Love Must Be Sincere

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached from Romans 12:9-21 on what sincere, unhypocritical love actually looks like in practice. He framed the message as the beginning of a longer series on repentance, and he aimed it squarely at the church rather than at the culture outside it. The passage, he said, is the Romans equivalent of 1 Corinthians 13. Pastor Ray opened by saying that if he is going to preach on...

Read together

1. Psalm 30 opening encouragement leading into worship
2. Acts 3 Peter speaking on repentance and times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord
3. Colossians 1:16-17 all things created through Christ and in him all things hold together
4. Colossians 3:16 introduced before singing, let the message about Christ fill your lives
5. Romans 12:9-21 main sermon text on sincere love, the first Corinthians 13 of Romans
6. Proverbs 6 six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him
7. Amos 3:3 can two people walk together unless they be agreed, on unity and going through motions of religion
8. Amos 5 God saying I hate and despise your religious festivals, your assemblies are a stench to me
9. Isaiah 1 Isaiah calling out religiosity seven hundred years before Christ
10. Philippians 2 don't look out just for your own interest but for the interest of others
11. 1 Peter 2 Jesus when reviled did not revile back, entrusting himself to the one who judges rightly
12. 1 Peter 3 keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles so they may glorify God
13. Romans 2:4 the kindness of God is what leads us to repentance
14. Proverbs 25:21 if your enemy is hungry give him food, if thirsty give him water
15. James 4:17 to know to do right and not to do it is sin

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray said that 'sincere love hates what is evil' and that this is one of the distinguishing factors of what love actually is. Does that connect or does it create tension for you, and why?
2. Pastor Ray laid out three categories: willing obedience, reluctant obedience, and outright disobedience. When you're honest with yourself, which of those best describes where you are right now with something God has been asking of you?
3. Pastor Ray told the story of carrying a grudge against Dennis from ninth grade all the way until God convicted him through a dream. What do you think makes it so hard to let go of something like that, even when we know what the Bible says about it?
4. The passage says to bless those who persecute you and not curse them. Pastor Ray suggested that treating someone well when they treat you poorly can force them to take a hard look at themselves, the burning coals idea. Have you ever seen that actually play out, either as the one giving or the one receiving?
5. Pastor Ray quoted Romans 2:4, that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance, and said that kindness is also the best chance outsiders have of being drawn in through us. What does it look like practically for this church to reflect that kind of kindness to people who are not yet part of the family of God?