Biblically Based, Christ Centered, Caring Community in Annapolis, MD
Christians love God because they are rooted in God’s grace which proceeds from God’s love. One of the highest expressions of Christian understanding is that we gather to worship the God who is Love and made us for love.
Colossians 2:6-7, Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Jesus emphasizes the greatest commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors. Genuine love always involves sacrifice, mirroring Christ’s ultimate act of laying down His life for us.
Matthew 22:34-40; John 15:13
Jesus taught that the heart of God’s Law is to love God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.
Mark 12:28-34
Our triune God serves because love is the foundational feature of His identity, and blessing flows when we receive His love and share it with others.
John 13: 1-17
God showed His love for us by sending His Son to sacrificially lay down His life for us, and we are to follow His example by laying down our lives for others.
John 15:13; 1 John 4:7-12
We should respond to times of sickness and suffering with faith in God rather than fear, and act with love for our fellow humans, looking for how God is working to draw people to Himself.
Psalm 46
Question 10: Can you summarize what God’s law commands you to do?
Answer: All the law is summarized in these two commandments: You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:34-40
Question 9: What has God given to teach you his demand?
Answer: God has given us His law, which is a reflection of His character, to teach us how to be perfect in holiness, love, and integrity.
Romans 2:14–15; Ezekiel 20:11; James 2:12
Question 8: What does God demand of you? Answer: God demands that I be perfect in holiness, love, and integrity.
Matthew 5:48
Question 7: What is God’s character like? Answer: God is perfect in holiness, love, and integrity.
Isaiah 6:1-8
Disciples love God with their whole being and express that love in worship with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Christians are called to walk according to their new nature, which requires being clothed in the virtues of Christ.
Colossians 3:12-17
Envy is a disordered love that is dissatisfied with the lack or perceived insufficient measure of gifts and vocations given by God, and which resents another person for the presence or greater measure of those same gifts.
Proverbs 14:30
Christians are called to holy ambition – not for fleeting fame but for praise of God for a quiet life of honest work and loving others.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
The church is to be a community overflowing with love, growing in holiness, as it waits for the return of Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
The church must test all teaching and reject false teachers, but it must also remain fervent in love for God and people.
Revelation 2:1-7
Jesus is the True Vine, bearing fruit where Israel failed, and those who remain in vital union with Him are fruitful to the glory of God.
John 15:1-8
Just as “God is Love”: so too, the church has received as our inheritance the mark of abounding love towards each other.
1 Thessalonians 4: 9-10
Authentic faith is rooted in regeneration and is displayed in an orthodox faith and in a willing, joyful life of obedience to God’s commands that overcomes the world.
1 John 5:1-5
Authentic love is based on the nature of the Trinity, revealed in Christ’s death, completed when Christian’s love one another, and gives confidence as we face the day of judgment.
1 John 4:7-21
Christians must walk in authentic brotherly love, following the example of Christ in their actions, which produces assurance before God.
1 John 3:11-24
Authentic Christian faith is seen not in the claim to know God, but in the fruit of faith – obeying God’s commands, walking as Jesus did, and loving other Christians.
1 John 2:3-11
As we have been blessed with God’s grace through Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to respond with grace to others in our relationships. God’s command to us for others is clear: Love others as He loves us.
1 John 4:7-11; 19-21
Because of the coming of Christ, God is with us, delivering us from our enemies and saving us from our sins, as He delights in us and sings His song of love over us.
Zephaniah 3:14-17
Due to a technical problem, the audio of this teaching was lost. However, the extensive teaching notes may be accessed below.
Christians need to grasp the love of Christ – which surpasses knowledge – discovering that God cannot love us more, nor can He love us less than He already does in Christ.
Ephesians 3:14-21