americans. This man had lost his mother when he was just a baby. His father, who never married again, hired a black woman named Mandy to…
Read MoreIs it wrong to pray the Psalms?
Question: I have an urgent question that is generating heat in my congregation. This heat is created by my wife. She prays the Psalms, and I personally do not agree with her on this. But she insists that it is the word of God. I don’t agree because we are New Testament worshipers and the…
Read MoreDoctrinal Matters
by Doy Moyer When we think of “doctrinal” issues, we tend to think of matters like marriage and divorce, the work of the church, baptism, etc. We work hard to try to get these right, and there are often sharp disagreements over the nature of these “doctrinal” matters. “Doctrine” means teaching, and anything we teach…
Read MoreA Worker for the Lord
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Worker-for-the-Lord.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 10:16-25 I. God has not promised His children a life of ease. A. Christ warned his disciples that if men are willing to call him “Beelzebub” then we shouldn’t be surprised when they turn against us. B. Christianity is not easy because of the rejection we must face. It is…
Read MoreGod Who Makes the Broken Beautiful
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/God-Who-Makes-the-Broken-Beautiful.mp3 by Wayne Fancher I. The Earth from Without Form and Void to Beautiful Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made,…
Read MoreLove in the Time of an Epidemic
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A friend of mine recently posted a passage written by Eusebius, an early historian of the church, which I wish to share with you. At the peak of the Cyprian Plague, which ran from about A.D. 249 to 262, there were as many as 5,000 deaths per day throughout the Roman…
Read MoreI accidentally fell in love with a married man
Question: Hello, I just want to ask for some advice because I am struggling right now. I am a woman who is single. And I met a married man. We accidentally fell in love with each other. I tried everything to avoid him because I know he is married. But even as hard as I…
Read MoreTeaching Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Teaching-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 13:11-14 I. I received a complaint several years ago. After reading an article on why sex outside of marriage is sin, the reader complained, “I wish you guys would pay more attention to the golden rule, ‘love thy neighbor,’ than all the homophobic and ‘sex is sin’ stuff.”…
Read MoreThe Greatest Commandment
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Greatest-Commandment.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 22:34-40 I. From among the Pharisees, a lawyer came to Jesus to put him to the test. A. He asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?” B. A difficult question, given the large number of commands found in the Old Testament. 1. How do you decide which is greater than the others?…
Read MoreFor God so Loved the World
by Matthew W. Bassford John 3:16 is surely the most well-known verse in the Bible, with even Matthew 7:1 running a close second. Most Christians are aware that the world’s understanding of the latter is dramatically off-base, but I think that even when it comes to the former, we miss the point a little bit.…
Read MoreLoving Enemies
by Doy Moyer The world can see whether or not we love one another (John 13:34-35). The world can see whether or not we are committed to unity (John 17:20-21). The world can also see whether or not we love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash Loving enemies is one of…
Read MoreLove Is …
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Love-Is.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 13:1-8 I. Many passages are used for needlepoint samplers. A popular choice is I Corinthians 13:1-8 A. Have you considered the meaning of the many phrases? B. We often associate this passage with weddings, but Paul was writing about what love between brethren is like C. However, it can be applied to…
Read MoreGiving Respect
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Giving-Respect.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Malachi 1:6-14 I. The word translated as “respect” in our Bibles comes from an interesting Greek word, entrepo. A. The word has two, seemingly conflicting, definitions. 1. It can mean showing respect or honor – Hebrews 12:9 2. It can mean having shame – Titus 2:6-8 B. Even our English word “respect” as…
Read MoreWhat Is This Thing Called Love?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/What-Is-this-Thing-Called-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Song of Solomon 8:6-7 I. We use the word “love” freely today. Perhaps too freely. A. I love to have another piece of cake. B. Mama loves her baby. C. He fell in love with her at first sight. D. He loved her through fifty yeas of marriage. E. I love my country. II. The…
Read MoreHow Do You Show Love?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/How-Do-You-Show-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 5:6-21 I. It seems that today, showing another person love means never telling them they are wrong or criticizing them any way A. People claim to be offended if other person disagrees with them or points out a flaw in their behavior 1. Islamaphob! Homophob! Etc. 2. To take a…
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