AUTUMN 2017 Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. STUDY NOTES Autumn 2017
CHRIST CHURCH COMMUNITY The vision of Wycliffe is to love Christ, the church and the community 2
Love x 3 Love Christ, the Church and the Community Love Christ A close relationship with God Personal quiet times Worship services Bible study, meditation and application Prayer meetings Discipleship Holiness Love the Church Healthy relationships with each other as believers in Jesus Quality fellowship Small group meetings Hospitality Pastoral care Personal development courses Serving in ministry Love the Community Helping the wider community hear about and experience the love of Jesus. Sharing the gospel with friends Evangelistic events Community outreach groups Evangelistic courses Cross cultural mission Social justice 3
Contents Introduction Study 1 Love is patient and kind 1 Corinthians 13:4a Love is patient, love is kind. Study 2 Overcoming pride 1 Corinthians 4b Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud Study 3 Anger Management 1 Corinthians 13:5a Love is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered Study 4 Forgiveness 1 Corinthians 13:5b Love keeps no record of wrongs Study 5 Speaking the truth 1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Study 6 Love Always Hopes 1 Corinthians 13:7 Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres 4
Introduction Loving the church As Christians, we do not understand the church as being a building but rather the people who attend that place of worship. The Greek word that has been translated church in our New Testaments is Ekklesia meaning literally a congregation or assembly of people, a group of Christians gathering together. The church are the people who have come to know God. This booklet explores what it means to have healthy relationships with each other as believers in Jesus. Depending on the translation the phrase love one another appears between 15 and 20 times in the New Testament. As Jesus Himself tells us, As I have loved you so you must love one another John 13:35. Often churches know they need to love each other but struggle to put it into practice. God knew this and gave us a very helpful description of what Christian love looks like as found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. This study unpacks that passage helping us to practically live out loving the church. (Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, Goodrick and Kohlenberger; page 1546) 5
Loving the Church Love is patient and kind 1 Corinthians 13:1-4a Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:36, 40 In this study, we begin to look at the practical outworking of love as it appears in 1 Corinthians 13. Patience may not be the first quality which occurs to us when we think of love, particularly in a time and culture which is constantly on the move, but it is where Paul starts. And kindness is often overlooked as well, yet it holds a high value in the Bible. But before looking at these two aspects of love, as this is the first study for the Loving the Church series, we will consider 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a as a whole. Opener: Take turns to share: what have you learned about love recently? Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a Questions: 1. From the Matthew passage above, and from I Corinthians 13:1-3, how does Jesus see the priority of love? What do loveless actions, however holy or sacrificial, count for? 2. Considering 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a, why do you think Paul spells out so firmly what love means in practice? 3. Having taken a first look at these verses, do you think Paul focuses on how we feel about someone, or on how we treat the person? How does the answer to that question change our understanding of love? (Note that New Testament Greek draws a clear distinction between 6
romantic, sexual love, and other kinds of love. 1 Corinthians 13 is talking about the second kind.) 4. Patience is the first attribute Paul mentions as he begins his description of love in v4. Look at Proverbs 14:29 and 15:18. What practical value does patience have according to these verses? 5. Ephesians 4:2 exhorts us to be patient, bearing with one another in love. `The Greek for patience was often translated longsuffering in earlier English versions of the Bible. What does this tell us about the duration of patience? 6. Read James 5:7-9. What particular application does keeping patience have for us as followers of Jesus? In what ways does grumbling indicate a lack of patience? 7. Discuss as a group: what do you think of when you think of kindness? 8. 1 Corinthians 13:4, Galatians 5:22 and Colossians 3:12 show that patience and kindness are both mentioned in Paul's lists of the qualities of a spiritual person. Patience has more to do with restraint, but kindness is more active. How does the episode described in Acts 6:1-4 demonstrate what kindness meant in the early church? 9. What recent acts of kindness have you seen practised within Wycliffe or by the wider church? Application: Lee mentions busyness, and not spending time with God, as enemies to patience. How can you cultivate patience while under pressure? Kindness is part of the fruit of the spirit in the list in Galatians 5:22, but very often we quickly pass over it when thinking about our lives as Christians. How can we give it more prominence in our practice? 7
Loving the Church Overcoming pride Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud 1 Corinthians 4b Romans 12:9-18 Having stated some of the things that love is, 1 Corinthians continues to assert some of the things which it is not, or does not do. This study is called Overcoming Pride, and focusses on v4b, which addresses envy, boastfulness and pride. Envy and boastfulness can be seen as aspects of pride. Envy tends to be the way an under-confident person expresses pride, feeling that others have things to which I am entitled, internalising the desire and the grievances. Boastfulness characterises the more confident person, who never tires of pointing out his or her superiority. Opener: Discuss in your group where does humility stand in your hierarchy of values? Questions: 1. The Greek word used in this verse has the sense of being puffed up, giving a picture of an over-inflated ego, or an over-emphasis on self. How might this show itself in someone who is a) more extrovert and b) more introvert? 2. If pride is an over-emphasis on self, then what is humility? Romans 12:3 may help here. If the focus is not on oneself, then where will it be? 3. Read Psalm 138:6. How might pride affect our relationship with the Lord? 4. Read Proverbs 13:10. How might pride harm our relationships with other people? 5. Why can pride be hard to detect in ourselves? Jeremiah 17:9 6. What things might be symptomatic of a life taken over by pride? 8
7. Joseph son of Isaac was ill-treated by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned for two years. Yet later in his life, holding the power of life and death over his brothers, he could say to them, 'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. What does this reveal concerning pride in his life? 8. From Proverbs 1:5 and James 4:6, how does God view pride? Application Lee suggests three steps in tackling pride in our lives: 1. Ask God to reveal it. (Psalm 139:23-24) 2. Confess it to God and others who may have been affected. (1 John 1:9, James 5:16) 3. Practise humility. (Proverbs 11:2, 18:12, 1 Peter 5:5) Plan a time to do step 1 in the next day or two. If necessary, do step 2. Then consider how to begin step 3. 9
Loving the Church Anger Management Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered 1 Corinthians 13:5a Ephesians 4:25-32 1 Corinthians 13:5a leads on to more aggressive ways of denying love. Many times in the New Testament we are warned about the destructive effects of anger, and in Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus emphasises how serious an issue it is by exposing it as having the potential to turn into murder. And Ephesians 4:27 warns about the long-term consequences of anger, which can take hold of us in such a way that it begins to affect our temperament, becomes settled, even after we have forgotten why we became angry to begin with. The aim of this study is to help us keep anger out of the mix in the first place, and to deal with it where it has set in. Opener: As a group, describe some occasions when the destructive power of anger has been apparent to you. Questions: 1. Can you think of any times when Jesus was angry? What are the characteristics of righteous anger? (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 10:13-14; and Mark 14:6) What are some things that might legitimately make a Christian angry? 2. What are some ways that anger might affect us, depending on our own emotional makeup? What do the terms 'Maniac', 'Mute', 'Martyr' and 'Manipulator' say to you as ways of describing people according to how they deal with anger? Read Ephesians 4:25-32 3. From Ephesians 4:26 and Proverbs 29:22, what effect does anger have on our ability to resist sin? How does recognising the connection between feeling angry and falling into sin help us to deal with anger? 4. Proverbs 14:30 indicates that strong feelings can have a physical 10
effect upon us, for good or ill. Just as there is more of an iceberg below the waterline than above it, the outward expression of feelings may reveal only a small amount of what is going on inside us. How can we learn to recognise the underlying causes of anger, in ourselves and in others? 5. Ephesians 4:26 says do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Why is it important to deal with anger quickly? (4:27, 30) 6. How can anger affect our relationships? (Ephesians 4:31, Proverbs 29:11)? What is the antidote? (Ephesians 4:32) 7. How can we defuse anger by our attitude (Proverbs 15:18); words (Proverbs15:1and 4); action (Luke 6:27); and prayer (Luke 6:28)? Application: Take time to consider where anger might be holding a place in your heart. It could be directed against a particular person or people, or it could be about a situation. It may or may not be appropriate to share details with the group, but pray for one another to be released from the shackles of anger. Pray to know how to build into your life the things you've learned in this study about dealing with anger. 11
Loving the Church Forgiveness Love keeps no record of wrongs 1 Corinthians 13:5b Matthew 18:21-35 Forgiveness is revolutionary, and, as taught in the bible, unique to Christianity. Jesus' whole mission is rooted in his love and his desire to forgive the offence we have all caused to God, and to erase the record of wrongs for as many people as possible. Our forgiveness on the basis of Jesus' death is the only route through which we can enter into a relationship with God. In this study we will explore how this needs to work out in our human relationships. Opener: In your experience, how willing are people to forgive hurts and upsets, e.g. in your family or in the workplace? 1 Corinthians 13:5b tells us that love keeps no record of wrongs. How does your experience compare with this? Questions: 1. Consider Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23. What do these verses tell us about God's heart for forgiveness? How much do we deserve God's forgiveness? 2. Read Matthew 18:23-35. What's your immediate reaction to the story Jesus tells about the master and the two servants? 3. Looking at vv 23 and 24, a talent is a typical day's wages, so 10,000 talents is a lifetime's income. What would have been the practical effects of the king calling in the debt on his servant? (v 25) 4. What caused the king to cancel the debt? (v27) 5. Looking at v 28, if a talent is a day's wages, 100 talents is not a small debt, and is one that we ourselves might not be inclined to overlook! So, what makes the first servant's treatment of the other so shocking? 6. What was the effect of witnessing this episode on the other 12
servants? (v31) 7. The effect of servant's lack of compassion towards the person who owed him money is that he was subjected to everything he feared and wished passionately to avoid. In Jesus' story, the king stands for his heavenly Father (v35) So what do vv 32 to 34 add to what we learn from the Romans verses about God's heart for forgiveness? 8. Jesus tells this story to illustrate his response to Peter's question about forgiveness. What is the implication of forgiving not seven times, but seventy-seven times? From verse 35, what does it mean to forgive your brother from your heart. Application: Human nature causes us to maximise wrongs and offences done to us, and minimise how much God has forgiven us. Ask God to show you how much he has forgiven, while not losing sight of the fact that it IS forgiven! Only when we appreciate what God has done for us are we in a state to forgive others from the heart. Ask God for his perspective on the wrongs others may have done to you. 13
Loving the Church Speaking the truth Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6 Ephesians 4:11-25 speak the truth in love In an episode of the television show Room 101, a celebrity proposed people who tell the truth as the item to be put into Room 101, where undesirable things are consigned, never to be seen again. She maintained that people who told the truth when it might offend feelings, even over trivial matters, are a liability to be dispensed with, and at the end of the round, her choice was the one accepted over the other two proposals. Light-hearted as Room 101 is, there's many a true word spoken in jest, and it's a feature of Western society now that feelings are considered to be the most important thing about us, and that doing the loving thing demands that they be protected at the expense of all else. Should we as Christians accept this or challenge it? This study explores the sometimes apparently uncomfortable relationship between love and truth. Opener: Can you share with the group an occasion in your life when someone bringing an unwelcome truth has been helpful? Questions: Read Ephesians 4:11-25. We'll read the whole passage to understand the context, but will focus on certain parts of it. 1. vv11-13 describe how we are to be built up as the body of Christ. According to verses 14 and 15, what will be the effects of this? How important is it to have an accurate view of God and humanity, and all the things that bear on our relationship with him? 2. Paul talks about people being like infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Where does this danger come from in our experience? How can we guard against it? How does truth come into the mix? 14
3. From vv 15 and 16, is there a conflict between love and truth? How do they relate together? 4. Vv 17-19 paint a picture of people delighting in evil, as in the first part of 1 Corinthians 13:6. In what way is this lifestyle the opposite of rejoicing with the truth? 5. From writing about truth as a principle, Paul goes on to write in vv20-24 about the truth concerning Jesus in particular. Around Jesus there are comforting truths (such as those in vv 23 and 24) and disturbing ones. Could it be loving to withhold from people the disturbing ones, such as those expressed in vv 17-19 and 22? Or are we more likely to do that through lack of courage? When Jesus warns of the consequences of rejecting him, eg in John 6:48, is he being unloving? 6. In v25 Paul instructs that each of us is to put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour. What reason does he give in the rest of the verse? How does this relate to what he has been saying about Jesus before? 7. Looking at this passage as a whole, what value does God place on truth and truthfulness? 8. So why should we rejoice with the truth, as in 1 Corinthians 13:6? Application: We live in an age of instant communication with 24-hour news and comment, and social media on tap. We are bombarded with assertive and confident views from many different quarters on many different subjects, but much of what we hear does not sit well with a biblical perspective on what is being addressed. The Bible will not speak directly to every topical issue, but how can you cultivate a mindset which tests the ideas you hear against the teaching of scripture? Pray for the discernment to do this. How can we encourage one another not to delight in evil, but to rejoice with the truth? 15
Loving the Church Love Always Hopes Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres 1 Corinthians 13:7 The New Testament has much to say about the hope that we have in Christ hope of eternity with God, hope of all things being made new, hope of being made perfect, hope of release from all the things which mar us and our earthly lives. The New Testament word for hope implies a confident expectation (as compared with the English word, which allows an element of uncertainty), and means that we can be sure of the things we hope for. In 1 Corinthians 13:7 the same word is used to mean hope as an expression of love to others. We will think about what that means in this study. Opener: Share in the group: what are some of your hopes for yourself and others around you? Questions: 1. Read 1 Peter 1:3-6. V3 refers to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What do these verses tell us about the nature of the hope we have in Jesus? 2. Can you think of other things from the Bible that hope may assure us of? (e.g. John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:6-7) How certain can we be of the things which God has promised us? 3. What does this mean for us in the here and now? 4. 1 Corinthians 13:7 relates hope to the love that we show to one another. If the hope we have in Christ gives us assurance, then others who also know Jesus are promised the same assurance, and those who do not yet know Christ have the potential for it. How does this affect the way we view other Christians? How does it affect the way we view not-yet-christian? 5. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says love always protects. In what way can we protect one another? How does this apply when I feel myself to be 16
the weak one, in need of protection? 6. It also says love always trusts. What does this mean for our relationships? What does it mean with respect to someone who shows him or herself to be untrustworthy? (Consider Jesus' approach to Judas.) 7. And it also says love always perseveres. How does perseverance with someone else relate to our hope in Christ? In a culture which demands instant results, what does perseverance with someone one else mean? How can we relate this to our marriages? Application: The measure of hope (including protectiveness, trust and perseverance) that I have for others will depend on my own assurance. Do I need to build this up? If so, look back over the verses in question 2 and thank God for his sure and certain promises to me. Is there someone whom I find it difficult to protect, trust, hope for or persevere with? If so, bring it to the Father and seek his help. How can I change my approach to this person? 17