4WF Week 1: 13:13 - LOVE Pt. 1
Week 3: Love (Part 1)
February 15th-21st
Open with Prayer: Invite the Holy Spirit to be present, illuminate the Scriptures, and have Jesus’ will done today in the group.
Read Together (5 minutes):
Read, or have someone in your group, read Revelation 2:1-7: The Letter to the Church in Ephesus
Read This Overview To The Group:
Has there ever been something in your life that you were incredibly passionate about? Maybe it’s basketball, playing volleyball, painting, or going running. Maybe it’s playing the piano or singing on your church’s worship team. Maybe you’re a part of the chess club and you’re really good at chess. Maybe you play a lot of Smash on the Switch. We all have things in our lives that we have been or are passionate about. For me it was the guitar. When I (Matthew) was younger, I loved playing guitar. My brother and I were in a band that we made with a couple of our friends and we both played the guitar in that band. Although we were very passionate about guitar, we weren’t very good at it because we had never taken lessons or had any prior experience of playing before. So, after realizing how bad we were and after begging our parents for a while, we finally started taking guitar lessons and everything was going great. But after about 2 years of taking these lessons, this passion I had for guitar started to change a little bit. After a while, I started just going through the motions of playing guitar, but I didn’t quite love it like I used to anymore. I was still faithful in going to practices every week, practicing my assigned music, and doing all of the right things. The genuine passion and love I once had for playing guitar were no longer there anymore.
In this same way, the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 struggled with a similar thing. The church of Ephesus was very faithful in its pursuit of righteousness. We see that they have endured patiently, they have resisted evil and after all this, they still have not grown weary. You’d think that after everything they’ve been through that they would at least be tired and ready to give up, but that isn’t the case.
Yet, there is one thing that Jesus is calling out the church of Ephesus for. There is one thing that is SO important that they have abandoned, and that is…. LOVE. Love is the one essential and paramount attribute we must all acquire in our relationship with Christ. Without love, our relationship is worthless. Maybe you relate to this in some way today. Maybe you have slowly abandoned your love for Christ. Maybe you have started going through the motions with your faith and it has all started to feel meaningless to you.
The best part about all of this is that just like there was hope for the church of Ephesus, there is also hope for you too! Jesus gives specific instruction to the church on what to do in order to fix this. He says in verse 5 to “do the works you did at first.” He is urging the church of Ephesus to return to the things they did in the beginning so that they can return to love. Maybe you are going through the motions, and you need to return to some practical things you did that helped you fall in love with Christ in the first place. Maybe it’s spending intentional time with him in the morning by reading his Word. Maybe you need to pray more and be with Jesus. Maybe you need to spend more time in worship and surrender to him.
As we continue for the rest of our time today, think of what that thing maybe. Some of you might even feel right at peace in your relationship with God and you probably don’t feel like you need to fix anything. Whatever this passage may be convicting or encouraging you of today, let your heart meditate on it as we continue, and later, we will have a chance to share with the group.
Talk Together (10-15 minutes): In group ask the following questions:
When you first said yes to following Jesus, what did you love most about God? What most attracted you to Jesus?
Talk about a time in your life when you treated your relationship with God like it was an obligation versus something you wanted to do?
What are some things you need to do to return to the love you once had for Jesus? What would it look like in your life to implement these things?
(For example: Personal devotional time/quiet time with the Lord, worship, prayer, reading scripture. If so, what might that look like for you?)
Dive In (10-15 minutes):
Take a few minutes to be quiet before God (if you’re able and willing, open your hands in a receiving posture). Ask the Holy Spirit to make Himself known and to speak to each person in the room.
There are always spiritual practices we could do that will help us deepen our love for the Lord. Maybe there are some you want to start doing and maybe there are some that you have stopped doing but want to get back into. Take a few minutes for people to listen to the Holy Spirit and ask the Lord about whatever practice he may be wanting you to return to their first love of Jesus. This could be fasting, worship, silence, solitude, declaring God’s truth over your life, or maybe even just personal devotional time with Him.
Once everyone has finished doing this for a few minutes, take some time to share with the group about what your spiritual practice is.
This Week’s Practice:
Use this week to return to that spiritual practice. The whole purpose of doing this is out of love for Christ. We can definitely learn something from the Church of Ephesus. Jesus wanted them to return to love and this week, we have the chance to do the same.
Close Your Time in Prayer.