This Week's Reflection
Five Questions for Prayer, Conversation, and Discernment
Use these questions to reflect on God's love made visible through us, the Spirit's costly work, our longing for unconditional love, and the fears that keep us from trusting Him.
Reflect The sermon draws a distinction between love as something we self-generate versus love as someone who becomes visible through us -- how does that shift in framing change the way you approach loving difficult people in your life?
Reflect John writes that we can know God abides in us by the Spirit He has given us, and the sermon suggests one sign of that indwelling is a desire to seek another's good at personal cost -- when have you experienced that kind of desire, and what did it reveal to you about the Spirit's work in you?
Reflect The sermon argues that our deepest longing for unconditional love points beyond human capacity to God Himself -- do you find that argument compelling, and what in your own experience either supports or challenges it?
Reflect Augustine prayed, 'Lord, command what you will and grant what you command' -- what does it mean practically to ask God to grant the very love He commands us to have, and why do so few people approach love this way?
Reflect The sermon uses the image of a prenuptial agreement to describe how many people relate to God, assuming He is hedging His bets -- in what areas of your life are you most tempted to hedge your bets against God, and what fear is driving that?