Eros Love
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1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit.
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This Sunday, Pastor Paul continued our sermon series in First Thessalonians. This series is about how the Thessalonian church practiced their faith while under intense persecution by their community.
A few definitions to help with the text:
Sanctification: becoming like Jesus
Sexual Immorality: Greek word porneia
Holiness: Christ in usPastor Paul challenged us to put ‘guardrails’ in place. He challenged us to ask the question: Is what I’m about to do honorable? An HONORABLE person is someone who honors and values other people - putting other’s needs ahead of our own.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Read Scripture:
Read 1 Thessalonians 3 & 4, notice the three kinds of love talked about in 1 Thessalonians and what Paul has to be say about each of them:
Agape Love ( 1 Thess. 3:12), Eros Love (1 Thess. 4:3), Phileo Love (1 Thess. 4:9)
Memorize Scripture:
Together we are memorizing 1 Thessalonians 5:8
Here are a few wallpapers for this series.
Here's a helpful guide we put together for memorizing Scripture: https://faithe.org/memorize/
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Questions:
1) What is one word or phrase that they Holy Spirit highlighted for you during this teaching? Why?
Journal your thoughts and/or share this with someone else.
2) What areas of your life have you crashed through your guardrails? Seek forgiveness from God and anyone you’ve harmed in the process. Share this with someone who can help you follow through with action.
3) What areas of your life do you need to establish a new guardrail? Find two or three people you can trust, share these with them, and help keep one another away from your guardrails.
Prayer:
God, forgive me for the times I sought my own interests above yours, my will over yours. Help me to establish and maintain your guardrails for my life.
Amen.
