Love without Compromise - week 2 : Mingle

At PWOC we have designed our group specifically so that we have a small group atmosphere in our Bible study groups  - so that we stay with the same women all year long in order to promote closeness and depth of relationship with each other.  We have received great feedback on this model, and as a board, we have enjoyed it greatly - getting to know you ladies on a much deeper level to where we can share with one another and do life together.

That said, it was a desire of ours to not only get to know the ladies in our study groups, but to really know everyone who comes each week.  Out of this desire, the mingle was born.  So the mingle is what we call what we will be doing today.  We are going to share some reading of God's word and some devotion on this message, and then we will break into groups of 3-5 ladies and answer some discussion questions.  Our hope is that you will meet someone that you have yet to meet here at PWOC and be able to share your heart with them a little and them with you.

So here we go!

For the next few weeks, our theme within a theme is "Love without Compromise".  This of course is under the umbrella of our theme of the year which is "Not of this world".  The two of these go together so well because the way God has loved us, and how He calls us to love Him and others, is definitely "not of this world", and it is without compromise.

Last week, we read 1 John 3 and talked about how the world has twisted and re-arranged this idea of what love is, and how by God's spirit and by prayer and by reading God's word, we can learn and know what God's love is all about, and we can fearlessly love God and others as we are called to do as women who are salt and light in this world.

This week, we are going to read 1 John 4.  If you have your Bible, please open to 1 John 4 and read along with us.

- Read 1 John 4 (you can also add any background about who John was, why he was writing, what was going on at the time, etc.) -

Living as a Bible-believing, Christ-following Christian in this world "at such a time as this" is not easy.  We have so much coming at us all the time.  We have popular celebrities and bloggers who call themselves Christians who have adopted worldly views as their own and share them with their fans as if it is God's word.  We have the news media covering stories that glorify the world and its ideals.  We have Facebook and Instagram, and music and movies and secular celebrities telling us what we should believe and how we should feel and what we should desire.  We are bombarded by messages day and night.  And the truth is, sometimes it can be difficult to understand how all these people seem to think the same way, and that how could so many people be wrong?  But, we have to remember that we are not called to be like the majority.  We are not called to be like the world.  We are not called to be like celebrities.  We are not called to agree with the news media.  We are children of God, and we are called to agree with and believe in God.  We have to make sure that the message that we hear, the message that we follow is the correct one.  We have to make sure that we can still hear God's voice - even when there are so many people trying to shout over Him.  We need to know that God is greater than he who is in the world.  And this means we can not compromise the ways of God for fear of what people will think or what people will do.  We must love people so much that we don't give them a false witness of who God is or what He stands for.  When we water down God's message, we are not truly loving God or His people.  There is no side door into Heaven.  There is only one gate, and that gate is Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:13-14New Living Translation (NLT)

The Narrow Gate

¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell^[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

And, as the word tells us, "God is love".  His message is love.  His message is selfless.  His message is forgiving and grace-filled.  God's love is fearless.  God's love is without compromise.  If we are to discern God's voice through all the worldly noise, we need to begin recognizing His voice.  We need to be ever close to Him.  We need to know God's definition of what love is so that when the world tells us what love is, we can weed out what is right and what is wrong.  The world is so quick to jump to judgement.  The world does not have patience or longsuffering, which are fruits of the spirit.  But God's love is patient and longsuffering.  It is gentle and kind.  God's love never fails.

We have probably all heard 1 Corinthians 13 before, but please follow along if you have your Bible:

"1If I speak in the tongues^a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^b but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

We are going to break into our discussion groups now.  We have several group leaders, so if you are able, please break into groups of 3-5.  If you are unable, then make a group with the ladies around you.  Take a few minutes to introduce yourself, and then discuss the following questions.  Feel free to jot down any notes as you go.  After about 10 minutes, we will all pray together and you can go to your study groups.

Question #1:  What are the best ways we can be sure that we are not listening to and following the wrong message?  How can we discern false prophets?

Question #2:  How can we help our Christian brothers and sisters be fearless as followers of Christ when it seems like the world is opposing all of God's ways?

Question #3:  Why is love so important to the witness of Jesus Christ, and how can we make sure the way we love God and others is pure in God's eyes?

Question #4:  Why does it seem so easy for Christians to be pulled away from the truth and begin believing the world instead of God?  How can we safeguard ourselves from being deceived?

Question #5:  How do we hold fast to God's values and never compromise what is right in His eyes, while maintaining an attitude of love for other believers and non-believers?

Love without Compromise - week 1

Good morning everyone and welcome again to PWOC.  You know, I am really honored to be with you ladies, because even though this group is called Protestant Women of the Chapel, we should actually be called just "Women of Christ" because not all of us are Protestant, and not all of us go to the chapel.  But we have two things in common - we are all women and we are all of Christ.  And this is so important.  Right now.  Because we see what's going on in our country - in our world - things are changing.  I am not going to get into politics here, but we now have a new president - a very unique type pf president.  And things are going to start changing.  We pray that they change for the better, but sometimes, change - even good change has to go through some growing pains.  Often times, for the right changes to be made, there is resistance and ugliness, because after all, Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  So yes, when we start doing things God's way opposition is to be expected.  Do not be surprised if the world tries to make everything look like it is falling apart at times when God's will is actually being done.  It might just mean that darkness is fighting harder against the light.  Sometimes it seems so hard to tell what it wrong and what is right, but we can be confident in what is good and right and true, if we know God's word.  His word does not align with what the world says, and you will find it very unpopular to most people.  Remember, Jesus had many followers, but He was also doubted and scorned, and ultimately killed.  He did not compromise the truth to be liked or to win followers.  He faced persecution because He held fast to the truth.

As women of Christ, and women of the chapel, we have the responsibility to know what God's word says, to trust in God alone, and to be a light to our families, to our communities, to our country, to our world.  This is not always easy, because light exposes the things that hide in the darkness.  Light exposes the lies that so many have believed.  The darkness does not like this, and those living in darkness will disagree with you, they may even hate you because you belong to Jesus.  But, unlike the darkness, God's light which shines from those who believe in Him can never be extinguished.  God's truth does not align with what the world calls truth.  When we speak God's truth, His power is with His words.  All other untruths are just noise.

So where do we start?  How do we love God and obey Him and be a light to the world?  Well, first we start with our theme of the year - and make our goal to women who are "not of this world".  We are women of Christ, not women of this world.  And then we look at what Christ did for us.  He loved us without compromise.  He gave it all so that we would have eternal life.  God so loved the world that He gave His only son - He did not compromise, for He loved the whole world.  And Christ tell us to love.  He tells us to love without compromise.  He tells us to love like He loves us - loving our neighbor as we love ourselves - even loving our enemies.  This concept is so unworldly.  The world tells us that love is self-serving.  That love benefits me.  That I can give love as long as I get something in return.  That I can love and be loved as long as it doesn't get in the way of my feelings or my personal agenda.  The world's idea of love has been twisted and mis-interpreted in so many ways, and this twisted worldly love has, in many ways replaced God in many people's hearts.

Christ's way of love is not of this world.  Christ's way of love is unchanging, unfailing, and never compromised.  Christ's way of love cannot be manipulated or bought, and it doesn't put self over the well-being of others.  Christ's way of love is selfless, willing to sacrifice one's self for another, and can only be practiced by the power of the Holy Spirit because it is not natural.  It is supernatural.

For the next couple weeks, we are going to look at what it means to love without compromise.  How real love, Christ's love is fearless and sometimes it is painful, but the call we all have on our lives to love God and love others is the very foundation for all that we believe in the Christian faith, and it is why we will one day be able to live forever in Heaven with our Father, and it should be the motivation for us to want others to go there with us.  But to do all this, first you have to believe.  You have to have faith.

Romans 10:17 says, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ."  

So we are going to hear the message and then you will all be released to go to your classes.

We are reading 1 John 3 if you have your Bibles.

Read 1 John 3

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day, thank you for these women.  Thank you for the chapel and the freedom we have to gather here and worship you and grow more close to you.  Help us to be women who are not of this world, but please make us more like you, able to walk in truth and in light.  Make us brave and courageous and able to stand for what you stand for.  In Jesus' name, Amen.