If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. – 1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

Greek
ἀγάπην/agapé: love, a love that gives of itself

Why It Matters
William Shakespeare invented anywhere from 1,700-2,200 words in the English language, many of which have made their way into our daily vernacular. Words like zany, swagger and new-fangled were crafted out of his desire to draw attention to the subject matter he was presenting. When Paul set out to draw attention to the uniqueness of the love that comes from God, he used a Greek word that hadn’t been in common use until he needed to describe the love (agapé) of God as displayed in Jesus. Paul uses agapé to imply a love that takes action, giving of itself for as long as it takes to see results from its activity. Agapé is unique in its scope because it denotes a type of love that is constant; in other words it doesn’t lessen or change based on the response of the other party. This kind of love takes the preeminent role over other impressive gifts or accolades that could be sought after. Without it, Paul says in verse 1, eloquence is worthless and doesn’t hold the power to communicate. Jesus displayed the agapé love of His Father toward us by dying for us “even while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). His agapé communicated to humanity loud and clear the good news of the gospel.

Declaration of the Week
I will not settle for giving or receiving a counterfeit version of love.

Application
How does Jesus’ resurrection change my current reality?

Music Response
What a Sunday! We loved singing songs in response to the message that talked of Love himself and how Jesus’ resurrection changes our current reality. We ended the set with O Praise the Name (Anastasis) by Hillsong, declaring our praise for the risen King and Savior. Believing that as you listen to this song and to the playlist that gratefulness for and praise to Jesus would spill over into every part of your day. Hope you enjoy listening throughout the week! To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV

Greek
oὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι/oudèn opheloumai: there is no advantage to be gained for me

Why It Matters
Our culture has rightfully taken the position that love is declared by one’s actions, not by words alone. For us in the 21st century, talk of love needs to be accompanied by activity that proves the existence of love. However Paul takes some time to illustrate how even the most impressive acts don’t prove love for a person. He takes two extravagant actions – giving away all of one’s possessions and dying for someone – and shows how if love is not the motivation for those acts, they are worthless. He says oudèn opheloumai (I gain nothing) if there are selfish motives behind giving up all he has. The Greek word opheloumai carries with it the imagery of assumed benefit or advantage, almost like an investment. The thought was that a person could exchange a sacrificial act in order to earn the benefit of receiving a blessing later on. So when Paul says nothing is gained if love isn’t the motivation, he’s reminding us that the heart behind what we do matters! Jesus’ motivation for leaving the grandeur and glory of Heaven and giving His life on the cross wasn’t to receive glory of His own. Rather, the motivation for His sacrifice was love, and the empty grave ensured that his sacrifice was the catalyst for gaining everything His Father asked Him to accomplish.

Declaration of the Week
I will not settle for giving or receiving a counterfeit version of love.

Application
How does Jesus’ resurrection change my current reality?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) Hope you enjoy listening throughout the week! To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; – 1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

Greek
λογίζεται/logidzetai: to take an inventory

Why It Matters
There isn’t a lot of room in the accounting world for guessing. If your CPA likes to “ballpark” your deductions, it might be time to find a new CPA! These men and women are certified professionals because they can keep meticulous records and make logical decisions based on their insights. This is the imagery that Paul uses to define love in 1 Corinthians 13:5. He says that love is not logidzetai – it does not keep meticulous records of right and wrong. Imagine a person who wrote down specific details about their interactions with people, and then decided to love based on whether those interactions were positive or negative. In this scenario, a person would have the right to withhold love from someone else whose ledger was filled with more negative than positive. Logidzetai is an accounting term that has its roots in financial recording. In fact the root of the word logidzetai is where our English word “logical” comes from. It would be logical to love people who bless you and withhold love from people who wrong you, but Paul in essence is saying that the love we are to display isn’t logical at all! When Jesus hung on the cross, He asked His Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him. His love for humanity was not logidzetai; Jesus kept no ledger of how people treated Him. He loved us when we were at our worst. Now because of His sacrifice we have the ability to throw out our accounting record book and love others regardless of what the ledger says.

Declaration of the Week
I will not settle for giving or receiving a counterfeit version of love.

Application
How does Jesus’ resurrection change my current reality?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) Hope you enjoy listening throughout the week! To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV

Greek
Πίπτει/piptei: collapse, falling apart, falls to the ground

Why It Matters

We hear so often of things collapsing. Businesses collapse, buildings collapse, walls collapse, caves collapse, governments collapse, and even people collapse. The word collapse evokes not only a cognitive image but can also evoke a visceral response within us. It symbolizes the end of something, often something that was once thought of as strong or robust in nature.

The Greek word piptei has such depth and richness that could be overlooked if its Greek meaning isn’t discovered. Ultimately this short phrase is exactly what Paul is conveying to the Corinthians that LOVE never piptei (ends). This love is not the same as counterfeit love that will not last and is subject to the fallenness of this world. Love will not collapse, will not fall apart. Love is powerful, living, and active. Paul is conveying the depths of love’s permanence, because love is a person – Christ Jesus – who is alive forevermore. He embodies a love that is for now and always; a love that is for all of us since time began and will transform us if we choose to abide within it. Love never ends!

Declaration of the Week
I choose to lean in to the perspective that God’s love allows me to have.

Application
How does God’s love inform my decisions?

Music Response
This week we introduced a new song called “God So Loved” by Hillsong Worship. It focuses on the greatness of God’s love and how we are set free and redeemed because of it. As we consider how God’s love informs our decisions, let’s allow the truth of God’s grace and sacrifice illustrated in this song help us to be mindful that, although our perspective is limited, we can fully trust God’s perspective because of his great love for us. To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:10 ESV

Greek
καταργηθήσεται/katargethesetai: be abolished, set aside or wiped out

Why It Matters
On July 1, 1997 the British colony of Hong Kong was peacefully handed over to China to become one of their special administrative regions. This essentially means that the residents of Hong Kong were British on June 30th and Chinese on July 1st. Laws that governed these residents on Monday the 30th no longer held sway on Tuesday the 1st. Roughly 6.5 million citizens had a large part of their identity change literally overnight. When Paul uses the word katargethesetai in 1 Corinthians 13:10, he is communicating a change that is far broader than a change in political leadership. He alludes to the imperfect things that we experience and their power to give us our identity, and then he says that when the perfect comes, these imperfect things will katargethesetai – be abolished, or wiped out altogether! Jesus’ perfect love is strong enough to cause the power of the imperfect to relinquish its authority in a single moment. What defined us on Monday has the potential to be katargethesetai on Tuesday! Because of Jesus and His perfect love, our entire lives can change in an instant.

Declaration of the Week
I choose to lean in to the perspective that God’s love allows me to have.

Application
How does God’s love inform my decisions?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

Greek
μένει/ménei: to stay, remain; not going anywhere

Why It MattersCC Sabathia is a pitcher for the New York Yankees who has never led his league in strikeouts, but over his 19 year career has struck out 3,000 batters. That feat has earned him the #17 spot all-time for career strikeouts. Even if CC was never the best in that category in any given year, his longevity has allowed him to outlast his peers. There’s something to be said for consistency. When Paul tells the Corinthians that faith, hope and love ménei (abide) he is telling them that these qualities are the ones that aren’t going anywhere. People are always going to need faith, hope and love. The Corinthian culture put particular emphasis on prophecy, tongues and knowledge because they were the gifts that got noticed. So when Paul, by contrast, says that faith, hope and love ménei, he reminds them – and us – what matters most. Spiritual gifts should be used. However if you want live a life of consistency with a legacy on the all-time list, exercise the qualities that aren’t going anywhere.

Declaration of the Week
I choose to lean in to the perspective that God’s love allows me to have.

Application
How does God’s love inform my decisions?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. – 1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

Greek
Διώκω/dioko: pursue, chase, hunt

Why It Matters
A board game was created on December 15, 1979 by Canadian Chris Haney called Trivia Pursuit. In North America, the game’s popularity peaked in 1984, when over 20 million units were sold. In an overstated generalization, the game’s objective is for each player to pursue or chase after the title of “winner” by knowing more trivia – or by definition more bits of information and data that are of little value – than their opponents.

Unfortunately, this pursuit of things that have little value often goes far beyond a board game, and seeps into our everyday lives. The “trivial” pursuit of acquisitions, power or prestige becomes a real-life game. The issues we face today are ironically the same issues the Corinthians were battling almost 2,000 years ago. We are still chasing after the “fleeting” and earnestly seeking things that are of little value, particularly if seen through the lens of the Gospel.

Paul was telling the Corinthians to “Pursue (dioko: chase after, hunt after), love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” He’s telling both them and us to chase after what lasts forever (love) and to earnestly desire gifts from God that have value. This is not a “value” as would be defined by much of our world’s standards. It’s a value that is proven greater, because the earnest desires for the spiritual gifts of God are motivated by love with humanity at its focal point. Your pursuit of God, who is love, and your earnest desire for the gifts of God, is for the purpose of serving others, to lift them up, encourage, and comfort one another. It points each other and those we encounter to the only thing worth pursuing (dioko), love – in the form of Jesus Christ.

Declaration of the Week
The desires I seek out in life will be aligned with the Holy Spirit’s desires for me.

Application
Where in my life do I need to trust God’s perspective?

Music Response
Our songs this week all pointed to why we can trust God’s perspective in our lives… considering what he’s made, what he’s done, his great love for us, to name a few. We closed out the set singing King of My Heart, declaring God’s goodness, his faithfulness, and how he’ll never let us down. As we consider what areas in our lives we need to trust God’s perspective, let’s consider his goodness and sing the truth that reminds us of how trustworthy he is! To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. – 1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV

Greek
παραμυθίαν/paramuthian: consolation

Why It Matters
The Roman world was particularly interested in knowledge. At a time when technologies such as construction, weaponry, transportation infrastructure, and irrigation were changing society at break-neck speed, Greek and Roman culture put particular emphasis on understanding as much as possible. It’s fitting, then, that Paul would remind his readers that prophecy’s goal is not to give us information, but to care for people. When we study the Bible, we tend to lean in and take notice when an original language word is used only once. This is the case with the word paramuthian. The form of this noun is a very intimate kind of comfort, implying so close a proximity to a person in need that they can hear a whisper between them. Imagine a child who is afraid of a thunderstorm; they run into their parent’s room because proximity to their loved one provides comfort in that moment. Paul uses paramuthianhere to tell us that prophecy is designed to help reveal a close proximity to God, one which provides an unparalleled level of comfort and consolation! The child in need of paramuthiandoesn’t run to the parent to get a deeper knowledge of the thunderstorm; all they need to know is that the person they trust is close to them. Thank God that He is so close to us in our moment of fear that we can hear His calming prophetic whisper.

Declaration of the Week
The desires I seek out in life will be aligned with the Holy Spirit’s desires for me.

Application
Where in my life do I need to trust God’s perspective?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, striveto excel in building up the church. – 1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV

Greek
ζητεῖτε/zeteite: to seek, worship or plot against

Why It Matters
Who knows you better than anyone else in the world? Maybe it’s a sibling or a friend or your spouse, but whoever it is you likely have given them the right to call you out for attitudes that you might not even see yourself. Throughout the book of Corinthians, Paul has been addressing internal issues that although were typical in that culture, were not beneficial for them to adhere to. Now here in 1 Corinthians 14:12 he sees something in them that at first may seem noble, but is worth warning them (and us) about.

The Corinthians were “eager for manifestations of the Spirit,” which is an important quality to have. However he wants them to zeteite (seek, strive) to excel in building up the church. In other words, their eagerness for the manifestation of the Spirit should find its purpose in that which builds up the body of Christ. Hidden in the word zeteite is the idea of true motivation: Why did the Corinthians want the Spirit to be manifested in the first place? This word is closely linked to the word for “plotting against.” As their spiritual father he was able to candidly address their desire, telling them that they had a right desire but a wrong motive. Zeteite gives us pause today, too. Why do we want to see a move of God in our lives? Could it be the answer is because it would prove we are right and others are wrong? Or maybe because it would solve a lot of our problems and make us more comfortable? God in His loving way reminds us through this verse that if I zeteite to build up my own agenda rather than His church, I would be missing the point.

Declaration of the Week
The desires I seek out in life will be aligned with the Holy Spirit’s desires for me.

Application
Where in my life do I need to trust God’s perspective?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. – 1 Corinthians 14:26 ESV

Greek
οἰκοδομὴν/oikodomein: architecture, edifying, building

Why It Matters
When a football team wins their championship, regardless of age level you can often hear players quoting a variation of the same theme: “We had one goal.” This means that their only objective was to win football games until they achieved their mission. Offense, defense and special teams all have very different tasks and skill sets, and even among those three aspects there lies a wide variety of roles. But regardless of what a player is asked to do on the field, the reason they are asked to do it should be the same because they have one goal.

When Paul addresses the confusion of disorderly worship in 1 Corinthians 14, he says that when we all come together as a team called “the church,” everything we do should have the same goal – it all should be done for oikodomein(edifying, building up). Whether we are singing, teaching, speaking in tongues or prophesying, there is no room for separate goals for these activities because all things should be done for oikodomein. This means that we must consider how our actions impact more than just our own situation. The gifts and talents we receive should contribute to the body of believers in order to build up that body with God as the architect. The team may have many skills but those skills matter little without the same goal.

Declaration of the Week
I will trust the God of peace with the things in my life I can’t control or don’t yet understand.

Application
Where in my life is God asking me to be a peacemaker?

Music Response
This Sunday we sang songs that recognized the peace that is found in Christ and how that impacts the way we live our lives. These songs give voice to the fact that Jesus provides us grace to do His will during our moments of weakness, and that we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker! If we are willing to model Christ and to be led by His love to those around us, we can be peacemakers in our spheres of influence. Praying these songs encourage us to that end.

To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, – 1 Corinthians 14:33 ESV

Greek
ἀκαταστασίας/akatastasias: instability, disorder, confusion

Why It Matters
One of our Because and Therefore statements at Centerway goes like this: “Because God sees what we can’t …we value GOD-RISKS… therefore we respond when God speaks, pursue efforts that require supernatural intervention to succeed, and – while we aren’t irresponsible – we resist the comfort zone and don’t maintain or play it safe out of fear.” For many people the idea of taking risks can be anything but peaceful, because we tend to equate peace with stability and risk with instability. Thankfully, God is not a God of akatastasias – instability, disorder or confusion. The church in Corinth appears to have been exercising the gifts God gives in a way that led to a lack of clarity and confusion. Prophecies were being spoken at the same time; some were singing a song at the same time others were giving an interpretation of an unknown tongue. When Paul uses this word in verse 33, he is conjuring up the image of a public riot, with no sense of control, people unsure of who is in charge and disorganization everywhere. The church was even equating that scene with deep spirituality! We don’t have to worry about trusting the control of our lives to a God who sees what we can’t, because he is not a God of akatastasias. With God, we may take risks, but we can be confident that the God of peace is there to bring clarity to the confusion and order to the instability.

Declaration of the Week
I will trust the God of peace with the things in my life I can’t control or don’t yet understand.

Application
Where in my life is God asking me to be a peacemaker?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!

But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. – 1 Corinthians 14:40 ESV

Greek
τάξιν/taxein: order; fixed succession

Why It Matters
A well run classroom is a thing to behold. It is clean, organized, and runs like a well oiled machine. When a classroom in a school is run well, students learn at their optimal potential, it is less likely that a student who is struggling gets overlooked, and the classroom feels safe and inclusive. It is safe to learn, to share, and to grow. If a classroom is not run well, chaos ensues. Materials and time are wasted, children who are struggling fall through the cracks, and even the best students are not able to learn the concepts being taught.

Paul is addressing the environment that the Corinthian church is creating in their gatherings. He is not pointing at a specific group of people to single them out but using them to address an issue of unorderly conduct within their meetings. He is encouraging the Corinthians to act out of love and create an atmosphere of taxein (order) to ensure that the entire church is being built up. If they allow their meetings to descend into chaos, the church will be left in disunity instead of being built up.

Our challenge is to allow Jesus to change us to the point where we have a larger perspective than just our own challenges. Can we see more than just what we think and perceive with our senses? Can we allow love to guide our decisions and help us to exercise restraint when necessary? Can we see the good of others as a priority or will we insist on doing the things we want to do, even if it causes chaos?

Declaration of the Week
I will trust the God of peace with the things in my life I can’t control or don’t yet understand.

Application
Where in my life is God asking me to be a peacemaker?

Music Response
Music is prayerfully selected to further engage the themes shared in the message. Now you can respond with those songs during the week via the “Spillover” series playlist. (New songs will be added throughout the series!) To listen through these songs this week’s worship set on our Spotify playlist, click here!