Author: Laurin

Alan wrapped up his series on Living the Great Commandment by teaching us how to love our neighbor as ourselves. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included some notes and links to Scriptures Alan references. 😊

Living the Great Commandment, pt. 6

Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:36-40

Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself

The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)

Four Questions About Loving Your Neighbor

1. How is the first part of the Great Commandment connected to the second part?
   • You cannot carry out the second part of the commandment without first carrying out the first part. Only loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength can sustain us in loving others.
   • If we are always in a state of discontentment, we are never going to love people like we should.
2. How does the whole of the Law and the Prophets hang on keeping the commandment to love our neighbor?
   • Keeping the Great Commandment is relational, not just an ethical/moral duty. Just being “right” is not the only thing that matters — that’s leaving out relating to your neighbor.
   • Matthew 12:9-14
   • Matthew 12:1-8
   • Key words to loving your neighbor:
     • mercy
     • compassion
   • All that you read about the Law & the Prophets is more about relational love between God & His people than it is about obedience.
     • This doesn’t mean you don’t obey God, but you obey out of love, not out of a sense of duty.
     • “The most boring person is the person who tries to live Christianity without Christ.” -Maj. Ian Thomas
3. Who is my neighbor? And how do I love my neighbor as myself?
   • John Piper – What Jesus Demands from the World
   • Who is my neighbor?
     • Luke 10:25-37
       • Don’t ask “Who is my neighbor?”, ask “What kind of neighbor am I?”
       • Key phrase: “He had compassion”
   • How do I love my neighbor as myself?
     • As you love yourself, so love your neighbor.
       • As you long for/seek/desire sustenance, shelter, mercy, etc. for yourself, long for the same things for those around you.
       • “Make the measure of your own self-seeking the measure of your own self-giving.”
4. What keeps us from loving our neighbor?
   • We really aren’t loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
   • Think of the two who passed by the man in the story of the Good Samartian:
     • Put religious beleifs above compassion
     • Their time was too important to them
     • Way too concerned about reputation
5. Conclusion
   • John 13:34
   • How did Jesus love us?
     • Galatians 2:20
   • Without Jesus, we could never love the way we are supposed to love.
   • Love our enemies – the ONLY way we can do that is if Jesus is living in us
   • Major Ian Thomas:
     • I can’t; He can. He never said I could. He always said He would. And He always will.

In his continuing series on the Great Commandment, Alan taught about loving God with all your strength. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. Also included are some notes and links to verses mentioned in the message.

Living the Great Commandment (Part 5)

Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28; John 13:34

Love God with all your strength/might/power

The Hebrew word for strength is meod, meaning “muchness” (Genesis 1:31 – tov meod: very good). We are to love the Lord with all of our meod – all of our “muchness.”

The Greek word is dunamis, meaning “power.” This is where we get the word dynamite.

When the Hebrew was translated into Aramaic, meod was often translated as “wealth or possessions.”

In Latin translations they use the word veritas, which means “truth.”

So, we are to love the Lord our God with ALL our strength, our muchness, our power, our wealth/possessions, and our truth.

1. Strength doesn’t mean our own power.
   • Psalm 33:16-17
     • Our power/efforts/strength must come from God, not relying on ourselves
   • 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
     • Power is perfected in weakness
   • Philippians 4:13
     • I can do all things (in my relationship with God) through Christ.
   • Our strength has to come through our reliance on God who strengthens us.
2. We have to be intentional (remember) to wait on God!
   • Moses has a tendency to go ahead of God.
     • It caused him to miss out on the Promised Land (Numbers 20:1-13).
   • Proverbs 10:29
     • Iniquity = leaving God out of the equation
   • Isaiah 40:28-31
   • Ephesians 6:10
     • Putting on the Armor of God begins with waiting upon God.
   • Waiting = actively trusting, praying, believing
3. Loving God with our meod means that we are to love Him with everything (even our possessions!)
   • Colossians 3:23
     • Love Him heartily/with enthusiasm
     • Greek = from the soul/breath/spirit/vitality
     • Latin (entheos) = God in you.
4. Christ alive to live in us gives us our strength.

The second week of August, we welcomed Gigi from Life Choices Family Resource Center of Montrose to come speak with us about their work and ministry. Terry followed her report with a message based on Proverbs 24:11-12. To listen to the LCFRC report and Terry’s message, simply click play on the audio player below.

Our Responsibility

James 4:17

Proverbs 24:11-12 — Read these verses in the light of abortion & the war against humanity that the devil is leading.

Ask yourself: what am I doing to help those who are contemplating abortion?

Our responsibility is to stand for what is right, to be the salt & light in this world.

To start off August, Alan was ill, so we were blessed to have Terry step in to speak. He spoke about how to walk in the will of God, based on Proverbs 3. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included some notes and links to some of the verses Terry references. 😊

Walk in the Will of the Lord

God’s desire is for none of us to perish, but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9); unfortunately, our sin causes us to wander. But once we hear His call and mix it with faith, once we accept and believe, we no longer have to make bad choices and wrong decisions, if we yield completely to Him.

1. God has a specific plan & purpose for our lives – it’s a safe place to be (a place of blessing) when we are walking in the will of the Lord.
2. The Christian life is to grow in the grace/knowledge/understanding/love relationship of God.
3. Unfortunately, too many people today accept His salvation, but don’t want to be in submission to Him and His will.
4. God wants to use us, but we can’t be used by Him unless we yield our will to His will.

How do I walk in the will of the Lord?

Proverbs 3:5-12

• Seven Points from Proverbs 3
  1. trust in the Lord (v. 5)
  2. with ALL your heart (v. 5)
  3. do not lean on your own understanding (v. 5)
  4. in ALL your ways, acknowledge Him/seek Him first (v. 6)
  5. be not wise in your own eyes (v. 7)
  6. fear (respect) the Lord (v. 7)
  7. turn away from evil (v. 7)
• Do these things and your path will be straight, you will find healing & refreshment (v. 8)
• Honor the Lord (v. 9) & you will be blessed (v. 10) – v. 9 comes before v. 10 for a reason!
  • God can accomplish His will through us only when we yield to Him.
• God corrects us because He loves us and wants what is best for us (v. 11-12).

In his continuing series, Alan taught about “The Heart and Loving God” in relation to living out the Great Commandment. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included Alan’s outline with links to Scripture he references. Be blessed!

Living the Great Commandment (Part 2)

Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:36-40; Hebrews 12:14-17

The Heart and Loving God

Proverbs 23:7, Matthew 12:34, Matthew 5:8, 1 Peter 1:22
I.  What do the scriptures mean by the Heart?  The seat of action, emotions, will, thoughts, courage, strength, affections, discernment, and being.

Two conditions of the heart: 1) Made new or 2) in its natural state — it’s a dangerous thing to follow your heart if it’s not in relation to God.

II.  The Heart in relation to God.

1.   God tries or tests.  1 Chronicles 29:17
2.   God knows.  Psalm 44.21
3.   God searches.  1 Chronicles 28:9
4.   God influences.  1 Samuel 10:26
5.   God creates a new.  Psalm 51:10
6.   God opens.   Acts 16:14-15
7.   God enlightens.  2 Corinthians 4:6
8.   God strengthens.  Psalm 27:14
9.   God establishes.  Psalm 112:8
10. God understands.  Psalm 139:2

III. The Heart that doesn’t know God and been created new:

1. It’s desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9

    What does it mean to be desperately wicked?

    A rather long descriptive list: hateful to God; full of evil/evil imaginations; full of vain thoughts; fully set to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11); desperately wicked; far from God; not prepared to seek God; a treasury of evil (Matthew 12:33-37); a heart that is darkened, prone to error/depart from God, unbelieving, blind, of little worth, deceitful, deceived, divided (1 Peter 3:8-12), hard, haughty, influence by the devil, carnal, covetous, foolish, forward, idolatrous; a heart of madness (Ecclesiastes 9:3), mischief, pride, rebellion, elated by its own prosperity.

IV.  The Heart that’s made new:

• 1.  Seeks God.  2 Chronicles 19:3
• 2.  Upright with God.  Psalm 97:11
• 3.  Clean.  Hebrews 10:22
• 4.  Pure.  Matthew 5:6
• 5.  Tender.  1 Samuel 24:5
• 6.  Sincere.   Hebrews 10:22
• 7.  Broken and contrite.  Psalm 34:18
• 8.  Obedient.  1 Peter 1:13-16
• 9.  Filled (being filled) with scripture.  Psalm 40:8
• 10.Awed by God.  Psalm 119:161
• 11. Meditative.  Psalm 4:4
• 12. Devoted.  Psalm 119:10
• 13. A treasure house of good stuff. Matthew 12:35
• and more…

V.  How God guards our hearts. Philippians 4:4-9

Key words:  rejoice, gentleness, prayer, petition, thanksgiving, gratitude, peace, guard, true, worthy of respect, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy. DO these things.

This is a call for a heart checkup. What are your prevailing thoughts, emotions, & words?

Alan has been taking us through a series on Living the Great Commandment. To listen to part one of this series, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included Alan’s outline with links to the Scriptures listed. Enjoy!

Living the Great Commandment

Deuteronomy 6:4-5; 30:1-11, Mark 12:29-30, Luke 11:42, John 5:42-43, Matthew 10:37, John 8:42, Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 24:12, John 13:34-35.

Why This Study?

1. A general lack of love and an overabundance of arrogant, narrow-minded, judgmental hatred.  Matthew 24:12
2. The whole of scripture hangs on the commandment.
3. A disconnect between belief and action is a common thing.
4. A climate of us-them way of thinking that smacks of self-righteousness.
5. A compartmentalized view of Christian living that doesn’t involve the whole of one’s person.
   
   The Command Itself
   Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:36-40
   
   What does it mean to love God?
   1. To love God one has to know God and not reject His son.  John 5:42-44, John 14:7-9, Deuteronomy 30:6
   
   
   2. Loving God is a matter of heart affection more than moral behavior.  Mark 7:1-23, Matthew 12:39
   
   3. Serving God is grounded in loving God but serving God is not a substitute for loving God.  Matthew 6:24.
   
   4. Keeping God’s commands is made possible by love.   John 14:15
   
   5. Our level of love is in direct proportion to our understanding of God’s forgiveness.  If you think it’s all “those others” that should be asking for God’s forgiveness you don’t know love.
   
   6. Love involves the whole of our being.  More on this later.
   
   7. Love is seen in what we call the Golden Rule, which is “do unto others as you would be have them do into you.”  The Golden Rule is basically the same as “love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31
   
   
   Contact:  Dr. Alan Brock
   albrock.ab@gmail.com

Hi all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted messages, and I apologize for not getting them on the site in a timely manner. So, I will try to get caught up as quickly as I can. I’m going to start by posting a few of Terry’s messages. To listen to these messages, simply click play on any of the audio players below. I wasn’t able to be there to take notes for some of these, so I’ve just included links to the main verses Terry is teaching about. Praying they bless you!

June 25, 2023: The Godly & the Ungodly – a teaching on Psalm 1

July 23, 2023: The Importance of Every Day – a teaching on Luke 19:11-27

July 30, 2023: The Least Among Us – a teaching from Jeremiah 38