LOVE NEIGHBOURS
Series: Unchanging

Hope Singapore may now be a new movement with a new look, but our vision remains the same. We want to fulfil the Great Commission through loving neighbours, making disciples and planting churches. This week, discover the unchanging values that undergird why we love our neighbours.

1) Gospel as our motivation

Grateful that Jesus died to save us, we want to live in a way worthy of the Gospel (Phil 1:27). In your own words, describe what the Gospel is. Why is the Gospel Good News? How is the Gospel a motivation for you? Give an example of how you are driven by the Gospel. When you struggle to love others, how does the Gospel keep you going? What happens if we lose sight of the Good News? How can your LG keep the Gospel as your motivation?

2) Church as our family

Through the Gospel, believers are united in Christ (Eph 3:6). In your own words, describe what family means to you. How is your LG a family to you? In what ways can you contribute to make your LG more of a family? Love in any family often exists in tension. Are you currently going through a tense situation with a fellow believer? How would God see this tension? How would He want you to resolve it (some examples: Mt 5:21-24; Col 3:12-17; Mt 18:21-35)? Identify areas your LG can work on to be there for one another or to build one another up.

3) People as our passion

Being passionate about people requires us to be less self-centred and more others-centred, less inward-looking as a church and more outward-looking. The call is to care for people, not only for their physical well-being but also for their spiritual needs.

Why is it important that the church is inclusive? What are some signs that an LG or a church may have become exclusive? How can your LG avoid that? Consider the people around you who do not know Christ. What do you think are some of their needs? How can you and your LG be a blessing to them? What is one thing you can do as an LG to minister to them and/or proclaim the Good News?

It is important to internalise the aforementioned core values, for they are the invisible markers that guide the fulfilment of the vision and mission of a church.

• Which value(s) do I most connect with? Which value excites me the most? Why?
• Which value(s) do I least connect with or feel less excited about? Why?
• How would it look if the whole church lives out these values? How would the church affect society’s view of Christ?

Let us take time to pray for the church to develop a stronger measure of every value in our individual lives and as a congregation.