RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL STUDENT’S MANUAL – Y.A.Y.A EDITION- LESSON: TWENTY FIVE – DATE: SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARY 2025 – TOPIC: LOVE: THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
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RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL STUDENT’S MANUAL
Y.A.Y.A EDITION
LESSON: TWENTY FIVE
DATE: SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARY 2025
TOPIC: LOVE: THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN
- O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Thy friend friendship suits me well,
Both young and will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds be black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?
MEMORY VERSE: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. — 1 John 4:10 (NKJV).
BIBLE PASSAGE: MATTHEW 22:35-40
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked [Him a question,] testing Him, and saying,
36 “Teacher, which [is] the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, ” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is [the] first and great commandment.
39 “And [the] second [is] like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
INTRODUCTION
The Bible says that “love is of God” and “God is love” (1John 4:7-8). In other words, love is a fundamental characteristic of who God is. Everything God does is driven and influenced by His love (John 3:16). Our lord Jesus Christ emphasised this by identifying the commandments to love God as the first and general law, after which He declare the directive to love fellow human beings as the second most important law (Matthew 22:35-40).The Holy Spirit sheds more light on the link between these two aspects of love (1John 4:20). In Song of Solomon 8:7, Love is said to be unquenchable and had more worth than all of the one’s possessions because it satisfies like nothing else can.
LESSON OUTLINES
- LOVE GOD
- LOVE FELLOW HUMANS
LOVE GOD
The Bible says that our love God is related to the fact that God first loved us (1John 4:19). It is also related to our obedience of Him (1John 5:3; John 14:15). God love for us enable us to obey Him freely, without the burden of guilt or the fear of punishment (1John 4:18). Loving God requires knowing begins with His Word (1John 2:5).
To love God is to worship and praise Him only (Ex. 20:3). To love God is to make Him our priority (Mark 12:30). To love god is to desire Him, to yearn for His righteousness, His Word, and His grace (Ps. 42:1). To love God is to obey him (John 14:15, 23; 15:10). However, this is not a matter of merely following rules and registering good deeds. It is about having God’s love written permanently on our hearts (Deut. 6:5).
LOVE FELLOW HUMANS
We can express our love to God thorough through those who are created in His image-fellow humans (1John 4:20; Mark 12:31). God’s kind of love is that which gives to those who did not deserve it including our ‘enemies’ (Romans 5:8; Luke 6:32-35). The Bible says that we are to love others the way God love us (1John 4:7). We are to love the family of God (Rom. 12:10). As we show benevolent and selfless love, we reflect God’s love to a lost and dying world.
One practical way to love others is to imagine ourselves in their shoes (Luke 6:31). Loving others does not mean agreeing with everything they say or do, nor does it mean acting in ways that always gain their approval. Loving our neighbours, means attending to their needs-both physical and spiritual (Luke 10:29-37). We love our neighbours best when we share God’s truth with them. Jesus alone can save (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and He alone can meet people’s every need. We love our neighbours out of an overflow of God’s love for us and as a way of demonstrating our love toward God (1 John 4:7-12).
CONCLUSION
The love towards our neighbors is an evidence of our love towards God. Let the love of God fill your heart (Romans 5:5).
QUESTIONS
- How should believers express their love towards God?
- Believers are to love one another. Explain.
Open Heavens 2025 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
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