WHAT REAL LOVE LOOKS LIKE

WHAT REAL LOVE LOOKS LIKE:

How many of you watch cartoons?  What are your favorites?

Why do you think people like to watch cartoons?

What kinds of things can happen in a cartoon that couldn’t happen in real life?

·         Animals talk

·         People get hurt but don’t really get hurt

·         People pull things out of thin air to use as a prop – bug bunny gets a big mallet to bang someone on the head

Maybe when you were smaller you thought that some of the things you saw in cartoons would work in real life.  Did any of you think that?

When is it fine to think this?

When might it be dangerous? 

How would this world be if we acted like we were in cartoons?  What if I really believed I was like Batman and could jump off a building and fly?

What if I really thought I could take up a big frying pan and hit my little sister on the head, and it wouldn’t hurt?

There are so many good things that God gives us.  One wonderful blessing is that he tells us what it really meant to love someone.  One of the best places in the Bible to learn about what love really looks like is 1 Corinthians 13.  So we’re going to look at that in a fun way, and then I’m going to show you a great video that shows God’s type of love in a wonderful way

(Have 1 Cor. 13 on slips of paper – I'm using the Message for this talk.  One option is to have some with opposite of the text written or with some kind of riddle with each one).

So first, 1 Cor. 13 talks about some things Love is NOT so let’s start there!

1     Cor. 13:2 If I speak God's Word with power so that people see amazing things about who God is, and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 

Love doesn’t equal super powers!

1 Cor. 13:3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm empty without love. 

Love isn’t only WHAT you do but WHY you do it!

1 Cor. 13:4 Love never gives up even when things get hard. Love cares more for others than for self.

1 Cor. 13:5  Love doesn’t push people around, love isn't always "me first," Love doesn’t explode with anger or keep score of the sins of others, 

1 Cor. 13:6 Love isn’t glad when others are bullied. (my version !)

1 Cor. 13: 7  Instead love takes pleasure in the truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 

Imagine what this world would be like if everybody lived like this!  What would it be like to go to school?  What would it be like on the playground?  What would it be like at home?  

I want to show you a great video about two brothers with a very, very special love between them.

(Show video of two brothers awarded Kids Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated 2012 – here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouhURNLsnjo)

Close in prayer.