Living the Golden Rule: Love in Action

1. "Well, the golden rule turns our lives upside down as well, because we always want to think of ourselves typically first. But Jesus says, that's not the way God's kingdom, that's not the way Christians should live. We're supposed to think about other people first. And so in Luke's gospel, let's put it up on the screen. All the kids, this is from the NIV version, to repeat after me, and adults. You guys ready? Let's do this. One, two, three. Do to others, do to others. All right, let's do it. I'll do it, then you repeat. You ready? And then we'll, okay. Do to others, do to, as you would have them, do to you. All right, let's put it all together. You ready? Do it with me now. One, two, three. Do to others, as you would have them, do to you. All right, let's give the kids a round of applause for that. If you don't remember anything, these are the words of Jesus. Never forget that." [02:46] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Jesus said that if you sum up the whole Old Testament and all of God's laws and all of the commands, they all sum up in this rule. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Which means you have the cheat sheet and the answer at the end of the test. You have the number. Have you ever had a trouble doing the problem, and then you get the answer, and you work backwards to figure it out, right? We have the answer. And if you do the math, and you come up with a different answer, you are wrong, and Jesus is right. Amen? Amen. All of it points to this great command of how we love others. And so this rule is gold, because it is the grand sum. Jesus has given us the answer." [07:32] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Now, it sounds so simple, but it really is hard. Now, it's hard not because we don't understand what Jesus is telling us, but because of our sin and our selfishness, we like to think of ourselves first, right? When we think of three wishes, we're not normally saying all the things we want other people to have. I want them to have more power. I want them to... We're thinking of ourselves. But that is why this rule is so gold. Because it gets to the heart of the problem in human beings and helps us turn our hearts the right direction towards God and others." [09:02] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Because when we want more, more, more, more, did you notice the more you want, the less happy it makes you. And we never grow out of that the older we get. And so I want you to remember, and if you didn't do it last year, get ready this year to start saving your nickels, your dimes, and your quarters. Kids, we're looking under the sun. We're looking under the sun. We're looking under the sun. We're doing extra chores for their moms and dads. Anything they could do to raise more money for that offering. And I want to speak this over the whole church, and I'm going to talk more to Bill about it. But what if we found a way to do that year-round with our children, amen? And for our adults as well, because Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. May the seagull heart of the mine, mine, mine be turned off through the power of Jesus, amen? That we would be thinking You, you, you, you. This rule is gold because it's others' focus." [13:35] (58 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "It's not only a great sum. It's not only others' focus. It's not only love in action, but it displays Jesus Christ. I want to put another scripture up. This is how Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount. He says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Now follow me here, boys and girls and moms and dads. Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 are the greatest scriptures that Jesus has ever preached called the Sermon on the Mount. And he starts the sermon saying, I have not come to abolish the Old Testament and the Bible. No, I've come to fulfill them. And then he ends and says, and this is what they all add up to, this golden rule. Which means that Jesus not only calls the world to do the golden rule, Jesus came to fulfill it himself. Amen? And that's exactly what Jesus has done for you and for me. He came with all of his power. He came with all of his wealth. And he came and made himself poor for you. He came to heal those who were hurting. He came to the outcasts to welcome them in. He came to those who were sick and he healed them. He came to those who were left out and he adopted them into his family. Jesus is the golden rule. And he's applied it for your benefit and for mine. Because Jesus on the cross died the death that he didn't deserve. To give you life. Because that's what you need. Jesus thought about you on the cross. He pours out his love for you. Even now." [20:50] (104 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Then when you think about what you pray for, could we stop just praying for what we want? We should ask for our daily bread. We should pray for the bread of others. Amen? We should be praying about what the world needs and directing that divine power to them because the Father hears our prayers. He hears about where our prayers go. We are called to be men and women, boys and girls, that don't forget about love and do love to the entire world because that is what God in Christ has done for you. Amen? May we do unto others. Let's repeat it one more time. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. One more time. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. One last time. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you for the glory of God because this rule is gold. Amen?" [22:29] (58 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)