Jacob Buttriss and — 1 Corinthians 13

0:01 Let's start with a word of prayer. Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for your blessings, and thank you that we could all be here today. I pray that you would want me to share what you would want me to share, and that we'd all learn from it what you would want, and thank you that we can all be here today. Amen.

0:22 So I was asked to give my testimony today. I was told two to five minutes, so that's what's gonna be around. I wrote it all out because I'm not good at talking without a script, so I'll be reading the whole time. As many of you know me, I'm Jacob Buttress. I'm 18, and thank you for asking me to give my morning today.

0:45 I was born into a Christian household, which I'm thankful for, so Christ has always been a part of my life. Whether it was memorizing parts of the bible or trying to have Christian morals, my parents always tried to make sure Christ was incorporated in how our family operates. They wanted to make sure that I grew up with a relationship with God. The thing is, for so long, my relationship with God and how I went about my life was the same way that I assumed so many people around me do. I remember having a portion of my life where I didn't even think about God for a while.

1:22 I would just go about my life and just try to follow a couple select moralistic standards. But one day, I realized that this was happening and quite recently, I decided to do something about it. I wanted to figure out what made someone go from someone like me to someone who loved God so much that they were in tears when they thought about what Jesus did for them. There's this verse in the bible that many people might not see in the way that I did, but it helped me bring me out of my spiritual slumber. It says, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

2:02 That was Philippians one six, and it gave me a hope that one day I would be closer to God. And with the goal of drawing near to God, I started reading through my bible from start to finish. Accompanying this, alongside me possibly hitting myself out of frustration while trying to read through Leviticus, was a lot of prayer and fixing wrong habits. After that period of me feeling like I was drawing near to God and talking to him frequently was another dark period. Unlike the first dark period of me not thinking about God, this one was me feeling separated from him and trying to figure out what made me feel so close to him before.

2:40 I couldn't figure it out, so I kind of tried to replicate what I was doing when I felt closer, but it didn't work. This was a really rough time for me, but since I think I'm... But since then, I think I may have been shown what I was missing. It wasn't what I was doing before that made me feel close to God. It was why I did it.

3:00 I read the I read the Bible originally to draw closer to God, possibly out of love for God. Now, was just sometimes reading it when I felt like it and praying when felt like it. If I really loved God now, I'd be eager to learn more and talk to God more, which would once again draw me closer to him. In conclusion, it scares me to think of where I would have been if God didn't help me. My life was almost completely different than it is now.

3:26 My life is now so much more filled with joy. Someone once described his journey after he felt God's presence for possibly the first time in a way that has stuck with me. Before finding God, it was like sailing in complete darkness, but after finding God, it was still like sailing in complete darkness, but you can see the North Star. In other words, you don't know how everything is going to happen, but you have an undying hope that it is going to happen, that you will find God one day. Thank you.

4:50 I am pleased to share with you a little bit of what has been going on in our in our part of the Midwest, and bring to you something, the the main overarching lesson that God has been teaching me since I've been married one year and have been a parent for almost five months. So, many of you know that I went to school for recording arts and technology. I plan to use that in a secular way to advance myself, to have a career, to maybe make it to to Hollywood or New York to record soundtracks. That's why I got into it. I wanted to do the big films.

5:39 I want to share with you how the Lord is using the skills that I wanted... That I was selfishly pursuing, and how he's using those today to further the study of his word. So most of you know that I, went to The Philippines for a couple of years, to to teach music. Sorry. I need to slow down and catch my breath a little bit.

6:06 I went to The Philippines for a couple of years to teach strings and to help with the theater and do sound in the theater. So the Lord took that secular education to help do ministry in in in The Philippines to run sound in the theater. I'm currently at Emmaus, Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa. And he brought me there at an interesting time, at the the best time because he's using the education that I wanted to use secularly to kind of jump start a digital ministry, an online ministry, and a radio ministry at the college. So part of what I'm doing right now, my my primary income in ministry is recording and editing, lecture series, preaching, and individual lectures by Emmaus professors.

6:58 So what I do is I go into the classroom or sit down in the studio with a professor who's prepared a series, and we we record it, and then I engineer it. And some of it I put up on the podcast, on the Emmaus podcast, which gets released twice a week, and some of it I send to a radio station network down in Southeast United States. They're based in Georgia, but they broadcast to a larger area. And so the Lord is using my my selfish secular education, my recording engineering to bring the word and to the study of his word to a greater audience. So that's how he's using that, how he's using that now.

7:39 Near the end near the end of my Philippines time, the Lord told me that I was gonna go back to the field in a more long term capacity. So that's where we're we're we're headed. But before we went, I needed some biblical education and training. So that's why I'm at Emmaus why I'm at Emmaus now. I'm two years into my bachelor's for that.

8:13 And there we are. We're in Dubuque among cornfields just like you guys. We have been blessed with a home. Julia and I have been blessed with a home, and so we are involved in our local assembly and with... We do discipleship ministry, and we have, a lot of people over often, so we are involved with hospitality.

8:38 And I also run sound at the church. You're probably not surprised by that. So I I help run sound at the church that we attend. It's called Anchor Community Church, and it's been a blessing to us. So somewhere between kind of how I got, from The Philippines to today, obviously, I met and married Julia in The Philippines.

8:56 For those of you who don't know, we met three months before I was going to leave, and we got married last year, and Maximus Max was born in March. So we're we're busy and, excited excited to be where we are. So that's how we... That's kind of what we're doing. The biggest, and then I was asked to share the biggest overarching lesson, and I'm gonna turn to first Corinthians 13 for this as as I've been married for thirteen months and a parent for a few.

10:01 So Paul does a lot... Oftentimes in in most of his letters, has something called like a sandwich. Right? So he he has this one thing and then he kinda interjects something else and then he goes back to his point a. So it was like point a, point b, point a, and then sometimes there's, like, bigger sandwiches within those kinds of things.

10:17 So this section on love is in between sections on spiritual gifts. And so what he's talking through with the church is they... The Corinthian church was idolizing or putting up certain gifts among others. And so he... Paul has just finished this section on...

10:37 We've all been gifted differently, and in order to have the church run like it's supposed to as God intended, we we have all been gifted differently and shouldn't be fighting all for prophecy, right, or all for teaching, and there's not certain gifts among other gifts. So... And he uses the analogy of the body like Paul likes to do and how it all works together, but they all have different parts. And we can't have a hand or a a body made out of hands. It just wouldn't work.

11:05 So he's just finishing this this section on we should all be serving each other with our certain gifts. And he closes chapter 12 with this statement. So the last sentence of chapter 12 is, but there's still a better way. There's still a more excellent way than just serving each other with the gifts. Because if you serve something, if you if you...

11:27 It doesn't matter how you serve. If you don't serve in love, you're not you're not you're not doing it right. You're you're not doing... If you're doing it out of a heart of selfish desire or to be recognized, then you're doing the gifts wrong. You're abusing your gift.

11:48 And so there's a more excellent way. What are we what are we desiring? Not only should we not be desiring the gifts that other people have, but we should be desiring love. This is a more excellent way. And so that's how we that's how we jump into first Corinthians chapter 13, which I will which I will read, and then we're gonna focus in on four through seven.

12:10 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, what am I? I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, if I have all the faith so as to remove mountains but I don't love, what's the point? I am nothing. Verse three.

12:35 If I give away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but I don't have love, what do I gain? Nothing. So let's talk about love a little bit. So what is love? Love is patient and kind.

12:51 Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing.

13:06 But what does love do? It rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things. Love believes all things, hopes all things, and and doers all things. And it never ends.

13:17 Love never ends. As for prophecy, as for the gift of prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. When we know in part and we prophesy in part, when...

13:33 But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

13:47 For now we see it in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully even as I have been fully known. So so what? So now faith, hope, and love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is love.

14:19 What is not love? What does what does love do? What does love not do. And so in the past, and by the past, mean just before last fall, I viewed love as this godly characteristic a lot like patience or kindness or generosity. It's a virtue.

14:42 And in the fall, I realized I had this sort of moment as a lot of us do when we study scripture that love is not this... As big of an an idea as I thought. But in fact, it's it's spelled out it's spelled out pretty clearly, not in only this passage, but in this passage specifically for today. And so love... Here's my...

15:07 Back my notes. Love is at the core made up of these individual characteristics that are in four through seven. Okay? So it's not only these, but this is an important part. So I got married last June.

15:23 I thought I knew what love was, and I still don't, but scripture is clear. As a spouse, as when I... So once I figured I've had this moment, and as a spouse, whenever I say that I love Julia, I am now more intentional at reminding her what do I mean what do I mean by I'm loving you. I went through a study on patience last, last fall as well. And patience is at the top of this love is list, and I had never noticed that before.

15:58 One of my professors, we were going through this, growing in Christian life. How do you grow in Christian life class kind of a thing? And he self... He... He's assigned to me to work on patience.

16:10 That was my first project. I had to keep a journal and meditate on scripture and working on patience. And all of a sudden, when you... When something's pointed out to you like a flaw area, you all of a sudden start to see it in yourself, whereas before I thought I was a pretty patient person. You know?

16:26 And... But you start to see how impatient you are. So love is patient. It's like the first thing. It's the first thing on the list.

16:34 How did I miss that for twenty five years? So as I as I communicate with Julia, I say that I love her, but what do I mean when I say that I love her? I'm telling her that I'm going to be patient with her. I'm going to be kind. I'm not going to boast.

16:53 I'm not gonna be arrogant or rude. I still am these things, but I'm not supposed to be these things. Love doesn't insist on its own way, which I often do. Do I rejoice in the truth? Love bears all things.

17:12 It believes and hopes and endures all things. So when I say that I love my wife, what do I mean when I say that? So as as I've been studying through and and learning how to love a little bit, it's been a it's been a great experience to understand that when I say that I love her, I'm reminding myself of these of these particular things that correspond to saying what love is or I love this person. So let's spread it out a little bit. We are commanded to love our neighbor.

18:02 So do I love my neighbors? I live in a neighborhood. You know, I have neighbors on both sides. Most of us most of us do, eventually, some direction. Do I love my neighbors and those around me with this kind of love?

18:16 Am I patient with my peers? Am I kind to them? Do I boast in my education? Do I boast in my achievements ever? Am I arrogant and rude?

18:33 Yes. I am these things. I often insist on my way with those around me and my peers, my neighbors. That's unloving. Do I love my spouse this way?

18:53 Do I love my brothers in Christ this way? Those who are saved, who have the spirit, am I patient with them? Am I kind to them? Am I enduring all things? Am I hoping all things for their benefit?

19:08 And the last question in this section is do I love do I love nonbelievers this way? We're we're we're not called to just love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Right? We're called to love the people. The reason why we're here, right, like the apostles, they were supposed to spread the message, and they had to be loving to do that.

19:32 Do we spread... Do I spread the message? Am I loving to those who are... Who don't believe in Christ yet? Those should be my primary people that I'm spending time with.

19:42 Right? Why are we not excited? I... Why am I not excited to spend time with the brothers? It's because that's all I do is spend time with the brothers.

19:50 I'm not out evangelizing and making disciples for Christ. If I was... If I spend most of my time making disciples for Christ, I'd be so excited for some fellowship and some time with the brothers. But all my time is spent with the brothers, and so I'm not excited to do that. So And this is this is an issue in my own life and Julie and I have spent a lot of time talking about this and what are we going to do.

20:15 So do I love nonbelievers this way? That's assuming I spend time with the nonbelievers and have relationships with them. What does this passage tell us about God's love toward us? We all know that God is manifest in love. God is love.

20:39 It's stated in John. What does that mean? Well, God is patient and kind. So as I think through this list with about God's love towards me and towards humanity, first thing it does is bring worship and like tears to my eyes because I know how poorly I do on this list. So God is patient and kind.

21:03 God does not envy the same way that we do or boast. God is not arrogant or rude. This next one is interesting. God does not... Well, it does.

21:17 I'm not gonna talk about that one. I didn't prepare for that. So talking of this, thinking about God and his love toward us and breaking it down into these into these different aspects. So what what do we do when the roles are reversed? What do I mean when I say that I love God?

21:45 Am I kind? Am I patient? Am I unkind? Am I impatient? Am I self centered toward God?

21:58 These put self above God. Right? We... I become I become God, and that's idolatry. I have a problem.

22:09 I have a problem. Something else I've been figuring figuring through being married is that it's easier it's easier to love another person who is already saved and pursuing Christ than it is to love someone who isn't. That's maybe my own problem, but I'm just telling you, here's what I'm learning. That's remember the point is just telling you what I'm learning. And loving loving Julia, for instance, loving my wife is is more easy because she can communicate her needs and she can communicate with me and she loves me back.

22:54 And so loving her is more rewarding. I've only been a parent for almost almost five months, but I've learned a couple of little things. And that was when Max was born, I started to understand, just just tip of the iceberg, started to understand that kids cannot give back to the parent and cannot often communicate their needs, at least right now, or explain or explain... This is my particularly least favorite one, explain why they behave a certain way. So the...

23:28 My question to myself is, do I love my child or children with patience and kindness? Usually, my patience runs out in about ten minutes. I am not long suffering. Am I am I self centered? I want my child to behave the way that I want them to behave.

23:45 And often the reason for that is so that I look good to those around me. I'm a people pleaser. I have a problem with that. I learned another lesson over the past year, and that is it's easier for me to want to please my professors than to please God. I want to look good to them.

24:04 I want to be a good student. And I will sacrifice godliness to get there. I will be impatient with my wife. I will be impatient with my children, my child. I'll be impatient with my peers because I wanna look good to my professors.

24:22 I am self centered. Just because it's hard to love somebody and you don't know why they behave a certain way, are you patient? Are you kind? Do you still insist on your way? Do I insist on my way?

24:39 Do I do I bear all things? Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Just because it's hard, does that give us license to not love? To not act lovingly, to not think lovingly towards other people?

24:57 Are we unified in Christ? And I'm gonna close with this thought that every time I am tempted to respond to a situation in an ungodly way, I must be aware that that is an opportunity from God to grow in godliness. Every time I'm tempted to sin, that's an opportunity to grow. It's... You can take you can take on any any given struggle opportunity two ways.

25:33 You can run towards God and respond in a godly way and grow in godliness, which is what he's trying to do, or we can run into sin and respond in an ungodly way and run away from God. And so as as a believer, as a Christian, I want to become like Jesus. Right? Do I respond to the difficult situations in my life by by being ungodly? Because I'm talking on both sides of my mouth.

26:06 Or do I recognize those struggles as as as ways and opportunities from God to respond in godliness? That has been the overarching idea in the last year and a half or so is loving God, loving other people, what does that mean? And when I encounter hardships, how do I respond? Do I react? Because usually my reaction is not thought through.

26:37 My reaction is sinful. Or do I respond and take the opportunity that God is giving me to respond in godliness and to grow? That's hard to do. You have to spend time in prayer. You need to be thinking.

26:52 I have to think about... I'm not gonna respond in godliness unless I'm thinking about it, unless it's on my mind. I'm meditating on scripture like the psalmists. Probably most of us can relate. I don't I don't think I'm the odd one out.

27:07 But I want to encourage I want to encourage you to be thinking about the heavenly things, thinking about and meditating on scripture because then when you're faced with an opportunity to love someone, you're not gonna do it perfectly, but you can do it better than if you weren't meditating on scripture. And seeing that opportunity as an opportunity to love someone and not... And to run toward God and not run away from him and respond in sin. That's my closing thought. And I'll I'll just read the passage again.

27:50 What is love? Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.

28:06 It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but but it rejoices with truth. Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Hopes all things and endures all things.

28:27 And love never ends. This has been a difficult passage to meditate on and grow in in my life for the last year or so. So I think I'm gonna end. It's a few minutes early. Is that okay?

29:17 Show us where we go wrong. Lord, we don't love you like we're supposed to. We don't love our spouses like we're supposed to. We don't love each other. We don't love the unbelievers, Lord.

29:28 That's that's our job. That's what you did. That's what you did, and we need to aspire to that. Convict us of sin in our life, and I pray that with the empowerment of your Holy Spirit, you you would do an amazing work in us. Lord, we cannot do this without you.

29:48 We can't do anything good without you. You do all the good things. And we need more of that, and we need to submit more of ourselves to you. We thank you that you have spelled out how to love in this particular passage. Thank you for using Paul to write down these words so that we can understand.

30:15 We can do this with your help. Lord, when we want to do this, please help us to be loving. Please help us to spend time with unbelievers to make disciples for you so that we're excited to spend time with the brethren. Change our priorities, work in us. And we just thank you, Lord, and we pray for greater love towards you.

30:50 And we pray all these things with faith in Jesus' name. Amen.