“Cleansed”
1. We are currently studying the mission of our Church. Our mission calls us to Love, Live, and Lead Like Jesus. We see an example of Jesus loving in John 13. John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.⁴ So He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet… How does it affect you when you think about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet as an expression of His love for them? If we are to love like Jesus, our love needs to be visible. The people we love should see our love for them and feel our love for them. Share a time when someone loved you with a visible expression. How did it make you feel? Do you feel comfortable making your love visible? Discuss how you might make your love for others more evident and apparent.
2. It can be overwhelming as we think about loving like Jesus. Jesus demonstrates perfect love, and we know we are not perfect. How could we even hope to love like Jesus? 1 John 4:19 may provide some clarity. 1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us. We can only love like Jesus when have experienced His love for us. I think we need to be consistently receiving His love. Do you agree that we are more likely to love like Jesus if we regularly receive His love? Romans 5:5 says something interesting about receiving God’s love. Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Share a story of when you felt in touch with God’s love, when it was poured into your heart.
3. If regularly receiving God’s love is vital to our ability to love like Jesus, then we must understand how to do it. Do you agree? Jesus did an excellent job modeling how to position ourselves to receive God’s love. Examine these two verses: Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. We see three principles in these verses that will help us pursue God. The first, is prioritizing time with God. Mark 1:35 reveals that Jesus got up very early in the morning. This tells us that He prioritized His time with God instead of sleeping in, a big breakfast, sending time with His disciples, or anything else. Just for clarity, I don’t think time with God has to be in the morning, but I believe it must be a priority. Is it a priority for you to spend time with God? If you honestly would say that it is not a priority, what needs to happen for you to make it a priority?
4. Jesus removed distractions, entered nature, and spent time alone with God. Mark 1:35 says that He went off to a solitary place. Luke 5:16 reminds us that He withdrew to lonely places. How might those three things (removing distractions, going into nature, and being alone with God) affect your ability to connect with God and receive His love for you?
