Christ Church Sermon Real Relationships Love That Lasts February 1 2026

[music]

You're listening to a message from our

weekly worship at Christ Church in Bethl

Park, [music] Pennsylvania. We're a

United Methodist congregation with the

mission of building inclusive community,

sharing Christ's transforming [music]

love. To learn more about the church,

including how you can join us for

worship online or in person, visit

christummc.net. [music]

Thank you for listening.

This morning's scripture is 1

Corinthians 13 4 to8.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does

not envy. It does not boast. It is not

proud. It does not dishonor others. It

is not self-seeking. It is not easily

angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but

rejoices with the truth. It always

protects, always trusts, always hopes,

always perseveres. Love never fails. But

where there are prophecies, they will

cease. Where there are tongues, they

will be stilled. Where there is

knowledge, it will pass away. Hear what

the spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

>> To God. Thanks, Susan. Well, good

morning everybody.

>> Morning. Good to see you in worship this

morning as we are in our second week of

our new series called Real

Relationships. And this week we're

talking about a love that lasts. Now, we

live in a world that is really good at

celebrating beginnings. We celebrate

falling in love. We celebrate starting

new relationships, uh launching new

jobs, joining new communities, stepping

out into new seasons. I mean, we we we

know how to mark the first day, the big

moment, the exciting start. We take

pictures, we post updates, we tell

stories about how it all began. What

we're not nearly as good at is talking

about what it takes to stay connected

when the excitement fades. We don't talk

as openly about what happens in

relationships when they move past the

highlight reel phase and into the real

life phase into stress into

misunderstandings into disappointment

and fatigue and change or when

relationships get to the point where the

most healthy thing is to move on. Most

people think they're looking for the

perfect relationship. I mean, that's

what they see all over social media and

that's what they think they want. But

really, I think what people are looking

for are lasting relationships.

Relationships that hold together when

life gets heavy. Relationships that

survive busy schedules or hard

conversations or unmet expectations or

seasons where the energy in the

relationship is low. Relationships that

still feel steady during all of those

times. And if we're honest, most of us

probably carry wounds from previous

relationships, right? We've we've

watched relationships uh drift apart.

We've experience closeness move to

distance. We have seen relationships

we're thin under pressure. Some of us

may be grieving a relationship that did

not last. Others might be equally afraid

of the ones we're in right now, thinking

they might not continue. Scripture does

not ignore that reality. It does not

give us some shallow or sentimental

version of love. Instead, it gives us

something that is far more durable and

practical. It gives us a formed love, a

practiced love, a love that is shaped by

Christ and sustained over time. Now,

when Paul writes to the church in

Corenth, he does not describe love as a

feeling. He describes it as a way of

living. He says love is patient and love

is kind. Notice he [clears throat] does

not say love feels patient and love

feels kind. He said love is patient and

love is kind. Biblical love is not

primarily emotional. It is relational

and it is behavioral. It shows up not

just when we feel like it but in how we

choose to act towards someone else. Now

that matters because I'll let you in on

a little secret. Feelings fluctuate.

They rise, they fall, right?

Circumstances lead to to change in

feelings, stress, lack of sleep, even

busyiness. Now, I recognize everybody

watching online and everybody in this

room, even if you're tired, you treat

people with as much care and compassion

as you do when you're not,

but people don't do those things. So, we

got to talk about what that means. When

Paul says, "Love is patient," he's

talking about a willingness to give

people room to grow. Patience is

choosing not to rush others into

becoming who we think they should be.

It's resisting the urge to demand

immediate understanding and instant

change. Patience says, "I am willing to

walk with you while God is still working

on you." Now, patient shows up in very

ordinary ways. Now, you all know how

much I love traffic.

Right? I hate it. And when I'm getting

stuck in traffic and I'm trying to get

somewhere and all I see are tail lights,

patience is probably the furthest thing

from my mind. But patience is this for

me. It's choosing not to let that

frustration spill into the ne next

interaction that I have with a person I

care about, usually my wife, when I get

home, right? I can't carry that with me.

It looks like recognizing that the

stress we get from work or finances

can't leak into conversations at home or

with our friends. Choosing grace instead

of hurtful words. It looks like staying

engaged with a family member or a

co-orker or someone in the church who's

still figuring things out instead of

just writing them off. Paul also tells

us that love is kind. Kindness is

expressed every day in normal typical

moments. It shows up in our tone of

voice. It shows up in our facial

expressions. How many of you had to work

on your facial expressions after COVID

because the mask was gone, right? It

shows up in body language. It shows up

in the way we speak when we disagree

with somebody. Kindness is how we

respond to someone who disappoints us.

How we speak about people when they're

not in the room or how we treat those

people that can't give us anything in

return. Now here at Christ Church, our

mission is building inclusive community

sharing Christ transforming love. That

kind of community is not sustained by

big moments and bold statements. It is

sustained by kindness that is practiced

consistently, by people who choose

gentleness over sarcasm, by listening

over dismissiveness, and by compassion

over judgment. Now, Paul goes on to add

to this. Not only is love patient and

kind, he says love does not envy or

boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It

does not insist upon having its own way.

In other words, love is not centered on

ego. A love that lasts requires

humility. It requires a willingness to

lay down our need to be right or to win

or to be admired.

Then Paul stretches us even further. He

says, "Love bears all things, believes

all things, hopes all things, and

endures all things." That is a love that

has stamina. A love that does not give

up at the first sign of difficulty. A

love that that doesn't assume the worst

in a relationship even when the

relationship feels strained. However, it

is also a love that does not mean

enduring things that continue to cause

us pain. We can and we should leave

unhealthy situations, but we should

never stop loving the person that we are

walking away from. And we see this when

Paul makes one of the most challenging

statements in all of scripture. When he

says, "Love never ends."

Not because relationships are easy. Not

because people all of a sudden get it

all together, but because love is that

is rooted in God's character never ends.

That deeper foundation becomes clearer

when we see what Paul says in the book

of Ephesians. He begins by saying,

"Submit to one another out of reverence

for Christ." Now, that passage is often

associated with marriage. But Paul is o

Paul's opening instruction is far

broader than that. It describes a

posture that shapes Christian

relationships.

Mutual submission means choosing

humility over ego, service over

self-interest, and Christc centered love

over control. Paul points to Jesus as

the ultimate model for a love that

lasts. Christ's love moves people toward

each other instead of pulling away. It

absorbs cost instead of assigning blame.

It seeks restoration instead of

division. And it doesn't disappear when

things get complicated. But it also does

not condone actions if they the actions

are not showing Christlike behavior in

and of themselves. At Christ Church, we

talk about a love that is transforming.

It is in our mission statement. But it

transforms because it is self-giving. A

love that lasts does not begin by asking

what am I getting out of the

relationship. It begins by asking how

can I be faithful here? How can I show

up with grace? How can I reflect Christ

in this moment? Now, Paul reminds us

that Christ-shaped love becomes visible

in real relationships.

When forgiveness is practiced, grace

takes form. When people stay engaged,

the gospel is tangible. Now, that

applies to marriages. It applies to

families. It applies to friendships,

workplaces, neighborhoods, communities.

It applies to the life of the church.

This isn't about perfection. It is about

perseverance.

How many of you would agree that we are

living in a world right now where the

temperature feels constantly turned up?

Right? And we need to have the

perseverance to stay engaged. Political

rhetoric is harsh. Immigration debates

are heated. Images of protests and raids

and violence are all over the place.

People are afraid. People are angry.

People are exhausted. And if we're

honest, we're usually tempted to respond

in one of two ways. Number one, we

withdraw. We shut it out. We change the

channel. We protect our peace. We

pretend like nothing is happening. Or we

dig in. We defend our position harder.

We speak louder. We try to win the

argument. But Paul offers a third way.

He says, "Submit to one another out of

reverence for Christ." Now, that word

submit does not mean silent.

That word submit doesn't mean agreement.

That word submit does not mean

pretending everything is fine. It means

choosing Christlike humility in the

middle of conflict. It means letting

love shape how we engage, not just in

what we believe.

Imagine this. There's unrest in a city

that's not a whole lot different than

ours. Protests are going on now. Some

people are marching because they're

afraid for immigrant families. Others

are worried about safety and order and

the rule of law. Some are just there to

turn up the temperature and cause

problems. But the majority of people are

there because they feel like something

precious is at stake.

Now imagine a group from a local church

showing up, not with signs, not with

slogans, but with water bottles and

snacks and listening ears and a

willingness to pray and a willingness to

provide care.

Now, here's the hard part. When that

church shows up, they don't ask, "What

side are you on?" They just ask, "How

are you holding up today?"

From the one side, they might be praying

with a grieving mother or father who

feels like their family could be torn

apart. From the other side, they might

be praying with an officer who hasn't

slept for days.

They stand in the space between refusing

to reduce people to categories.

That is mutual submission. That is

Christshaped love. And that is hard

because it does not avoid the real

reality of life. It is not a love that

tries to control the outcome. It is a

love that moves toward people when

things are complicated. And here is why

that matters. Paul reminds us that Jesus

did not love us from a distance. He

didn't wait for the world to calm down.

He didn't wait till everyone agreed.

Christ's love absorbed the cost instead

of assigning blame. Christ stayed

present instead of pulling away. Christ

sought restoration instead of winning.

And that same love is what makes the

gospel visible today. At Christ Church,

we say Christ's love is transforming not

because it's loud, but because it's

self-giving.

You see, a love that lasts asks these

kinds of questions.

How can I listen before I speak?

How can I reflect Christ when I'm

uncomfortable?

How can I stay engaged without

withdrawing?

You see, this isn't just about

immigration in politics. It shows up

everywhere. It shows up in families

where conversations feel fragile. It

shows up in workplaces where tensions

run high. It shows up in friendships

that are strained by disagreement.

It shows up in churches that are trying

to navigate a divided world. But a love

that lasts chooses listening over

winning. It practices forgiveness before

resentment hardens.

It speaks truth. And now here's the hard

part, without cruelty.

And it prays for the person on the other

side. You see, faithfulness does not

wait for feelings to catch up.

Faithfulness reshapes feelings over

time. Love does not disappear because

things get hard. Love deepens because

people stay engaged. So maybe the

invitation for us today is not to have

the perfect answer. Maybe it's simply

this. Where is Christ inviting us to

stay present instead of pulling away?

Where is humility needed more than

certainty?

Where can love move us one step forward

even in the midst of turmoil?

And where is love calling us to speak

truth without cruelty?

Because when Christ shaped love shows up

like that, the gospel becomes visible

not just by our words but by our

actions.

And one of the greatest

misunderstandings about love is that

feelings create faithfulness. And the

reality is faithfulness reshapes

feelings. Love does not disappear

because relationships get hard. Love

deepens when we grow in our

faithfulness.

A love that lasts means showing up when

it would be easier to stay home. It

looks like sitting together with our

calendars packed and worries close to

the surface and choosing unity instead

of panic. It looks like navigating aging

parents and demanding jobs and school

schedules and and personal exhaustion

while still choosing to care for one

another.

It looks like sharing Christ

transforming love with people from both

sides of the issue because only Christ

transforming love can bring about a

change on either side.

So at Christ Church we realize life

doesn't fall into neat categories. Man,

it's lived out in car pools. It's lived

out in calendars and work meetings and

medical appointments and celebrations

and grief and good days and bad days.

But we also know love is not formed in

perfect moments. It's formed in faithful

presence. A love that lasts doesn't just

simply happen. It's formed over time

through our daily choices and through

spiritual formation. And at Christ

Church, we describe that formation with

those three simple words, connect, grow,

and give. That's our disciplehip

pathway. But it's not just values for

the church. It describes how lasting

love takes shape in everyday

relationships. A love that lasts begins

with connection. Connection isn't about

being impressive or having everything

figured out. It's about presence. It's

about choosing to to be there instead of

withdrawing. Choosing conversation over

silence, choosing community over

isolation. For some of us, the most

faithful step we can take is not

dramatic. It is a quiet reconnection

with God. So we can have clarity on how

to connect with a spouse or a friend or

a family member or a co-orker or the

church.

Love cannot last where connection has

disappeared.

A love that lasts also grows. Growing

means allowing God to shape us over

time. It means learning to listen

better, becoming more self-aware,

practicing forgiveness more freely,

becoming uh

aware that we need forgiveness as much

as the person we're talking to. You see,

growth requires humility because we got

to admit that we're not there yet. And

growth growth happens best in community

where faith meets real life where we're

reminded that we we don't walk through

difficult seasons all by oursel. So

don't be afraid to ask for guidance from

people who you respect and trust. But

then after you do that, you got to be

willing to follow the guidance even if

it's hard or something that you might

not want to do. Because remember, you

respect and trust the person you ask.

And then finally, a love that last

gives. Not out of obligation, not to

earn approval, not to keep score, but in

a response to the love that we have

already received from Christ.

Giving looks like serving one another,

extending grace, laying down our pride,

offering humility in ordinary moments.

That is the self-giving love that Paul

is pointing towards. And that is the

love that Christ models for us. And that

brings us to the communion table.

And as we talk about a love that lasts,

it's important to recognize what that

table tells us. Because we're not asked

to manufacture this love on our own. I

looked through scripture several times

over the course of my life. I've never

seen anywhere where scripture says we

should dig deeper or try harder or

summon enough strength on our own to

love through our sheer willpower.

Instead, we are invited to receive love

before we ever ask for it. That is why

communion matters so much. It reminds us

that love doesn't stay theoretical. Love

shows up. Love moves towards us. Love

takes on flesh and enters into our real

life mess and complexity that it is. And

on the night Jesus was betrayed, when

relationships were strained, when fear

and confusion filled the room, Jesus

didn't withdraw. He didn't harden his

heart. He didn't walk away. He took

bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave

it to his disciples. In other words, he

lived out the love that Paul describes.

A love that is patient and kind. A love

that that that bears and endures. A love

that does not insist on having its own

way. A love that gives of itself for the

sake of others. So when we come to the

communion table a little bit later in

our service, we don't come because our

relationships are good or because the

world is perfect. We come because we

need grace. We come carrying strained

conversations and unresolved conflict

and and worn down patience and

relationships that feel fragile and and

unfinished.

We become aware of where love has been

difficult for us and where we have been

difficult to be loved by others. And the

good news about communion is no matter

how we come, Christ meets us at that

table anyway. You see, that table is

where a love that last is renewed. Not

because suddenly we get everything

right, but because Christ's self-giving

love restores us again and again and

again. And at this table, we are

reminded that we are not just forgiven,

we are formed and we are shaped to

receive the love that God wants to give.

So, as you receive that bread and cup

this morning, bring your relationships.

Bring the places where love feels thin.

Bring the people in your mind that

you're struggling to stay patient with.

Bring the places that need help

reconnecting and growing and giving more

fully of ourselves. And then as we

receive the love that lasts, the love

that doesn't quit, the love that doesn't

withdraw, the love that doesn't give up

on us, we will have what it takes to go

through those situations.

So may we not only receive the love of

Christ as we come to that table today.

May it shape how we live, how we speak,

and how we continue to show up for one

another. Because a love that lasts in

our relationships

always begins with a love that meets us

here first. Let's pray. Lord, we are so

grateful for the love that you give to

us. Help us to receive that love because

without that love, we don't have what it

takes to love others in whatever

situations we have. So as we receive

your love, may it change us so that we

can share your love with the people that

you put in front of us, whoever they

are, [music] wherever it happens,

whatever timing you have.

May we be able to share your love

because we have received the love that

came from you [music] that changed us

forever. We ask all this in your son's

name. And everyone said, "Amen.