Do you remember your first love?  Do you remember how you felt?
It's kind of hard to forget right!?  First Love is intense. It is at times irrational. It is powerful.
Over time it appears that this intense first love dwindles. Could it be that we are no longer operating from love, but from expectation?
There is an expectation trap. 3 negative things happen when our motivation is expectation instead of love.
We are robbed of giving love
We are robbed of receiving love
We fall victim to deal keeping
God is our example when it comes to love.  He always kept love first. He never was motivated by expectations, but by love.
It is time that we return to our First Love.
First Love 1 - The Expectation Trap from Redemption Church on Vimeo.
First Love 1 – The Expectation Trap
Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt
Redemption Church Plano Tx
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Welcome
Love is central to life. It is central to happiness. It is central to Faith. We are quick to say love is important but our lives don’t always reflect this truth.
We remember our first love. We remember our first crush. We remember our first song & dance. Our first memories are often the ones we hold most dear.
1 First Love is intense
When you first fall in love it can be an intense experience.
When you fall in love you don’t always think rationally.
I’ll share a little of my experience of when I met Sarah. We met and went on a few dates, and somewhere in there I just fell head over heels in love.
Time
Money
Tried new things
The center of my lifestyle changed
It was intense! I could not imagine not seeing her or talking to her.
I would drive from Richardson to Allen Tx in the morning so I could drive her to work in Mckinney. Why did I do it? To spend that little time with her. I would then stay in Allen and work in a nearby Café so that I could have Lunch with Sarah and see her for 30 minutes. I would go back to the Café and work so that I could be there to pick her up from work and drive her home. It was intense. It was not rational. But baby it was worth it!
First Love is intense.
 
When a man loves a woman lyrics
When a man loves a woman              Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world                               For the good thing he's found
If she's bad he can't see it                     She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend          If he put her down
 
When a man loves a woman              Spend his very last dime
Trying to hold on to what he needs  He'd give up all his comfort
Sleep out in the rain                                                If she said that's the way it ought to be
 
Too often we forget how it felt when we first fell in love. That should not just be a distant memory. That same love we felt should still be in our hearts. That willingness to put them first..
Whether it is a romantic love.. A family love.. A friendship love.. A God Love. It is important that the Love we felt AT FIRST stays in our hearts.
The love we give and receive is really a gift.
2 Gifts of Love
{The Box}
When we first fall in love these gifts start to flow out of us. They are expressions of our love.
Time
Serving each other
Cooking
Keeping house (dusting, dishes..)
Helping with the baby
Words of affection
Giving Gifts
Physical touch
 
A great book to read about showing love in your relationships is “the 5 love languages” by Gary Chapman.
 
When you intensely love someone… with that first love kind of feeling… You operate from Love.  And it feels great!
Giving & sacrificing might feel like a loss in other situations… but when they are done out of love it is triu...