We're not called to simply by nice, but to love one another because God first loved us. This message was given on April 10, 2016 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, please visit: www.newcitychurch.ca

1. Practice Resurrection:
Loving One Another
~ 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10~

2. Practice Resurrection
~ 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10~

3. Is it possible
that instead of
being a loving
person, you’re
just nice
?

4. Culturally…we are told to see
everyone as nice and to be
nice, but this is really a
sinister slippery slope toward
taking no one in the least bit
seriously. If we are only nice,
we do not truly appreciate the
other’s uniqueness and
potential blessing in my life.
We just walk by with a shallow
smile, wave, and nod.

5. If we are only nice, we have
yet to care for the wholeness
and well-being of the other. If
we are only nice, we take no
interest in the story that has
shaped their beauty, pain, and
even ugliness. And to our
great shock, we discover that
no one knows our story either.
Nor does it seem they care.
Our world is left to us desolate.

6. “Nice is an entirely unbiblical
notion.… Nice is a dismissive
term; the jargon of non-
relationship…. We are nice
strangers, indifferent and
tolerant from a safe distance.

7. Practice Resurrection:
Loving One Another
~ 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10~

8. 9 Now concerning brotherly love you
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
have no need for anyone to write to you…

9. “…brother love… ”
The Greek word is
philadelphia
(φιλαδελφία)

10. ~ The Apostle Paul in Acts 20:28
Pay careful attention to
yourselves and to all the flock,
in which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to care
for the church of God, which he
obtained with his own blood.

11. ~ The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:18-19
…you were ransomed from
the futile ways inherited from
your forefathers, not with
perishable things such as
silver or gold, but with the
precious blood of Christ.

12. 9 Now concerning brotherly love you
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
have no need for anyone to write to you,
for you yourselves have been taught by
God to love one another….

13. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in
him might not perish, but
have eternal life.
~ The Apostle John in
The Gospel of John, 3:16

14. This is how we know
what love is: Jesus laid
down his life for us. And
we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers
and sisters.
~ The Apostle John in 1 John 3:16 (NIV)

15. “If Christ had practiced
the kind of love we
advocate nowadays,
he would have lived to
a ripe old age.”

16. God’s love has been
poured into our
hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has
been given to us.
~ The Apostle Paul in Romans 5:5

17. We love because he first
loved us. If anyone says, “I
love God,” and hates his
brother, he is a liar; for he who
does not love his bother
whom he has see cannot love
God whom he has not seen.
And this is the commandment
that we have from him:
whoever loves God must also
love his brother.
~ The Apostle John in
1 John 3:16 (NIV)

18. 9 Now concerning brotherly love you
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
have no need for anyone to write to you,
for you yourselves have been taught by
God to love one another….

19. 9 Now concerning brotherly love you
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
have no need for anyone to write to you,
for you yourselves have been taught by
God to love one another, 10 for that
indeed is what you are doing to all the
brothers throughout Macedonia. But we
urge you, brothers to do this more and
more.

20. ~ The Apostle Paul in
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to give
thanks to God for you,
brothers and sisters, as it is
right, because your faith is
growing abundantly, and the
love of every one of you for
one another is increasing.

21. We’re not called to simply be nice,
but to love one another
because God first loved us.

22. Welcome One Another1

23. Welcome one another
as Christ has welcomed
you, of the glory of God.
~ The Apostle Paul in Romans 15:7

24. To all who are spiritually weary and seek rest,
to all who mourn and long for comfort,
to all who struggle and desire victory,
to all who sin and need a Saviour,
to all who are strangers and want fellowship,
to all who are broken and long for healing,
to all who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
and to whosoever would come,
New City Church opens wide her doors
and offers welcome in the Name of Jesus Christ.

25. ~ The Apostle Paul in
1 Thessalonians 2:8
Because we loved you so
much, we were delighted to
share with you not only the
gospel of God but our lives
as well.

26. Practice Hospitality1

27. “…seek to show hospitality….”
“Do not neglect to show hospitality….”
“Show hospitality to one another
without grumbling….”
~ Romans 12:13
~ Hebrews 13:2
~ 1 Peter 4:9

28. Hospitality involves
welcoming, creating space,
listening, paying attention,
and providing. Meals slow
things down. Some of us
don’t like that. We like to get
things done. But meals force
you to be people oriented
instead of task oriented.
Sharing a meal is not the only
way to build relationships, but
it is number one on the list.

29. I don’t think most Christians today
understand how essential
hospitality is to fanning the flames
of love and strengthening the
Christian family. Hospitality fleshes
out love in a uniquely personal and
sacrificial way. Through the
ministry of hospitality, we share
our most prized possessions. We
share our family, home, finances,
food, privacy, and time. Indeed, we
share our very lives.

30. So, hospitality is always costly.
Through the ministry of hospitality,
we provide friendship, acceptance,
fellowship, refreshment, comfort,
and love in one of the richest and
deepest ways possible for humans
to understand. Unless we open the
doors of our homes to one another,
the reality of the local church as a
close-knit family of loving brothers
and sisters is only a theory.

31. image credit: maxime raynal
https://www.flickr.com/photos/108892623@N02/18208923893/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
flickr images courtesy of:
other images used for educational purposes:
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/dinner-with-candles-in-the-gar-1520545
about
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-syrian-civil-war-a-global-game-of-thrones/
Ian Britton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/2747072912/
image credit: Christian Schnettelker
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manoftaste-de/14049520074/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

32. Lord, deliver me from being merely a nice person,
and remake me into a loving person
who extends the welcome of Christ to others
and who seeks to be a tangible expression
of the love of Christ to others.