All You Need Is Love

Series: The Names of God

 Aired: Sunday Nov 25 2012

Title: “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE”

 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is the truest expression of the Christian life, but for many of us, it is the area that we lack the most in. With the hectic pace and pressures today, we can become so preoccupied with our own world that we fail to love one another. This week, Author and Bible teacher, Charles Price, presents a single message about love that is absolutely fundamental to the working of God in our lives; so much so, that anything done without love negates the purpose and validity of it.

There are many passages in Scripture that speak of loving one another. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…” (Romans 13:8). “…Love one another deeply from the heart.” (1 Peter 1:22). “Let us love one another, for love comes from God” (1 John 4:7). Loving one another is essential to the outworking of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1-3, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor, and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

In our society, the word ‘love’ covers a multitude of things with varying connotations.  To say, “I love my wife” would be far different from saying, “I love chocolate” or “I love my car.” In the Greek translation of the Bible, the word ‘love’ is also multi-faceted and uses three different words to describe it. “Eros”, is used for romantic love or sexual attraction. It’s where our English word ‘erotic’ comes from. The word ‘phileo’ is to have warm affection and friendship towards one another. The city of Philadelphia consists of two Greek words – philea and delphia, which means brotherly love. The third word is ‘agape’, and speaks of the love of God, which is the highest love; one that is freely given and does not depend on being reciprocated.

One of the best definitions of ‘agape’ love is found in Philippians 2:2-4 where Paul writes, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (NAS). This is a love that puts the needs of others first, is conceived in humility and born of the Spirit of Christ.

Paul writes this letter to the Corinthian church, clarifying the love of Christ, because they were likely the most immature in both their need for love and of loving one another. Numerous problems existed, especially one of division. Some were saying they follow Paul; others were saying they follow Apollos; others following Cephas (Peter) and still others following Christ. Paul answers them. “Is Christ divided? Was I crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” In other words, “You folks are experiencing quarrels among you because you have aligned yourselves to personalities, and when you do that, you have division.” Defining ourselves by who we like and support will create divisions. The Christian church is defined by the centrality of Jesus Christ and by the work of the Holy Spirit, following God’s agenda. Love derives from Christ, Himself, being Lord amongst His people, who are His church.

Paul said to the church in Corinth, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:27).  Paul consistently talks about Christ, the power of His resurrection, how to grow in Him and know Him better. He talks about being reconciled to God through Christ and about His indwelling Spirit working in us and through us. Anything other than Christ that becomes the criteria will divide, because that only leaves us with different opinions and preferences which conflict each other.

The Corinthian church also had a problem with discipline. There was sexual immorality, suing each other in court, getting drunk and feasting at the Lord’s Supper, which is meant to be a meaningful tribute in memory of Christ. They were fighting over spiritual gifts that were not demonstrated in love. They were withholding financial contributions, and in doing so, were saying, “God, you can have my life, but not my money.”

They were also arguing over their doctrine and neglecting some of the most fundamental essentials of the Christian church. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” They needed to understand this, prioritize it and know that it is the life of the risen Lord who indwells them. In the heart of his letter, Paul says, “But unless what you do is an expression of love, all it will be is a noise; empty, clanging cymbals that will accomplish nothing.

The ultimate expression of love is godliness, and that is because God is love. Paul describes love as patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1Corininthians 13:4-8). Were we to replace the word ‘love’ with Jesus Christ and say, “Jesus Christ is patient and kind. He does not envy, He does not boast….” that would stand up wonderfully true, but how would we fare were we to replace the world ‘love’ with our own name?

Love is the fruit of the Spirit Christ is intent on producing in us. The effectiveness of the Church of Jesus Christ is not measured by the fact we have programs and strategies in place, or even money contributed to worthy causes. It is measured by the fact we do these things in love for others, and people are not becoming the beneficiaries of a hundred dollar cheque or a new coat or a prayer book as much as they are becoming a beneficiary of Christ’s love.

Juan Carlos Ortis was a pastor of a church in Buenos Aries with a membership of 300 that had grown rapidly to a membership of 1,000 people. But one day, while driving past a cemetery, Pastor Ortiz realized that the church wasn’t actually growing, but simply getting fat. He said something to the effect that the church used to have 300 unloving Christians, but now they have 1,000 unloving Christians and all that is is spiritual obesity.

He had prepared a message on love, but began to feel quite strongly that he shouldn’t deliver it. Instead, he stood at the pulpit and said, “Brothers and sisters, my text this morning is “Love One Another”.  He remained there for two minutes without saying another word. Then he closed his Bible and sat back down. Two minutes later, he stood up, repeated the same words and sat down again. He did it a third time and the congregation felt uncomfortable. Then someone turned to the person seated beside him, and whispered, “Is there some way I can love you? Is there something I could do for you?” Then someone else turned to someone beside them, and before you knew it, the whole church came alive with people talking.

Twenty-eight unemployed people went home with jobs that day. Single parents went home with another family prepared to help them out. Though the church had lost 300 people, Pastor Ortiz felt he didn’t have the freedom to preach a sermon yet, and persevered with the same message for three months. Then came the announcement of a new message, which received applause. “Love Your Neighbour As Yourselves”. Again, he closed his Bible and sat down. Someone got up and went out the door. Others followed until the entire church was empty. These people had driven home, knocked on their neighbour’s door and began to help them out in whatever way they could. This had a tremendous impact in the community and completely changed the role of the church. Calls kept coming in. “Is this the church that cares about people?”

Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:46-47) Jesus loved everyone, and it is His love in us that must flow through us to touch and transform the lives of those around us.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” - John 13:34 .

This message is from the site: http://www.livingtruth.ca/

By: Charles Price from Living truth.

WHAT GREAT REFORMATION

The Protestant Reformation

 

Hello dear facebook friends. Perfect peace be multiplied unto you this day. Like usual, it’s an honour to be able to use this space with lots of love and respect to bring you the Gods´ Holy Word! I would like to thank all friends that follow our posts here! May God bless you always! And just to give you a heads-up this article will be long, alright? I do believe this is the longest message that I have posted here, but, we do believe that you will be blessed by it!

 

AS ALL OF YOU KNOW, OCTOBER THE 31ST IS THE DAY WE REMEMBER THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. Ah, Martin Luther! You should be able to see what went on since then! But...

Let’s refresh our memories what this it is all about:

 

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reformist movement started in the early sixteenth century by Martin Luther, publishing his 95 Theses, in October 31st /1517 at the door of the Church at the Castle of Wittenberg, he protested several points of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church , proposing a reformation in Roman Catholicism. The fundamental principles of the Protestant Reformation are known as the Five Solas. The Five Solas are Latin phrases that appeared during the Protestant. And are the fundamental principles of the Reformation in contradiction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the time. The Latin word "sole" means "only".

 

The Five Solas synthesised BASIC THEOLOGICALCREEDS of the reformers, PILLARS which they believed to be ESSENTIAL OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AND PRACTICE. All five implicitly rejected or countered the teachings of the then dominant Roman church, which was in the minds of reformers encroached upon divine attributes or qualities for the Church and its hierarchy, especially his superior, the Pope.

 

THE FIVE SOLAS ARE:

Sola fide - only faith

Solus Christus - Christ only.

Sola gratia - grace only.

Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God only.

Luther was supported by several religious and European leaders provoking a religious revolution, which started in Germany, and extending through Switzerland, France, Netherlands, UK, Scandinavia and some parts of Eastern Europe, especially the Baltic countries and Hungary. The response of the Roman Catholic Church was the movement known as the Counter Reformation or Catholic Reformation, initiated the Council of Trent. The result of the Protestant Reformation was the division called: The Church of the West between the Roman Catholic and the Reformed or Protestant, originating the PROTESTANTISM.

 

Well. Far from me to criticize or to bully those dared in history to break with religious traditions and "rigidities in respect Christians" to accomplish this Revolution that culminated in the Protestant Reformer! I'm not here to be sarcastic or disrespectful with our history, but we cannot deny that Martin Luther had to be able to see what the Reformation resulted in our Century!

 

After much struggle, many persecutions, so much bloodshed and much dedication and effort of the church fathers... We come to our century, "proud" of being Protestants! In reality, I think is that we are hitchhikers on the bandwagon! Today, perhaps someone dares to brag because we are Protestants, but the TRUTH is; we are in NEED OF ANOTHER REFORMATION! WE need to recognize that the Protestant Church has truly grown; we have seen many souls surrender at the Feet of Jesus. Protestant Churches are multiplying largely in Brazil and in the entire World, but, we are far away from the BASIC CREEDS OF THEOLOGICAL REFORMATION!!

 

How could we withdraw so far away? Did we evolve? Nothing! In the objective of reformulating which needed no amendments, we have departed from SIMPLICITY! We created a Pyrotechnic Protestantism! A "PENTECOSTAL FANTASY ISLAND" where many live on deception.

 

If the Founders of the Church were still with us, they would have a heart attack! They must be turning in their graves! Because what we see in Protestantism today it is reproachful! We no longer protest but now we agree with everything, we follow the wave of quick success! Far from being a repetitive, but without ceasing to be, WE FAIL TO TREAT SIN AS SIN! WE ARE "SELLING INDULGENCES" IN A MORE SOPHISTICATED WAY! Nowadays we even have little machines for credit cards in our services for those who want to make a donation to the Church or tithing! Our Churches have become major centers of entertainment and people are invited not to know and receive Jesus, but to participate in a SHOW!

 

Our children are taken out from the Worship and entertained to be distracted with frivolous things by people who are unprepared and without Fellowship with God, where in the little rooms are imposed films and cartoons, often, not Christians, a true model of lack of commitment and vision of the Kingdom of God. Our teenagers in order to be attracted are taken watch movies disguised as worship, where they dance the forró music or funk! Our young people do not pray anymore, no longer preach, quite a few of them do not even carry a Bible anymore to the Church!

 

From the Church Worship, they go to "ballads", “parties” where nobody is nobodies! Our adults are there watching and standing still, doing nothing. Waiting for something they do not quite know what it is! Our old, frustrated with the innovations ... We still we hear rumbles from some which resist the new trends! But what are they facing this great elephant called CONTEXTUALISATION?!

 

And what can we say about the leaders? Our leaders, the exact ones that rejected Luther, the keep on going on to PROUD to listen to the “complaints” of the low class! They are too occupied in the meeting rooms with air conditioning on; in their luxury cars, on their jets ... In their "prosperity meetings", they "shake" the people, manipulate the masses, huge crowds! And whoever dares to disagree is frozen or cooked to the "slow cooker"! Lives are not prioritized; right now the thing at the current time is to manage things!

 

Then, we follow in this erring conflicting and infamous entanglement of emotions! To receive any attention of these, only if one has some "rubbles" or being influential, otherwise you do not receive a compliment or any attention at all! They choose who is helpful to their "expansion plans", their disciples and cooperators cannot think or disagree, only perform, because they need to be loyal to the Vision and to the Leader! A "long live" our "the colonels"!

 

And what about our Worship meetings? Ahhh... Anything similar to what the people of Israel offered to God in the first chapter of Isaiah would be a compliment! We are better! We managed to overcome the displeasure to the People of that time! Now, we use Light Show; we have songs for breakthrough; we have temples have air conditioned and cozy with ample parking and everything else! We even have Mini Shopping’s and Food Court! We have absolutely everything, except God! We have the latest technology, but we have no Anointing! We have overwhelming emotions with the songs; but we do not have any submission to God, no humbleness! We have so much emphasis on the words, but we do not have any Conversions! We have so many changes and improvements but we have no TRANSFORMATION of Lives!

 

The best ones we have are "gospels show artists gospels"; walkway of fashion; behavioral tendencies; lust and disrespect to the place of worship to the God who is Holy! ... Innovations which reveal the desperation of the necessity of self-assertion and reveal our "partnership" with the world! Our hymns today are true "Battlefield" where "whoever humiliated you will be humiliated!" "Whoever saw you fallen right now will have to put up with you smiling!" "Whoever despised you, will see you on the Stage being applauded Standing up!" We are in constant battle among Christians. One always trying to be better than his brother, or sister. We desperately are seeking for honour and for recognition, and in the middle of this battle, love is something dispensable! No one cares to pulling the rug out from underneath each other and thus way here we go on the "Chariot of Luxury".

 

We abandoned the Sacred Hymns; forgot those songs that had message inspired by God! That shook the heart and the soul and not the body! What we have today is rhythm and nothing else! Noise of "Empty Cans"! We are in the market now, folks! The interesting thing is to be a "commercial" and not spiritual! With all such atrocities, the Holy Spirit, (remember him?), Is far ... Grieved! Isolated of everything, as faced with so many opportunities and sensations to explore , we no longer have time for Him in our Worship, in our lives, and in our homes ... THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WE NEED URGENTLY A PROTESTANT REFORMATION! There is no doubt that we are on the verge of complete chaos and, far from being apocalyptic, tragic and pessimistic, we are living just about a TOTAL COLLAPSE of Evangelical Institution in the World!

 

Do you want to confirm this? Look at the Cradle of REFORMATION! As Europe is today we are going to be tomorrow in terms of spirituality and Revival! It is not surprising the fact that on a everyday bases we face more and more uprisings against the Church, through policy, through activists and many more! We abandoned the BASIC TEACHINGS OF THE REFORM! We urgently need to get back to the "Five Solas"! And look I am summarizing the situation, because I know many who will read this article will bring even much more of what's happening in the midst of Protestants! Today, October 31, is Reformation Day, we have much to celebrate! We should follow the counsel of God through Joel: “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” – Jl. 2:13.

 

We should come back to first love and observance of God's Word! I know all this PROTEST may be insignificant in compare of such need, know that I can be being execrated now, this very moment that you, Dear reader, meditate on these lines of desperate outburst! But I cannot deny our Protestant Origins! Today, October 31st, we should be visiting a grave of PROTESTANTISM! Because the Prophets of God are being pruned and despised in the House of the Lord! We urgently need a PROTESTANT REFORMATION.

 

Of a REFORMATION that brings us back to God, which will make us recognize our miseries and our omission before so many needs! We need a REFORMATION that will awaken to be that for which God has called us! That will transform us into soul winners for the Kingdom of God! A REFORMATION of our VALUES AND OUR CHARACTER! We need a OVERALL REFORMATION and make us return to the ROOT of PROTESTANTISM ! Today, October 31st , we are not worthy of celebrating! We cannot boast of having done something to add to our fathers work. In their time, they had no paraphernalia technology as we have today! In their time, they travelled absurd and inhumane distances to take the Lord's Supper to a soul! In their time, was shed blood and they gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel! In their time, shead tears! At their time they studied the Bible in search of messages Revealed by God, not by Google!

 

In their time, they had the Fear of the Lord ! At their time, there was more love ...

May God help us beloved! May God have mercy upon us and give us grace so we can stand up and be as He called us to be. Our objective here is going to be reached if, at least, one Christian will be awakened! Our objective here is to make visible the Will of God to the hearts that cry out for a RESPONSE in such difficult times! Our objective here is to make you reflect in the real needs of Gods´ Kingdom! In this kingdom, there is no room for luxuries nor disputes! There is neither place for pride nor place for boasting! In this Kingdom, there is no room for lies and politicizing’.

In Gods´ Kingdom there is Room for the “WASHED E REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS! If we were living this kind of REFORMATION, than we could say: WOW, WHAT A GREAT REFORMATION!!

 

Stay in the Perfect Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pr. Paulo Giovane S. Fonseca.

Translated by: Antonina Penner.

I want to share the Newsletter with You from Living Truth

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Dear Antonina, I am writing today with good news. Last year we asked you to help us translate Living Truth into Spanish. Once translated, your support enabled us to begin broadcasting in Latin America. Today, we air in 26 Spanish-speaking countries. Yet, in many ways, our work is just beginning. As a supporter of Living Truth, you already know that we are focused on bringing the Living Word of God WORLDWIDE, supporting pastors, church leaders and believers. In each language and each nation, our prayer is to make disciples – not just bring the Bible – but to make disciples. Many Christian leaders consider disciple-making the greatest challenge facing the Church today. In Latin America the Church is growing extremely fast. While we celebrate the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit, we recognize that now is the time to teach these new Christians so that they can grow in their walk with Christ. Failure to shape their worldview and lifestyle through Biblical teaching will cause many to fall away into unbelief or false teaching. In places where the Church is growing rapidly, there is a crisis of leadership. Men and women are following the call of God, but they lack the resources they need to be trained. Solid Scriptural teaching is lacking in many regions. The church is growing very rapidly. Today we are asking you to join us as we expand into Spanish-speaking countries. Whether you give $100 or $10,000, your gift will be used for Bible teaching and discipleship ministry throughout Latin America. This summer I visited Chile and Colombia. I want to tell you that my spirit was filled with joy as I walked alongside church leaders in each of these nations. Yet, the incredible need broke my heart. In my home, on my bookshelves, I have hundreds of resources. I have the privilege of reading the writings of great men and women of God as they encourage, teach and admonish. This is not the case in all countries. In both countries we visited, Christian leaders struggled to make do with a tattered copy of the Scriptures. I would like to walk through both countries, quickly giving you a glimpse of their need. The nation of Chile is in the midst of transformation. The political movement from dictatorship to a democracy is opening many doors. The country and its people are moving on from a scarred past. In the 1970’s and 80’s, the country was deeply affected by Pinochet’s reign of terror. As many as 80,000 people were tortured or murdered. Many others ‘disappeared’ or were forced to leave the country. Today, Chile is plagued by social problems. Young girls have struggles and one out of every seven is a mother before she is fourteen. Crime, drug abuse and materialism are all on the rise. Poverty is widespread. Democratic structures have grown strong, but much progress is still needed for a fair, just and prosperous Chile to emerge. Forgiveness and grace are essential for this to happen. Chile needs the Gospel. Evangelical Christians used to be persecuted in Chile. Now, they’re in a position to play a pivotal role in Chilean society. Christians are participating in government and there is even an official Evangelical public holiday. Today Chile is very open to the Gospel. Andres Carrasco is a man with a calling. He’s walking the length of Chile, knocking on every radio station door, asking them to broadcast Living Truth. You see, he understands that many of the people are illiterate or have no access to a Bible. Through the radio broadcasts, they can hear the Word of God regularly. He knows the power of the Scriptures. For a long time he prayed that there would be something that would help disciple new Christians. Living Truth was an answer to his prayers. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans believed that somewhere in the New World there was a place of immense wealth known as El Dorado. It supposedly had unlimited gold. Spanish explorers heard stories about a tribe of natives high in the Andes Mountains in what is now Colombia. When a new chieftain rose to power, his rule began with a ceremony at Lake Guatavita. To this day, people go to the lake to immerse themselves to appease the Guatavita gods. New believers blend ancient myths with Christianity instead of looking to Christ alone. The result is an idolatrous religious practice full of fear and uncertainty. Some pastors in present day Guatavita look to Living Truth to help them open the eyes of people who are enslaved to these kinds of myths and legends. Julio Duarte and his wife, Vicki Garcia have faced many hardships while trying to bring the Truth to the people of Zipaquira, in the Andes Mountains. Here, we see the influence of myth and tradition. Julio and Vicki were ready to give up before Living Truth offered much needed resources for their growing church. Making Desciples At the time of Christ, when Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, there were an estimated 200 million people alive on planet earth. Today, the World Bank reports a global population of almost seven billion people. Yet, in spite of the massive population increase, our world has become a village. Through television, radio and internet, we are able to reach millions of people. In fact, every Sunday morning the Living Truth broadcast is seen in 40 countries of the world. You could never do that back in earlier centuries. We have been given the responsibility to go into the world and preach the gospel, but notice go into all the world, not just go to the world. This is not megaphone evangelism where you go and just shout it to people. Go into the world – that is incarnational. We are to go into the communities and the lives of the people to which we are to take this gospel. Evangelism today has many facets. Television is useful where people have access to a broadcast signal and the resources to buy a television set. Books, CDs and DVDs can be used in Bible study groups. Solar powered audio players are in much demand by people who cannot read. A web site is a resource for videos, transcripts, daily devotionals and study guides for literally millions of Spanish-speaking populations. I ask you to join us in our Bible teaching and discipling ministry. Please use the form enclosed to send your special gift. We cannot go, personally, to every man, woman and child. But we can take the Good News, the Word of God to equip men and women whom God has called, giving them solid Biblical resources to use in their ministries. We are a part of a global work that God has orchestrated. Join us by sending your gift today. Yours in Christ, Charles Price Living Truth/The Peoples Church P.S. I am grateful for your support. For God is opening many doors, giving us an opportunity to work together for the glory of Jesus Christ. HELP US SHARE THE LIVING TRUTH OF GOD Purchase a CD or DVD set now