Dillon Community Church

Summary

In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Ryan unpacks Paul's famous poem on love, reminding the congregation that this passage was not written for a wedding ceremony but for a struggling church community in Corinth. Paul's description of love is not a random list of feelings but a pointed response to the specific failures of the Corinthian believers. Pastor Ryan emphasizes that love, defined by the Greek word agape, is a covenant commitment and an active choice, not merely a fleeting emotion. He walks through each characteristic of love, from patience and kindness to not keeping a record of wrongs, showing how each one directly challenges common human tendencies toward self-promotion, envy, bitterness, and pride. The sermon calls the congregation to honest self-reflection, encouraging them to identify one person in their lives with whom they have struggled to embody this kind of love. Pastor Ryan grounds the entire discussion in the Gospel, reminding listeners that God Himself models agape love by continually pursuing, forgiving, and interceding for people despite their repeated failures. Just as Jesus gave Himself sacrificially for others, believers are called to give themselves for the benefit of those around them. Love, Pastor Ryan concludes, is the greatest virtue because it is the very foundation of God's character and the force that will ultimately restore and sustain all things into eternity.

Intro Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together today. As we open your Word and discuss what it means to truly love one another, we ask that you soften our hearts and open our eyes. We know it is easy to come with our own agendas or to think we already have the answers, but we surrender that tendency right now. Holy Spirit, reveal to each of us the areas where we have fallen short of the love you call us to. Give us the courage to be honest with one another and with ourselves. And above all, remind us of the Gospel, that even in our failures, you are still pursuing us, still interceding for us, and still working toward our transformation. We love you, Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Ice Breaker

What is one thing you genuinely love doing or experiencing, and how did you first discover that you loved it?

Key Verses

• 1 Corinthians 12:31
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
• 1 Corinthians 13:12-13
• 2 Corinthians 5:19
• Hebrews 7:25

Questions

• Pastor Ryan pointed out that the Corinthians were familiar with Paul's teaching but had stopped truly listening to it. Is there a passage of Scripture or a spiritual truth that you have become so familiar with that you tend to tune it out? What would it look like to approach it with fresh eyes?
• Paul uses 15 verbs to describe love, emphasizing that love is something you do rather than primarily a feeling you have. How does that shift in perspective challenge the way our culture typically talks about love?
• The sermon described two types of envy: coveting what others have and resenting others for having what you lack. Which of these do you find more subtle and harder to recognize in yourself, and why?
• Pastor Ryan talked about how impatience often shows up when our schedule or timeline gets interrupted. Can you think of a recent moment when someone else's need interrupted your plans? How did you respond, and what might a more patient response have looked like?
• The sermon described exasperation as what happens when patience gives way to contempt, where we stop seeing the whole person and only see their failures or habits. Have you ever been on the receiving end of that kind of contempt? How did it affect you?
• Pastor Ryan used the image of open browser tabs to describe how we keep a record of wrongs against people, occasionally revisiting and nursing bitterness. Is there a tab you have kept open on someone that you need to close? What is making it hard to close it?
• The sermon said it is often easier to weep with those who weep than to rejoice with those who rejoice. Why do you think genuine celebration of another person's success can be so difficult, and what does that reveal about the condition of our hearts?
• Pastor Ryan closed by saying that love is the greatest virtue because it is what caused God to create, what restores all things, and what will sustain everything into eternity. How does understanding love as the foundation of God's character change the way you think about your own calling to love the people around you?

Life Application

This week, identify one person in your life with whom it has been genuinely difficult to practice the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13. Be specific and honest with yourself. Choose one characteristic from the passage, such as patience, kindness, not keeping a record of wrongs, or hoping for the best in that person, and make a deliberate, concrete effort to practice it toward them. At the end of the week, reflect on what that experience revealed about your heart and bring it back to God in prayer.

Key Takeaways

• Love, as Paul defines it using the Greek word agape, is a covenant commitment and an active choice expressed through behavior, not primarily a feeling that comes and goes.
• Every characteristic Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 13 is a direct response to specific failures in the Corinthian community, meaning this passage is a mirror meant to expose our own tendencies toward self-promotion, envy, bitterness, and unkindness.
• Keeping a record of wrongs, like open tabs on a computer, prevents us from truly forgiving others and blocks us from being able to genuinely rejoice in their good. Closing those tabs is an act of love.
• God Himself is the ultimate model of agape love. Just as he continued to pursue Israel despite repeated unfaithfulness, and just as Jesus gave Himself sacrificially for us, we are called to love others with that same self-giving, hope-filled commitment.
• Faith and hope will one day be fulfilled and completed, but love is the foundation that undergirds all of creation and will continue to sustain everything into eternity, which is why Paul calls it the greatest of the three.

Ending Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for this time together and for the truth of your Word. We confess that the love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is not easy, and that on our own we fall short of it every single day. But we are grateful that you do not keep a record of our wrongs. You are patient with us, you are kind toward us, and you never stop hoping for our transformation. As we leave today, would you bring to mind the specific people and situations where you are calling us to love more faithfully? Give us the courage to close the tabs we have been holding open, to extend kindness where we have been critical, and to see the image of God in the people who are hardest for us to love. May the love you have shown us in the Gospel be the fuel that empowers us to love others well this week. We love you, and we trust you. In Jesus name, amen.

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*Discussion guide comes from sermon given by Pastor Ryan Leeds and material created with Sermon Shots.