Love Shows Up (1 of 3)
Series: Love Church
Steve Jones
I Corinthians 13
SUMMARY: After correcting the Corinthian Church's abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12, Paul shows them a better way to ''do church'' in I Corinthians 13. That better way is ''love.'' To drive home the importance of love he begins by showing how counterproductive ''doing church'' is without love. 1) Church without love hurts our effectiveness.
2) Church without love diminishes our significance.
3) Church without love robs us of our rewards.
INTRODUCTION: Stone soup. When I was a kid one of my favorite folklore stores was the story of stone soup. Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making ''stone soup'', which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor. The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential; it's still missing something. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike.
In the Corinthian Church Paul ''tasted the soup'' of the congregation so to speak and found that there was still an ingredient missing and that ...
Series: Love Church
Steve Jones
I Corinthians 13
SUMMARY: After correcting the Corinthian Church's abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12, Paul shows them a better way to ''do church'' in I Corinthians 13. That better way is ''love.'' To drive home the importance of love he begins by showing how counterproductive ''doing church'' is without love. 1) Church without love hurts our effectiveness.
2) Church without love diminishes our significance.
3) Church without love robs us of our rewards.
INTRODUCTION: Stone soup. When I was a kid one of my favorite folklore stores was the story of stone soup. Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making ''stone soup'', which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor. The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential; it's still missing something. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike.
In the Corinthian Church Paul ''tasted the soup'' of the congregation so to speak and found that there was still an ingredient missing and that ...
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