CHURCH MATTERS: Love Matters (1 Corinthians 13)

how to grow a church?

some say by making the church attractive

but what does that mean?

big events

stage lights, hip music, and motivational speech

where is that instructed in the Bible?

is that ingenuity or obedience???

what did Jesus command?

John 13:34-35

what is Jesus’ method to grow a church?

unexplainable love for one another

the more obedient strategy is to fan our love for one another into a raging inferno of supernatural witness

how is your love?

Luke 6:32-36

puny love?

move along, nothing to see here

nothing remarkable about the Christians

Satan would love that to be the story of FCC

only-explained-by-God love?

Simon the zealot

Matthew

IN CHRIST

We’re not only sinners made alive; we’re strangers made one.

Love Matters

but what does unexplainable love look like in our church?

never hear, “look how much they go to church”

BUT look how they love one another

progression

join a church (become a member)

membership class next Sunday @ 10 (gym classroom)

get to know

come early, leave late

commend for lunch

pictorial directory

must move past knowing to loving

programs are easy

people are messy

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp

is not romantic, surface level of friendship

can be beautiful

can be painful

Judas betrays and Peter denies

Jesus knew and pressed in anyways

because of Christ, we can work through

Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy

Christ alone church OR Christ plus church

are we united by Christ alone

or by Christ and our

political affiliation

music preference

stage of life

shared disgust at so-and-so’s social media post

differences are opportunities

don’t want to be a Christ plus church

robs God of His glory

“Love that’s difficult is the antidote to hypocrisy in the church; it reveals who’s really following Jesus and who’s just along for the ride (1 John 3:16-18).”Jamie Dunlop, Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy

“churches of the NT were often built of combustible materials.”

Hebrew and Hellenist

slave and free

rich and poor

Jews and Gentiles

yet there was no instruction to have separate churches

does that really display the glory of Christ?

FCC religious backgrounds

will force you to love people who…

are different than you

were raised differently

force you to evaluate what is essential and what is nonessential (DOCTRINE MATTERS)

it really is possible to have a supernatural love that is only explained by the power of the gospel through the HS

Corrie ten Boom (40-41)

1 Cor 13 Pew Bible 1,140

love is essential

13:1-3

spiritual gifts without love are pointless

love is the only context for gifts

Love is not a spiritual gift.

It is essential for using spiritual gifts,

and it is more important than spiritual gifts.

love of other members actually propels our use of our spiritual gift for the common good (12:7)

Paul illustrates what spiritual gifts are without love

v. 1: the most impressive speech – love = nothing

v. 2: the most impressive gifts – love = nothing

v. 3: the most impressive personal sacrifices – love = nothing

“Love cannot be measured by actions alone;

motives must be assessed to determine what is loving ."

as followers of Jesus

why we do something may be even more important than what we do

Paul doesn’t leave the Corinthians to figure out what love is or isn’t

love is defined

13:4-7

not up for debate (clearly defined)

nowadays love is an abstract term of feeling

“I love these tater tots”; “I love my Stanley cup”; “I love my dog”; “I love my wife”

can supposedly fall in love and out of love

“I don’t love you anymore”

empty love

episode of Cops

this is a misunderstanding of love

it is situational and blows with the wind

based on feelings that are fickle

but for Paul, love is not an abstract thing that is susceptible to Cupid’s arrow

Paul defines love

wedding but not primary context

love your fellow church members like this and not like that

love is not what you think, but what God says

love (ἀγάπη)

not commonly used before NT

20 times in LXX

116 in NT (75 from Paul)

most clearly demonstrated through Jesus

lavished love on the unworthy by death on the cross

not a feeling, but a commitment

we experience love before we can accurately show it

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

other members are worthy of your love because in Christ we belong together

if treat them undeservingly,

Jesus Himself stands up to object

love like God loves you

Love is patient and kind

God is patient

has held back His wrath toward human rebellion

God is kind

thousand expressions of mercy DAILY

God chose to love the unlovable

now we have an opportunity to love the unlovables, just as Christ chose to love you

who is that for you?

patience with people rather than circumstances

despite difficulties, even when provoked without complaint

“Love reacts with goodness towards those who ill-treat it;

it gives itself in kindness in the service of others.”

we are like the moon reflecting the light from the sun

how well are you reflecting God’s love?

it will take God the HS to reflect to the divine degree

these kinds of actions are not love

does not envy (filled with jealousy)

rejoice (12:26b)

does not boast (braggart, windbag)

impossible to boast and love at the same time

not arrogant (puff up) or rude (behave disgracefully)

not insist on it’s own way (demanding)

not irritable (provoked or upset)

or resentful (mathematical term—keep mental record of wrongs for future action)

be in church long enough and you will work through tough situations

bury the hatchet just don’t put a marker so you know where to go dig it up

does not rejoice at wrongdoing

no gossiping about misdeeds of others

or gladdened when someone else falls

even for those with whom one disagrees

but rejoices with the truth (with what actually happened, no perceived truth)

love hates what God hates and loves what God loves

love believes and hopes the best of other members while it bears and endures the nonessentials

Love bears all things

“to keep confidential, cover, pass over in silence

to bear up against difficulties, bear, stand, endure” BDAG

“to put up with annoyance or difficulty—‘to put up with, to endure.’” LN

believes all things

“to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust, believe” BDAG

hopes all things

“to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial—‘to hope, to hope for, hope.’” LN

endures all things

“to maintain a belief or course of action in the face of opposition, stand one’s ground, hold out, endure” BDAG

“to continue to bear up despite difficulty and suffering—‘to endure, to bear up, to demonstrate endurance, to put up with.’”LN

ESV Study Bible

“The terms believes and hopes are sandwiched between bears and endures and, like them, probably refer to relationships between people rather than to faith and hope in God. Love believes the best of others and hopes the best for them.”

love doesn’t ignore the essentials (DOCTRINE MATTERS)

but surely puts up with everything that is nonessential

maybe church leadership did something in the past not quite like you would have

maybe another member in the church believes different than you on nonessential (gun ownership, votes differently, likes different music)

have you let resentment build up towards another member over something nonessential?

you have an opportunity to bear all things and endure all things as an act of love

to substitute Jesus name is appropriate

to substitute yours as a follower of Jesus is appropriate

to put other church members as the recipient of your love is appropriate

Ralph, Sam, Gloria, Ruth

why is love so important?

love is permanent

13:8-13

the spiritual gifts will pass away

debate on whether some have already passed away

Cessationist or Continuationist

but all spiritual gifts will pass away at Christ’s return

child : adult :: knowledge now : knowledge later

mirror dimly : face-to-face

what hinders us from knowing more fully now

namely, sin and its effects on how we think and feel, will no longer hinder us

now vs. then

like outside with flashlight in pitch darkness vs. outside on bright sunshiny day (don’t need flashlight)

while have different spiritual gifts

characteristic of every Christian (faith, hope, love)

faith (trusting God for what we cannot see)

hope (confidently expecting God to do what He has promised)

but faith and hope are temporary

faith will not be needed when you see Jesus face-to-face

hope will not be needed when you are experiencing everything God has promised

BUT love never ends

God only has love

no need for faith or hope

thus the way we most reflect God is through the permanence and supremacy of love

Love Matters

how might God’s Word be working in your heart as HS applies it?

how is your love toward fellow church members?

ever growing? stagnant? shrinking?

what kinds of church members in our church do you struggle to love?

how can you move towards Biblical love in power of HS?

what church members do you have a past with?

do you avoid them or press in to love them genuinely (Rom 12:9)?

if God inspired Paul to write you a letter today,

what would he write to you about your love for your fellow church members?