To Love One Another

What does it mean to love one another?

I have been working this afternoon and evening on a web-based church management system (CMS). This one is simple to use and it does all that a small church requires. Over the past couple of months, I have had several requests for specific contacts for people in our church.

It has become evident that our people are interacting with one another and we need a directory. The CMS I am working on can provide that capacity for our people. So, I have entered everyone into this system. Starting this Sunday, I will put provide a couple of different pages including contact information, i.e. phone numbers, addresses, and email listings.

I want us to begin the process of getting the correct information for everyone who calls TFL his or her home church. Then, we will publish a directory for TFL. You may ask, “We are so small…why do we need to go through all of this?”

It seems to me the answer to this comes from a sentence from our Dedication Service last week. Our dedication ceremony closed with us all reading the following statement:

We do now, the people of Truth Fellowship Live, dedicate ourselves anew to worship our God in spirit and truth, TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, to continually, fervently and faithfully teach the Word of God, and share the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ with those who do not yet know Him, AND we dedicate this entire facility and all its furnishings in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN!

I purposely highlighted the statement “to love one another” because that is really a critical aspect of our church and it is the reason why we want to implement a church management system. The system will make it easy to track people, contact our visitors, and follow-up on those who drift away. This does involve some work, but in the long haul, it will well be worth the effort.

I believe that God has placed us in this ministry and we need to do everything in our power to reach out and touch one another.

What does it mean to love one another?

At our Dedication Service on February 23, we had a wonderful time of fellowship with one another. I am speaking of the fellowship that believers share because of our common union with God through Jesus Christ. This fellowship is evident when we worship together; it is displayed in a love for one another, which reflects God’s own love (Rom 5:8). It has its practical fulfillment when we commitment to one another as demonstrated in our concern for the weak and our readiness to share with the poor and needy. The Bible demonstrates several important aspects of Christian fellowship (i.e. loving one another).

Sharing in the fellowship of God’s love

The only reason we can ever love anyone is that God first loved us. We see in 1 John 4:10-12:

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

God love us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place. Because God love us with so great a love, we ought to love one another. This means that we need to look at other people through eyes of Christ. How would Christ look at the unlovely? He would love them. How would Christ look at the poor? He would love them. This is the same attitude we need in our church (John 13:34; 15:12; Eph 5:1-2; 1 John 3:1-10).

When we read the dedication statement above, it is to this that we dedicated ourselves.

Sharing in the fellowship of a common devotional life

We also need to study God’s Word—the Bible—together. We in Acts 2:42 that “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” This activity was twofold. The believers were persistent in their following the apostle’s teaching. In addition, they fellowshipped together through the breaking of bread and in prayer. So, fellowshipping consists of eating together and praying together.

We experienced both of these at our Dedication Service. In fact, we take extra time during our service to prayer together each week during our regular service.

It is to this that we dedicated ourselves.

Worshipping together

Our most obvious time of fellowshipping is during our regular service. We learn about our fellowship from Col 3:16, which says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” The new life we need to “put on” (Col 3:12) is one in which the Word of Christ dwells richly within us. This involves study, meditation, and application of the Word so that it becomes a permanent component of our lives. This involves worshipping through singing and Bible reading “with grace in [our] hearts to the Lord.”

It is to this that we dedicated ourselves.

Praying together

We miss so much when we fail to pray with one another. Prayer brings us together in a love that cannot be replicated outside of the love of God. It brings us together to share common issues and to see how God will work in the church. We have a special time of prayer at TFL on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM. During these sessions, we share our praises and our struggles. We commune with God in a way that is impossible outside of these intimate sessions. Prayer was a big part of the early church as the first Christians devoted themselves to prayer.

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:14; also see Acts 4:24 12:12; James 5:16)

It is to this that we dedicated ourselves.

Participating in the Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper should not be a mere add-on to a church service. The intent is to celebrate together as we remember the great sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ on our behalf. Instruction for the Lord’s Supper is given in 1 Cor 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Pastor Terry always does such a wonderful time of leading us through this important time of fellowship. I would encourage you to attend as many of these special times as possible. We can more easily love one another when we share in these opportunities.

It is to this that we dedicated ourselves.

Let’s quickly consider other important aspects of what it means to love one another.

True fellowship means sharing with those in need

“But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16)

Showing hospitality

“distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:13)

Strengthening one another in fellowship together

a. Bearing with the weak

 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1–2)

b. Strengthening the weak

“Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”” (Isaiah 35:3–4)

c. Encouraging one another

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25)

d. Putting the needs of others first

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” (Romans 15:2)

It is to these that we dedicated ourselves.

How do we put all of this into practice?

Perhaps most importantly, true fellowship means living in harmony with one another. 1 Peter 3:8 tells us, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous (1 Peter 3:8). We live in a hostile environment these days. It is easy for us to carry this hostility into the church. We must have compassion for one another and love each other as brothers and sisters. We must display a tenderheartedness toward one another; we must be courteous. Other passages amplify this instruction—see Rom 12:16; Eph 4:2-3; Phil 2:1-4; Col 3:12-14.

Remember our words of dedication:

We…dedicate ourselves…to worship…God in spirit and truth, TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, to continually, fervently and faithfully teach the Word of God, and share the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ with those who do not yet know Him…AMEN!

Will you renew your dedication to loving one another?