He Accepts Me

In one paragraph

This message, part of the church's "forty days of love" series, looked at what it means to love others the way Jesus loves us. Pastor David walked through three connected ideas: accepting others as Jesus accepts us, valuing others as Jesus values us, and forgiving others as Jesus forgives us. The thread running through all three was that you cannot give away something you have not first received....

Read together

1. John 13:34-35 the command to love one another as Jesus loved, so all will know his disciples
2. John 6:37 Jesus will never drive away anyone who comes to him, showing he accepts us
3. Psalm 27:10 though father and mother forsake, the Lord will receive and take up the believer
4. Titus 3:7 justified by grace, heirs with hope of eternal life
5. Luke 12:6-7 sparrows not forgotten by God, hairs numbered, believers worth more than many sparrows
6. 1 Timothy 4:4 everything God created is good, value depends on who made it
7. Ephesians 2:10 believers are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works
8. 1 Peter 1:19 Christ's precious blood paid for believers, the greatest payment ever made
9. Isaiah 49:15-16 God will not forget believers, having engraved them on the palms of his hands
10. 1 Peter 2:17 show proper respect to everyone, love believers, fear God, honor the emperor
11. Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at the rich young ruler and loved him before calling him to sell everything
12. Isaiah 43:25 God blots out transgressions and remembers sin no more
13. Ephesians 1:4 before the world was made God loved and chose believers in Christ to be holy and without fault
14. Romans 8:1 no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, forgiveness unconditional and complete
15. Romans 15:7 accept one another as Christ accepted you, to bring praise to God
16. John 3:17 God sent his son not to condemn the world but to save it
17. John 8:1 woman caught in adultery, Jesus accepts her without condemnation and tells her to sin no more

Talk about it

1. Pastor David talked about spending fifteen focused minutes with someone you love and how unfamiliar that felt for some people. What does it reveal about a relationship when genuine, undivided attention is uncomfortable for both people involved?
2. Pastor David drew a distinction between accepting a person and approving of what they have done, using the story of the woman caught in adultery as his example. Where do you find that line hardest to hold in your own relationships?
3. The sermon described how much of our behavior, the clothes we wear, the careers we choose, even the cars we buy, is driven by the desire to be accepted. Where do you still feel that pull most strongly, and how does knowing that God accepts you speak to that?
4. Pastor David said that God does not carry grudges, does not rehearse wrongs, and releases them, and he challenged us to do the same. What makes releasing a grudge feel dangerous or unfair, and what did the sermon say that might help with that?
5. The story of the old man in Gatlinburg centered on one moment when someone told him, 'You are a child of God,' and his whole life changed. Who in your own life might need to hear something that simple from you, and what is standing in the way of you saying it?