INTRODUCTION:

Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scriptur of our “Love Conquers All” worship series. For this first week, focus on the phrase “Love is Patient.” What does that idea mean to you, and what is one change you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you? 

Also, consider these words from John Wesley, from his sermon “The Almost Christian”: If someone asks, “What does it mean to be an “Altogether Christian”? I answer first, the love of God. For the Bible says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This kind of love captures one’s whole heart, consumes one’s whole desire, fills one’s soul, and guides all of one’s actions.”  

PRACTICAL EXERCISES:

1. Love God 

One way to love God is to get as close as we can to the heart of God, and to think about what breaks God’s heart in our community or the world. So, what is something in the community or world that breaks your heart, that also breaks the heart of God? 

2. Love Others

Text a different person each day a message of something you appreciate about them. 

3. Love Yourself

Take a ten-minute walk regularly during the upcoming week.

INTRODUCTION:

Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scripture of our “Love Conquers All” worship series. For this second week, focus on the phrase “Love is Kind.” What does that idea mean to you, and what is one change you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you? 

Also, consider these words from John Wesley, from his sermon “The Almost Christian”: “The second aspect of being an “altogether Christian” is to love our neighbor. Jesus said that if anyone asks, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ we reply, everyone in the world … this includes our enemies, enemies of God, or enemies of themselves. We should love everyone as ourselves, “as Christ loves us.”

PRACTICAL EXERCISES:

1. Love God 

One way to love God is by making God’s priorities our priorities. This includes prioritizing kindness in our actions. What problems in the community and the world might be alleviated with more kindness? How might you be a part of offering that kindness to those situations?  

2. Love Others

Compliment someone you don’t know or don’t speak to very much.  

3. Love Yourself

Practice this breathing exercise for the next week: Inhale slowly for a count of four. Hold that full breath for two seconds. Exhale slowly for a count of six. Hold that emptiness for two seconds. Repeat as needed to feel more relaxed. 

READ AND CONSIDER THESE

 Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scripture of our “Love Conquers All” worship series.

 For this third week, focus on the phrase “Love is Humble.” 

• What does that idea mean to you?
• What changes do you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you?

Then, consider this paraphrase from John Wesley’s sermon “On Charity.” “The amount of love in your heart is directly proportional to the amount of humility in your life. Nothing humbles the soul so deeply as love. It casts out pride, gives us proper perspective on ourselves, and makes us willing to be servants of all people.” 

PRACTICAL EXERCISES TO DO THIS WEEK 

1. Love God 

Say thank you to God for the humility displayed by Jesus, who gave himself in service to the world, that we might practice that same humility. What problems in the community and world would be better served with more humility? How might you be a part of offering more empathy, curiosity, and humility in those situations?  

2. Love Others 

Seek out someone older than you to learn any valuable life lessons they might teach you. Also, seek out someone younger than you to offer you the same.  

3. Love Yourself 

Invite someone to join you in engaging in physical exercise. It could be something fun like a sport, or something leisurely like a walk, jog or bike ride. Observe the conversations and connections that are created.

READ AND CONSIDER THESE

Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scripture of our “Love Conquers All” worship series.

For this fourth week, focus on the phrase “Love is Gentle.”

• What does that idea mean to you?
• What changes do you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you?

Then, consider this paraphrase from John Wesley’s sermon “Further Thoughts on Christian Perfection”: “Some lack meekness, quietness of spirit, composure, evenness of temper. They are up and down, sometimes high, sometimes low; their mind is not well balanced. Their desires are either imbalanced, having too much of one and little of another; or they are not well integrated, at odds with each other. Their soul is out of tune, and cannot make the true harmony.”

PRACTICAL EXERCISES TO DO THIS WEEK

1. Love God 

Think about images that help you picture God’s gentleness. Maybe it’s a placid scene from nature, or the care of a friend, or the innocence of a child. How might that image help you control unhealthy anger within you? What are situations in the world that deserve a response of healthy anger? What do you think is the difference between healthy and unhealthy anger?

2. Love Others 

Perform a random act of kindness for people throughout the week, without any expectation of acknowledgement or return.

3. Love Yourself 

Spend time this week focusing on your nutrition. Eat foods that are as balanced and healthy as possible, given what you know about your body and guidance from your doctor. Note the improvement throughout the week in how you feel.

READ AND CONSIDER THESE

Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scripture of our “Love Conquers All” worship series.

For this fifth week, focus on the phrase “Love Forgives.”

• What does that idea mean to you?
• What changes do you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you?

Then, consider this paraphrase from John Wesley’s journal on Sunday, November 24, 1752: “Today was a useful day to my soul. I found more than once trouble and heaviness; but I called upon the name of the Lord; and He gave me a clear, full sense of His way, and a calm, thankful surrender to His will. I cannot but stand amazed at the goodness of God … If I have any strength at all (and I have none but what I have received), it is in forgiving injuries; on this matter I struggle more than any other. Yet God does not leave me alone, lest I betray myself or God!”

PRACTICAL EXERCISES TO DO THIS WEEK

1. Love God 

Spend time this week taking what the recovery community calls “a fierce moral inventory” of your sins. Make a list and confess them to God. Most importantly, embrace God’s forgiveness of your sins, and think about how you can forgive others

2. Love Others 

Take the next step in giving or receiving forgiveness with people with whom you are in conflict. Begin with prayer for whatever that next step is and for God to open both of your hearts to each other.

3. Love Yourself 

Make it a priority to get a good amount and quality of sleep every night this week. Note the difference this makes in the way you act and feel during the day, and determine what changes you need to make for this to be an ongoing routine.

READ AND CONSIDER THESE

Every week, you are invited to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is the central scripture of our “Love Conquers All” worship series.

For this fifth week, focus on the phrase “Love is Faithful.”

• What does that idea mean to you?
• What changes do you need to make in your life to make that quality real in you?

Then, consider this paraphrase from John Wesley’s

sermon “The Marks of the New Birth”: “A second scriptural mark of those who are born of God, is hope. It is a lively or living hope, the Apostle Peter says, because there is also a dead hope, as well as a dead faith. This is a hope which is not from God, but from the enemy of God and humans, as evidenced by its fruits. A dead hope is the offspring of pride, and the parent of every evil word and work. But a person with living hope is ‘holy as the God who calls him is holy.” As Peter says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and we shall see Him as He is, pure even as He is pure.”

PRACTICAL EXERCISES TO DO THIS WEEK

1. Love God 

Consider this quote by the 19th century abolitionist minister Theodore Parker, which was summarized and popularized by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.” Where have you seen the work of justice steadily at work in your lifetime? What does this say about the faithfulness of God? 

2. Love Others 

Call or text someone who has been a positive influence in your life and thank them for what they have meant to you. 

3. Love Yourself 

Try a physical activity that you have never done before, or one that has been a long time since you have performed it. 

We are now in the final week of our encounter, and we look ahead toward Pentecost Sunday, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, and the birthday of the Church.

Read the story of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-12.

• What does this story mean to you?
• What changes do you need to make in your life to allow the Holy Spirit to be fully expressed in you?

Then, consider these words from John Wesley’s sermon “The Marks of the New Birth”: “A Third scriptural mark of those who are born of God, and the greatest of all, is love; even “the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto them.” By this Spirit, continually looking up to God as their reconciled and loving Father, they cry to him for their daily bread, for everything they need, in their souls or bodies.”

PRACTICAL EXERCISES TO DO THIS WEEK

1. Love God 

Give thanks for God’s creativity and the diversity with which God creates community. In what ways has our community been strengthened by diversity? In what ways does our community have a way to go before there is fuller diversity of people? How might God be calling you to be a part of strengthening our diversity? 

2. Love Others 

Have a conversation with someone who is different in some way from you (background, perspective, identity, etc.) Note what you learn and what commonalities you discover together

3. Love Yourself 

Set your phone and other electronic devices down for a lengthy period of time this week, and do something that doesn’t involve a screen.