This Love Breaks the Rules

Love That Pleases God

Scripture References

• John 13:34-35
• Mark 2:1-4
• Jonah 3:10

Overview

A church that truly pleases God is filled with people who love like Jesus. Love is not an optional add-on; it is the unmistakable evidence that we belong to Him. Drawing from Jesus’ command in John 13 and two vivid Bible stories—a paralyzed man carried to Jesus and Jonah’s reluctant mission—the message shows that real love does two costly things: it shoulders others’ burdens and it is willing to “break the rules” when rules keep people from God. In practical stories from the Life.Church family, we’re invited to become those burden-bearing, rule-defying lovers of “the one” who still needs Jesus.

Context

Pastor Craig opened by lamenting that Christians are often known as angry or judgmental instead of loving. He reminded the congregation that if people don’t experience love, they won’t experience God. The campus pastor then took the baton for a Team-Teach weekend, sharing how his own life and marriage are products of a loving church.

Main Points

Love is the non-negotiable proof of discipleship

• Jesus’ “new command” (John 13) is to love one another as He has loved us.
• Theology, worship style, or knowledge never replace love; love is the evidence.
• God is pleased when His church looks like His Son, who consistently moved toward the broken, sinful, and outcast.

“A church that pleases God is made up of people who love like Jesus.”

A loving church carries burdens (Mark 2:1-4)

• Story: Four friends bring “Benny” the paralyzed man to Jesus.
  • They refuse to leave him at home with an “I’ll pray for you.”
  • When the crowd blocks the door, they lift him to the roof, dig through, and lower him.
• Jesus “saw their faith” expressed through action and forgave Benny’s sins.
• Love shows up in tangible ways:
  • Illustration: YouVersion volunteer Loveth (Nigeria) has replied to 2,000 prayer requests in six months.
  • Illustration: Casey writes weekly letters to inmates who reach out online.
  • Story: A Life.Church family gave their old trailer—and space on their property—to a homeless family.
• Principle: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

“Love doesn’t watch from the sidelines; love carries the burden.”

Love breaks the rules to serve and save

• The friends “broke the rules” of property, protocol, and social decorum because their friend mattered more.
• Jesus Himself is a rule-breaker for love: eating with sinners, forgiving prostitutes, touching lepers.
• If rules, traditions, or comfort keep people from Jesus, love finds another way.

“If rules keep people from Jesus, love finds another way.”

Jonah: When love is hardest

• Jonah 3:10 shows God forgiving brutal Ninevites when they repent—because God “saw” their response.
• Contrast: It’s easy to carry burdens for people we like; the test is loving those we dislike, fear, or even hate.
• Modern “rules” of hatred (politics, race, past wounds) must be broken by gospel love.
• Question posed: “What rules do you need to break to bring someone to Jesus?”

It’s all for the One

• The Good Shepherd leaves the 99 for the one; we were each “the one” once.
• Personal testimony:
  • After a miscarriage and secret depression, a pastor “picked me up, carried me, and dropped me at Jesus’ feet.”
  • Fifteen years ago Life.Church welcomed the speaker’s family from Los Angeles.
  • Pastor Craig and Amy planted a church that “broke the rules” so everyone could come as they are.
• Vision: If every believer loves people to Jesus, together we become a church that pleases God.

Key Truths

• Love is the defining mark of a disciple, not an elective.
• Faith becomes visible when we carry someone else’s weight to Jesus.
• Genuine love will violate comfort zones and human rules to reach the lost.
• God’s heart includes even the people we find hardest to like.
• Every believer was once “the one” someone else carried; now we are carriers.

Response

• Ask God whose burden you need to shoulder this week—and act.
• Interrupt your routine or comfort to bring someone closer to Jesus.
• Identify a person or group you secretly dislike and begin praying blessing over them.
• Offer practical help: a meal, a ride, a listening ear, housing—whatever love requires.
• Share your story of God’s love with “one more” who hasn’t heard.

Closing

The message ended with a call to become a community that pleases God by loving people toward Him—especially the overlooked and the hard to love. Hands were raised to ask for a more loving heart and to surrender lives to Christ.

“We’re going to be a church that pleases God.”

Prayer

The pastor prayed for God to fill the congregation with supernatural love, empowering them to carry burdens and win “the one.” He also led seekers in a salvation prayer, surrendering to Jesus as Lord, asking for forgiveness, and receiving new life.

Resources

• YouVersion Bible App