Love Completely Series

Living a No-Regrets Life Series

Love Completely

July 12, 2009 FBC, Chester Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction

A If you only had a month to live, who would you want to spend time with, connect with?

1 Who do you need to apologize to?

a Who needs to be assured that you love them?

b What stops you from spending time & saying these words now?

2 Who would you want to thank today if you only had a month to live?

B In Genesis 2:18, it states it is not good for man to be alone! Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Gen 2:18 (NASB)

1 We’re built for relationships, friendships...that’s how we’re designed!

a Our desire is to have people at arm’s length & make it all about us.

b So it is for our entire lives-what we’re designed to do vs. what we desire to do.

2 The ONLY way we’ll ever see design trump desire is to experience God’s love for us.

a As much as we’re made to have relationships with other folks, people will never meet the need we have to be loved the way God loves us.

b He demonstrated His love in a way that changed history forever, & changes lives today.

C Let’s look at how we can live with others the way we were designed to by learning:

1 Money can’t buy you love, but love has a price.

2 Forgiveness is a bridge we can’t afford to burn.

3 Let’s pray

I Money can’t buy you love, but love has a price.

A The price is not measured in stock, but in sacrifice.

1 Love always means risking pain.

a When you love someone, get married, & discover how painful an all-out intimate relationship can be...if nothing else, the possibility that the other person may die someday.

aa Losing parents, kids grow up & move away

bb Friends move, relocate across country

cc We don’t stop loving them, but we can’t connect with them the way we want to.

b Pain is a part of any significant relationship.

c (IL) Drawbridge operator

aa

bb ...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Eph 3:17-19 (NASB)

2 Your problem isn’t that you don’t love God enough, if you don’t know how much God loves you.

a He’d have given His Son if it were only you; the drawbridge would have still been lowered if you were the only one on the train...at the expense of His only Son.

b That’s how much He loves you!

B Once you discover the Father’s love for you, you’ll discover new power to relate to others.

1 I’ve blasphemed, denied, dishonored, disappointed, & lied to Him...& He still calls me son!

a I don’t need people’s approval/validation, or permission to be “me”.

b Because God met my greatest need, I don’t have to put pressure on people to mean more to me than humanly possible.

II Forgiveness is a bridge we can’t afford to destroy.

A Forgiveness. Be angry , and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. Eph 4:26-27 (NASB)

1 Paul tells us not to carry our anger over 24 hours. Why?

a Our anger will morph into bitterness, & bitterness blocks blessing.

aa We get at people, God

bb We’ve got to deal with it! If we don’t, it deals with us.

b The Lord’s Prayer: “...forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

aa Do we really want God to answer this part of the prayer?

bb Do I want God to forgive me to the extent I forgive others?

cc When I understand how much Christ has forgiven me, it’s a whole lot easier to forgive others who hurt me.

c Confess it & ask for forgiveness (healing starts).

aa Breathe out bitterness & breathe in forgiveness.

bb You can’t breathe bitterness for any length of time without causing severe damage.

d For the Christian, forgiveness isn’t an option...it’s commanded!

aa ...bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Col 3:13 (NASB) He could have gone all day without saying that!

bb (IL) “as needed” printed on a bottle of medicine, should also be on this verse.

cc We chose obedience, repeatedly, as necessary.