What's Love Got to do With It?
Rex Yancey
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 13 is what I would call one of the great texts of the Bible. It is one of the most wonderful but at the same time most disturbing passages in the Bible.
I have a series of messages on this chapter. However, I will not preach all of them tonight. I want be like one minister who stood up and said, ''I have so much to say tonight I don't know where to begin.'' One of his members shouted out, ''Begin in the middle!'' What I will do tonight is just skim the cream from these verses to hopefully whet your appetite for a deeper study.
G. Campbell Morgan said, ''In this chapter we enter the purest atmosphere and breathe the most fragrant odors.'' Harnack, a German theologian called this text ''The greatest, the strongest, deepest thing Paul ever said.''
Lucy asked Charlie Brown in one cartoon strip to give her a definition of love. He said, ''Love, a noun, strong affection or liking for someone or something, a strong affection for the opposite sex.'' Lucy said, ''On paper, Charlie Brown is great!''
The church at Corinth was great on paper. They were by far the most gifted church in the New Testament. However, there was much to be desired in their real life experience. These members had the gift of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, but they did not have the graces of the Spirit. This was the root of their problem. It was a church without love.
There are some things we can learn from this text that will keep us from being a church without love.
1. LOVE HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE CHURCH.
I was in a seminar a few years back that handed out a survey from hundreds of churches. Most of the members said they had dynamic worship services. However, those same members said that they seldom invited their friends to attend those worship experiences. There was a disconnection between what they said they were experiencing and what they put into action.
Many of those same church in t ...
Rex Yancey
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 13 is what I would call one of the great texts of the Bible. It is one of the most wonderful but at the same time most disturbing passages in the Bible.
I have a series of messages on this chapter. However, I will not preach all of them tonight. I want be like one minister who stood up and said, ''I have so much to say tonight I don't know where to begin.'' One of his members shouted out, ''Begin in the middle!'' What I will do tonight is just skim the cream from these verses to hopefully whet your appetite for a deeper study.
G. Campbell Morgan said, ''In this chapter we enter the purest atmosphere and breathe the most fragrant odors.'' Harnack, a German theologian called this text ''The greatest, the strongest, deepest thing Paul ever said.''
Lucy asked Charlie Brown in one cartoon strip to give her a definition of love. He said, ''Love, a noun, strong affection or liking for someone or something, a strong affection for the opposite sex.'' Lucy said, ''On paper, Charlie Brown is great!''
The church at Corinth was great on paper. They were by far the most gifted church in the New Testament. However, there was much to be desired in their real life experience. These members had the gift of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, but they did not have the graces of the Spirit. This was the root of their problem. It was a church without love.
There are some things we can learn from this text that will keep us from being a church without love.
1. LOVE HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE CHURCH.
I was in a seminar a few years back that handed out a survey from hundreds of churches. Most of the members said they had dynamic worship services. However, those same members said that they seldom invited their friends to attend those worship experiences. There was a disconnection between what they said they were experiencing and what they put into action.
Many of those same church in t ...
There are 7972 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
