Charles R. Swindoll wrote, “Love has been called the most effective motivational force in all the world. When love is at work in us, it is remarkable how giving and forgiving, understanding and tolerant we can be.”

The phrase “one another” is used often in the New Testament alongside commands for Christians on how they are to live out their faith in relationships. It’s used more than 47 times to give instructions to the church. These instructions include humility, unity, truthfulness, corporate prayer, hospitality, and most importantly, love.

Something New
Ever since sin entered the world in Genesis 3, there has been brokenness in relationships. Sin is evidenced in pride, selfishness, and all kinds of conflict. Sadly, we see these same characteristics of sin in the church today, causing much pain. This should not surprise us, but we should never accept it; it is not the way Jesus intends for his church to exist.

In John 13, we read about the final encouragement and instructions Jesus gave the disciples at the last Passover supper with them. Jesus was preparing his disciples for what lay ahead, and in verse 34, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

The word new does not mean “new in time,” it means “new in experience, fresh.” It is the opposite of “worn out.” Love would take on a new meaning and power because of the death of Christ on the cross (see John 15:13). With the coming of the Holy Spirit, love would have a new power in their lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not an added feature; rather, it is a totally new way of living and seeing the world. The commandment Jesus gave was only doable because of the coming Holy Spirit.

This is a supernatural love that we can have as believers for one another in the church because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Sadly, churches get so used to the word love that it can be dismissed as people gloss over the necessity of love in our community.

“A community built by God through the gospel of Jesus Christ that is evidently supernatural.” Mark Dever.

The Gospel Revealed
The unity and commitment within the community of the church is only explainable by the redeeming work of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. This kind of community is a Gospel revealing community; when we love as Christ commanded, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the truth and the power of the Gospel is evident to the community around us. It is a supernatural experience.

God is glorified when His church operates in unity, humility, and love, intentionally seeking the care and well-being of one another. This is the kind of community we must always pray for.
The fact that we have the One Another commands in the Bible reveals that God wants us to work towards this, to make every effort to give Him our yes for community. God wants His Church to exert effort to care for one another. As we will see, this is not an optional part of our Christian walk. The “one another’s” are not just for church leaders but for all who call themselves Christian.

John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” There will be a conspicuous difference in the church that is committed to bringing glory to God through our love for one another. It is love that is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus Christ.

D.A. Carson writes, “This display of unity is so compelling, so un-worldly, that their witness as to who Jesus is becomes explainable only if Jesus truly is the revealer whom the Father has sent.”

John 13 begins and ends with Love, verse 1 reads, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
The church leader Tertullian quoted the pagans as saying of the Christians, “See how they love one another?”

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This past Sunday we honored and prayed for the mothers in our church family.
Honoring our parents is a command from God as we see in Deuteronomy 5:16, “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

This is something that Jesus modeled for us, considering his mother even in the most difficult time of his earthly life as he hung on the cross and bore our sins (see John 19:26-27). Honoring our parents can be hard, and sometimes our parents are hard to love due to poor choices that they have made. How is God inviting you to honor your mother this week?

Below is an article relating to Mother's day from the ministry of the late Dr Charles Stanley - In Touch Ministries
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"Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

If someone asked us to name the greatest and most influential people, we’d probably think of presidents or leaders of industry because their decisions shape the world. But who shaped them? It’s likely their mothers played a key role in their success.

When a woman is in the process of changing diapers, wiping noses, and settling squabbles, raising children may not seem like important work. However, God has given mothers the responsibility of shaping those young lives and teaching the importance of knowing and loving Him. Timothy is an example of how women can impact the faith of the next generation (2 Timothy 1:5).

If you’re a mom, you have tremendous influence in the lives of your children. There’s no way to know how God will use them in the future. But whatever His plans may be, you can equip your sons and daughters by determining to spend time with them each day, reading and teaching them God’s Word.

Perhaps you don’t have children or your children are grown. You can still have an impact! Look for those to whom you can be a spiritual parent, teaching and loving them as Christ did. When they see you modeling godly character or trusting the Lord in the midst of trials, they will want to know and love God as you do. That’s a wonderful way to support the next generation.

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In Romans 8:5 Paul writes, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” There are two kinds of people; those who live according to the flesh, and those who live according to the Spirit of God.
In Romans 8:5-8, Paul contrasts the difference between living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit. In these verses, we find four aspects of this contrast.

The Mindset
The Holy Spirit writes the law of God on our hearts. This is only true for the believer; the unbeliever is not led by the Spirit, but rather is led by the flesh, thinking about how to satisfy their own desires. The person living in the flesh has a self-centered attitude.
Our sinful nature looks at every situation and decides how to live based on how it will be of benefit to us. It is a question of what motivates us: what are our ambitions? What are the concerns that engross us and consume our energy? The answer to these questions determines who we are, or better yet, whose we are.

If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit, then your ambitions, motivation, and mindset will be to glorify God through your life. You live for a higher calling (see John 16:13-14). This does not mean that the unsaved person never does anything good, or that the believer never does anything bad. It means that the bent of their lives is different. One lives for the flesh; the other lives for the Spirit.

The Consequences
Romans 8:6 says, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” The unsaved person is alive physically but dead spiritually. The inner man is dead toward God and does not respond to the things of the Spirit. He may be moral, and even religious, but he lacks spiritual life. The mind of the unsaved man leads him to death and eternal separation from God in Hell. Without Christ, this mindset is selfish and leads to death.

The person whose mind is set on the things of the Spirit, the person who has a personal relationship with Jesus, experiences life and peace. The person whose mind is set on the Spirit has peace with God (see Romans 5:1). Having peace with God, having eternal security, allows us to live at peace in this world. Trouble may come, but we can weather the storm because we experience the peace of God in our lives.

This is more than getting through this world to get to heaven. The Holy Spirit works in our lives as we make daily choices that lead to life or death. What we decide to watch or listen to, what we do with our time and money, are all choices that either lead to life or to death. These are decisions that determine our pursuit of holiness.

The Hostility
Romans 8:7, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.”
Our mindset determines our fundamental attitude towards God. If we have our mind set on the flesh, aimed at pleasing our sinful nature, we are hostile towards God. This hostility affects all our thoughts and attitudes towards God. Paul wrote that the person who is hostile to God does not submit to the law of God. That person is unable to follow the law of God because they lack the power of the Holy Spirit.

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What is Sin?
Sin is defined as falling short of the glory of God – missing the mark of God's standard of holiness. Sin is the common human condition. Even Paul the apostle sinned as he wrestled with his sin nature (see Romans 7:14-20). If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you can relate to Paul’s struggle with sin.

As believers, when we sin, we are convicted of sin. In fact, if we don’t sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit, there is a good chance that we are not saved, we don’t know Jesus (see 1 John 1:10).
If we know sin is missing the mark, what is the mark?

What is the Law?
We have the Ten Commandments, as clear, concise set of regulations for relating to God and to our fellow man. But Jesus took the Law and raised the bar in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:21-28). Jesus stated that sin is born in our hearts; we are all guilty of thinking and saying things about other people that are sinful.
Romans 8:3 states, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

The nation of Israel was given the law of Moses. Remember, Paul is writing to a mixed audience. Some Jewish believers grew up with the law of Moses, while Gentile believers knew very little about the feasts and the sacrificial system.
Paul didn’t say that the Law was bad or that it failed; it was weakened because human beings could not do what the Law required. We may follow all the rules and regulations, but our thoughts will still drift into sin, and we break the law.

What is the Gospel?
The law couldn’t save, but God provided a way: He sent His own Son, born of a virgin, who lived a common life as a carpenter. Jesus looked and spoke every bit like a Jewish boy growing up in the first century. Paul wrote this to combat a heresy that taught that Jesus was fully God, but he was never a human; he only appeared to be human. Jesus had to be fully man to be the perfect sin offering for our sins. If he were not a human, the cross would have been meaningless.

But Jesus was perfectly human, and he was the final and perfect sin offering for the sins of mankind. The verse clearly states that Jesus died for sin. But more than dying for sin, God the Father condemned sin in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).
God not only made Jesus to become sin; God made Him bear our sin. He also condemned that sin; Jesus was judged and punished for our sin. It was a transfer of guilt, a sentencing, and an execution by God the Father.

But why did Jesus have to die? Paul explains in verse 4, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

When laws are broken, there are consequences. The Law of God points out sin, and when we sin, the righteous requirement of sin is death. But the Good News is that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. We who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ as our savior will never die; we will live eternally in the presence of Jesus.

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In Romans 7, Paul writes about the Law God gave Moses, which had become a point of tension in the church in Rome. The Judaizers wanted everyone to follow the Law, and the Gentile believers wanted everyone to be led by the Spirit. In Chapter 8, Paul highlights the freedom that believers have in Christ through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 8 can be summarized in three phrases: no condemnation, no obligation, and no separation. We will begin by looking at the first phrase.

No Condemnation
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1.
No condemnation and justification mean the same thing. If you have repented of your sins and asked the Lord Jesus to forgive you, your sins are forgiven. We are justified and made to be in right standing with God because of our faith in what Jesus has done on the cross. He died, shed his blood, and rose again so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (see John 3:16).

But what does condemnation mean?
These verses conclude the argument in chapter 7, where Paul addresses the personal problem we all face in dealing with our own sinful nature. Paul cries out in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
In the Bible, the word condemnation is synonymous with damnation, judgment, punishment, destruction, and verdict. In its strongest sense, condemnation means “the banishing to hell all those disobedient to the will of God.” Remember, Jesus spoke frequently about hell and the eternal punishment awaiting all who reject him.

The Law of Moses pronounces every person guilty because it shows us what sin is. Before Christ, everyone had to offer animal sacrifices every year, as a reminder that God punishes sin but also offers forgiveness through repentance. However, animal sacrifices were just a temporary method of dealing with man’s sin until Jesus came to deal with sin forever.

Jesus made it clear that without Him no one can enter the kingdom of heaven (see John 14:6). We all know John 3:16, yet two verse later Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).
Though the Law condemns all mankind, we as believers in Jesus Christ have this glorious promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

But does that mean we can go on sinning without consequence? Not at all, in Romans 6, Paul addresses this very question (see Romans 6:1-3). In both these passages, Paul uses the phrase, “In Christ”. When we believe in the name of Jesus for salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit, and we are in Christ. Those who are in Christ are set free from the condemnation of sin.

In Christ
I doubt we grasp the depth and the breadth of those two words. Paul uses this term about 164 times in all his letters. To be in Christ is the heart of Christianity. Baptism is our public profession of faith in Jesus. It is us publicly declaring that when Christ died, our old man died, we are aligning ourselves with his death. It is total surrender to the new life in Christ.

Paul explains that when you become a Christian, you move into a realm of new life in Christ, and you come under new management. How can we still desire and walk in the ways of our past life? (see Galatians 2:20).

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One of the richest chapters in the Bible is Romans chapter 8. Paul wrote the letter we know as “Romans”, to a blended church in Rome, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. Many of the Jewish believers held on to the Mosaic law and taught that to be a true Christian, you needed to follow the Law in addition to faith in Christ. While the Gentiles came from many different pagan religions and held to faith in Christ alone.

Paul wrote to a church that struggled with unity, giving them a theologically rich letter on which to establish the growing church. We need this letter as much today. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi, where he stressed the unity that believers have in Christ.

Encouragement in Christ
Philippians 2:1 begins, “If there is any encouragement – In Christ…” Being in Christ is our position as Christians, our standing before God. Being In Christ is one of the primary ways Paul describes what it means to be a Christian. This is our vertical resource; we experience encouragement because of communion with God through the Holy Spirit. This is the first and primary position for unity in the Church.

Comfort in Love
“…if there is any comfort from love…” When you become a follower of Jesus, your attitude changes towards other people. The first Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 is love. Love is the natural byproduct of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for love used here is a love that is governed by a willful decision to seek the highest good of the other individual.

Participation in the Spirit
“…any participation in the Spirit…” This is fellowship that is more than simply sharing a meal together, this is unity because we are united by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we become followers of Jesus we are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Affection and Sympathy
“…any affection and sympathy”. Because of the tenderness, mercy and compassion that we have received from Christ, we display this to one another. To not have concern for others, is a very clear indication that a person is not in a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

Joy through Unity
In Philippians 2:2 we see that the first result of unity is joy. Paul was overjoyed by their response because he knew that as the Philippian church grew in unity, they would become more effective as a church, being used by God to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Paul was joyful because he knew that they would be like-minded. This unity is not temporal, based on feelings and situations, rather, we remain in unity, because the message of the Gospel is what binds us together. We have a common message, we have the same Holy Spirit, thus we have unity.

This does not mean that we never have disagreements. It is quite normal to expect differences of opinion on certain methods of church activity, but we never compromise on the essentials of our faith and the truth of the Word of God. When we have differences of opinion, the governing principle must be love, the preferential love that always seeks the highest good of others.

In Full Accord
“…being in full accord and of one mind”. To be in full accord and of one mind means that the church knows their purpose and mission. At Grace Point we have the Four Pillars that we come back to; Worship, Word, Mission and Compassion, this is what we exist to do. The mission of the church always superseded our personal preferences, that is Holy Spirit unity.

Avoid Selfish Ambition
Paul gets to the heart of the matter in verse 3, addressing issues that destroy unity. The first sin he attacks is selfish ambition, “

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From Broken Hearts to Burning Hearts
Do you remember a time when you were on fire for God, but somewhere along life’s road, you had a disappointment? A leader let you down, someone took advantage of you, your child walked away from the faith, your sickness and pain didn’t go away. Whatever the pain, it caused your heart to break, and you grew cold towards the things of the Lord.

The good news is that the risen Lord Jesus still heals broken hearts and sets them on fire today. Jesus did this for two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24.

An Unexpected Encounter
The disciples of Jesus witnessed the incredible entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as people waived palm branches and shouted his praises. They had seen Jesus perform incredible miracles. But then, everything changed. Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, and sentenced to be crucified.

Within days, elation turned to heartbreak and rejoicing to fear as Jesus was crucified and laid in a tomb. The disciples had been certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah who would overthrow the Roman rule over Israel, but now their hopes were dashed. As heartbreak turned to fear, some of the disciples fled Jerusalem, fearing persecution from the religious leaders. Two of them were walking on the road to Emmaus when Jesus began walking alongside them.

Jesus’s identity was hidden from them, but he began asking them what they were talking about (see Luke 24:16). One of the two, Cleopas responded incredulously, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (Luke 24:18). Jesus claimed he did not know. They responded by giving him an overview of all that had happened in the last several days (see Luke 24:19-24). It was as if the words came flooding out of their mouths as their emotions spilled over in recounting the events.

An Unexpected Unraveling
They mentioned four key points in their account:

1: “Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” (v. 19). The people thought Jesus was a mighty prophet because he taught the Scriptures with an authority that they had never seen before. He also performed many mighty miracles.

2: “He was handed over by the religious leaders and was crucified” (v. 20). In fact, it had been three days, and like Jesus, their hopes were dead.

3: “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (v. 21). This statement reveals their heartache. They had hoped for a king to reign in Israel; they had placed their hope in Jesus to be a new and greater King David. Little did they know that Jesus had done something far greater; he had defeated sin and death. He had established an eternal Kingdom.

4: Finally in verse 22 and 23, they recall that some women gave testimony of the empty tomb and their encounter with angels. But Peter and John had effectively checked the tomb, and Jesus was not there. They dismissed the testimony of the women as implausible.

Everything the disciples said to Jesus reflected their misconceptions about who he was, even their misunderstandings of the things that he had taught them. Jesus told them that he would suffer and die at the hands of the religious leader; furthermore, Jesus told them he would rise again (see Matthew 17:22-23). But they only heard what they wanted to hear.

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