Words from Paul | Love

I feel loved when _________?

Can you describe, show or imagine something that you have not experienced, seen or heard about?

Types of people that hear this:

Those that know it

Those that don’t

Accept it

Those that can’t

1 Corinthians 13 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Part #2: God has some pretty fantastic love for you.

Love Checklist:

patient

kind

not envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, insist on His own way, irritable or resentful

rejoices with truth

bears, believes, hopes and endures all things

Never ends

Are there parts of God’s love that you have trouble accepting? Which part(s)?

Are there any parts of God’s love that you really really want to experience for yourself?

Part #1

We can be an example to others of how God loves...

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

The Story and Idea?

John Todd was born in Vermont in 1801. Shortly afterwards his family moved to Killingsworth, Connecticut. Before John was six years old he was orphaned. He, his brothers, and sisters were parceled out among the relatives. John was assigned to a kindhearted aunt who lived ten miles away. She became father and mother to the homeless lad and saw him through Yale and into his chosen profession.

There came a time when the aunt was taken seriously ill. She knew that death was close at hand. She was afraid and uncertain about the future. In her anxiety she wrote John. Since he could not be at her bedside at the moment, he wrote her this letter:

It is now nearly thirty-five years since I, a little boy of six, was left quite alone in the world.… I have never forgotten the day when I made the long journey to your house in North Killingsworth. I still recall my disappointment when instead of coming for me yourself you sent your hired man Caesar to fetch me. And I can still remember my tears and anxiety, as perched on your horse and clinging tightly to Caesar, I started out for my new home. As we rode along, I became more and more afraid and finally said anxiously to Caesar, “Do you think she will go to bed before we get there?” “Oh, no,” he answered reassuringly, “she’ll sure stay up for you. When we get out of these here woods, you will see her candle shining in the window.”

Presently we did ride out into a clearing, and there, sure enough, was your candle. I remember you were waiting at the door, that you put your arms around me, that you lifted me down from the horse. There was a fire on your hearth, a warm supper on your stove. After supper, you took me up to bed, heard my prayers, and then sat beside me until I dropped asleep.

You undoubtedly realize why I am recalling all these things … Some day soon God may send for you, to take you to a new home. Don’t fear the summons, the strange journey, the dark messenger of death. At the end of the road you will find love and a welcome; you will be safe there as here, in God’s love and care. Surely He can be trusted to be as kind to you as you were years ago to me!1

1 Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (pp. 110–111). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Having heard the story, What parts of God’s love did the aunt show to the little boy?

What character traits do you give to God?

What could you move around in your thinking, actions or attitude to be a promoter of God’s love?

Action step:

Take some time at your tables to pray for one another.

Has God Proven tonight that He loves you?

Challenge:

Be aware of God’s loved so that you can be this love to others.