Preaching on Love
Literary Unit of Scripture
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 to 13:1-8 (NLT)
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?
30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!
31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
Subject: What is the greatest of all ministries and gifts?
Complement: Love outlasts everything.
Exegetical (Big) Idea (biblical concept): Love is the greatest of all ministries and gifts because it outlasts everything.
Theological Idea (timeless): Love is the greatest of all ministries and gifts because it lasts forever.
Homiletical Idea (meaningful today): Love is the greatest of all ministries and gifts because it outlasts everything in all circumstance.
Memorable sentence: Love lasts forever.
Target Audience: An over zealous and pious individual.
Sermon’s Purpose
Developmental Questions
How did Paul develop his point?
Paul developed his point by mostly explaining what ministries and gifts are and then explaining love and how it outlasts everything .
First, he enumerated the different ministries and gifts every Christian can have. [1 Cor 12:27-28]
Second, he posts a series of rhetorical questions? [vv. 29-30]
Third, he issues an advice [vv. 31a] and follows up immediately with a come on to something better [v. 31b].
Fourth, he demonstrates that without love, every ministry and gift is meaningless. [1 Cor 13:1-3]
Fifth, he characterizes love using different adjectives that point to selflessness, charity, and durability. [vv. 4-8a]
Lastly, he delivers his point that love outlasts everything. [v. 8b]
What does this explanation teach us about God and his relationship to human beings?
Like God love is the greatest of all things because God lasts forever. God has appointed ministries and gifts to every Christian. However, those ministries and gifts can only last for so long without God. So, like God, if we have love in our lives, then there is meaning and a purpose to our lives.
What is the sin factor in the literary unit?
Pride in one’s ministry and one’s gift or gifts. If love is the greatest of all gifts then pride is the greatest of all sins. Pride (or self-righteousness) leads to many other sins including apostasy.
How does the literary unit point to Jesus?
The characteristics of love that Paul enumerates are also the characteristics of Jesus Christ. As if Paul, was allegorically describing Jesus as love.
Jesus, as God incarnate, demonstrated that if he had not come to the world, the world would have been perilously destined to a life without God. His coming to the world is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us and his desire to lead us back to him in eternal communion body, soul, and spirit.
What is my purpose statement?
My purpose is to apply Paul’s explanations for love to convince an over zealous and pious person that without love which is forever, his/her efforts (by excelling in ministry or using one’s gifts) are for nothing.
What shape is my sermon going to be?
Deductive
Sermon Outline
IDEA: Love is the greatest of all ministries and gifts because it outlasts everything.
- Without love, a carefully and thoughtfully crafted speech can sound like background noise, irrelevant and inconsequential. [1 Cor 13:1]
- Love does not rejoice in injustice and unrighteousness [v. 6a]
- Love speaks the truth [v. 6b]
- Without love, earnest faith that overcomes every personal problem can turn into self-indulgence and self-gratification. [1 Cor 13:2]
- Love is patient. [v. 4a]
- Love is not self-seeking. [v. 5b]
- Without love, selfless giving and martyrdom can become a selfish cause in and of themselves. [1 Cor 13:3]
- Love is not vanity. [v. 4c]
- Love thinks no evil. [v. 5d]
- Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. [v. 7]
