The Characteristics of Love
Bishop Henry Fernandez Preached on 2/16/20251 Corinthians 13:13
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Summary
Bishop Henry Fernandez explores the essential characteristics of love as defined in 1 Corinthians 13, urging believers to prioritize unconditional love over spiritual gifts to maintain unity and fulfill their kingdom purpose.
Key points
- •Love is a requirement and a divine nature, not just a talent or spiritual gift to be showcased.
- •Division often occurs when believers prioritize their own gifts, backgrounds, or the desire to 'make a point' over the unity of the Spirit.
- •The characteristics of true love include patience, humility, respect, and the refusal to hold grudges or keep records of wrongs.
- •We cannot successfully complete our faith journey alone; we must recognize our need for one another despite cultural or personal differences.
- •God's love is consistent and unchanging, persisting even when we are inconsistent or fail to represent Him well.
Scripture
Love
Community
Spiritual Growth
Grace
Forgiveness
Life application
Identify one person you have been holding a grudge against or competing with this week. Intentionally choose to 'move on' by performing a selfless act of service or speaking a gentle, respectful word to them, mirroring the unconditional nature of God's love.
Reflection questions
- Which of the 10 characteristics of love do you find most difficult to practice in your daily life?
- Are you currently allowing a desire to 'be right' or 'make a point' to cause division in your family or church?
- How does knowing that God's love for you is unchanging affect the way you respond to your own failures?
- In what ways can you better celebrate the gifts and successes of others instead of feeling envious?
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Full transcript
0:01let's go to First
0:03Corinthians
0:0513 and I'll read one verse and later on
0:08in the message I will come
0:10back and uh deal with some other verses
0:15in that
0:16chapter 1 Corinthians
0:191313 says and now these three
0:25remain
0:27faith hope and love love but the
0:31greatest of
0:33these is
0:36love Paul uses First Corinthians 12 to
0:42emphasize the importance of prioritizing
0:46God's
0:47quality over the desire to promote
0:51self-gifts and compete with one another
0:54in the kingdom of
0:56God did you get that
1:00Paul uses chapter 12 I know we just read
1:04from chapter
1:0513 but I want to give you the backdrop
1:09of what led up to Paul right in 1
1:13Corinthians
1:1413 about the power of
1:19love he uses chapter 12 to emphasize the
1:24importance of prioritizing Godly
1:28qualities over the a desire to
1:32promote self talents or
1:35gifts and to use them to compete with
1:39one
1:40another what makes the Corinthian Church
1:43unique was that it was made up of both
1:47Jews and
1:49Gentiles who had all converted to
1:52Christianity and were now living
1:54together working together to advance the
1:59kingdom
2:00of
2:01God and it's very
2:04challenging when you have a group of
2:07people who you consider the melting
2:11part the melting part here are Jews and
2:15Gentiles two different culture two
2:17different people two different
2:18backgrounds are now placed in the
2:21kingdom of God and the challenge was how
2:24do we all get
2:26along without hurting each other
2:30because Paul recognized that the issue
2:32was some groups of people were saying
2:36our gifts are better than you or perhaps
2:38they were saying because we are Jews
2:41we're better than you or because you are
2:43Gentiles you're considered the dogs the
2:47outcast so there was division in the
2:51church they were culturally
2:54diverse spoke various languages and they
2:58came from a a range of different
3:02backgrounds this within itself ladies
3:04and gentlemen created a bit of challenge
3:07for them as they were arguing about
3:10which of their spiritual gifts were
3:12greater than the other instead of
3:15seeking ways watch this to increase
3:18their faith in hopes that God's promises
3:23will be fulfilled in their
3:25lives this led to division within the
3:28church and and over time the Bible
3:32clearly
3:33states the love that initially brought
3:36them together as a
3:39church
3:40started to gradually fade
3:44away isn't it interesting
3:47how we can once get excited about loving
3:54someone and as time
3:57progresses that love
4:00Fades
4:02away this was happening to the church at
4:07Corinth two different cultures came
4:10together they were in the will of God
4:12doing the work of God but
4:15somehow they allow their
4:17differences somehow they allow the gifts
4:21that they possessed to divide them and
4:23all of a sudden their
4:25love
4:28discontinued how how did this Rich
4:32diversity become such an issue within
4:35the church like
4:38today why didn't they use this diversity
4:42and the love that was in the church to
4:45greatly impact the cities for Jesus
4:48Christ to bring others into the kingdom
4:51of God let's not make any mistake about
4:55it we are all called to do Kingdom work
5:00am we're all called to preach the gospel
5:03to share the love of Jesus to even
5:06people we don't
5:10like so one would expect that they would
5:14have used their differences to share the
5:16gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles
5:18allowing each of their own people their
5:21own people to
5:23witness to witness the love of Jesus
5:26Christ operating through them so as you
5:30read chapter 12 you will find that there
5:33was division in the church and with more
5:37Focus placed on the gifts they had
5:40rather watch this they had rather argued
5:44their
5:45points instead of letting the love
5:49unites
5:51them who is under the sound of my voice
5:53or
5:54streaming you're allowing division to
5:57come into your relationships your
5:59marriage
6:00the
6:01church because watch this you want to
6:05make a
6:07point do you know how many people have
6:10destroyed their Destiny because you want
6:13to make a
6:17point and the one thing that will bind
6:20us together it is
6:22love and sometimes we're not smart
6:26enough to see the works of the devil
6:30so this is why Paul stated in chapter
6:3313: 133 he says and now these three
6:39remain
6:41Faith after it's all said and done after
6:45you have argued your points after you
6:48have felt that you're talented you're
6:50gifted you're handsome you're attractive
6:53after you felt that well your race is
6:56better than the other person's race at
6:58the end of the day
7:00how is your
7:03faith do you still believe God do you
7:07still believe that God is loving and
7:10caring do you still believe that God
7:12loves The Sinner do you still believe
7:14that God's word will come through in
7:17your life do you still believe that God
7:21is the same yesterday today and forever
7:24and he'll make provision for you he says
7:27and now these three things remain at the
7:30end of the day regardless of our
7:32bickering regardless of our arguing be
7:34regardless of our separation do you
7:37still have
7:39faith and he then says
7:44hope that's what I that's why I love
7:46what Pastor tman just did this
7:49morning he allowed the Holy Spirit to
7:52use him to give us
7:54hope you cannot allow the circumstances
7:58of life to stop you from believing that
8:02hope still exists I don't care what you
8:06see that your God will deliver he will
8:10come through for you that yes you might
8:12be in a mess today but if you keep hope
8:15alive you have a God who will see you
8:18through it
8:21all so he says out of all of these three
8:26things Faith and Hope yes sir and then
8:30love which is important and he made it
8:33absolutely clear but the greatest of all
8:37of these while you're worried about your
8:39talents and your gifts and your degrees
8:41and and what jobs you have and and where
8:44you live gated community and maybe you
8:46have achieved greatness you've got a
8:48little bit of money in the bank at the
8:50end of the day have faith have hope but
8:54make sure you walk in love but at the
8:56end of the day the greatest of all of
8:59them
9:01is
9:03love you don't get brownie points for
9:06having strong
9:08faith that's a requirement for the
9:11believer the just should live by
9:15faith you don't get rewarded for just
9:17living by faith that's a requirement
9:20you're only going to exist in the
9:23kingdom of God when you live by
9:25faith you've got to have hope if you
9:29don't have hope might as well you pack
9:31it up right now and go pick out your
9:34grave site and just put yourself in a
9:37hole right now and bury yourself alive
9:40every day you've got to get up believing
9:43that there has to be a brighter
9:46day am I talking to anybody in the room
9:49this morning there has to be a brighter
9:51day devil Give Me Your Best Shot I don't
9:54care what you throw at me I'm going to
9:56wake up every morning and say this is
9:59the day that the Lord has made and God's
10:03going to make a way somehow I don't know
10:06how but as long as he's sitting on the
10:09throne he's going to make a
10:13way got to have
10:15hope you got to have hope look at your
10:17neighbor and say you got to have hope
10:20got so whatever you're sitting here with
10:22on your mind today whatever is on your
10:25mind as you're streaming today don't let
10:27it bother you don't let it run up your
10:30pressure look to the heels from whence
10:33cometh your help God's going to make a
10:36way he will work it all out in fact he's
10:40going to turn it
10:42around for your
10:45good you got to believe
10:49that and then you got to have
10:52love so you got to walk in
10:56love see Paul uses both chapters 12 and
11:0113 to deal with the diversity of
11:05gifts and how they all work together for
11:08one
11:09common
11:11cause and how
11:14to at the end of the
11:17day to know that the most important gift
11:21we the
11:22church should
11:25possess is love
11:31I know we're going after the gift of
11:32preaching the gift of Prophecy the gift
11:34of healing I know we want to be great
11:37singers I know we want to be great
11:38musicians I know we want to be great
11:40servant leaders I know we come in here
11:44every Sunday and we're dressed up and
11:46we're looking very nice but the greatest
11:50gift a Believer can possess is not your
11:54talents it's the ability to love
11:58uncondition
12:00[Applause]
12:04Al so in 1 Corinthians 13 excuse me 12 1
12:08Corinthians 12 veres
12:121-9 he discusses the Holy Spirit as the
12:15source watch this the
12:17source of all gifts and the Holy Spirit
12:21makes us one one within the body of
12:25Christ can we read it they're going to
12:28put it on the screen let all look at it
12:30it says now about the gifts of the
12:33Spirit brothers and sisters I do not
12:35want you to be what uninformed you know
12:40that when you were pagans he's talking
12:42see he's talking to people Jews Gentiles
12:45who was never they weren't converted to
12:47Christianity at first they both came
12:49into Christianity but because of their
12:52actions he said hey wait a minute I want
12:54to remind you that you were once Sinners
12:57pagans how somehow or other you were
13:02influenced and led astray to mute Idols
13:05going back to some stuff that don't make
13:08any sense don't speak the word of God
13:11and volume to your life therefore I want
13:14you to know that no one who is speaking
13:18by the spirit of God says Jesus be
13:20cursed and no one can say Jesus is Lord
13:23except by the Holy Spirit there are
13:27different kinds of gifts but the Same
13:30Spirit distributes
13:33them they're different kinds of spirit
13:36but they all come from what the Holy
13:39Spirit there are different kinds of
13:41service but the same Lord different
13:45kinds of service I don't care if it's
13:47the preacher I don't care if it's the
13:48servant leaders I don't care if you're
13:49working in children's church I don't
13:51care if you're working in the community
13:53I don't care if you're going out and
13:54sharing your faith what the word of God
13:57is saying we have different kinds of
14:00service or duties but it's one
14:05Lord where did we get in the church
14:09these different
14:12interpretation of who Jesus
14:16is think about that and can I just be
14:19honest with you before you start
14:21throwing your shoes at me some of you
14:23are not even
14:27qualified to explain who Jesus is you
14:31know why you don't have the
14:34fruit my God don't tell me that you are
14:39a mango tree when you taste like
14:42[Music]
14:42[Applause]
14:49lemon scripture said buy your
14:53fruit don't don't show me your talents
14:56and your gifts show me the fruit
15:01shall we read then it says in verse 6
15:05there are different kinds of working but
15:08in all of them and in everyone it is the
15:13same God at work now to each one the
15:17manifestation of the spirit is given
15:20for
15:22for good
15:24for for the common good to one there's
15:27given through the spirit a message of
15:29wisdom to another the message of
15:31knowledge by means of The Same Spirit to
15:35another Faith by The Same Spirit to
15:40another Gifts of healing
15:46by same
15:49God and then he uses verses 12 to 26 I
15:53don't have time to read that he compared
15:56watch this the
15:57church to the human
16:00body with many
16:02parts where each part works together to
16:07fulfill one common purpose which is the
16:09will of God if I decide to walk to the
16:13east of this
16:15stage my mind is prepared to
16:21walk but my leg has to
16:27cooperate the full man
16:30Henry cannot get to his
16:33Destiny if my
16:35legs my
16:37brain my arms don't
16:41cooperate I can't get over there if the
16:45legs decide to lock upon
16:48me I can't move I may desire to go there
16:53but if my legs won't cooperate some of
16:55us in the Church of the Lord Jesus
16:58Christ are locked up with bitterness and
17:02strife and
17:05envy to the point we want to move the
17:08church forward but we are the ones who
17:11are prohibiting the
17:15[Applause]
17:17progress because we fail to understand
17:21that we are
17:23one so if you have the love of Jesus
17:27Christ please hear me today in your
17:30heart you will know that you cannot
17:33successfully make it through your faith
17:36Journey without the help of your
17:39brothers and your sisters I don't care
17:41if you're Jews Gentile I don't care if
17:43you're black you're white I don't care
17:45if you're Caribbean or African-American
17:48North American Canadian Asian it don't
17:50matter who you are as you're streaming I
17:53need you you need me if we're going to
17:57do Kingdom work we've got to do it
18:00together and the only way we can do it
18:02together if we start
18:05loving when
18:10another and so in my subject today the
18:12characteristics of love we say we love
18:16but we don't carry the characteristics
18:19of
18:19love and that's why our love is Tainted
18:23and we can't move forward as a people
18:25not just in the church Even in our
18:28personal life lives some of us have I
18:31mean literally destroyed our
18:35families because we don't possess the
18:38characteristics of
18:42love you are a walking toxic
18:51individual and you will burn the whole
18:54house down if you don't get your way
19:00touch your neighbor and say I don't know
19:01if he's talking about
19:09you you notice they didn't respond to
19:11you you can tell the ones who are
19:14creating the problem when they don't
19:17respond I do me a favor I want everybody
19:20just stand for a moment I know I know
19:21just stand I know do me a favor and and
19:23I'm going to see those of you got love
19:25in the building this morning I want
19:27everybody in this building to find two
19:29people and tell them I need you in my
19:33life if you don't need nobody in your
19:35life sit
19:36down I need you I need you we may
19:42disagree we may have difference of
19:44opinion but if we're going to make it I
19:48need you in my
19:51life accept my flaws accept my
19:55insufficiency I need you in my life life
19:59somebody give God a praise in the house
20:03today please be
20:05seated thank you for your obedience this
20:08morning so I need you those of you are
20:12streaming need to put it in the chat I
20:13need
20:14you you see Paul's message to the
20:17Corinthians Church watch
20:19this reminds us that our most powerful
20:23testimony To The World Isn't Our ability
20:27to impress others with our
20:32gifts but it is having this ability to
20:36love one
20:38another
20:40unconditionally in spite of our
20:46diversity can you love
20:49me even if I look different from
20:54you can you love
20:56me even if I speak different from
21:02you can you love
21:04me when I still don't comprehend
21:08you can you love
21:11me when I don't give you what you ask
21:20[Applause]
21:25for Can You Love Me when I hurt
21:31you I know that was a big
21:33one I I felt that one
21:36too can you love me even when you've
21:39hurt me and offended
21:43me so
21:46listen if you truly desire to know God
21:50and want to fully enjoy your Journey of
21:53Faith in the
21:55Kingdom I suggest to you to shift your
21:59focus away from the titles we
22:03hold and the gifts we
22:06Showcase in the church and instead let's
22:10focus on loving one another that's the
22:13message Paul was given to the
22:15Corinthians
22:16Church don't let your gifts get to
22:20you amen it's all working together it's
22:23same God Same
22:26Spirit you're not different from the
22:29other person Glory though your gifts May
22:32publicly Express a level of
22:37excellence and greatness doesn't mean
22:40you're better than the person who's at
22:41the
22:49door doesn't mean because you are the
22:51man the head of the house that your wife
22:54is your foot stol
22:59that she's not
23:01important she carries no
23:04value doesn't
23:06mean if your
23:09husband is the leader of the
23:12house and because you're now in this new
23:17movement that you think your husband
23:20cannot tell you what to
23:25do I'm My Own woman
23:28I do as I pleasee I submit to no man
23:33then why did you get
23:37married because if you're in the kingdom
23:40of
23:41God you have to live by a different
23:44standard not the standard of the
23:46world woo they sto shouting
23:49Jesus oh God they quit on me already God
23:54they just stopped
24:01hallelujah thank you thank you
24:05sir I feel
24:10you
24:16Hall say I want you to know that the
24:18holy spirit is looking every day for
24:20people who are willing watch this to
24:24demonstrate the
24:26characteristics of love
24:29so that when we
24:31all or so that I should say when that we
24:34all can have uh a positive ungodly
24:38results in our
24:40relationships our
24:42friendships and in the
24:46church you see the divine nature of God
24:49is
24:50love watch
24:53this Paul had to deal with
24:56this just don't get excited watch this
25:01about how we're having a good
25:05time don't get excited because you're
25:07sitting next to somebody who looks
25:13successful don't the last thing the
25:17devil wants is for the church to be
25:22one cuz he knows with the power of
25:25Oneness we will shut his his kingdom
25:31down he knows
25:35that so he'll come like the church at
25:39Corinth and he will start allowing
25:43us to categorize or put ourselves in
25:48categories not understanding the divine
25:51nature of God which is the divine nature
25:53of a Christian is love
25:59not the boasting of our
26:01abilities like the Corinthians
26:05church if we always remember this that
26:08love is God's nature then we would never
26:11let love cease to operate in the body of
26:16Christ so as I quickly try to wrap this
26:19up isn't it amazing how God chooses to
26:22love us every single day watch this some
26:25of you going to connect to this in spite
26:27of our
26:29inconsistency in spite of our inability
26:32to demonstrate the greatest Godly nature
26:35which is love how could a God who knows
26:40everything about us see we're so quick
26:43to point fingers at people we're so
26:46quick to call out people and sometimes
26:49we can't even put the spotlight on
26:51ourselves the god that we serve look at
26:54our inconsistency our failure yet he he
26:58chooses every day to love us woo what an
27:03amazing
27:06love see we're quick to stop loving
27:10people when we're hurt offended and we
27:14don't get our way yet God chooses to
27:16love us consistently
27:18regardless of how we fail to represent
27:21him
27:22well Malachi 3 it doesn't always talk
27:26about tithing and offering and money
27:28some people are scared to go to Malachi
27:30oh not
27:34Malachi but look at verse
27:37six for I the Lord do not change
27:42therefore oh children of Jacob are not
27:44consumed he's reminding us I know
27:48you I know everything about
27:53you and in spite of all of your failures
27:58I didn't stop loving
28:00you I could have allowed the issues of
28:03life to consume
28:05you I could have cast you
28:09out but I didn't change not one person
28:14in this room or
28:16streaming can confidently say you know
28:21that God stopped loving
28:26you you may may feel like he did and the
28:30truth is because things didn't work out
28:32the way you wanted it to work
28:34out but you cannot determine the the
28:38strength of Love based on you getting
28:40what you
28:41want he never stopped loving
28:46us Hebrews 13:8 tells us
28:49Jesus the
28:51same yesterday today and can you imagine
28:56if Jesus Act like some of
29:02us cuz some of you have personalities
29:06every day of the
29:14week oh Sunday we have a different
29:17personality Monday oh God it ain't like
29:20Sunday I promise you Tuesday is
29:23different Thursday is different
29:24Wednesday I mean Friday Saturday now
29:28Friday for most of us it's kind of not
29:30bad cuz in most cases some people get
29:32paid your attitude on payday is a whole
29:35lot
29:38different from the start of that pay
29:42cycle our move
29:45changes but Jesus
29:47says I don't
29:50change that's why some of you are
29:52struggling your relationship because
29:53you're wondering who the heck is this
29:55person right right right
29:59can't figure them out amen the
30:03mood baby I love you love you hey love
30:07you you all
30:14right can you imagine if God watch this
30:17if God was like
30:18that if every day he would get
30:22up and just say
30:37H think about
30:40that he changes not still loves us
30:44because the very essence of God is love
30:48watch this if God stopped loving he
30:52would no longer be
30:56God and if we stopped loving we would no
31:00longer be called children of
31:05God so in these times we're living in
31:08The Church Must operate in love we've
31:10got to as it is the most powerful and
31:13effective means of join
31:16people from diverse cultures into the
31:21kingdom of
31:22God we're about to go to two
31:26Services you know how we can not only
31:28fill this place it's not about filling
31:30this place that we have a large church
31:32but you know how we can really reach the
31:34cities in this County for Jesus Christ
31:37watch this it's not through our Gifts of
31:41singing It's not with our
31:45preaching it is absolutely not with our
31:48fancy
31:49building and all the lights and things
31:52that we use to create a welcoming
31:56worship
31:58because we can have all of that and
32:00people can walk in here and we could be
32:02ugly to
32:04them we could be fighting like cats and
32:07dogs at
32:09home we could be ripping each other
32:11apart because we have the gifts and the
32:14talents but we don't have the one thing
32:17that's important to keeping us together
32:21and that's love
32:28so let's be clear about one thing when
32:32it comes to love where love comes from
32:35love originated from God it is not a
32:38human intervention rather it was
32:41designed and demonstrated by God himself
32:43even before the world was created and if
32:46I had time I'll take you back to Genesis
32:481 when God showed up and the Bible says
32:51the Earth was without form and void and
32:54darkness upon the face of the Earth it
32:57didn't look
32:59pretty can you imagine he came a perfect
33:02God who's very creative and excellent in
33:06his own way showed up and what he saw
33:09did not mirror who he is and he just
33:14love love spoke to the
33:19emptiness love spoke to the
33:23darkness The Power of Words so many of
33:28us have used our words to destroy
33:32people
33:35amen yes sir and here's a sad part about
33:38it as much as I'm preaching it with
33:41passion some of you are sitting there
33:43and your heart is so
33:47hard that you refuse to receive
33:50this because I rather get my
33:55way I rather my feet feelings be
33:59heard I don't care about restoration I
34:02don't care about developing and moving
34:05forward as a family I don't care about
34:08my marriage working I don't care about
34:11my kids coming together I don't care
34:13about my family be United I don't care
34:16about my church becoming one if you
34:19don't see me and do what I want I'll
34:24burn this thing
34:34wow so it is very
34:37unfortunate that the church often
34:41misunderstands what it means to seek
34:43watch this Godly qualities in others
34:47here's what we do we tend to focus on
34:49people's watch this
34:53performances and the gifts they have
34:56using
34:58them to conclude whether or
35:01not they truly
35:03represent
35:07God oh hey sh oh he's
35:12anointed hey
35:14woo oh
35:17God oh God she's
35:23anointed step back for a
35:26moment how they
35:31[Applause]
35:36live do they have
35:39love are they the one in the family
35:42that's causing
35:46[Laughter]
35:48chaos I'm so glad I'm a visiting pastor
35:51this morning you going to have Pastor
35:53tman next week praise the Lord
35:58you don't have to deal with me you don't
36:00have to love
36:01me so here's how I'm going to conclude
36:04the sermon today the Apostle Paul wanted
36:07the church to see that above all the
36:10things we must demonstrate faith in God
36:14the God we serve and we must have hope
36:17that his word is going to work itself in
36:20our lives however the greatest
36:23Revelation a Believer can receive
36:28is
36:29love let me give
36:31you the 10
36:34characteristics Paul laid out in 1
36:37Corinthians
36:3913 I want to quickly go through them you
36:43take in notes or you can take your
36:44camera snap the screen
36:47whatever here are the characteristics
36:49and you have to ask yourself the
36:50question now come on don't don't let me
36:53lose you now you have to ask yourself a
36:55question okay
36:59do I have
37:00faith am I really believing that God is
37:03well
37:05a do I have
37:07hope that my life is in his hands and
37:10he's going to take care of
37:13me and here's the big
37:15one do I have the characteristics of
37:19love all these things he explained in 1
37:22Corinthians 13 these characteristics
37:26have nothing to do do with
37:29faith had nothing to do with
37:31hope it had everything to do with the
37:34most important ingredient we need in the
37:38church is
37:40love first thing he said love
37:45shows
37:48patience so for those of you who are
37:50here
37:52streaming start doing a selfassessment
37:55Do You Love
37:58do you love and before you quickly say
38:01yes ask yourself the question are you
38:03showing
38:05patience what do I mean by
38:07that because when Paul says love shows
38:11patience he's saying it shows calmness
38:15tolerance and
38:18perseverance are you that kind of a
38:20person do you show calmness hey do you
38:25show calmness
38:27what about tolerance are you willing to
38:30tolerate people sometimes and just look
38:32beyond their
38:34craziness what about
38:36perseverance are you such a
38:40quitter
38:42Jesus Lord every time something rubs you
38:45the wrong way you going to
38:48quit
38:50amen
38:52really number two he says love is gentle
38:55and caring in other words it's very
38:58considerate and it's generous if you
39:01have love you've got to be
39:04generous you got to
39:08care don't don't tell me you love me and
39:11I've been with you all these years and
39:13you ain't never give me
39:20nothing don't tell God you love him and
39:23you don't spend quality time with him
39:25watch this quality time time with him
39:28each and every day at least reading his
39:30word and praying to him yet you find
39:34countless of hours every single day on
39:38social media getting your mind polluted
39:41with
39:42[Applause]
39:46garbage love is gentle and caring how do
39:50you how do you talk to me yes amen
39:57how do you talk to
39:59me it's
40:01gentle it's
40:04caring Corinthians Church how you
40:06talking to each other how you
40:10talking do you care enough to respect
40:15me how you talking number three love is
40:21satisfied it is satisfied with what it
40:24has and it celebrate what other uh what
40:27others possess and have to
40:31offer when you say I love you I'm
40:34satisfied with myself I'm satisfied with
40:37our
40:40relationship and whatever you bring to
40:42the table whatever gifts you bring to
40:44the table I love
40:48you I love
40:50you cuz I'm satisfied with my
40:54love some of you are leaning over to the
40:58fence and saying that's the love I
41:03want can I let you in a
41:06secret you peeping over to the fence you
41:09have no idea what goes on in the
41:13[Applause]
41:16house you should see some of the faces
41:19looking at me Jesus number four love is
41:23modest it's modest it's humble it's not
41:27bold ful it doesn't seek Praises or
41:31recognition it's modest so you're
41:34talking about you love so before you oh
41:36I love I love see a lot of us we say we
41:39love but we only attach that love to the
41:44things we
41:46deem as attributes of love Paul is
41:50saying are you modest are you humble
41:52With Your
41:54Love cuz with humility come
41:58submission you know I love you oo thank
42:01you holy
42:03spirit let me deal with family for a
42:07moment every family has got issues
42:12everyone I can tell you for my
42:15family problems will come up all the
42:17time in fact my aunt is here from
42:19England um give her show her some love
42:23my aunt is
42:24here and
42:27we were we were I went to Jamaica about
42:30a week and a half ago because one of my
42:33mom's sister my Aunt celebrated her 9th
42:36birthday
42:39and it was amazing to see the entire
42:42family people I haven't seen for over 50
42:45years seriously 50 years come together
42:50and I said to them I said this did my
42:53heart good to be able to go to an event
42:56a family event and it's not a funeral am
42:59watch this it's not a
43:02funeral we came together the love I felt
43:05in that
43:07atmosphere and I thought about all of
43:10the struggles our family went
43:13through and I can stand before God today
43:16and said for every struggle Henry
43:19Fernandez was the guy who always wanted
43:22to see my family come together
43:30can your family say that about
43:36you forget you being a part of the Faith
43:39Center Church can your family say you
43:43are a true
43:45testimony of
43:49love because you're not the one in the
43:52family perpetuating gossip
43:57you're not the selfish one in the
44:02family you're
44:04humble Paul says number five love shows
44:09respect in other words love honors
44:12that's what he's talking about read
44:15it love shows
44:19respect how could you say you love God
44:23when you have no respect for
44:25him amen think about that
44:29church how could you say you love God
44:33you have no respect for his word cuz
44:35you're not honoring his word you do
44:40whatever you will stand up to the
44:42national anthem and you would salute and
44:45you put your hands on your chest but
44:48when it comes to reverencing
44:50God no
44:53respect you say you love God
44:57and you're satisfied you're modest with
45:00him but can and I don't mean this in an
45:02offensive way but I'm just trying to
45:05point out love to you since January
45:09since January last Friday was
45:11Valentine's Day and some of you say you
45:14love so you just give on Valentine's Day
45:17maybe out of obligation but since
45:20January have you shown your love to
45:25God have you shown your love in
45:29given did you number six love is given
45:33it is selfless prioritizing the needs
45:36and interest of others over its own
45:39number seven love does not hold
45:43grudges it keeps no record of wrong it
45:48chooses to let
45:50go and move
45:53on let go and move on
45:58that's what it
45:59does come on
46:03now love holds no
46:06grudges would you come here for a second
46:09sir yes please come here come
46:13here come here
46:15please come
46:17here
46:19um stand here do me a favor come here
46:22sweee yes come here come here stand here
46:27right okay
46:30see Paul is saying to us love holds no
46:36grudges so these two people face that
46:40way for me
46:42please pretend those two people maybe in
46:45a relationship maybe married family
46:47whatever in the church together in the
46:50church
46:52together all
46:54right so Watch What Happens Paul says
46:58You must first understand it was love
47:00that brought you together you know why
47:02we're all in here it's the love for
47:05Jesus
47:06Christ and will we have our differences
47:09like the church at Curren
47:11absolutely but with love watch this with
47:15love you turn to each
47:18other you
47:20discuss whether you disagree or agree to
47:23disagree whatever and then what he says
47:27the seventh attribute of love love does
47:32not hold grudges it moves
47:35on move
47:38on move
47:39on somebody's got to move
47:43on somebody's got to move
47:46on move
47:48on move on notice I've been telling them
47:53all this time move on I think we're too
47:56they're standing
47:58there talking or whatever they were
48:00doing I kept saying move on move on see
48:05the point is and she's trying to vacate
48:06the state that's the wrong way of doing
48:09it come here it's it's a setup I set you
48:13guys up it was
48:15intentional because what Paul is saying
48:17it holds no grudges sometimes in life
48:21you're not going to agree so one person
48:24have to leave the other person and say
48:27you know what you stay where you are I'm
48:29just moving
48:30on that's okay you listen you cannot
48:35force
48:37anybody to go to the next level of
48:40greatness if they don't want to
48:44go now the ideal thing would have been
48:47if both of them would have handled the
48:50matter and move on
48:53together do you get what I'm saying come
48:56on thank God for them thank you so much
48:58appreciate that let me wrap this up I
49:01got two more and I'll let you go or
49:03three more love Shields and safeguards
49:07love Shields and safeguards number nine
49:10love trust and is not naturally
49:16suspicious
49:18ah some of us were too suspicious
49:23man ah my spirit don't take her
49:28my spirit is letting me sometimes you
49:30just have a bad Spirit
49:35man and number
49:3810 want you to stay right where you
49:41are love
49:43hopes and see the good in others do me a
49:48favor just touch your neighbor you don't
49:51have to touch them by the hand if you're
49:52not comfortable just touch your neighbor
49:54everybody just touch your neighbor
49:57rest your hands on your
49:58neighbor please hear
50:02me those of your streamen please hear me
50:06clearly today we're going to let you out
50:08of
50:10here but I believe that there are some
50:12people in this room some people
50:14streaming you're struggling with this
50:17love
50:19thing you've heard so much about love
50:22and you're thinking it's the
50:24demonstration of our human ability
50:27is not understanding love carries a
50:31certain personality I listed 10 of them
50:34for you
50:35today and some of you are Hur in you're
50:39Hur in and maybe the reason why you're
50:42Hur and you don't even know Jesus as
50:44your savior how could you
50:47love until
50:49you first experience the love of
50:53Jesus when he loves you and you embrace
50:56Braes love it changes the way you see
51:00love so that's the first thing I'm going
51:03to ask you this morning as you're laying
51:05hands on somebody cuz you have no idea
51:09that person sitting next to you tears
51:10may be running down their eyes because
51:13every word that was spoken this morning
51:16it's like God was piercing their heart
51:19he's not chasti in them he wants
51:24us to live this love thing and not just
51:27talk about
51:29it not just talk about
51:33it the person that you are
51:36touching they need your support more
51:39than
51:41ever because though this world has over
51:44close to 8 billion
51:47people there's some people are still
51:50feeling
51:53lonely as much as they are people in
51:57this room packing this
51:59Auditorium there are people sitting in
52:01your road there's a person that you're
52:03touching who don't feel
52:07loved who feel all alone who feel
52:10forgotten
52:13hurt and with the love of Jesus
52:16Christ we can change their
52:19lives I'm going to ask those of you
52:22because there's energy
52:24flowing I'm believing that that every
52:26person that's touching
52:29someone that God spoke to you in a very
52:31powerful way today and that
52:35power that faith that
52:38love you're now transmitting it to the
52:41next person if you are in your seat or
52:44you're streaming and you say pastor this
52:49morning I want God to change my
52:53heart I'm not a Christian I'm not a
52:56Christian I go to church I'm here I'm
53:00streaming and I perhaps never heard this
53:03love spoken about in the way you did
53:07this morning and Pastor it's hard but I
53:10I really want to experience the love of
53:11Jesus Christ in my heart and I'm not
53:14ashamed to say it this morning because I
53:17struggle with loving if you've never
53:19been saved or you've saved and walked
53:21away from the faith and you say Pastor
53:24please would you pray for me this
53:25morning without any hesitation I want
53:28you to stand don't don't look for
53:30anybody else I want you to stand I want
53:32to give my life thank you nobody looking
53:34around just just pay attention to me
53:37it's it's not about you
53:41now because people are standing saying
53:45that I needed to hear this message I
53:47want Christ in my life because I'm
53:49telling you nobody can truly love unless
53:53you are first loved by God you have
53:55you're not qualified ified to explain
53:57love to people and show love to people
53:59if you first don't Embrace his love so I
54:02wait for you in the balcony I see you
54:04standing I say you standing I'm not
54:07going to prolong this is there anybody
54:10else thank you for standing now I'm
54:13going to ask you thank you for standing
54:15while I'm speaking if you want to stand
54:17it's up to you I'm not going to take
54:19another 30 minutes to beg you you should
54:21know the condition of your heart this is
54:23a safe place nobody in here can point
54:27fingers at anybody and say look at you I
54:30can't believe you didn't love cuz all of
54:32us struggled with this love
54:35thing and it had not been for the grace
54:38of God we wouldn't be here
54:40today so as you're standing the Bible
54:43says you confess with your mouth you
54:45believe in your heart you're born again
54:47but here's where the journey
54:49starts it's not just saying oh I'm a
54:51Christian today and you tell your family
54:53and friends and hopefully you will do
54:54that I went to church and I gave my
54:56heart to God and I accept his love but
54:59you've got to live this thing
55:01out that's why you come to church that's
55:04why I encourage you to keep coming to
55:05this ministry so you hear messages like
55:07this come in here our pastor pour the
55:10word of God into you on Sundays and
55:13Wednesdays and then you have your own
55:16personal devotion time with God we're
55:19always here for you then I'm going to
55:22ask you after I lead you in this in this
55:23prayer to take your phone out and and I
55:26want you to use the QR code we got to
55:29know that you gave your life to Jesus
55:31don't hide it don't let it be a secret
55:34don't say well it's not that important
55:35trust me it is
55:38important if you want to give your life
55:41over to God then I need you to scan this
55:43please repeat after me it's just a
55:44sinners prayer you're praying to God say
55:46Lord Jesus Lord Jesus I'm a sinner I
55:50Repent of my sins I rep of my I embrace
55:53the free gift of Salvation I embrace the
55:55free GI
55:57and I declare that I'm born
55:59again in Jesus name amen would you
56:03celebrate these
56:05individuals
56:07amen Now
56:09quickly quickly I want you to scan the
56:12QR code scan the QR code now here's what
56:15I want to do everybody to stand I want
56:17you to stand Pastor is going to come I
56:19think they're going to close up if you
56:20can just hold it right there if you can
56:23just kind of hold it not leave it's not
56:25even 12:00
56:28yet if you could just hold where you
56:30everybody please
56:32stand before I turn it over to Pastor
56:36here's what I'm going to ask you to do
56:37now I want you to listen to me listen to
56:39me carefully listen to me I know a lot
56:41of people still rushing
56:43out trying to be traffic or
56:46whatever but for those of you who love
56:50and respect what you're hearing this
56:52morning I just ask you to remain
56:56just a few more minutes is not going to
56:58kill you it's not going to destroy you
57:01that's all I want that's all I'm asking
57:03you to
57:05do now I've asked those who needed
57:08Christ in their
57:09heart to say this in his
57:13prayer but I will not walk off this
57:16stage without obeying the Holy
57:20Spirit there's some of you in this
57:22building this
57:24morning you love walk was getting really
57:31bad watch this you are becoming a
57:36monster that you
57:39know that's not
57:41you I don't know what's going on on the
57:44inside I'm talking to some young men I
57:47don't
57:48know things are just battling up in
57:52you we're here for you here's what I'm
57:56going to do it's not going to take long
57:58I promise you if you could just hang in
58:02there if you just give us three more
58:04minutes this is not going to take
58:07long who are the people in this
58:10building who
58:12needed God to do surgery on their
58:16hearts and you want to possess the
58:19characteristics of love I'm going to ask
58:22you to take your belongings do me a
58:24favor and I want you to come right here
58:27quick move quick no lunch no brunch
58:33nothing is that important right now
58:36until you fix
58:38this come on we ought to be
58:41celebrating I'm struggling with this
58:43love
58:44thing come
58:46on come
58:48on come
58:50on the devil almost destroyed
58:53me but God I give you my heart today
58:57come on quickly come on come on
59:01quickly
59:04quickly
59:06yes Oh How He Loves
59:09Us come on sing
59:14it come
59:16on he loves
59:20us my God my God thank you Lord
59:28[Music]
59:49Pastor you can come you can come but
59:52sweetheart look at me
59:56stop letting it eat you
59:59up Let It
60:03[Applause]
60:06Go Do you understand what I'm telling
60:09you this
60:09morning I listen trust
60:13me I'm not here to judge how how dare
60:17you do that I'm not here to expose you
60:19I'm telling
60:21you if you don't let it
60:24go and here's what the Lord told me to
60:27tell you the day you start loving
60:32yourself
60:34[Music]
60:35woo and embracing who he has created you
60:40to
60:43be you have no idea that your
60:46future is so much brighter than it is
60:49right now and honey you look a whole lot
60:51better than you look right now so don't
60:54let temporary
60:58situations cause you to walk in
61:01depression don't you do
61:05that I look to my left and I just like
61:07my eyes locked into you and God just
61:10started downloading Let It
61:17Go everybody Point your fingers at
61:21her I know I know I know it feels but
61:24I'm telling you from this day forward
61:27you're going to be a brand new woman
61:31Hallelujah somebody shout it out she's a
61:33brand new woman she's a brand new woman
61:36come on say it again she's a brand new
61:37woman she's a brand new woman thank you