Series: #CanYouRelate?
Sermon: Love Endures
Passage:1 Corinthians 13

Main Idea: As you change, your relationships will start to change

Purpose: Introduce topic and get the group talking.

1.Can you remember a time when you felt absolutely loved by someone?

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text

As a group, read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.

2. What do we learn about love from this passage? Observe as many things as you can find.

3. What do you observe about the difference in setup between verses 1-3 and verses 4-7?

4. This past week as we began to unpack some of what 1 Corinthians 13 says, we looked specifically at the idea of love being patient. How does this passage unpack what patient love looks like? Why might Paul have been inspired to start with “love is patient”?

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

5. How does the Bible’s definition of love differ from what the world says about love? Give examples from tv shows, music, conversations with coworkers and friends, etc.

6. Who do you know that exemplifies this sort of patient love? What impact does their example have on you, or on others?

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

7. What do we learn about God’s character from this Scripture and from these examples of love?

8. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being Jesus), how “loving” of a person do you think you are? What makes you answer the way that you do?

9. In what scenarios / situations do you struggle the most in showing patient love to people?

10. What practical things can you do to develop a regular practice of being “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19)? How might that change the relationships that you are in?

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s for direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

11. In loving someone, why is it important to exercise the other traits listed in vv. 1-7, in addition to patience?

12. Share a difficult relationship you have in your life right now. To the extent that you are comfortable, talk about what makes it difficult. (For this question, you may want to split into gender groups).

13. Ask God how to pray for each other and then spend time praying for the areas in your lives where you each need patience.

Purpose: Introduce topic and get the group talking.

1. Can you remember a time when you felt absolutely loved by someone?

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text

As a group, read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.

2. What do we learn about love from this passage? Observe as many things as you can find.

3. What do you observe about the difference in setup between verses 1-3 and verses 4-7?

Vv 1-3 is about what you end up with, without love.
Vv. 4-7 What is the result of love from these verses?
What do you think of the difference between vv. 1-3 and vv. 4-7?

4. This past week as we began to unpack some of what 1 Corinthians 13 says, we looked specifically at the idea of love being patient. How does this passage unpack what patient love looks like? Why might Paul have been inspired to start with “love is patient”?

(Further study – Look at Read James 1:19-21 main point: We should be slow to speak, slow to anger, and quick to hear.)

Seems to be founded on putting others ahead of ourselves and considering others as more important than ourselves(Phil 2:3-4).

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

5. How does the Bible’s definition of love differ from what the world says about love? Give examples from tv shows, music, conversations with coworkers and friends, etc.
– It’s not about YOU!!
– The world says “how can you love yourself?” The Bible says “how can you love others?”
– Prov. 10:12 – “love covers all transgressions” 1 Peter 4:8 – “love covers a multitude of sins”

6. Who do you know that exemplifies this sort of patient love? What impact does their example have on you, or on others?

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

7. What do we learn about God’s character from this Scripture and from these examples of love?

10. What practical things can you do to develop a regular practice of being “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19)? How might that change the relationships that you are in?

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

11. In loving someone, why is it important to exercise the other traits listed in vv. 1-7, in addition to patience?

– Love always PROTECTS, love always TRUSTS, HOPES, PERSEVERES.
– Patient love is not inactive – but it needs hope, trust, and perseverance

12. Share a difficult relationship you have in your life right now. To the extent that you are comfortable, talk about what makes it difficult. (For this question, you may want to split into gender groups).

13. Ask God how to pray for each other and then spend time praying for the areas in your lives where you each need patience.

What might it look like to show each other the type of love described in 1 Corinthians within your group, and outside your group as a group?