May 10, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for May 10th: Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17; Theme: Mother’s Day; Song: Blessed Assurance UMH 369 1 John: The essence of God is love. The essence of being a Christian is knowing how to love one another. This Easter season, we are being pounded with messages of love for one another. We are reminded that if we live our life in Jesus then it is easy to love others. We are reminded that it is not human nature to love. But Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we can indeed learn to love like Jesus loves, which is in turn how God loves us. There are still a lot of people in the world who don’t know what love is – it is the job of the church to show them. John: In the book of John, we are examining the I am statements. Jesus tells us step by step who he is, and why we should care. He is telling us that our salvation comes through him, and through his efforts. And that if we want to have a relationship with God, then we need to have a relationship with Jesus. Today, Jesus tells us that he is the vine, and that we are the branches, and that God is the vine keeper. But he goes farther than that. If God can take care of us through Jesus, then we are to take care of one another and God’s creation. He commands us to love. To learn to love sacrificially. But whatever we do in the name of the Lord is not a sacrifice, because we will always get it back! God will pay us back for the love we give to others. The command to love is not to give to others, but to invest in ourselves! Questions: What stands in the way of you loving others? What do you get in return when you are able to show love? How have you experienced God’s love in your life? How do you get your nourishment from Jesus for your life?