Hey y'all, these are my notes from a sermon I delivered last month to Lighthouse at the Clubhouse, our church's college ministry. Have a read and enjoy!
Mark 12:28-31 – Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (NKJV)
Love God. Love the One who created the universe, holds tomorrow in His hands and can do absolutely anything, but loves each of us enough that He came to earth, robed Himself in flesh, lived liked we did, put up with what we put up with, then despite never doing anything wrong, died for our sins like a criminal – and died in a most painful way. All so that we can have life and have it more abundantly.
Love others. When we love others, we treat people with respect. And when we treat others with respect, we don’t hurt them. Also, Jesus Christ said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I’ve learned that from experience as well. When you give to others, you end up giving back to yourself. This is just my two cents, but in this holiday season, if you get a chance to volunteer, go for it. Ring the bell for the Salvation Army. Help serve Christmas dinner to those who can’t go home or don’t have a home to go to.
Love yourself. In this day and age, that can be hard. But love yourself and respect yourself – because if you don’t, who will? Ladies, don’t throw yourselves away on players. They may be romantic and charming, but the “bad boy with a heart of gold” is rarer than a total solar eclipse. And if the idea of getting used and played doesn’t bother you, ask yourself this: what kind of a dad will he be? I had a relative recently say how she didn’t like whitebread guys – and her guy certainly isn’t that. But he hasn’t been there much for his kids either. In fact his future son-in-law once said that he didn’t know whether to shake his hand or hit him when they first met. Too many kids have grown up without their dads being around much – I’m one of them – and we are the worse for it. So love yourself enough to not throw yourself away.
Last and certainly not least, follow Jesus Christ. College can be stressful – many of you are stressing over finals right now. Life can be stressful. And life hurts like being burned with a white-hot flame sometimes. But Jesus is the answer. Like I said earlier, He loves you with an amazing love. And He will guide your feet and hold your hand if you will let Him. So if you haven’t done so already, take that first step into the Kingdom. Ask God to forgive your sins. Give your life fully to Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Then keep walking on – get baptized, let God fill you up with His Holy Spirit and grow in grace – take root and bear fruit.
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