I Corinthians 13 4-8, 13

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends…13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

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1. What is love?

Key verse: Isaiah 60: 1~3

1Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
2For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
3And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.

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Introduction: In this first day of the New Year it is very easy to feel like we have the power to discipline ourselves with new resolutions that will make us better or godlier in the following year.  While discipline is an important fruit of the Spirit, it is important to not just have a religious appearance to the world while God is disgusted by our lifestyles and withholding his blessing from our lives. If you truly want to Arise and Shine in this New Year, we must understand fully what that means.  

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Text: Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?  Today we will look at what it means to truly identify with Christ rather than our own human identity.  What is primary mind that controls what you do? Is it your identity as a man or woman? Is it your identity racially or your education or wealth status? Christians are told to allow the mind of Christ to control us…loosing individual identity of any kind and fully embracing Christ as our identity.

Text: Romans 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

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Introduction: Everyone has stress in life. Often we respond to stress with feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and uptight, so we seek pleasure to balance out the negative with positive fun, but what if pursuing pleasure doesn’t actually help, because pleasure is not the opposite of stress nor the answer for a Christian. Maybe the nice restaurant, round of golf or other types of relaxing pleasure can’t help us because we need more than relaxation.

 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings,

Text: Ephesians 3:17-19

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

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I. Obedience is key to sanctification. If we are living in disobedience and sin we will not grow in Christ.

                                                           Scripture: What is the Bible? 

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Key text: 2 Timothy 3:16-17  (ESV)

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16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,17 that the man of God[a] may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Introduction:  Over the next four weeks I can going to speak on  Four Building Blocks of Christianity. We will look at four questions every person must answer to fully understand Christianity. The topics for this series will be Scripture, Sin, Salvation and Sanctification. So today we will talk about Scripture: What is the Bible?

 2 Timothy 2:16-17 gives a clear explanation of what every Christian must accept about the Bible. Mainly that the Bible is the Word of God…meaning it is literally written by God and completely true.

Now for many people it is difficult to understand how the Bible came to be what it is today and why we can trust that it is completely true, so let’s look at two points.​

Text: 1 John 1:8-10 ESV

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If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

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1. What is Sin? Sin is breaking God’s law and is the opposite of God’s character

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