Love Does Not But Does, All Things, Never, Is Not.. Series

Love Does Not But Does, All Things, Never, Is Not..

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

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 have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Prayer…

OKAY MGCC – so this is it, our final conversation in our series, Love Is…

BUT UNDERSTAND – though this message series which began on October 13th is coming to an end…

OUR PURSUIT – of living out God’s kind of love must continue… and continue wholeheartedly.

BECAUSE – according to God’s Word…

• The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love

• Without love – what we say, what we do, what we give, what we accomplish and even our faith does not matter

• Love is the greatest commandment… in fact all the law and all the prophets are summed up in these 2 commands… Love the lord with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

• Love is the only debt that must remain outstanding among us

• Love covers a multitude of sins

• Love is the only way that world will ever know that the people who gather in the building every Sunday really are His disciples…

AND LISTEN – love is not a noun it is a verb… which means that what ultimately matters is not simply KNOWING what love is, but actually DOING what Love DOES…

AND THAT IS WHY – this series has intentionally been very practical. UNDERSTAND MGCC - each week we have been given specific action steps designed to both help and ensure that we are living out God’s kind of love.

QUESTION – have you made ‘any’ effort to actually DO what loves DOES? LIKE – what grade would you give yourself for your actions and efforts this past 9 weeks?

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22

(merely listen… carries the idea of ‘auditing’ a class. And listen, in case your are wondering, being a Jesus-follower is not about auditing His Word, amen?!)

LISTEN – this is, nothing… nothing… nothing… nothing more important in your life as a believer then to live out God’s kind of love….

AND SO – you may want to go back and listen to some of these messages to remind yourself what those action steps are – and commit to actually ding them.

NOW – this morning as we wrap up this series, we are going to be looking at several facets of God’s kind of love, in a conversation I am calling…

Love – Does Not But Does, All Things,

Never, Is Not..

SO – R U ready to do this? AWESOME

THEN - lean in, open up your heart and your mind and buckle up because we have a lot of ground to cover.

AND JUST – one more question before we dive in and begin unpacking God’s truth….

DO YOU BELIEVE - that God just might have a Word for you this morning December 15, 2019?

OKAY – the first point in your notes…

I. Love Does Not, But Does

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

- 1 Corinthians 13:7

NOW – I am sure that you have heard these words before.

I MEAN – they have been part of this portrait of love in 1 Corinthians for 2000 years.

HOWEVER – what do they really mean… how do we actually live out this facet of God’s kind of love in our everyday lives and relationships?

To be honest I have really never thought hard or deep about…

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth

Until this week…

OKAY – let’s start by defining a few words.

NOW – the words delight (love does not delight in evil) and rejoices (but rejoices in the truth) both come from the same root word in Greek… Chairo (to rejoice, to be glad, to be joyful)

AND LISTEN - the kind of “delight” or “rejoicing” this word is referring to, is not a calm, polite— almost passive—type of rejoicing. You know, a slight smile, a little nodding of the head and raising of the pulse.