We love God

I tried to make it clear last week that the cry, “We are Harvest,” which also serves as the title of the series we’re currently in, is not a boast but an aspiration. It’s what we want to do and be. That is never truer than it is with this Sunday’s second instalment of the series, “We love God.” What a thing to declare given our proneness to fail in this simplest of expressions. We have so many reasons to love God and yet find it to be so difficult. This is true for us as individuals and as a church. In this message, we’ll look at two key passages—Matthew 22:34-38 and 1 John 4:16-19—that speak to not only our love for God but, more importantly, his love for us which makes our love for him possible.

Series: We Are Harvest
Message: We love God
Text: Matthew 22:34-38; 1 John 4:16-19
Pastor Todd Dugard
Harvest Bible Chapel
January 23, 2022

John 13:35

We love God…

…with all that we are (Matt 22:37)

The Great Commandment
Deuteronomy 6:5 - heart, soul, might
Matthew 22:37 - heart, soul, mind
Mark 12:30 - heart, soul, mind, strength
Luke 10:27a - heart, soul, strength, mind

The piling up of the terms “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” is just a way of saying “with your whole being” and is not intended to designate the component parts of human nature.
J. A. Brooks

…obeying the great commandment (Matt 22:36, 38)

It does not take much of a man to be a believer, but it takes all there is of him!.
Kent Hughes

1 John 5:3

…understanding that he is love (1 Jn 4:16)

Romans 5:8

1 Corinthians 13 Original: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13 Alternate: GOD is patient and kind; GOD does not envy or boast; GOD is not arrogant or rude. GOD does not insist on his own way; GOD is not irritable or resentful; GOD does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. GOD bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

…and because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)

1 Corinthians 13 Alternate #2: Harvest is patient and kind; Harvest does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. Harvest does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; Harvest does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Harvest bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.