Watch the video Version here: https://youtu.be/jW0wCJtNPzI

Summary: 1 Corinthians 13 and the “More Excellent Way”

Big Idea

Paul’s “love chapter” isn’t a sentimental poem—it’s the solution to a divided, chaotic church: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV)

Text Overview (1 Corinthians 13)

• Without love, gifts and sacrifices are empty (vv. 1–3).
• What love is/does: patient, kind, not envious/boastful/arrogant/rude; not self-seeking or resentful; rejoices with truth; bears, believes, hopes, endures (vv. 4–7).
• What will last: miraculous gifts are temporary; love never ends (vv. 8–12).
• What must remain: faith, hope, love—and love is greatest (v. 13).
  Full text: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor 13:13, ESV)

Context in Corinth (Why Paul wrote this)

• The church was fractured by division and comparison (cf. 1 Cor 1:10–13).
• Even spiritual gifts became a contest (cf. 1 Cor 12:29–31).
  Paul offers a “more excellent way”—love—as the cure for chaos (1 Cor 12:31).

What “Abide” Means

• Abide = persist, remain. Prophecies, tongues, and partial knowledge will pass away; faith, hope, and love remain as the church’s bedrock (1 Cor 13:8–12).

Where Do Faith, Hope, and Love Abide?

• They certainly reside with God (Heaven), but Paul’s burden is that they abide in us—become lived realities, not just ink on a page.
  • Faith in us: “I am reminded of your sincere faith … now … dwells in you.” (2 Timothy 1:5, ESV)
  • Hope in us: “… we have our hope set on the living God …” (1 Timothy 4:10, ESV)
  • Love in us: “… God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit …” (Romans 5:5, ESV).
    Full text: “… and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5, ESV)

Why Is Love the Greatest?

• When faith feels weak and hope runs thin, love still acts—and often rekindles faith and hope. Love moves us toward others in concrete service, pulling us back from discouragement.

Illustration (Modern Echo)

• A homeowner sheltered students during a school crisis—opening the door, organizing contacts, feeding, calming, and ensuring each child got home. That embodied love restored steadiness in the midst of fear—exactly what Paul envisions love doing in chaos.

Practical Takeaways

• For a divided world/church: Practice the more excellent way. Let love govern gifts, opinions, and platform.
• When your soul is low: Do a specific act of love for someone else—visit, feed, call, serve. Love often re-sparks hope and strengthens faith.
• Make it personal: Ask, Do faith, hope, and love abide in me? Where, this week, will I let them live out loud?

Key Verses to Carry

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV): “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
• Romans 5:5 (ESV): “… hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit …”
• John 15:9–10 (ESV) [for abiding in love]: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love …”

Bottom line: In a world (and church) prone to noise, rivalry, and despair, love is the enduring way—and the way back when faith and hope waver.

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/AXga0ZYxrv0

Summary:

Summary: 1 Corinthians 13 and the “More Excellent Way”

Big Idea

Paul’s “love chapter” isn’t a sentimental poem—it’s the solution to a divided, chaotic church: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV)

Text Overview (1 Corinthians 13)

• Without love, gifts and sacrifices are empty (vv. 1–3).
• What love is/does: patient, kind, not envious/boastful/arrogant/rude; not self-seeking or resentful; rejoices with truth; bears, believes, hopes, endures (vv. 4–7).
• What will last: miraculous gifts are temporary; love never ends (vv. 8–12).
• What must remain: faith, hope, love—and love is greatest (v. 13).
  Full text: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor 13:13, ESV)

Context in Corinth (Why Paul wrote this)

• The church was fractured by division and comparison (cf. 1 Cor 1:10–13).
• Even spiritual gifts became a contest (cf. 1 Cor 12:29–31).
  Paul offers a “more excellent way”—love—as the cure for chaos (1 Cor 12:31).

What “Abide” Means

• Abide = persist, remain. Prophecies, tongues, and partial knowledge will pass away; faith, hope, and love remain as the church’s bedrock (1 Cor 13:8–12).

Where Do Faith, Hope, and Love Abide?

• They certainly reside with God (Heaven), but Paul’s burden is that they abide in us—become lived realities, not just ink on a page.
  • Faith in us: “I am reminded of your sincere faith … now … dwells in you.” (2 Timothy 1:5, ESV)
  • Hope in us: “… we have our hope set on the living God …” (1 Timothy 4:10, ESV)
  • Love in us: “… God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit …” (Romans 5:5, ESV).
    Full text: “… and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5, ESV)

Why Is Love the Greatest?

• When faith feels weak and hope runs thin, love still acts—and often rekindles faith and hope. Love moves us toward others in concrete service, pulling us back from discouragement.

Illustration (Modern Echo)

• A homeowner sheltered students during a school crisis—opening the door, organizing contacts, feeding, calming, and ensuring each child got home. That embodied love restored steadiness in the midst of fear—exactly what Paul envisions love doing in chaos.

Practical Takeaways

• For a divided world/church: Practice the more excellent way. Let love govern gifts, opinions, and platform.
• When your soul is low: Do a specific act of love for someone else—visit, feed, call, serve. Love often re-sparks hope and strengthens faith.
• Make it personal: Ask, Do faith, hope, and love abide in me? Where, this week, will I let them live out loud?

Key Verses to Carry

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV): “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
• Romans 5:5 (ESV): “… hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit …”
• John 15:9–10 (ESV) [for abiding in love]: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love …”

Bottom line: In a world (and church) prone to noise, rivalry, and despair, love is the enduring way—and the way back when faith and hope waver.

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/jXLmneiBJg4

Summary:
Title: People Pleasing vs. God Pleasing

Introduction
The song This World Is Not My Home reminds us that we’re just passing through—but often that “passing through” feels like a grind of endless demands and expectations. Every time we turn around, someone wants something more from us. In those moments, it feels easier to say yes than to risk the pushback of saying no.

Jesus as Example – Mark 1:28–39 (ESV)

• Jesus was surrounded by people with needs—healing, demons, suffering.
• After a long night, He rose early to pray in solitude.
• When the disciples said, “Everyone is looking for you,” the implied demand was, “Come back and keep working.”
• But Jesus said no to that town and yes to His mission: “Let us go on to the next towns … for that is why I came out.”
• Jesus shows us that sometimes the good can become the enemy of the best.

Aaron as Warning – Exodus 32

• While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the people pressured Aaron to make an idol.
• Out of fear and people-pleasing, Aaron gave in. The result was wasted time, wasted talent, idolatry, and chaos.
• People-pleasing led Aaron to:
  • Waste his gifts on building a false god.
  • Violate his values by organizing false worship.
  • Blame others and lie when confronted.
  • Bring guilt and judgment upon himself and the people.

Principles for Us

1. You’ll always be outnumbered – but God calls you to stand firm.
2. People-pleasing wastes time and energy that God gave for better purposes.
3. It violates values when you trade God’s truth for human approval.
4. It doesn’t make anyone better—leadership requires the courage to say no.
5. It brings guilt and regret—better to disappoint people than to disobey God.

New Testament Application – Galatians 1:10 (ESV)
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? … If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

• You cannot be both a people pleaser and a God pleaser.
• God values you—you are worth standing up for because Christ died for you.

Conclusion
Saying no isn’t about selfishness; it’s about priorities. Jesus modeled it, Aaron failed at it, and Paul preached it: God’s approval matters most. Don’t let fear or guilt push you into pleasing people at the expense of serving Christ.