Love MORE and MORE s8e11 1thes4:10

How's your love life?  Paul addresses the topic with the new church at Thessalonia.  He notes that it is to be characterized by GROWTH.

How's your love life? Is it characterized by withdrawal, not engaging, not risking, not serving, weariness, disappointment, abandonment, holding at arms length, and perhaps a bit of decay? Paul encourages here; admonishes a bit.

Love for the brotherhood and sisterhood is to be marked by growth.  That is, we should be having or finding a people to love. Our posture should be to lean into these people more and more.  Who are the people, not at arms length, but within my arms? 

A good question today: More and more love or less and less?  Let's enact a more and more policy starting today. Join me tomorrow on your favorite podcast provider by signing up at Apple podcasts, google, Spotify, Deezer etc. bewithme.us

Transcript

Michael Smith: 0:01

Good morning, my brothers and sisters Welcome to Episode 11 Be with me and book a First Thessalonians. I'm going to title today, more and more love versus less and less love or versus the same insane love. Paul is asking the Thessalonians to remember that they have been taught by God to do something and he's just encouraging them and urging them to keep going. Here it is from First Thessalonians chapter four verses nine and 10. Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. For that, indeed, is what you were doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you brothers to do this more and more. That's it for today. Because there's so much in here. So the topic is brotherly love and of irony right off the bat. Paul says you don't have anybody to need to write to you for this. While he is writing to them exactly for this because he does have some things to say about this. The most amazing is that it's that he taught by God Oh, to be able to say that your teachers God think about that. Thinking about my old my best teachers, I was thinking Mr. Norwell and Mrs. A Quino we're learning was a joy. Now that doesn't mean the expectations weren't high. There was high touch personal care, but an urgency Hey, we only have a semester we got a lot to get through. There's a lot of material. So I was thinking about God being our tutor, how much would you pay to have God be your tutor to review your work to be your life coach? Oh, my goodness. Alright, so the topic is. So I'm thinking about the Watson hows and whys. And who's the what that would the topic we're talking about is loving one another. And how are we to love one another? Well, it's a way that God has been teaching us. He says he's going to, he told us in the Old Testament, he's going to put his law within our heart and write it on our hearts. John 1423, one of my favorites says, We will come to him. This is the Trinity talking basically, that's the weak part, we will come to him and make Our home with him. So the Holy Spirit and the Lord makes us home with us now. And the idea here is he's going to move a few pieces of furniture around, he's going to change a few things, the things he writes on our heart. So he not only writes on our heart, he writes on paper, we have the word. And then we have the people, the people of God to sort of help help steer us and that's what the Paul is doing for the Thessalonians here now by writing them and acting as a little conscience for them. His presence, God's presence in your heart is for a purpose, which is to not just to know but to grow and to and to show it. Alright, so why are we taught by God? Is it just to know it? No, it's to do it. Who am I duties? Who am I? Who are they owed? Well start with the church. The people in this passage are the brothers, the brothers in the church, brothers and sisters. Then if you can over if you don't have that, stop what you're doing and start doing that. And then if you have extra, and you want to join the PTA and you want to coach a basketball team, then then fine. Alright, I want to camp on this little phrase here, the more and more part about us. So how is it a way that my love for one another's is to be characterized? Well, the answer is more and more. So if we ask the question, well, how's your love going? The answer should be more and more. Knowing more. Thinking more praying more and acting more. It's a forward I'm thinking about a forward thinking. Are you moving forward in your love towards the church? Are you taking more risks? Are you challenging yourself and staying on the cutting edge? Are you stretching? Your love life, your church love life? In other words, is it characterized by growth? You know, the, that plants? How do you know if something is alive? It's actually a very interesting biological question. And the short answer is that something has to be growing. And that's what Paul is saying is I want, if we look at the growth, if we look at the life of your love life, it should be characterized by the more and more verses think about this. Death or decay. So there are people listening here today whose loved life is, is characterized by withdrawal, or not engaging, not risking, maybe not even looking frustration, weariness, disappointment, disagreement, which leading to a separation or holding the church or holding brothers or holding sisters or holding them at arm's length versus holding them in your arms. So, a question that we should ask is, who is in your arms? What are the names of the people that are in your arms from the church, or even just hey, just let's start with this, give me the name of the church, the people of God that are within your name, or if you want to get more specific, well, what ministry is within your church within your arms that you are stretching towards engaging in leaning into them doing the more and more with who is in your arms? Another good question, I just recently went to a funeral, the 90 year old plus person. And the thing that was called out over her over and over was she finished well, so even at 90 plus years old, amidst all the challenges of the decline of being 90 years old, the thing that was said about her was more and more she loved more and more finished, well finished that way in the family, her personal family and in the in the family of God. So a call today is Hey, have some people to love. And if you don't have a body, to love the sunny Sunday, go get one and if you don't like the one you run into, ask them there is hey, this isn't the place for me. Can you recommend another church that's really get the best recommendations for churches and ask yourself Does my love life of people in the church? Is it characterized by the more and more verses the less and less My encouragement today? Go love? More and more. Thanks for listening