DEMONSTRATE: So the World May Know - Love with NO EXCEPTIONS

Preached to: Middle & High School Students

Speaker: Pastor Amanda Hahn

For the past nine weeks we’ve been learning what it means to Pray. Learn. Demonstrate. We don’t just talk to God — we align with Him. We don’t just read the Bible — we let it shape us. And tonight we answered the final question: Why do we demonstrate?

Jesus answered it Himself:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” — John 13:35

Our faith is not proven by what we say we believe, but by how we live what we believe. Demonstration isn’t about looking like “good Christians.” It’s about helping the world see Jesus clearly through our actions.

Three truths we learned:

1. Our love is the evidence
   People recognize Jesus in us by how we treat others — not by our church attendance, our playlists, or our posts.

2. God uses our lives to reach people
   You may be the only picture of Jesus someone sees this week — at school, at home, on a team, or in a friend group.

3. Real demonstration costs us something
   Loving like Jesus means dying to our pride, comfort, and ego so that Christ can be seen in us.

Before we can demonstrate Jesus, we must first surrender to Jesus. You can’t shine a light you don’t carry.

As we closed, students were challenged to choose one name and one action — a real person and a real step of love — so that “the world may know” Christ through them.

Before next Wednesday, somebody in your world should be able to say, ‘I saw Jesus in you.’

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• Dinner Table Discussion Guide

  1) “How People Recognize Jesus”

  Prompt: We learned that people recognize Jesus in us by how we treat others, not just by what we say.
  Questions:

  • If someone only watched your actions this week, what would they learn about what you believe?

  • What is one area of your life (school, sports, home, social media) where your actions speak the loudest?

  • Have you ever seen someone demonstrate Jesus so clearly that it affected you?

  2) “You Might Be Someone’s First Bible”

  Prompt: God uses our lives to help people see who He is.
  Questions:

  • Who in your life might be seeing Jesus in you for the first time?

  • Where do you feel God is sending you to represent Him — a classroom, a friend group, a sibling, a team?

  • What is one way you could make Jesus visible to that person this week?

  3) “The Cost of Demonstration”

  Prompt: Showing Jesus often costs comfort, pride, or popularity.
  Questions:

  • What is usually hardest about living like Jesus when you’re around other people?

  • Have you ever chosen to do the right thing even when it cost you something? What happened?

  • What part of you (pride, attitude, habits, friendships) might need to change so Jesus can be seen more clearly in your life?

• Sermon Outline

  INTRO — Recap & Set the Question

  • 9-week journey: Pray. Learn. Demonstrate.

  • We don’t just pray to feel better — we pray to align with God.

  • We don’t just learn to get smarter — we learn so truth shapes us.

  • We demonstrate so the world can see Jesus through us.

  • Tonight’s question: Why do we demonstrate at all?

  POINT 1 — Demonstration is proof we belong to Jesus

  • The mark of a disciple is love in action, not labels or words.

  • People identify Christ in us by how we treat others.

  • John 13:35 — “Your love…will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

  POINT 2 — Demonstration is God’s strategy to reach people

  • God chooses to show Himself through His people.

  • You may be someone’s first glimpse of Jesus.

  • Our lives are often the “evidence” someone else needs.

  POINT 3 — Demonstration costs something

  • You can’t demonstrate Christ and protect your ego at the same time.

  • Love requires sacrifice — pride, comfort, reputation, convenience.

  • Real discipleship is visible and costly.

  CONCLUSION — You can’t show what you don’t have

  • You can’t demonstrate a Jesus you haven’t surrendered to.

  • Before we live for Him publicly, we must surrender to Him personally.

  • Tonight is a moment to choose: Will I fully belong to Him?

  NEXT STEPS — Practical and Immediate

  • Challenge: One name + one action — write it, then do it this week.

  • Commissioning Prayer: “Lord, make my life evidence of You.”

• Scriptures

  John 13:34–35 (NLT)

  34 “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
  35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”