“Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:37-40

1. Love each other as family.

“He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:48-50

2. Don’t stop loving one another.

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22

3. Express love through hospitality.

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Hebrews 13:16

He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, Love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. "But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:27-29

“Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt." `Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:17-18

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8

I. Every effort to live in peace.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 1 Corinthians 1:10

II. Rid your life of bitterness.

Bitterness has a dangerous root that produces a poisonous fruit.

How do you kill the root?

1. Expose the objects of your bitterness

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11

With whom are you bitter? ____________________________________

2. Cancel their debt

3. Bless your offender

Luke 6:27-28 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:27-28, 31

A LIFE Group is a micro-community of people covenanting together to Love God; to Intentionally pursue relationships with others; to Focus on living out God’s truth; and to Engage in His mission.

True Christian community changes communities.

As we consider the qualities of community in the early church, we see that they were devoted to…

If we are doing life together, people will get connected to (1) God, (2) others & (3) to a mission.

 They were genuinely glad to be together because they had freedom to be genuine together.

 They had true influence without because they had true community within.

To win our Waldos our LIFE Groups must be:

1) Praying for our Waldos

2) “One anothering” one another

3) Investing in order to invite

If we are winning our Waldos, we are changing our community.

1) Pray for our community as we one another one another

2) Share our story to share His story

3) Meet needs as God leads

To engage “the ends of the earth”, our LIFE Groups must:

1) Pray for our community as we one another one another

2) Give

3) Go

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis

We can hang tough in tough times because:

1) We trust the Father’s Heart for us.

“Paideia, or paiea is child training, it’s part of our training, it’s part of our Father’s discipline for us. The word speaks of whatever occurs in the life of children brought upon them by their parents to cultivate their soul, including corrective issues, including curbing their passions, including hedging them against the things that are dangerous. It is also not just protection but it is instruction with a view to producing virtue, aiming at the increase of character. The word doesn’t have the idea of punishment is what I’m getting at. It has the idea of training.” John MacArthur

2) We trust the Father’s purpose for us.

“And that is what this passage teaches. What hostile sinners mean for harm, God means for good. What they will as hurtful, God wills as helpful. What they plan as destruction, God plans as salvation. What they design as a deterrent to faith, God designs as discipline for faith.” John Piper

3) We trust the Father’s plan for us.

A LIFE Group is a micro-community of people covenanting together to Love God; to Intentionally pursue relationships with others; to Focus on living out God’s truth; and to Engage in His mission.

Living out God’s truth must be our focus because:
1) True discovery comes through doing
2) True deliverance only comes through doing

“If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

“Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and steals away the word that was sown in them.” Mark 4:15

3) The blessing is in the doing

1. Train to be strong.

Oswald Chambers, “If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because you will not decide definitely about sin.”

2. Compete to win.

a. Perseverance
b. Plan

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

3. Focus on the finish line.

aphorao– to look away from all else.

a. Starts it
b. Finishes it