Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

1 Corinthians 13:1-3   If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.   In this passage, Paul mentioned that in the church, not only should people with different spiritual gifts work with each other, but there must be love.  God creation is always fresh, dynamic and changes daily.  I studied meteorology before, and I always remember the tremendous challenge we face while forecasting weather at school, but there's only an one-degree difference between a rainy day and a snowy day, but the outcomes are totally different.  No two typhoons are identical, and no two snowflakes are identical.  Not only that, everything that God created is different; no two people are exactly the same, even twins or two leaves are somewhat different.  It's the same way in church - There are all kinds of believers, much like a garden of God; there's not just one kind of flower, but hundreds types of flowers bloom at the same time.  Although each type flower manifests only one style of beauty, when they are put together, they manifest the complete beauty of God.   When we believe in the Lord and we join a church, we become part of a body with fellow believers; we, however, must also recognize that even though we are in one body, the interaction between body parts doesn't just happen naturally.  Between believers in the church, there are often two types of relationships simultaneously; one is friendship, the other is coworker.  These two types of relationships do not naturally converge; good coworkers may not make good friends, and good friends may not be good coworkers.  This is especially true in churches that are growing rapidly, because many believers become coworkers first, then they become friends, and there's constantly friction between these two types of relationships.  This helps us to understand why Paul discussed the concept of parts of a body in chapter twelve, and then went on to talk about love.   When we serve God, the most important thing is not our power and gifts, but love in Christ.  Can sacrificial love flow out from our lives like it did from Jesus Christ?  When sacrificial love starts to flow out from us, people will come before God because of our love.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I want to thank you once again, for we can love because you first loved us.  We thank you for your sacrificial love, and we ask that you help us to keep on loving those around us with the same sacrificial love.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!     Find out more about ROLCC Ignite English ministry, a dynamic multi-ethnic young professional congregation!