Pastor Mark Mikels
\n– October 1, 2006<\/p>\n
“I WOULD
\nDO ANYTHING FOR THEM!”<\/p>\n
Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #2<\/p>\n
Intro … Last week we entered into the third phase of this spiritual
\nconstruction project we are involved in … the relational phase. I
\nsaid last week that this is the phase “where the fun starts” for this
\nis the phase where we begin to focus upon the quality of life that is
\nto be enjoyed by the family of God that lives inside the “Church” (the
\nhouse) that Christ is building right here in our midst.<\/p>\n
During the course of construction we will be examining several Biblical
\nRelational Directives (the “one anothers” of the Scripture) that
\ndescribe the kind of life God intends his family to experience.<\/p>\n
Last week we considered Biblical Relational Directive #1 …<\/p>\n
“Be Devoted To One Another In Brotherly Love” – Romans 12:10<\/p>\n
The title of last week’s message arising from that directive was …<\/p>\n
“These People Are So Special To Me !”<\/p>\n
Today’s Meditation is entitled … “I Would Do Anything For Them !”
\nand it grows out of Biblical Relational Directive #2 …<\/p>\n
Biblical Relational Directive #2 …<\/p>\n
“LOVE one another … AS I have LOVED you, you are to LOVE one
\nanother.”<\/p>\n
John 13:34<\/p>\n
Last week’s directive also included the concept of love but it was
\n“brotherly love” – a love based on family connection and affection.<\/p>\n
In today’s directive Jesus uses the word Agape (Divine Love) … and
\nthat choice stimulates the observation expressed in Today’s Key Concept
\n…<\/p>\n
Key Concept …<\/p>\n
“AGAPE has more to do with DOING than it has to do with FEELING.”<\/p>\n
Agape could be defined as “well-intentioned benevolence” … the desire
\nto see its object benefited or blessed in some necessary way.<\/p>\n
Three quick Biblical Examples …<\/p>\n
Biblical Example #1 … perhaps the most familiar verse of all.<\/p>\n
“God SO LOVED (agaped) the world that He GAVE…” – John 3:16<\/p>\n
God’s agape saw man’s need and stimulated decisive action … He gave
\nHis own son as a solution for man’s need. He set in motion things that
\nwould allow man’s need to be met.<\/p>\n
Biblical Example #2 … the events surrounding the last supper.<\/p>\n
“He now showed them the full EXTENT of His LOVE” – John 13:1<\/p>\n
As an object lesson of agape in action, Jesus humbled himself and took
\nupon himself the task of a lowly servant and “washed his disciples’
\nfeet”.<\/p>\n
Agape says, “If there’s a need in the lives of those I love and I can
\nmeet it, I will”.<\/p>\n
Now it was in the context of that incredible service to his disciples
\nthat Jesus gave the relational directive that we focus on today …<\/p>\n
“As I have (just) demonstrated my agape to you, you are to agape one
\nanother.”<\/p>\n
It’s interesting that John used the expression “full extent of his
\nlove” to describe not Jesus’ incredibly noble sacrifice on the cross
\nbut to describe his incredibly lowly sacrifice at the table.<\/p>\n
Is it possible that it takes “more love” or a “fuller understanding of
\nthe nature of agape love” to do the menial thing than to do the
\nextraordinary thing?<\/p>\n
It’s almost as though John were saying … “If Jesus would stoop to
\nwash our dirty feet, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for us – how great
\nmust be His Love!”<\/p>\n
The menial task doesn’t get the notoriety, the menial task doesn’t
\nrequire exceptional ability, the menial task doesn’t promise great
\nresult or benefit … it simply needs to be done and usually can be<\/p>\n
done by anyone – even by the Son of God!<\/p>\n
There is simply no missing John’s intention … we are to “agape” just
\nlike Jesus “agaped” – if there’s a need we can meet in the lives of
\nthose we love, then we are to meet it.<\/p>\n
Biblical Example #3 …”Jesus LAID down his LIFE for us ” 1 Jn. 3:16<\/p>\n
The Apostle John who, of course, experienced that final supper with
\nJesus wrote many years later to a brand new generation of believers …<\/p>\n
“This is how we know what agape is: Jesus Christ laid<\/p>\n
down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives<\/p>\n
(our possessions, our comforts) for our brothers.”<\/p>\n
Agape establishes a priority that says, “You are more important than
\nme” – if what I have can meet your needs, then I will put “my stuff” at
\nyour disposal. That’s exactly what Jesus did as he “laid down His life
\nfor us”.<\/p>\n
The Communion we share together this morning is intended to remind us
\nof that incredible agape love Jesus demonstrated on the cross. It is
\nalso intended to remind us of the directive Christ gave us to so love
\n(and serve) one another.<\/p>\n
Final Thot …<\/p>\n
People committed to LOVE are people committed to SERVE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastor Mark Mikels – October 1, 2006 “I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR THEM!” Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #2 Intro … Last week we entered into the third phase of this spiritual construction project we are involved in … the relational phase. I said last week that this is the phase “where the fun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[9,3],"archive_item":"http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com--church-under-construction---relational-phase-part-2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sp_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}