081422   Praxis Class Meeting (8-3w)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Title: Faith Hope Love

1. Word Prayer (All): “Love is patient, love is gentle, does not envy, love does not boast, is not proud” (verse 4). Lord, forgive us our weakness of patience as followers of Jesus. Jesus showed the love he embraced with meekness by visiting the marginalized and outcasts of the world. Holy Spirit, help us to change the cold heart in us into a warm one and to soften the hardened heart by melting it with the fire of the Holy Spirit so that we can have a gentle personality. So, like Jesus, help me to become a Christian who bears abundant fruit of love in my life. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

2. Icebreaker: Let us share an experience of realizing a mother's or father's love?

3. Singing(Hymn): assigned by leader

 

4. Reading the scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

5. Understanding the Text:

God is love (1 John 4:8). The perfect image of God's love was realized on the cross. The love of the cross is the “agape” love spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13. The two wooden sticks of the cross indicate the vertical love between God and man and the horizontal love between man and man. You cannot but love God and love your neighbor, and you cannot but love your neighbor and love God. Love of God is love of neighbor, and love of neighbor is love of God. In particular, since man was created in the image of God's love, he must love to become a man.

The foundation of a person's life should be love. Verse 1 speaks of language life. The language we use is a tool given to us to express our love to our neighbors. Also, verse 2 refers to the life of faith. The prophecies, powers, beliefs, and knowledge mentioned here are forms of faith that reveal my love for God. Verse 3 speaks of good deeds for others, that is, a good life. The service or devotion referred to here is an act of expressing my love for the marginalized, poor and needy.

In verse 11, while explaining about love in this chapter, a child suddenly grows into a mature person. The work of a child is already mentioned in verses 1 and 2, such as tongues, prophecy, knowledge, etc., which one day will cease (v. 8). But it is said that love never fails (verse 8). Love refers to the need to grow from a childish character to be abandoned to a mature person with a mature character.

Verses 4 to 7 describe the growth of love. In verse 4, it starts with the positive disposition of love, and in the middle, the negative personality that should be thrown away. In the last verse, the positive disposition is completed.

The positive qualities of love that a Christian should possess are long-suffering and gentleness (verse 4). Above all, love begins with patience. If you don't have patience, you haven't even started to love. This love was perfectly revealed through Jesus Christ, who endured the sufferings of the cross for mankind. Meekness refers to a warm and gentle character.

Next, the negative traits that Christians should throw away are envy, boasting, arrogance, being rude, seeking self-interest, anger, thinking about evil, and rejoicing in injustice.

Finally, perfect love is revealed as a disposition that endures all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, rejoicing with the truth (verse 7). “Everything” repeated four times in the text implies that love is complete. What is particularly noteworthy in the text is that love begins with patience and ends with endurance. The deeper the love, the more mature it is, the more complete patience and perseverance are formed.

Above all, love is an attribute of God, so verse 13 says that the most important thing among faith, hope, and love is love.

6. Questions:

6.1. Even if we have all the faith that can move mountains, if we do not have something, will we become nothing (verse 2)?

6.2. What does the character of love begin with (verse 4)?

6.3. What does the character of love end with (verse 7)?

6.4. What are the three things you should always have, and which of them is the best (verse 13)?

7. APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

7.1. What did I realize in today's sermon? What words do you think are most important to you?

7.2. What is my spiritual state right now? What is my prayer topic now?

7.3. Is there love in the words I'm using?

7.4. What does God point out as a negative character that I must abandon for the sake of Christian love?

8. Prayer(can add your prayer lists): God the Father is the God of love who gave his only Son, Jesus, on the cross to save us from death. The Son Jesus is the Lord of love who took our sins and gave his life on the cross to atone for us. The Holy Spirit is still the Spirit of Holy Love, who intercedes for us with groanings beyond words to guide us on the path of salvation. Although he was created to resemble the Holy Trinity, he lost his true love. Help me to restore the character of long-suffering and gentle love. Help me to restore the disposition of completely abandoning envy, boasting, pride, rude behavior, seeking self-interest, anger, evil thoughts, and rejoicing in iniquity. In the end, please help me to develop a disposition that endures, believes, hopes, and endures all things while rejoicing in the truth. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

9. Praise/ Announcements/

10. End with Lord's Prayer