Study Questions

1. Ken distinguishes between "placing membership" and "practicing membership." What's the difference, and why does that distinction matter for how we live as part of a church?
2. Read John 13:1. What does it mean that Jesus "loved his own... to the end"? Can you think of a time when it was hard to keep loving someone, and how did you respond?
3. Jesus washed His disciples' feet before giving them the new command to love one another. Why do you think He demonstrated love through this act of service before commanding it in words?
4. What is the "Golden Rule," and how does Ken describe the "Platinum Rule" as raising the bar beyond it? What's the practical difference between the two in daily life?
5. Ken says, "Following Jesus is something you do with others." Do you tend to think of your faith as more individual or communal? How might this sermon challenge or affirm that view?
6. The phrase "one another" appears 90 times in the New Testament. Which "one another" commands (loving, encouraging, comforting, etc.) do you find easiest to practice? Which are hardest, and why?
7. In the sermon, a church member says, "I just don't think I can love those people," and the preacher responds by asking if they'd been baptized. What did he mean by that response, and how does it connect love to our identity in Christ?
8. Read Romans 13:8-10. How does Paul connect the command to love with the rest of God's law? What does it mean that love "fulfills the requirements of God's law"?
9. According to John 13:35, how will people know we are Jesus' disciples? Why do you think Jesus chose this as the identifying mark instead of buildings, symbols, or correct doctrine?
10. Ken references Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17:20-21. Why does he connect unity among believers to the world believing in Jesus? What might disunity communicate to outsiders?
11. Read 1 John 4:20. Why does John say we cannot love God if we don't love the people we can see? Is there someone in your life you find difficult to love right now, and how might this passage speak into that?
12. Ken closes by tying the new command to love one another to the new covenant of the Lord's Supper. How does communion serve as both a reminder and a motivation to love others the way Christ loved us?