What does God want from you more than anything?

TITLE: What does God want from you more than anything?
TEST: Matthew 22:34-40, Deuteronomy 6:1-9
THEME: God wants you to love Him more than anything else.

I.  Our understanding of God __________________how we relate to him. (34-36)

 A. The question is: "What is the greatest commandment?"

 B.  It was asked antagonistically - as a ___________.

 C. It was asked with a legalistic view of God.

II. God wants loving Him to be our highest ___________________.

 A. Jesus quotes "The Shema" from Deuteronomy 6.

 B. We should love God because He first loved us.

 C. Our love for God should ___________all other relationships.

III. Love for God should _______________us to obey Him.

 A. The law helps define what loving God looks like.

 B. We obey the law to _________ the God we love.

 C. Loving God makes obedience a joy - not an obligation.

The Key to a Meaningful Life

TITLE: The Key to a Meaningful Life
TEXT: I Corinthians 15:32-34
THEME: The fact the Resurrection happened matters for us to have meaning.

Why does the resurrection matter - and what should we do because of it?

I. For Paul the Resurrection brought _________________ to everything he did.
 A. It is the key to finding meaning and purpose in life.
  1. If Jesus is physically alive the only logical purpose is to live for him.
  2. If he's not alive, then the only logical purpose is to live for yourself.
  3. If there's no future hope then this life is all there is.

 B. If everything is going to disintegrate the only meaning is to _______________ as much as possible.

 C. The hinge by which all this turns one way or the other is the resurrection of Jesus.
  1. If Jesus wasn't raised, then we have no certainty in a bodily afterlife.
  2. If Jesus is raised from the dead, we have the certainty that this life is not all there is.

II. For Paul the resurrection gives us three _____________________________.
 A.  Don't be deceived into thinking that it doesn't matter
 B.  It is like an __________ calling us to "wake up."
 C.  It is an incentive to "stop sinning."