Mark spoke from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 at the family service on the theme of Faith, Hope & Love.
At Easter we think especially about all that God has done for us to allow us to become His children, the motivation for which is His love (see John 3:16). God is love (1 John 4:7-11); the motivation for everything He does is love, because love is the essence of His nature and the thing He does best!
Paul talks about love being the ‘more excellent way’. 1 Cor 12 has looked at the gifts of the Spirit and Paul urges us to desire these things (and as a Pentecostal church, we do indeed long to see the gifts of the Spirit manifested in our lives and meetings.) Nonetheless, unless these gifts are motivated by and operated in love, they are useless. The gifts are essential to healthy church life, but they are for this present age, whereas love is eternal.
1 Cor 13 gives us the true definition of love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Cor 13:4-7) True love is hard and requires commitment and effort on our part. The eternal qualities of love are contrasted with the temporal qualities of the spiritual gifts. Faith will give way to sight; hope will give way to reality; but love will always remain. Love never fails.