Welcome to this week's Weekend Sermon. I hope that you are all doing well.
Last week, we began a new series of messages that I am calling the way of Jesus. We saw that in the book of Acts, the first believers were called those who followed The Way. They followed the way that Jesus set before them. We also discussed that following the way of Jesus means doing what He did and following His example as we live our lives in this world. Following the way of Jesus also means obeying the teachings and the commandments that He has set out for us to follow in our lives.
Today, I want us to look at one aspect of following the way of Jesus. One thing that I believe all of us can agree on is the the way that Jesus taught us to follow is the way of love. The entire reason that Jesus came to this earth was because of love. He loved us so much that He came to this earth as a human being. He suffered and died for us so that we might be redeemed. He loved us, and He wanted us to be with Him for all eternity.
While He was on this earth, Jesus demonstrated that His was the way of love by the things that He did. For instance, Jesus demonstrated His love through His compassion. When Jesus saw people who were sick, He met their need. He healed those who were afflicted. In many cases, He freed them from ailments and disabilities that had beset them for their entire lives.
Jesus showed His love in other ways. He fed the hungry. On one occasion, Jesus fed 5,000, and at another time, He fed 4,000. He knew that they were hungry, and He did not want to send them away without eating lest some of them should faint on the way back to their homes. He loved people, and He wanted to make sure that their basic needs were taken care of. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that when we help the least among us, it is as if we were doing it unto Him.
Jesus made some important statements about the importance of love. He told us that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That means that we are to love God with everything that is within us. Our hearts deepest desire is to know God and to do those things that please the Lord.
Jesus went on to say that there was another very important commandment about love. He said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. That includes everyone. In order to illustrate this point, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable, the Good Samaritan is the only one who loved his neighbor. The others in the parable just walked on by and never provided the help that the robbed and beaten man needed.
Jesus demonstrated His love to those who were the outcasts and those who were looked down on by the rest of society. He dined with sinners and tax collectors. He told the disciples to let the children come to Him for of such were the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus allowed women to be among His disciples and He entrusted a woman with being the first one to share the good news that He had risen from the dead. This wasn't done in Jesus day. Women and children were considered second-class citizens, but Jesus didn't see it that way. Jesus touched the lepers who were despised and associated with shepherds and others of what were considered lowly occupations.
Jesus loved and loves everyone. He invited everyone to come to Him and experience His love. He said that whoever would come to Him, He would not cast them out.
What does all this mean for us today as we try to follow the way of Jesus? It means that we should love God with all that we have. We should put Him first because we put first in our lives what and who we love the most. We should be willing out of our love for the Lord to do what is pleasing to Him.
All of us need to love our neighbor as ourselves. We need to reach out and help others when we see them in need. That includes providing for them so that they have enough food, clothing and shelter. It means helping those who are sick and those who have a whole host of other needs that we can help to meet.
Following Jesus' way of love means loving everyone and inviting all to come to faith in Jesus. We must reach out to those who others pass by and let them know that Jesus cares about them. They may not feel that they are worthy of Jesus' love, but Jesus loves them. He loves you and He loves me.
All of us need to be filled with the love Jesus so that we can then spread the love of Jesus into this hurting world. We need to spread the love of Jesus in our families and into our friendships and other relationships. Jesus was the man of love who gave His life for us. He calls us to love others as He loved and to demonstrate His love in this world. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine.
Let us also pray for peace in the other troubled areas of the world including Syria, Yemen and Ethiopia.
Keep praying for Tonga. They are still trying to recover from the damage done by the volcanic eruption.
Pray that cases of coronavirus will continue to go down. Pray that those who are sick will recover.
Pray that the oppression of the poor and weak by those who think they are better than others will stop.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Cambodia and Saudi Arabia. Pray that many will come to know the love of Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will try to post a review or something midweek. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.
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