Love (Part 3 of 6)

Without love, truth will not be valued. Without truth, it is difficult to know how to obey. Without obedience, it is impossible to demonstrate true love.

To understand Love, it will help to understand how it is integrally connected to Truth and to Obedience, such that you cannot separate the three. These three ideas intersect with one another at almost every point.

Taking our lead from the letter of 1 John, we have looked at Perfect Love (Part 2 of this series). We turn our attention now to the relationships between Love, Truth and Obedience.

Let’s consider ‘Love’.

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Perfect Love (Part 2 of 6)

Love is a many splendored thing,

Love lifts us up where we belong,

All you need is love!

Love is just a game.

I was made for loving you baby,

You were made for loving me.

You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs…

So goes the lyrics of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge (2001). It is a mash-up of love songs that highlight how confusing ‘love’ can be and captures many of the different ideas that exist about that wonderful little thing called ‘Love’.

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Uncomfortable Love (Part 1 of 6)

I remember the call. Nothing seemed right about what I was being asked to do!

I was in Damascus. The gospel work there had been growing as more and more became followers of Jesus. The rumour was that Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus. This was unsettling.

Saul had led the charge against many followers of the Way. He had issued murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples and had arranged permission from the High Priest to travel around the synagogues seeking out Christians to imprison for their faith. He was a piece of work. We all knew the threat he posed.

And then the Lord called out to me in a vision:

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Sermon – Great Treasure

Ken Noakes’ farewell sermon at Trinity Church Adelaide considers the Great Treasure (the Gospel – the Good News about Jesus) which is given to those who follow Jesus. Ken points out from 2 Corinthians 4 the Great Responsibility that this brings as well as the Great Opportunity.

Preacher: Ken Noakes

Watch the Sermon

Listen to the Sermon

Read the Bible text – 2 Corinthians 4

English Support Handout – 2 Corinthians 4

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

By Ken Noakes

I have been reflecting on 2 Corinthians 4 and particularly on what the Apostle Paul with Timothy say to their friends in the church of Corinth.

‘We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Cor 4:16-18)

We all live with burdens – day by day or week by week troubles stemming from life, health, work or family matters. Yet those are not primarily the burdens that Paul refers to here.

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