Here, Jesus answers a question posed by a religious leader who inquires, \u201cWhich law is the greatest?\u201d Remember, this lawyer was not just referring to the 10 Commandments. The Talmud, a collection of writings and commentary on the Torah, which is Old Testament Law, includes the first five books of the Bible. Recorded in the Torah are 613 laws given to Moses by God. 248 of these are positive commands\u2014\u201cdo this or do that\u201d\u2014and 365 are negative commands\u2014\u201cdon\u2019t do this or don\u2019t do that.\u201d So you can understand why the Bible said the lawyer\u2019s question was a \u201ctest\u201d intended to trap Jesus. “There are 613 laws, Jesus, but which is the most important?\u201d Well, Jesus answers him, \u201cLove God and love your neighbor. All other commandments flow from these two.\u201d According to Mark\u2019s Gospel, Jesus says: \u201c<\/em>There is no other commandment greater than these\u201d <\/em>(Mark 12:31b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love God and love your neighbor. Loving your community is the Great Commandment. What does loving your neighbor and your community look like? Let\u2019s begin by surveying what it does not<\/em> look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving your community does not mean sacrificing the truth you believe. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your community is filled with people that don\u2019t believe the same things you believe. Some people don\u2019t believe in God, and others worship false gods. Some people in your community hold different political views or views on gender and sexuality. But hear this; you are called to love everyone in your community. This is the command of scripture. Don\u2019t think for a moment that you should water down, in any way, the truth you believe about God, his Word, and upright Christian living. The gospel of Jesus fuels your love for your community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving people who disagree with you or live differently than you doesn\u2019t mean compromising your convictions. On the contrary, you must hold this tension, even when you face backlash, even when you are misunderstood, and even when people don\u2019t want to receive your love because you are \u201cintolerant.\u201d Yet, despite all of this, love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving your community doesn\u2019t mean meeting every need that is presented to you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen, there are a lot of needs in your community, and it’s impossible for you to meet them all. First, you don\u2019t have all the resources to meet every demand in your community. Because of this, you must be strategic about what you say \u201cyes\u201d to and what you say \u201cno\u201d to. Stewardship demands intentionality in your use of resources and volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, you’re not meant to do everything. In many cases, other churches in your area already meet specific needs. Many parachurch ministries are excellently meeting needs you simply cannot. Get to know them and send people to them. If a need is already being met somewhere\u2014even by another church or ministry\u2014great! This is worth celebrating! We\u2019re all on the same team. You don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving your community doesn\u2019t mean just doing good works.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most unloving thing you could do for your community is to meet physical needs through good works and \u201cministries\u201d and not share the good news that meets man\u2019s deepest spiritual need\u2014the forgiveness of sin and being made right with God! Again, look at the life of Jesus in Mark 2, where we see Jesus\u2019 healing of a paralyzed man. Jesus tells the man, \u201cSon, your sins are forgiven. Take up your bed, and go home.\u201d Spiritual healing preceded physical healing. This is how Jesus worked, and we must model his example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving your community doesn’t mean just talking.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as you take the love of Jesus and share it verbally, you must simultaneously show the love of Christ tangibly. This is where the power is\u2014in sharing audibly and showing Jesus\u2019 love tangibly. Remember what James said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n James 2:14-18 \u2013 \u201cWhat good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, \u201cGo in peace, be warmed and filled,\u201d without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, \u201cYou have faith and I have works.\u201d Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what you want. A faith that works. Our heads can grow big, but our hearts will grow cold if our hands aren\u2019t working for the Kingdom. Loving your community engages your hands and feet to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Love is expressed. You must say it, and you must live it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love is expressed in three primary ways: empathetically, actively, and sacrificially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Love is expressed in empathy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy is putting yourself in another person\u2019s shoes. Do you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? This parable is recorded in Luke 10:29-37 and serves as context for the Great Commandment. The Bible says a Samaritan stumbled upon a man who fell among robbers. These robbers stripped the man, beat him, and departed. Just before the Samaritan passed by, a priest and a Levite also passed by, seeing the man in need, but kept walking. Unlike the priest and the Levite, the Samaritan had compassion. In other words, he \u201cfelt\u201d something that the priest and the Levite did not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to love your community well, I encourage you to pray: \u201cGod, give me a sensitive heart to the needs around me. Don’t let me pass by those who need help in my community.\u201d When you see a need, ask the Lord, \u201cWhat am I supposed to do?\u201d Put yourself or a family member in that person\u2019s place and act accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Love is expressed in action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke 10:34 says this about the Good Samaritan: \u201c He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.\u201d He went<\/em> to him. There was a connection between what his heart felt and where his feet went. If you wonder what part you play in loving your community, think about this: Where do you feel the most? What pulls on your heartstrings? Is it with kids? Is it with individuals with disabilities? Do you enjoy teaching or coaching? Do you have a heart for senior adults or students? Is your heart sensitive to the needs of individuals suffering from mental health issues or substance abuse addictions? Do you long to see the needs of outsiders or immigrants met? God has wired you and given you life experiences, relationships, talents, and skills to advance his Kingdom. Consider where you can best serve to help meet needs like these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Love is expressed in sacrifice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Loving your community well is going to cost you. You will likely need to sacrifice comfort, convenience, money, and time, among other things. But, as you sacrifice these things, you will see God do incredible things to advance the Kingdom. Whatever the cost, advancing the Kingdom through making disciples and loving your community is worth it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If your church disappeared tomorrow, would anyone in your community know, care, or miss you? Would someone say, \u201cWhere did that church go? They were such kind people, always serving, giving, and meeting needs. When there was a flood, they were the ones that came over and mudded out my house. When I was hungry, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n What do an old man, an escaped criminal, and a Champion Forest trip to Kenya all have in common?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If we are going to make a maximum impact for Jesus in our generation and in the generations to come, then we have to be laser-focused on keeping the main thing, the main thing. For Champion Forest, this is the main thing: Advancing the Kingdom by making disciples, loving our community, and strengthening the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, let\u2019s unpack focus priority #1 and consider what it looks like to make disciples. But first, let me show you an important photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Insert photo of Mamma Lula and Pappa Buford]<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a picture of my great-grandparents Mamma Lula and Pappa Buford. You know my poppa was a boss with a name like Buford. Poppa Buford and Mamma Lula loved Jesus, and they probably had more of an impact on my family than anyone else. Pappa Buford was a contractor who built the church my dad\u2019s family worshiped in growing up, and he even sang in a southern gospel quartet. Most importantly, though, he and Mamma Lula taught my dad, in word and deed, the importance of following Jesus. It\u2019s safe to say that I probably would not have been raised in the church if it was not for this couple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I could share an extensive list of other people that have been a top influence in my life as it relates to my passion for and commitment to Jesus. I am who I am because faithful people invested in me, shared with me, inspired me, challenged me, and taught me how to follow Jesus. I bet, and certainly hope, that many of you could say the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could someone say this of you? That you have spurred others on to follow Jesus more closely? That you have challenged others to love Jesus more deeply? That you have encouraged and taught others to read God\u2019s Word and how to apply it to their lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd Jesus came and said to them, \u201cAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u201d (Matt. 28:18-20)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is known as \u201cThe Great Commission.\u201d It is a command and it is given to all people who have made the decision to follow Jesus. It is not a command given only to \u201cprofessional clergy,\u201d to seminary students training for ministry, or to some spiritually elite few. The Great Commission was given to every single person that places their faith in Christ, and following and fulfilling this command should be the priority of our lives. Everything else should be secondary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Great Commission is personal. Are you making disciples? It also has corporate elements. Is Champion Forest making disciples? In every ministry we engage in, in every life group that meets on our campuses, and in every program we initiate, we must ask the question: \u201cAre we making disciples? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Discipleship is a developmental process whereby believers intentionally pass on to others what they know, have experienced, and are learning so that others become more like Jesus. You can see in this definition that the amount of time you have followed Jesus does not matter. Sometimes we make excuses like, \u201cI don\u2019t know enough,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not ready yet,\u201d or \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know<\/p>\n\n\n\n where to begin,\u201d but these excuses don\u2019t cut it when we look at what Scripture teaches about making disciples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Discipleship doesn\u2019t need to be complicated either. When we disciple someone, we are simply passing on to them what we know, have experienced, or learned about Jesus. Even if you trusted Jesus last week, you know enough to share what you have learned and experienced about Jesus with someone else. You can share that you realized you were a sinner and that Jesus saved you when you placed your trust in him. You can share about the forgiveness and grace you found in Him. If you are spending time alone with Jesus, pass on what you are studying and learning in the context of a relationship \u2013 this is discipleship! Discipleship is a marked decision; it is a volitional choice. Choose to share what you know, have experienced, and are learning about Jesus so that others will become more like him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You say, Pastor Jarrett, I don\u2019t know where to begin making disciples. Well, let me tell you where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t make disciples until you are a disciple. You must turn from your sin and call on the name of the Lord \u2013 this is the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what Jesus did! He spent all night in prayer (Luke 6:12) before choosing his disciples. Who is it that God is laying on your heart that you could see yourself investing in? Start slow and ask God for one disciple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus selected tax collectors and fishermen. Once you select that person, just go to them and ask, \u201cWould you be willing to meet once a week or once every other week to read God\u2019s Word together and talk about what we\u2019re learning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This simply means you lead the way. If you ask them to read the chapter, you better make sure you read the chapter too. If you ask them to memorize a verse, you better make sure you memorize that verse too. And remember, this is not about a program, it\u2019s about a relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are interested in being discipled yourself, text \u201cmaking disciples\u201d to 77379 and our team will follow up with you to connect you with a discipleship relationship.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-life","tag-sermon","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat does Loving Your Community not<\/em> look like?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
How Do We Love?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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The Great Commission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is Discipleship?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Begin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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