BIBLE STUDY OUTLINE FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2023- WEEK 3

Welcome to our 2nd Bible Study class in the month of September, our Month of Harvest. Watch a
rebroadcast of the September Global Communion service on https://ceflix.org or highlights on
www.helloloveworld.tv.

This week, we are continuing our discussion on the topic: WALKING IN LOVE. This outline has
been created to guide your Cell's 2nd Bible Study Class in the month of September. In preparing for the
Class, it’s vital that you (Cell Leaders and Bible Study Class Teachers) study this outline prior to the cell
meeting date to acquaint yourself with the topic and content. All the Scriptures given in the outline are
to be read out during the meeting. It’s important that the class participants look into their Bibles while
the Scriptures are read for proper assimilation. You may also assign some of the participants to read
some of the Scriptures during the study. To be sure the participants have their Bibles, kindly inform
them before the meeting date to come along with them. As a strategic and proactive Bible Study Class
Teacher, ensure you make provision for first-timers who will be in attendance, who may not have their
Bibles with them; or you may direct them to download the Rhapsody of Realities Study Bible app from
the Loveworld App Store at www.lwappstore.com. In addition, don’t rush through the subject as you
teach; remember that our intention is to have every member of the class understand the subject matter
and what the Bible teaches on it. At different points of the class, request feedback from the participants
to ensure they are following and understanding the subject being taught. Please note that all Scripture
references are in the King James Version (KJV), unless otherwise stated. Finally, ensure you
communicate the class activity or actions to be taken before the next class and monitor to ensure every
member of the cell is participating in these activities.
RECAP OF LAST WEEK’S CLASS

In last week’s class, we defined the God kind of love and its attributes. Further more, we discussed our
love nature and what it means to walk in love. The Bible study class teacher should ask questions from
last week’s class. Also, get 2 of the members to talk about some attributes of the God kind of love, from
1 Corinthians 13.

How We Walk in Love

From last week’s class, we understood that Love is our nature; it is a quality of our recreated Human
Spirit. When you were born again, you were born with a love nature. This means you can walk in love.

Here are some ways you walk in love:

1. Love as Christ Loves

“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:1-2). In walking in love, we love as Christ loves. We have
the capacity to do this because the Word says we can. We love unconditionally, irrespective of the
words or actions of others towards us, or how they treat us.

The Bible tells us “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The Lord Jesus didn’t love the world because they
were good, but He loved the world with their hatred and wrong doing, even those that condemned Him
to die on the cross. This teaches us that we are not only to love those that are good to us, but we are to
love everyone. Read also Matthew 5:43-48

2. Love the Brethren

The Lord Jesus emphasizes the importance of loving those of the household of faith. By loving your
fellow saints, you show that you love Christ and that His love dwells in you.

1 John 4:20-21 (KJV):"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for
he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his
brother also."

This type of love which we are admonished to have for the brethren goes beyond brotherly kindness
which in Greek is translated “philadelphia” which has to do with sharing with the brethren what you
have. We are expected to practice this but beyond this, we are to show agape- the self-giving, sacrifical
love that is unconditional.

Read also: 1 Peter 1:22, John 13:34-35 ,Romans 12:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:9,
3. Love is Expressed in Giving

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God's love for us
was demonstrated through His ultimate act of giving, and as God’s offsprings, we are raised to show
love by giving generously to others in various forms, including material possessions, time, attention
and kindness. Read also 1John 3:16-18

4. Love is Expressed in Preaching the Gospel

The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 shows us the motivational force behind his overwhelming
passion for the Gospel; it was the love of Christ. “For the love of Christ constraineth us;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which
died for them, and rose again.” He was constrained by this love to preach the Gospel and do all
that he did in furtherance of the Gospel. Have the same consciousness and conviction; let the love of
Christ compel you to reach out to lost souls in your world with the Gospel of Christ’s salvation.

5. Love is expressed in doing God’s Word

Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:15: if ye love me, keep my commandments.

You express your love for God by doing His Word, accepting what He says is Truth to be Truth, and
following His guidance for your life.

LOVE’S DIMENSIONS

Filled with the fullness of God

Ephesians 3:14-19- For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant
you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in
the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

The underlined segment here expresses the Spirit’s desire for God’s people to comprehend the various
dimensions of the Love of God. The Word know in the phrase to ‘Know the Love of Christ’ refers to
revelational knowledge, connoting a spiritual experience. This is higher than the knowledge in the
phrase ‘which passeth knowledge’ which talks about scientific knowledge, a mental comprehension.
When you have this revelation of Christ’s love, you become a part of it and this is pre-requisite to being
filled with all the fullness of God. This is God’s desire for His people, for only then can we truly
manifest Him to and represent Him in the world.

Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

In Christ Jesus dwells all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we have received of His fullness.
Fullness here refers to the maximum capacity of God; everything that ought to be present in its totality.
This alludes to the stirring of the Spirit of God in your life. This is different from a gift of the Spirit. It’s
the person of the Holy Ghost, that God nature, in you. You can begin to walk in this by being constantly
filled with the Spirit; such that He is not only in your spirit, but your soul, and body. This is what God
wants for us; and Apostle Paul is saying in Ephesians 3:14-19 that to experience this fullness, we need
to comprehend the various dimensions of God’s love.

Let’s look at these dimensions:

Ephesians 3:18- May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height…

1. The breadth of Christ’s love: This talks about how wide the love of God is, who does it include?

John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Whosoever means everybody. This scripture shows that God’s love was so wide that He loved everyone
genuinely. You should do likewise. Do not have anybody you do not love. Let you love include everyone.

2. The length of Christ’s love: This refers to how far Christ’s love can go. In Matthew 18: 21-22
(Amplified), Peter asked Jesus, ‘“Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me
and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I say to you,
not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.

The Love of God forgives limitlessly, it goes after the worst sinners and failures; it can be stretched
beyond limits. This is what God expects of us. Apostle Paul said this about Himself: I Timothy 1:13-
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me
faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor,
and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. He
recognized that God’s love reached out to save him despite the fact that he was a persecutor of God’s
people.

3. The Depth of Christ’s Love- This refers to the intensity of the Love of Christ.

Ephesians 2:4- But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace
ye are saved;)
God loved us even when we were dead in sins, not when we were good. How His heart burned with love
for us! You will see an expression of the depth of God’s love in the story of King Saul, his son Jonathan
and David. You will discover that though Saul wanted David dead, David didn’t rejoice at his death.
You will also read about the love Jonathan had for David; the bible reports that Jonathan loved David
as his own soul. (Read 2 Samuel Chapter 1)

The intensity of your love for others must become like Christ’s, that great love with which He loved us
even when we were dead in sins.

4. The Height of Christ’s Love

This refers to the loftiness of the character of Christ’s love; how excellent it is, such that it overlooks
human weaknesses and failures. Does your love function in Gods level of excellence? Can it accept
others who do not accept you? Can it speak well of others who do not speak well of you? Sometimes we
love those that love us, and hate those that hate us. But you must be different, if you want to be filled
with all the fullness of God.

Matthew 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour,
and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the
publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect.

Stay at the high level of love that thinks and talks differently, and you will be amazed at the working of
God in your life. Love is magnetic; it pulls others to you because everybody wants to be loved. See
people through God’s eyes; be so full of compassion as Jesus is. If you ever get to comprehend the
dimensions of the Love of God, you will be amazed at the kind of person you will become.

CONCLUSION

Rooted in our nature, love is a defining trait of Christians; shaping our interactions and actions. In this
class, we highlighted the multifaceted ways in which love is manifested: through emulating Christ's love
for the world, love for fellow brethren, selflessly giving to others, and spreading the Gospel with fervor.
When we comprehend the various dimensions of God’s love, we will be filled with the fullness of God
and be His true representatives in our world. Love is not merely a concept, but a living force in every
Christian that propels us to impact lives, working out the righteousness of God in us.
CLASS ASSIGNMENT

Listen to the message -LOVE’S DIMENSIONS, available on the Pastor Chris Digital Library

The Bible study class teacher should monitor to ensure that every member of the cell is involved in the
evangelical activities scheduled in the cell this month. Take time to explain how each person should
participate; and guide them in the use of the soul tracker application.