A seminar led by Rod Thompson on Feb 15th 2011 at Pip n Jay Church in Bristol. We are considering how to get better at loving each other and our neighbours, and what God may be saying to us about this. More at http://www.pipnjay.org

1. SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF
GOD - LOVING
Pip’n’Jay 15 February 2011
1 18/02/2011

2. Seeking the kingdom objectives
 To understand God’s love and grace
 To grow in my love for God and his ways
 To consider how to love my neighbour
 To seek God’s heart how to serve
 To build God’s kingdom through love
2 18/02/2011

3. Seek God’s Kingdom here &
now, as individuals & together
 Think about Loving:  Pray to seek and
 Who? understand answers
 Why? for each of us:
 Where?  By study & discussion
 & How? of Bible verses
 By inspiration/leading
of the Holy Spirit
 Sharing experiences
3 18/02/2011

4. Jesus commands – Who to love?
 Mark 12 v Reading from verse 28 to verse 34
 V29: “ …the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength. The
second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these”
 & verse 34 “You are not far from the kingdom of God”
4 18/02/2011

5. What is it to love God?
 With all your heart and
 With all your soul and
 With all your mind and
 With all your strength
 = Every part of me!
5 18/02/2011

6. Why should I love?
 I respond to the grace of God
 I rejoice in the freedom of grace
 I use freedom to build up others
 I learn to serve others in love
6 18/02/2011

7. I use my freedom to ….
 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us
free” (Galatians 5:1) – Use the freedom.
 Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were
called to be free. But do not use your
freedom to indulge the sinful nature;
rather, serve one another in love.”
 & 5:14 “The entire law is summed up in a
single command: Love your neighbour as
yourself.”
7 18/02/2011

8. I respond in obedience to
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
 “Love is patient.  It is not rude,
 Love is kind.  it is not self-seeking,
 It does not envy,  it is not easily
 it does not boast, angered,
 it is not proud.  it keeps no record of
wrongs.”
8 18/02/2011

9.  “Love does not 1 Cor 13:4-7
delight in evil
 but rejoices with the
 It always protects,
truth.
 always trusts,
 always hopes,
 always perseveres.”
9 18/02/2011

10. How
to love?
 With all my heart
 As prompted by the
Holy Spirit
 By myself quietly
 With others as a
team
 Achievement &
brokenness
10 18/02/2011

11. From Ephesians 4:32 - Forgive
 “ Be kind and
compassionate to
one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ, God
forgave you.”
11 18/02/2011

12. Dear friends …. 1 John 4:7-12
12 18/02/2011

13. “This is how God showed his love among us; He
sent his one and only Son into the world that we
might live through him. This is love; not that we
loved God , but that
he loved us and sent
his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since
God so loved us, we
also ought to love
one another.”
13 18/02/2011

14. If we love one another ….
“No-one has ever seen
God; but if we love
one another, God
lives in us and his
love is made
complete in us.”
(1 John 4:12)
14 18/02/2011

15. Dear friends …. 1 John 4:7-12
15 18/02/2011

16. Who is God calling me to love
and where?
 “Do the thing in front of you” – Where I am
 God will give me the desires of my heart
 What passions has He given me to build His
kingdom?
 Where else might God lead me?
 In the world, at work and in my spare time
16 18/02/2011

17. God has given me a heart for ….
Examples of God’s leading – 3 Testimonies
17 18/02/2011

18. The heart of God & my heart
18 18/02/2011

19. The heart of God
 God’s concerns for the plight of the poor
 What does God expect from me?
 Love the world, be with the sick, the
afflicted and the prisoners
 Embrace biblical justice for the oppressed
 Reach out to the pain of the world with
the good news of Christ
19 18/02/2011

20. How well do we follow the
heart of God? Do we:
 Reach out to, welcome & support the poor?
 Feed the hungry? Welcome the stranger?
 Be with the sick and the afflicted?
 Visit and support the prisoners?
 Proclaim justice for the oppressed, the
persecuted and those in slavery?
20 18/02/2011

21. We serve God by serving
others – Colossians 3:23-24
“Whatever you do, work will receive an
at it with all your inheritance from the
heart, as working for Lord as a reward. It
the Lord, not for is the Lord Christ you
men, since you know are serving.”
that you
21 18/02/2011

22. “It is the Lord Christ you are
serving”; are we
 Bringers of the good
news of Christ?
 Willing servants?
 Practical love to our
neighbour?
 Known for our love for
one another?
 Building His kingdom?
22 18/02/2011

23. Actions in small groups
(Ready to share answers)
 Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance
 Read and meditate on the Bible verse(s)
 Answer one or two questions as a group
 Discuss examples of love experienced
 What is God teaching me?
 Be ready to share your group’s answers
23 18/02/2011

24. Seeking the kingdom objectives
 To understand God’s love and grace
 To grow in my love for God and his ways
 To consider how to love my neighbour
 To seek God’s heart how to serve
 To build God’s kingdom through love
24 18/02/2011