We have to start with love. Love for God. Love for the brethren. If there is no love, there will be no sense of what matters. If there is no sense of what matters (right choices), there will be no reason for a life of integrity (right conduct). If there is no life of integrity, there will be no glorifying God. It all begins with love!
Sermon Title: MARKED BY LOVE
Sermon Text: PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11
Sermon Series: WE ARE THE CHURCH
By: PTR. NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11 ESV
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
I Pray for You
I haven’t been to church since I don’t remember when
Things were goin’ great ‘til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill
and knocks you in the head like I’d like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know where ever you are honey, I pray for you
Love is the hallmark of faith. And it is also the hallmark of the faithful.
“The first mark of a true and living church is love.”
John Stott
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 ESV
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.
JOHN 13:35 ESV
35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.”
LOVE SHOULD BE ABOUNDING
PHILIPPIANS 1:9 ESV
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
abound | Greek: perisseuē
“go beyond the expected measure.”
PHILIPPIANS 1:21 ESV
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
GALATIANS 6:10 ESV
10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH.
1 THESSALONIANS 3:12 ESV
12 and may the Lord make you increase and ABOUND IN LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER and FOR ALL, as we do for you
Does your love abound for Christ and those who belong to the body of Christ?
LOVE SHOULD BE BOUNDED
PHILIPPIANS 1:9 ESV
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with KNOWLEDGE AND ALL DISCERNMENT,
knowledge | Greek: epignósis
“knowledge that lays claim to personal involvement.”
COLOSSIANS 3:9-10 ESV
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Love is rooted in the knowledge of God.
discernment | Greek: aisthésis
“to size things up, to cut through the hazy.”
What is the best way for me to love this person based on what the Word of God says?
The person who walks with Christ loves like Christ.
LOVE RESULTS IN RIGHT CHOICES
PHILIPPIANS 1:9-10 ESV
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ
approve | Greek: dokimazo
“put to the test, prove, examine.”
PHILIPPIANS 1:10 ESV
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
When we love well, we also choose well.
A fuller experience of love will lead to a finer evaluation of life.
LOVE RESULTS IN RIGHT CONDUCT
PHILIPPIANS 1:10 ESV
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
pure | Greek: eilikrinés
“unmixed, without hypocrisy; tested by sunshine.”
blameless | Greek: aproskopos
“to walk without stumbling.”
PHILIPPIANS 1:11 ESV
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Abounding love leads to godly choices and good deeds.
“A little neglect may breed mischief.
Poor Richards Almanac 1758
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of a horse, the rider was lost;
For want of a rider, the war was lost.
All for the want of a nail.”