Rewind — the teaching platform built on your church’s own preaching

The big idea

When I know love, I will show love — loving others flows naturally out of truly grasping how much God loves us.

We keep getting stuck trying to love people the way God calls us to, but the secret to loving without getting stuck is simple: when I know love, I will show love. Pastor Bill walks through 1 John 4:7-21 to show that loving others consistently only happens when we are clear about God's love, stay near God's love, and let that love push out the fear that holds us back.

Point 1 of 4

Be clear about His love — God loves you because of who He is, not because of what you do

Pastor Bill works through 1 John 4:7-10 to show that love comes from God, and God showed how much He loved us by sending His Son while we were still rebelling against Him. He warns that misunderstanding this leads to legalism, trying to earn a love that was already given, and uses kids' definitions of love, especially four-year-old Billy's line about your name being safe in someone's mouth, to press the question of whether we really grasp God's love for us.

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth

— Pastor Bill Bush

God loves you because of who He is, not because of what you do

— Pastor Bill Bush

Illustration

Research study in which children ages four through eight define love, ranging from sharing French fries to knowing your name is safe in someone's mouth

Point 2 of 4

Stay near His love — you become like Jesus by staying close to Jesus

Moving into verses 11-16, Pastor Bill shows that as we love others, God's love is brought to full expression in us, and the Holy Spirit gives us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. He points to declining church attendance statistics over thirty years and to Jesus' own habit of withdrawing to pray as proof that gathering, private prayer, and Scripture are how we stay near enough to actually love like Jesus.

If you don't have time to be near Jesus, you don't understand what time is for

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 3 of 4

Perfect love casts out fear, so we can jump instead of staying stuck

From verses 17-19, Pastor Bill explains that Christians will face a day of accounting for what they did with the time, money, and relationships God gave them, not a judgment of condemnation but a mirror. He tells his own bungee-jumping story, jumping on the count of two instead of three, as a picture of trusting God's love enough to act before fear talks you out of it.

kind of love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 4 of 4

Refusing to love fellow believers exposes what's really going on inside

Pastor Bill unpacks verse 20's warning that anyone who claims to love God while hating a fellow believer is a liar, defining hate as the absence of love rather than just bad feelings. He ties this to church engagement, serving, giving, and community, saying withholding those is itself the sin of refusing to do the good we know we ought to do.

Courage is using real love to say this scares the but because of the love, I'll take the step

— Pastor Bill Bush

it doesn't matter how long you wait. It's never gonna be easier. Matter of fact, it only gets harder

— Pastor Bill Bush

A story from life

The night before his wedding, the preacher's friends took him bungee jumping; terrified of heights, he jumped on the count of two and discovered the fall was exhilarating

Illustration

Eight-year-old Cindy's story: seeing her father smiling and waving from the crowd at her piano recital made her fear vanish and she played her song

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill's charge is to jump on two — to trust God's love enough to act before fear talks you out of it.

Application

Get clear on God's love for you
If you've never truly surrendered to Jesus, stop trying to earn a love God already gave and settle the question of whether you belong to Him.
Stay near Jesus through gathering and prayer
Make public worship and private time in the Word and prayer a non-negotiable part of your week rather than something you do only when you have nothing else going on.
Get engaged in your church body
Serve, give, and get into community rather than just showing up when you feel like it, since withholding those things from fellow believers is itself a refusal to love.
Jump on two instead of waiting for three
Whatever scary step God is asking you to take with your time, money, or relationships this week, take it now instead of waiting until it feels safer, because waiting only makes it harder.

Keep going

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