A New Commandment

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The Law helps to reveal our beneath the surface.

³⁵ One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:  ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”  ³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.  ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:35-40)

Is  a sin?

⁴ But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵ God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. ⁶ And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. (Galatians 4:4-7)

³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 13:34-35)

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment — to love one another — is the same message you heard before. ⁸ Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. ⁹ If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness. (1 John 2:7-11)

What does it look like for me to really like Jesus?

Is this loving God loving them?

¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7)

Additional Notes

What’s Happening at Crossroads

NEW HERE?

We’re so glad you’ve chosen to come to Crossroads today! We want to thank you for visiting and would love to get to know you. Stop by and say hello at one of our Welcome Centers, our First Step area, or check out ecrossroads.info for more. We can’t wait to meet you!

EXTREMES PRETEEN CAMP

Give your kids a wonderful week of spiritual growth and connection! The summer camp for our elementary students going into 4th, 5th, and 6th grades will be from Sunday, June 9th, through Thursday, June 13th, at The Ark Ministries in Converse. This year’s theme is “Defined” with 1 Peter 2:9 as the theme verse. Register by April 30th for a free camp t-shirt.

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL CAMP

If you’re going into 7th through 12th grade you don’t want to miss our camp at Epworth this summer! The middle and high school summer camp will be from Sunday, July 7 through Friday, July 12, at Epworth Forest Conference Center in North Webster. Register before June 1st for a price break.

EARN MONEY FOR CAMP

Crossroads Students need your help! We want to make it possible for as many students to go to Summer Camp as possible. We realize costs are rising for everything. To help with these rising costs, we partner with a program called RAISE RIGHT to earn money on your everyday purchases. It’s a super simple process to use, and the money you earn can go towards a particular student or toward our general camp scholarship fund! Everyone can help! Stop by Next Steps or email [email protected] for more info!

COUNSELING CONSULT

If you have a hurt, habit, or hang-up and you’re wondering if you need to meet with a counselor, we can help. A group of mental health professionals in Crossroads are willing to help you figure out your next step. They will meet with clients at Downtown campus on the 2nd weekends and at South campus on the 3rd weekends for a one-time consultation. If you’re interested in getting some help, fill out our consultation form.