The Cure For A Toxic Church
When We Gather
February 12, 2023
THE CURE FOR A TOXIC CHURCH IS LOVE
31Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. —1 Corinthians 12:31
1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. —1 Corinthians 13:1-3
A HEALTHY CHURCH IS MOTIVATED TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER BY LOVE
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. —1 Corinthians 13:4-7
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God…For God is love.
19We love because we were first loved. —1 John 4:7-8, 19
A HEALTHY CHURCH MOVES TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER BY LOVE
34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” —John 13:34-35
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. —1 Corinthians 13:8-13