Spiritual Gifts + Love (by JR BAKER)

The buildup In chapters 12 and 14 of this same book, Paul is really doing a lot of clarification for the people of Corinth, in regards to spiritual gifts and what they’re all about. he’s very clear and firm on the issues they had struggled with and wants to be sure that they understand, as clearly as possible, what this is truly all about.

most excellent and greatest

Now, as Paul is flowing into the chapter 13, the one on love, he starts out by mentioning that the way of love is the most excellent way.  he wants you to know, right off the bat, that even though living out all these spiritual gifts is crucial to the body and an absolute part of life in Christ, that a life of love is the most excellent way to live. 

and just to make sure that we don’t miss it, he ends the chapter by coming back to the fact that love is the most excellent way and he says that after all the gifts have faded away, that faith, hope and love will remain, but the greatest of these is love.  Paul starts and ends the chapter on love, making sure we are fully aware of the fact that love is absolutely imperative to all of these other things we have been discussing.

in fact, living a life of love is so vital to the life of the church and of the believer that he goes on a little bit of a rant pointing out just how much you’d be lacking if you went out and did all these incredibly spiritual things but did them without love.  he talks about how you can be a spiritual giant, and do so much for so many, and yet be completely missing it if you don’t have love as the foundation.

i told the story about how in seminary, i was doing all these good little church things with all of my free time, i was preaching and leading bible studies, i was mentoring college guys and discipling folks, and yet my competitive nature led me to get so upset about a flipping volleyball game, that i actually made the referee cry…i, the pastor, made this sweet, little, girl referee cry⎯i am a horrible human being.

the reality is that the lost of the world couldn’t care less about all your great spiritual accolades and wonderful community service and awesome prayers if they don’t see and experience the love in your life.  i hope you’re getting the point that love is absolutely fundamental to our lives.

The focus
in our culture, love is often misconstrued and it gets mixed up with so many other things.  we confuse emotions and feelings and lust and movie-love and the list goes on, with what God is actually desiring for us to live out with each other, in the body of Christ.

because of this problem, Paul does something extremely helpful and gives us this nice little checklist of what exactly the love of Christ is to look like.  He tells us exactly what this love is and it’s a pretty thorough list of challenging things.  it is a list that i know for a fact that i have not mastered and chances are, will never come close.  we can definitely take out the word love and try putting our name in the blank and see just how well we measure up.  unfortunately, most of us would not stack up to well with Christ.

essentially this list is the perfect description of a beautiful, selfless, sacrificial love that puts others before ourselves.  it goes right back to the Greatest Commandment and the simple point that Jesus makes about us loving God first and then loving our neighbor.  we have got to improve on this because the world around us is dying and it desperately needs to see the beautiful love of Christ that we see so clearly in the cross.

and i hate to be the bearer of bad news and please don’t shoot the messenger, but the truth is…love is difficult.  it is hard to live this out, it is a challenge to live this out, it is something that each and everyone of us need to actively seek out and pray about on a regular basis, so that we can try and be more and more like Christ. 

we’ve got work to do, so lets quit making excuses and get on with it.

challenges and discussion

* pray for the group and one another and that the Spirit would show you where you need to improve in these areas and how you can practically be more loving

* which attribute of love do you struggle the most with? why do you think this is?

* if you were to remove love from that list and put your name in its place, how would you stack up to the ideal?

* do pray for the ability to be more loving as often as you pray for yourself, your friends, your spiritual gifts, etc.?

* if Jesus said that love was the greatest commandment and numerous other authors throughout scripture say this as well, why do you think we choose to focus on so many other things more than we do the aspect of love?

* the beatles have a famous song that says, “all you need is love”…how can this concept that love is “all you need” be dangerous to us in the church? or do you think it is great?

* what is one thing from the sermon that you really felt like God was speaking directly to you and whispering right in your ear?

* in Galatians 5:22, love is the first attribute listed in the fruits of the spirit…do you think that it is listed first for a reason? why or why not?

* this week, try your hardest to love those where it doesn’t come naturally.  it is easy to love my wife, my best friend, my family, etc., but what about those others? be intentional in stepping out in love in new and powerful ways.

MISSION GROUP QUESTIONS FROM HEBREWS: CURIOUS ABOUT CHRIST SERIES - 21/6/09

Hospitality: Hebrews 13:1-6,11-14. Matt finished our series this week with a challenge to be those who actively practice hospitality as a way of life, a kind of hospitality that has it's roots in the Garden of Eden, in heaven and in the very fabric of the Christian life.

Matt spoke on three main points

1) The history of hospitality. 
Originally, in the Garden of Eden, God was the ultimate host!  In 2009, our societies provide a common benchmark for typical hospitality, whether it be by invite of only friends for dinner in the West, or food and lodgings (for a few days) on arrival of unknown guests in the East.  In Deuteronomy and again in Hebrews, God raises the bar far beyond the social or culture norms for His people.

What are the normal ways of hospitality expressed by the society or culture you live in? 

Take a look at Matthew 25 (sheep and goats).  What could it mean to be a Matthew 25 host?

2) The Practicals of hospitality.
“Even a sandwich can change someone’s life”.  Hebrews 13 suggests that there is a spiritual element to our physical hospitality.  Matt challenged us to think about who the strangers are in our church (prisoners, mums and dads, children, the unemployed, teenagers, etc). 

Who are your strangers? 

As a mission group, how can you show hospitality to strangers at Mosaic?   

3) The source of hospitality.
Only a change on the inside will affect a real change on the outside.  Sometimes its easier to just look as if you’re friendly and welcoming when in fact, inside, you are resentful of the very people you are helping - it means you don’t have to address the heart issues.

In 2’s or 3’s discuss whether there is anything that stops you truly loving strangers and extending your hospitality to them.

Matt explained how Jesus was crucified outside the city gates so you could receive Gods hospitality inside the city gates, Heaven, even though you don’t deserve it.

Why was it important that Jesus was crucified outside the city gates?

In the light of the hospitality shown by God the Father to you, what is your response?

MISSION GROUP QUESTIONS FROM HEBREWS: CURIOUS ABOUT CHRIST SERIES - 14/6/09

Our God is a Consuming Fire: Hebrews 12:18-29 Steve Vaughan explained that the book of Hebrews is more like a preach than a letter. The author is pastoring a struggling house church full of doubts and troubles and for some reason his final point is focussed on 'God being a consuming fire' (12:29). Why?

Steve made three points:
1) God is a consuming fire because he is a God of love.
Do you agree with this?  Or can God be loving without his righteous anger?
When did you last think and meditate on the ‘fear of the Lord’. 

2) God is a consuming fire makes us live in light of eternity
One day God will get rid of everything bad on earth therefore only invest in things that last into eternity. 
How can you invest in the future?  What things in your life will survive into the future?

3) God is a consuming fire that causes true worship to rise up in us.
If we fully appreciate God’s saving work through Jesus, it fuels our worship. 
How can your mission group regularly remember the cost Jesus has paid to save us?
Discuss together the cost of God’s love.
Is your life of worship marked by awe, reverence and gratitude or is the Jesus you worship safe and cuddly?

Mission Group questions from Hebrews: Curious about Christ series - 7/6/09

A Community of Enduring Holiness: Hebrews 12:1-3. Chris encouraged us to think about three things from this text:

1) Look to the faithful witnesses.  Are you familiar with some of the hero’s of faith listed in Hebrews 11?  Could you spend time reading/studying them in mission group?  Who are you favourite characters and why?

2) Throw off everything that hinders and run with perseverance
i) Stopper: Has guilt caused you to stop running the race?  What other things cause you to stop running?
ii) Slow Walker: Does apathy or tiredness mean you have fallen off the pace in your relationship with Jesus? What has happened? How can this mission group support you right now?
iii) Sprinter: Does your passion for Jesus mean that you are racing ahead on your own?  How can you help others rather than pursue Jesus individually?

3) Look at Jesus:  The only way to run the race is by imitating Jesus and receiving fresh grace to empower us to change.  How are you doing with this?