Love Starts Here Week 2 – Discussion Guide
Getting Started
Main Idea:
Take one step closer to being and bringing love to the real people and real problems all around us.
Discussion Starter:
Actions speak louder than words. Share a time when you saw someone actually helping another person rather than just talking about helping someone.
Introduction:
God is love; are you? God demonstrates real love in action. Real love is not left to chance, because real love is a choice. Real love is not something you feel, it’s something you are and do. Sometimes you feel like it; sometimes you don’t. Real love shows up and shows out regardless of how you feel.
Encounter God
Primary Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13
Discussion Questions:
1. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-4. Paul lists many admirable accomplishments. Then he states that without love these are nothing; in other words, they are worthless deeds. Why do you think Paul is being so dramatic in his comparison? Discuss why without love as our motive, anything we attempt is just for our own selfish gain.
2. Verses 4-7 describe what God’s type of love does and doesn’t do. Let’s look at a few and discuss.
A) “Love is patient” can be literally translated love suffers long. We must be willing to be patient with and endure things that are trying and broken. Including people. Talk about what this type of patience looks like in our day-to-day lives.
B) Love keeps no record of wrongs. This is similar to the lyrics of “Let it go” from the movie “Frozen.” That is exactly what love does: lets it go. Love doesn’t seek revenge or have a long memory for wrongs done. Once a wrong has been addressed, forget it, move on, and leave it in the past. Discuss ways we tend to keep a record of wrongs done to us. Then discuss how we should deal with these lovingly.
3. Verses 8-12 describe the process of learning to love like God and growing in knowledge. Paul is saying that all these things will pass and we will not fully love or fully learn all things until Christ returns. Try reading verse 8 in several different translations. What does Paul mean by “God’s love never fails”?
4. Verse 13 ends the chapter by saying that after everything else has come to an end, faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love. After all we’ve read in this chapter, why does Paul tell us the greatest of these is love?
5. 1 Corinthians shows how important love is, listing what it always does, what it never does, and how long it endures. It lasts forever. Love never fails. Love flows out of the presence of God. How does this change the way we love others?
Discovery Bible Method:
For deeper study, as an alternative to the questions above, read 1 Corinthians 13 and John 13:34-35. Use the Discovery Bible Method to dig deeper into the text.
Embrace Others
Suggestion: Consider breaking the group into dyads or triads for this section.
Discuss ways to apply some of the attributes of love this week while at school, at work, or out in your community.
Engage the World Around Us
Engaging at Faith Promise: Do you know someone who embodies “real love” at Faith Promise? Send them a quick text and say thank you for demonstrating God’s real love!
Engaging in Community: Consider serving at a shelter or a nursing home over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Engaging the World: Did anyone in your group sponsor a child through Compassion International last week? Take some time to pray for these children.
Leader’s Notes
1. Our motive for everything we do is what is most important. If we do anything for selfish reasons and not out of love, it is meaningless.
4. Love is the ultimate expression of the divine nature of God.
E-Groups
– Encounter Groups: the primary focus of Encounter Groups is the deeper study and application of God’s Word.
– Embrace Groups: the primary focus of Embrace Groups is making friends and being friends on a deeper level.
– Engage Groups: the primary focus of Engage Groups is serving the people of our area through our local partners and through God-directed opportunities.
– Expand Groups: the primary focus of Expand Groups is the development and multiplication of disciple-makers to lead more groups at Faith Promise.
