::WELCOME TO RESTORATION::

“Does your church take sin seriously?”

Love is the absolute center of the way of Jesus.

Luke 6:32-36

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:13

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Romans 13:8-9

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Colossians 3:13-14

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 "An intense feeling of affection."

Hesed:

• His steadfast love.

• His unfailing love.

• His covenant loyalty.

Covenant Love:

• Commitment (To)

• Presence (With)

• Advocacy (For)

• Direction (Toward)

Commitment (To)

Genesis 6:18 – “I will establish my covenant with you”

Genesis 9:11 – “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed”

Genesis 17:7 – “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant” 

Exodus 24:7-8 - “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Deuteronomy 7:7-9 – “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous…”  

“it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors”

“he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations” 

Matthew 26:28 

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Presence (With)

Exodus 13:21-22

21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

Exodus 25:8

Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 

Exodus 40:34-37

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 

Matthew 28:20  …And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

John 14:16-17  

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Revelation 21:3

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

Advocate (For)

Leviticus 26:12 - I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

Ezekiel 14:11 - …They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Zechariah 8:8 - I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.

John 14:16 - And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – The Spirit of Truth.

Romans 8:31 - What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Revelation 21:7 - Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Direction (Toward)

Exodus 19:4-6

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Leviticus 19:2 - “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Romans 8:29 - “conformed to the image of his son.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 – “And we all… are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory…”

Covenant Love:

• Commitment (To)

• Presence (With)

• Advocacy (For)

• Direction (Toward)

The order of these matter.

Love is not primarily a feeling.

Romans 12:17-21 - Do not repay anyone evil for evil…“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink....Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 Wanting direction for a person without presence or advocacy is experienced by that other person as coercion and manipulation. We must earn through presence and advocacy the entrance into the connection required to be a person who can help guide another into kingdom realities. It is presence and advocacy that create opportunities for genuine kingdom love and direction.

Scot McKnight

Ephesians 4:14-16

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:17-21.

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 

We perform the truth as it is in Jesus.

We perform the truth in love.

We practice the truth in love. It's an outward behavior.

Biblical Truthing = the people that identify as the people of God are to be people characterized by love.

Restoration KIDS is created for kids aged infant to 5th grade. Check in your kids in the Family Room when you arrive, and then join all together for music worship in the Gathering Room. After worship, KIDS Team staff will lead children to their classes. Any questions? Email admin@restorationcolorado.org about our KIDS program.

Restoration STUDENTS is created for older kids in 6th grade - 12th grade. Students join us for the Gathering on Sunday mornings. Youth Group is every Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. For more info and questions, email our Youth Pastor, jadon@restorationcolorado.org.