Series: Reactive Love
Message: A Message from 1 Corinthians 13
Preacher: Jessyka Albert

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 27:7-14.

Read: 1 Corinthians 13 - Read the Message paraphrase, and note 1-3 insights/questions that arise. 

Reflect: When reading 1 Corinthians, there are four things to keep in mind:

1. This is a letter, not a book. Paul wrote to many churches about their specific challenges and struggles. Reading through this letter is essentially reading through someones text messages or email with a pastor. Paul intended this for the Corinthian people specifically. With that being said, it is obviously that many of this issues are timeless and we can learn and grow from Paul’s words to the Church in Corinth even today.
2. Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian people. As you will see Paul says some pretty straightforward and tough things to this church. We often use “the love chapter” as something sweet to say at weddings, but in reality, this would have been a blow to the gut as Paul points out some of the major flaws these people are holding on to.
3. This was not Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Despite the deceiving name of “first” Corinthians, this is the second of four letters that Paul has written to this church. Four letters are assumed based off of language found in 1 & 2 Corinthians.
4. This letter is written from Ephesus. In Ephesus, Paul is baptizing, people are speaking in tongues and prophesying, and miracles are happening. This adds emphasis to 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. When he says without love, those things are nothing.

Recalibrate: 

1. How can you use your struggles and story help someone else?
2. Who is your Paul? Who is there to remind you of what is most important?

Respond: Pray for guidance. 

Research: Acts 19 is during Paul’s third mission journey and explains his time in Ephesus. This is where he wrote 1 Corinthians from.