Love Your Neighbor

 

Sermon Notes

An expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Matthew 22:35-40


So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
- Genesis 1:27-28


God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
- Genesis 1:31


When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.
- Leviticus 23:22


All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
- Acts 2:44-47


I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
- Revelation 21:3-5


For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
- 1 Peter 1:18-19


Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world.
- Teresa of Avila

Table Group Resources

Mixer

What is one thing that surprises you that you would be grateful for?

‘Neighborly’ - Daily Devotional

To get the Daily Devotionals delivered to you every morning, text ‘dailydevotional’ to 97000.

  1. In Pastor Harry’s 11/2/21 entry, Piling On, he describes a world that is more than happy to “pile on” someone who is down, to the point that it hurts. But Jesus stood against the crowd and did something different. Have you really sat down and thought about how Jesus did not “pile on” you at your worst? So, how can you do this for someone else this week - will you accept Pastor Harry’s challenge this week to stand against the crowd's quick judgment and... do what?

  2. In Pastor Pam’s 11/13/21 entry, Dusty Feet, she describes Jesus as inviting us to follow him, to go with him, to let the dust of the rabbi’s feet clothe us. Again, Jesus does something different and uses the unwanted things of life (dust, yoke of burdens) as good things. Have you embraced the yoke Jesus places upon you? How is his yoke different - do you feel enslaved or freed? What if you were to extend the yoke to a hurting friend - what would you do?

Sermon Questions

Scriptures: Matthew 22:35-40; Genesis 1:27-28, 31; Leviticus 23:22; Acts 2:44-47; Revelation 21:3-5; 1 Peter 1:18-19

  1. What impacted or challenged you in today’s message?

  2. On days like Veteran’s Day, we talk and reflect collectively about sacrifice and the laying down of one’s life for another. Read John 15:13. Talk about the magnitude of Christ’s ultimate example of laying down his life for you. Describe this kind of love and what is required for us to love like that?

  3. What are some practical ways that you [metaphorically] “lay your life down” for others?

  4. Pastor Jay said that most of the time, it is not love that we extend to others: we judge, ignore, are suspicious of, neglect, exploit, etc, our neighbors. What is one particular area in your life where you are ready to admit this is true? How will you change it?

  5. Are you feeling like a “Punctured Picasso”? Read Ephesians 2:10. Do you believe you have the same value in God’s eyes if your image were hanging up in the San Diego County Fair, and not The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC? How often do we allow a person’s environment to represent their value?

  6. As we say around here, “Jesus is for everyone.” If this is true, following Christ’s example, what does it look like to be for someone, and not against them? How does this look in your marriage, raising kids, your workplace, your interactions with the world?

  7. How does the Acts 2 church’s value of sharing everything they had (“What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine”) play out in a one-time event like Serve Day, or Pastor Jay’s church’s Beautiful Day? How can it become a post Serve Day call to action?

Go Deeper - with Goodbook

**Goodbook will be on break Nov 14 through the end of the year.**

Serve

Serve Day is Saturday, November 20th! There is still time to sign up!

Pray

Please pray over Serve Day for Saturday November 20. The Church at RB teams will be dispersed between Kit Carson Park, the Alabaster Jar Project’s Grace House, and Escondido City Hall. Pray for safe travels for everyone to and from, for safety, good health, and connection on the projects, and that all the people who will benefit from our efforts this Saturday will know that they are loved by a Heavenly Father!