03/02/2019: The Greatest Gift
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 92:1-6,10,12-15
(A psalm and a song for the Sabbath.)
Sing Praises to the Lord
1 It is wonderful to be grateful
and to sing your praises,
Lord Most High!
2 It is wonderful each morning
to tell about your love
and at night to announce
how faithful you are.
3 I enjoy praising your name
to the music of harps,
4 because everything you do
makes me happy,
and I sing joyful songs.
5 You do great things, Lord.
Your thoughts are too deep
6 for an ignorant fool
to know or understand.
10 You have given me
the strength of a wild ox,
and you have chosen me
to be your very own.
12 Good people will prosper
like palm trees,
and they will grow strong
like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 They will take root
in your house, Lord God,
and they will do well.
14 They will be like trees
that stay healthy and fruitful,
even when they are old.
15 And they will say about you,
“The Lord always does right!
God is our mighty rock.”
Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
READING: 1 Corinthians 12:31b -13:13
Love
And now I will show you the most excellent way
13
1 What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love
others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 What if I
could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had
faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others.
3 What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain
nothing, unless I loved others.
4 Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or 5 rude.
Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others
do.
6 Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil.
7 Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.
8 Love never fails! Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will
no longer be spoken. All that we know will be forgotten.
9 We don’t know everything, and our prophecies are not complete.
10 But what is perfect will someday appear, and what isn’t perfect will then disappear.
11 When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we
grew up, we quit our childish ways.
12 Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him
face to face. We don’t know everything, but then we will, just as God completely
understands us.
13 For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
- What spiritual gift do you believe God has given you?
Quote to think about: Martin Luther King, Jr. said, we are “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality . . . whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
- What do you think Paul is getting at in 1 Cor.13:1-3?
- What is your definition of a “Superhero”?
- Use the following Table to guide your thinking:
Love is/is not
Love is… | Love is not/does not… |
v. 4 | |
v. 4 | |
v. 4 | |
v. 4 | |
v. 4 | |
v. 5 | |
v. 5 | |
v. 5 | |
v. 5 | |
v. 6 | |
v. 6 | |
v. 7 |
- What challenges might we face if we regard “Love” as an “action” rather than an “emotion”?
1 John 4:7 (NIV)
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Have a blessed week,
Rev.Tim