gusta Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? A local congregation can lose its first love, because of the increased wickedness around us and among us. Obedience to His Word,love for one another and faithful service shows the love of Jesus. The lack of love could cause alot of discord among the congregation. To regain love means to wake up and repent and to incorperate sound doctrine and following the word of God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah43 Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? A local congregation can lose its first love for Jesus by becoming too much of well oiled machine....I recently heard a sermon on the radio about just that, wherein the preacher described a church that ran itself and its programs so efficiently that Jesus could have gotten up and walked out and no one would have noticed....The preacher urged this type of church to stop all its agenda and groups and programs just to see if Jesus is still in the room. The preacher was joking in one sense, but in another, he wasn't. The signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship are humility and gratitude and love for the Lord...in ministry we show a love for Jesus by showing love for each other and for the less fortunate, and in evangelism or spreading the Word. Lack of love shows up in attitude, isolationism, pride, cliques, and shunning. A congregation can regain this love by recognizing that the lack exists, repenting, and praying. A congregation can reach out to others for help. Discipleship is a lifelong process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion of Grace Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 How can a church loose it's first love for Jesus? By becoming worldly and serving self. When it becomes about "worldly" things like knowledge and professionalism, quotas, money making, who's who among Christians, numbers, loss of truth for people pleasing, favoritism.....all these things cause a church to forget Jesus and what He taught. Unfortunately, I see more and more churches run as a cold business venture or become so "seeker friendly" they compromise truth. Only with our eyes on Jesus and following HIS way will we return to our fist love. Trusting in HIM with who HE sends and how HE provides and what HE wants us to do. Following the TRUTH of His Word and accepting everyone into our fellowship, all one together at the foot of the cross. We are ALL sinners, relying on God's grace. Genuine love shows up in the fruit of the Spirit and we love because He first loved us. Lack of love shows up in rejection of some, mean spirited behavior and loving only those who love us or are easy to love. Or we only give to those who can give back to us. We are warned even the worst of sinners do that! We are to love beyond that. How can a congregation regain love? Through lots of prayer and experiencing the truth about God. When people know God's love and faithfulness and that HIS way is for their healing and benefit then they can love others and know the truth to follow when dealing with others. When people experience God's grace, they give grace to others. Most will come to know truth by OUR love and OUR example of WHO we follow and what TRUTHS we apply in our lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Smith Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? One way we can lose our first love is to take our focus off the object of our worship, the Lord Jesus Christ. Another is to compromise on the Word. A third may be to be focusing inward, instead of outward, and upward. Genuine love for Him will naturally result in a love for His word, a love for the brethren, and a love for the lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammie7 Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? A local congregation can loss it first love by watering down God word and also by removing pray out of chruch. Some of the sign are yielding to God with all your heart and soul and also by talking to him and reading his word.The lack of love show up when prays in the chruch are not being answer and miracle are not being proformed. and the spirit of God is not with the pastor of the chruch. The love can come back by saying that there is a sin in the chruch also by a lack in pray and reading God word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 The local church can lose its "first love" for Jesus by growing cold in worship and ministry. By that I mean, in worship we should feel deep in our hearts how good Jesus is and want to give Him our ultimate praise. But, many are only there in body only. Every type of ministry within the church should be done out of love for Christ, not because we want to stand out and be noticed! Including your offerings and tithes. They should be given with a glad heart unto the Lord. But, this is not the case most of the time. I actually hear some people complaining. Everything we do for Christ should be first and foremost and should always be done out of love and honor for Christ. The members of the local church need to stop backbiting because that is not showing love for Christ. The local congregation and regain its love by forgetting about yourself and focus on the one who died for the sins of the entire world, Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgandy Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 I feel there are several ways a church can lose its "first love" for Jesus. One is by having so many ministries that you cannot keep up and the other is by turning toward itself instead of to the world. The old song, "You Can't Be a Beacon if Your Light Don't Shine" rings true. If the congregation is content to enter to worship but do NOT depart to serve it is in trouble. Genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry are best displayed by outreach and community service. Bringing people into the church and being a Matthew 25 Christian. By being a Matthew 25 Christian the giver is blessed more, I think, that those receiving. This is the love Jesus spoke of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgandy Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 I feel there are several ways a church can lose its "first love" for Jesus. One is by having so many ministries that you cannot keep up and the other is by turning toward itself instead of to the world. The old song, "You Can't Be a Beacon if Your Light Don't Shine" rings true. If the congregation is content to enter to worship but do NOT depart to serve it is in trouble. Genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry are best displayed by outreach and community service. Bringing people into the church and being a Matthew 25 Christian. By being a Matthew 25 Christian the giver is blessed more, I think, that those receiving. This is the love Jesus spoke of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? When worship, ministry, and coming to church turns into an obligation instead of a desire or drive because of a love for Jesus then its "first love" for Jesus is lost. When the faith of a church as well as a believer becomes stale and uninspired the love for Christ is lost. The relationship has been broken. Maybe the church is too busy "doing things" or focusing on fundraising and money rather than worshipping and connecting with Christ. When going through the motions is what our faith turns into, then our first love for Jesus is lost. Everything we as Christians do should be motivated by a love for Jesus Christ. Our love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit spills into every other aspect of or lives. When this doen't happen we have lost that first love for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The most telling sign of genuine love for Jesus in our witness, worship and ministry is joy, delight, excitement and enthusiasm. Those believers in love with Jesus are driven and excited to be in church, to be in service to the Lord, and to witness for Christ. The church reflects the attitude of its members. The lack of of love for Jesus manifests itself in a lack of joy, lack of excitement, lack of enthusiasm, hit or miss church attendance, and lack of involvement in ministry and service. In the loveless believe's walk there is no rejoicing, prayer or thanksgiving. Again, the church reflects the attitude of its members. A congregation can regain the love for Jesus Christ again by rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving for the love of Jesus Christ. This has to be an intentional effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rn_flobow Posted May 18, 2013 Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 Ahhhhhhh "FIRST LOVE".........Remember the excitement and the sheer thrill of being IN LOVE the FIRST time around.......This LOVE is like the "Garden of Eden" but we lose it when we take our eyes off the GROOM and put them on issues or any other slant of sight. Our eyes were created to stay on JESUS our GREAT LOVE. Our GREAT LOVE yearns to fill us with power and strength for the Journey of Life. When we "forget" when we start noticing that our love may squeeze the toothpaste the wrong way or that following Christ isn't always a "bed of roses" and we become distracted we have lost the ZEAL of our first love. We become busy with other objects. We could even be taking our LOVE for granted. We don't take time to be with our LOVE and actively WORK on our relationship to make it even stronger and better. We find fault.....and we move away in one form or another. We can tell when genuine signs of love for Jesus are present because it isn't a "rote" type of thing where "Oh yeah, I'm married now.....so the excitement is gone........" The fall from the Garden of Eden is complete.....We actively live our faith just like Corrie Ten Boom or Mother Theresa did. Not that we have to be as "great" as they were but in our own way in Christ's eyes we are! "We bloom where we are planted" We serve as God gives us ways to serve......and with a happy and Joyful HEART. Others notice this great LOVE because it bubbles over in our lives. When one member is "feeling down" we encourage each other just like in a marriage. We are truly part of each other. When we forget that we are one body of Jesus's Joyful LOVE that is beyond human comprehension even to the point of suffering physically but rising above spiritually , our love is lost and we only go through the "motions". To regain this love, it may take counseling through God's word. In this case, it was Jesus's words reminding this church to "return to their roots" of loving kindness and Joy. We often shift away into the world and lose our roots of Christanity. As a congregation, we must be careful to serve with Jesus's love. I was turned off by hypocrisy in the church at an early age. When others notice this type of SERVING FOR GLORY OF SELF they become blind to the LOVE that JESUS really IS. As a church, we must guard against these types of activities. When someone is new, we welcome them into our fold with open arms just like Jesus would. What would Jesus do? When we as a congregation live like Jesus, we will joyfully celebrate the fact that Jesus loves us and we love Jesus, IF there is hypocrisy, we turn to Christ and ask for ways to root it out of the church. We ask for God's guidance and clarity so that we may serve with Joy and Love form the heart. We actively seek to serve God with a loving heart and with praise and work diligently to serve God as the body of Christ on Earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanG Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 The church that I currently belong to is really struggling with this right now... We have lost Jesus in the church... Honestly, we are being ruled by money right now. No body wants to stand up to the president of the consistory and tell him that he is not doing things for the best of the church. They are allowing him to make changes and demands that are what he wants not what is best. The reason for this is that he contributes the most money to the church. His family has a trust fund for the upkeep of the church and things like that... It is disheartening to watch money rule now as it is destroying our congregation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulhoward Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 Can lose first love by becoming distracted from the person of Jesus , by focussing on our ministry or the problems that surround us. Another way would be allowing disagreements to rule and not trying to restore relationships. Restoring prayer and a passion in worship are the first steps to placing Christ back at the centre of any fellowship of Christians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Jerry Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 The way that local congregations can lose their “first love” for Jesus is by turning inward and only looking at the church. Some of the signs of genuine love for Jesus is worshiping Him with all your heart. By doing the things that Jesus has put on your heart. And by the ministry teaching about Jesus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 7/28/2003 at 12:37 AM, Pastor Ralph said: Q1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? How does the lack of love show up? How can a congregation regain this love? How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? A local congregation can lose its "first love" for Jesus by not doing those things that it did at the beginning after conversion; being a witness and testifying of the love of God and His power to save. What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? The signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry are loving God, self and others. In loving others one would proclaim the the gospel of Jesus so that others would repent and b reconciled to God. How does the lack of love show up? The lack of love show up in selfish ways. Focusing only on oneself. How can a congregation regain this love? A congregation can regain this love by getting involved in ministry and witnessing for Christ everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Dave Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 Q1. 1. How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? Looking at this question from the perspective of personal experiences, I am very inclined to go with deception. Jesus warned about deception. He knew how full of trickery Satan was more than anyone who has ever lived. The Bible is full of people who were duped with deception beginning with Eve (Genesis 3:1) in the garden. Even the high priest was deceived by not knowing what the scriptures really said and could not accept the fact that Jesus was the promised savior of mankind thinking he would appear as a king displaying pomp and royalty rather than a homeless (Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58 “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”) person displaying humility for what it really is. 2. What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? Doing God’s will. Searching the Bible for truth and acting upon it. 3. How does the lack of love show up? The lack of love shows its face as member’s begin to do “little things nobody will notice” (or so they think not giving thought to the fact that such deeds will eventually be exposed), excuses like “everybody does it” become common and once a cancer begins, it does all it can to spread and left unchecked what people see is the church being no different than the world itself. 4. How can a congregation regain this love? Repentance. A return to living lives according to scriptures without justifying them away—something I see which is quite common in the church today. Jesus said that many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 12:14). People think that they are followers of God because they sing in the choir, loyally go to church and pay tithes Too many people like this take the Word of God for something which a preacher explains it without searching it out for themselves. In other words, after the service its hurry home to watch a football game and return to the ways of the world for the remainder of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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