Sermon Tone Analysis

We’ve been talking about values to live by.

I remember when I used to do youth ministry in schools.

We would do these values exercises.

We would give you a scenerio that puts you in a rubber raft with a friend… a set of flares… enough food for a week… 5 gallons of water… You can’t make it to land without throwing something overboard.

What do you throw?

If you said my friend, I’m glad you are here because we need this message.

We are going to talk about the value of LOVE.

Jesus was asked a values question once.

The religious folks in his day came to him and said, there are a lot of laws in the scriptures, which on is the most important?

Here is his answer…

We have looked at a lot of values, but this is perhaps the most important of all.

Love is number 1. Look what Paul said…

He said, take the whole law and sum it up and here is what it means… Love your neighbor as yourself.

That’s powerful, but we all struggle with this even though it’s something that God really values.

We talk about making love work in our lives but it’s a struggle to love people sometimes… a lot of the time.

Let’s ...

I. Ask What Love is

What is genuine love?

Love is the most misunderstood word in our language.

I can say I love my wife… the saints… pizza… cake… I hope that you know there is a difference in those types of love.

It’s a very misunderstood word.

Dearest Ben, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement.

Please say that you'll take me back.

No on could take your place in my heart, so please forgive me.

I love you.

I love you.

Yours forever, Betty.

P.S.

And congratulations for winning the state lottery

Real love?

Nope...

There are a lot of misconceptions of love that we learn as we grow up and as we watch Halmark.

Popular Misconceptions

Love is Romance

Halmark - two people don’t like each other at first… then they fall for each other but don’t really admit it but they get close … then there is a misunderstanding… and in the last 5 minutes they figure it out and live happily ever after.

That’s love right?

No.

Love is just a feeling

Love is a great feeling but that’s all there is… it’s all emotional.

Love produces some wonderful feelings but it’s much more than that.

Love is uncontrollable

People say things like when they are in love their head is spinning… giddy… knees weak… I don’t know about you but that sounds like motion sickness to me… We say stuff like they do the craziest things when they are in love… Or they fell in love… It’s like you are walking down the street and fell in love like you fell in a ditch.

You tripped and fell… couldn’t help it.

Here’s one of the problems with that.

If you can fall in love you can fall out of love.

What does God say love is?

What God says?

1. Love is a matter of choice

It’s a choice that you control.

Jesus told us to love each other, but he never commanded us to FEEL a certain way.

You can’t command a feeling, but God commands us to love others… he commands our actions.

Paul says it’s like the choice to get dressed in the morning.

You choose to love.

You put love on like you do your clothes.

You don’t wake up and fall into the closet and come out dressed.

You make a choice about what you are going to wear and you put it on.

2. Love is a matter of conduct

It’s about the way we act.

The greeks had four words for love ranging from friendship to affection to sexual attraction to unconditional actions of love towards another.

This word is the word for unconditional acts of love.

It’s the word that describes God’s love towards us.

We act in love.

How do we do that?How does love act towards people?

maybe even people who are your enemies?

II.

Act like Love acts

This is tough because it’s where the rubber meets the road.

Paul gives us a guide to the actions of love in 1 Corinthians 13.

This is Paul telling us this is how you show love.

This is how it works.

1. Be patient

That’s the first word Paul used in describing the actions of love.

Love takes patience with other people.

Waiting is a big part of our lives and part of loving someone is waiting with them for important things to happen in their lives… in your lives.

But the hardest part is waiting for them not with them.

Waiting for them to change… to come to the Lord… to marry… You are waiting for a change that needed to happen a year ago, but they have not made the choice yet.

You are waiting for them to change… to grow.

That’s what God does for us.

He waits for us to “get it.”

Love is patient.

Paul told us how patient love acts in…

Here’s what real patience is.

Patience is making allowance for another person’s faults because of your love.

Here some practical examples.

Getting ready for church and you are ready before your spouse… you don’t circle the cul-de-sac in the car.

Patience means you help your kids with homework when you really want to do something else.

Not do it for them… help them

Patience doesn’t finish people’s sentences for them… Love is patient in the way you talk and listen to people.

No better example of this than God.

He listens to every word… he doesn’t try to guess my punch line or requests… he waits patiently for me .

God waits … for me to gorw… to change… to let go of sin… for soem of you he’s waiting patiently for you to come to him.

2. Be kind

Love is kind.

Kindness is caring for someone in the practical and small details of their life.

Kindness is taking your grand wedding vows and turning them into washing the dishes and taking out the garbage.

Kindness is taking care of someone who can’t take care of themselves… Kindness makes a difference.

It may not fix the problems but it makes them better.

When we had COVID, people (Gores, Melansons, Denise) brought food.

It didn’t make COVID go away, but it made us feel better.

It made a difference.