As I Have Loved You

Monday: Luke 4
Tuesday: Leviticus 12
Wednesday: Luke 5
Thursday: Leviticus 13
Friday: Luke 6
Saturday: Psalm 39-40, Proverbs 9
Sunday: 2 Kings 5-14

1. Did the Holy Spirit highlight anything specific to you from the passage or the sermon?
2. We talked about the foundation for loving others being set by knowing who loves us and our character being more formed by who we love. How can loving others affect and build your character?
3. Chris spoke about "spontaneously loving our enemies." Describe what it means to love someone spontaneously.
4. Do you feel capable of “spontaneously responding to your enemies in love?” How can this be fleshed out in your life?  
5. Since we are called friends of Jesus and that means that the Father’s will is revealed to us, what are some ways that you have heard the voice of God or areas where you want to hear the voice of God? How will “praying in his name” affect that?
6. Refer below to the 3DQ questions and think about how you are specifically being called to “love one another as I have loved you.”
7. Recount with one another what it means for Christ to lay down his life you. Imagine what it would be like without that love. 
8. What is it like to be called a friend, not just a servant of Christ? 
9. Share of a time in your life when someone exhibited sacrificial love to you. 
10. What are some ways this week that you could grow in sacrificial/serving love?

3DQ - 3 Discipleship questions to ask each other: What is God saying to you? What are you going to do about it? How can I help?

Key Passage: John 15:12-17

We are commanded to...
Love as He has loved us
Lay down our lives for our friends
Live as His friends and listen for the Master’s voice
Learn to live as His chosen and pray in His name

Our character is more formed by who we love than it is who loves us - who loves us sets the foundation; who we love builds our character.

“Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.” -Voddie Baucham

"But above all it is new in that love is declared by Jesus to be the distinguishing mark of Christians in this new age, the identifying characteristic of true believers before a watching world." -D.A Carson

"The less you want people, the less you want friends, the less like God you are, the less like Jesus you are." -Tim Keller

"The main test for Christlike character is whether one spontaneously responds to one's enemies with love." -Dallas Willard

The Other Half of Church, by Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks