COVID and love

Philippians 2: 1-16

Introduction - Present pandemic context. 

1. Self at the centre (the idol of autonomy/self-determination)
1. Nothing new (Genesis 3) 
2. Accentuated by the spirit of our age (Western cultural individualism)
2. Our emotional reactions reveal our hearts
1. Sadness at loss of the ‘good’
2. Fear at the censure of others
3. Frustration at the selfishness of others
4. Resistance to the restrictions on my autonomy/freedoms.
3. Christ’s call to love others as well as self (Phil 2:3-8) 
4. Self-sacrificial love in practice
1. Understanding and attending to our own hearts
1. Grieving/Lamenting not grumbling 
2. Confessing our self-centred failures to love others 
2. Loving others who have a different point of view
1. Humbly pausing to listen with respect and patience to the other’s point of view
2. Not judging/condemning others but allowing room for difference of opinion on matters of conscience
3. Loving others through actions
1. Intentionally looking for ways to love/encourage others
5. The witness to the world of our self-sacrificial love

Next week – COVID & Thankfulness