“God is the source of love. Jesus is the proof of love. We are the agents of love in this world.”
Sermon Title: AGENTS OF LOVE
Scripture Text: GALATIANS 5:22-23
Sermon Notes:
GALATIANS 5:22-23 NASB
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
“The contrast between the flesh and the Spirit are most evident when we observe what each produces. Neutrality does not exist between them. Those who remain in the flesh … will generate the evidence of a life dominated by sin. In distinction, those who are in Christ will manifest the evidence of His character by the indwelling Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is not an option for a Christian but the necessary evidence that a person is truly a Christian.” — Phil Newton
“Fruitfulness does not happen in a vacuum.”
GALATIANS 5:25 NASB
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
“Genuine fruitfulness is possible in as much as we remain in the Spirit.”
“God is the source of love. Jesus is the proof of love. We are the agents of love in this world.”
JOHN 5:42 NASB
42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
1 JOHN 4:16-17 NLT
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-3 NASB
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
“God is the source of love. Jesus is the proof of love. We are the agents of love in this world.”
What is biblical love?
love | noun / ‘ləv /
strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers
affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests.
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
- love | Greek: agape
- “Unprovoked love”
ROMANS 5:8 NASB
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Loving the loser, the winner and the adversary
I. LOVING “THE LEAST OF THESE”
MATTHEW 25:40 NIV
40 The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
GALATIANS 6:10 NASB
10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
JAMES 1:27 NASB
27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
“Loving “the least of these” are those where we benefit nothing in loving them and lose nothing in loving them.”
“I MADE YOU LUNCH”
“I made dinner for a hungry brother.”
“I stopped by the hospital to see how you were doing.”
“I held your baby so you could rest.”
“I chatted with you hoping to encourage you.”
II. ‘LOVING “THE MOST OF THESE”
“We are most threatened not by those who are different from us but by those who are most like us, but are just a little better.”
1 SAMUEL 18:7 NASB
7 The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”
1 SAMUEL 20:17 NLT
17 And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
III. LOVING “THE WORST OF THESE”
“We do not need God to love the lovely, but we so need God to love our enemy.”
LUKE 6:27-28 NASB
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
”When you love people who are like you, that’s ordinary. When you love people who are unlike you, that’s extraordinary. When you love people who dislike you, that’s revolutionary.” — Vaugn Roberts
”Our prayers may or may not change them or our situation, but it will certainly change us.”
“God is the source of love. Jesus is the proof of love. We are the agents of love in this world.”
What is biblical love?
As God’s “agents of love” we express agape love by:
1. Loving “the least of these.”
2. Loving “the most of these.”
3. Loving “the worst of these.
“God didn’t just tell us he loved us. He showed us by sending his Son into the world.”