Love: The Necessity, Character and Permanents of Love
Saints Sinners Soldiers
August 4, 2019
Rev. Darin Stone
Preaching from 1 Corinthians 13, the PCA minister to the State Capitol explains that true Christian love (agape) is essential for meaningful service, is characterized by patient, self‑giving actions, and endures forever unlike temporary spiritual gifts.
Summary
The speaker, who serves as the PCA minister to the State Capitol and opened with a personal note and invitation to support the new ministry, read 1 Corinthians 13 and organized the message around three points: the necessity of love (gifts, power, and devotion without love are empty or prideful), the character of love in verses 4–7 (patient, kind, forgiving, persevering, and actively seeking the good of others), and the permanence of agape in verses 8–13 (love endures beyond spiritual gifts and is the lasting fulfillment alongside faith and hope); he closed with a challenge to see 1 Corinthians 13 as a portrait of God's love for us rather than as something people must earn, and asked for prayer for his children.
Key Points
- Personal introduction: minister to the State Capitol, family note and prayer request
- Invitation to support or join the newly launched ministry in North Carolina
- Scripture focus: 1 Corinthians 13, often read at weddings but meant as a model for Christian life
- Structure of the sermon: necessity of love; character of love (vv. 4–7); permanence of love (vv. 8–13)
- Necessity: spiritual gifts, power, and devotion without love become manipulation, arrogance, or emptiness
- Character: agape is patient, kind, not envious or boastful, slow to repay offenses, perseveres and seeks the other's good
- Permanence: agape (self‑denying, self‑giving love) endures beyond temporary gifts; only love endures forever with Christ
- Application: live out active love rather than treating others as if they must earn your love; confession of personal struggle with forgiveness and offering love
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