The Necessities

This is the manuscript of the sermon preached on Sunday January 4, 2026.  The first Sunday of the year 2026.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13).

The beginning of a new year offers hope for the future. It is a time when we renew our commitments to the basics. We are going to start this year with the series “Things Worth Remembering” and we are going to start with three things that are necessities for us to remember.  If we are to live in 2026 magnificently and gloriously, there are some things we can’t do without.  They are faith, hope, and love.                    

Ask yourself, "Is my foundation built on temporary things or on the eternal trio of Faith, Hope, and Love?" Let 2026 be the year we stop living small and start living according to the magnificent vision God has for us.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV [1] If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] 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 do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. [4] Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [8] 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. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. [11] When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. [12] For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. [13] And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Introduction

The beginning of a new year offers hope for the future. It is a time when we renew our commitments to the basics. We are going to start this year with the series “Things Worth Remembering” and we are going to start with three things that are necessities those things are faith, hope, and love.  

So our text for the first sermon of this series is

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I want to start with a quick story about two very famous Italian Renaissance painters; Michelangelo and Raphael.

The story is told that Michelangelo, eight years older than Raphael, came into Raphael’s studio and examined one of Raphael’s early drawings. Picking up a piece of chalk, Michelangelo scrawled across the painting the Latin word Amplius, which means “greater” or “larger.”

To the older master’s trained eye, Raphael’s painting demonstrated too little vision. Michelangelo insisted that Raphael think bigger and paint better. Surely this is what almighty God thinks of most of our plans and efforts. The God who thinks big wants us to live greater, nobler lives.                 

If we are to live in 2026 magnificently and gloriously, there are some things we can’t do without. They are faith, hope, and love.

                  

 I. We can’t do without faith.                  

Let me tell you a story about a lady named Susan. 

Susan was a brilliant tech founder. After years of relentless work, she secured a massive round of funding for her medical AI startup. She was living the modern dream: wealth, influence, and the certainty that her company would change the world. She attributed all of it to God, feeling that her hard work and faith had been rewarded.

Then came the unexpected, swift, and catastrophic collapse. A vital patent was unexpectedly overturned, and a major investor pulled out, forcing the company into insolvency almost overnight. Susan lost everything—her company, her money, her professional identity, and the platform she thought God had given her to serve the world.

She went through a dark period of profound anger. 

You see her faith had been transactional: “I served you, God. I was doing good. You were supposed to bless this venture and guarantee its success.” The loss felt like a betrayal. She stopped praying.

One morning, months later, she felt compelled to walk into a quiet, old church. She didn't go to ask for the company to be saved. She didn't go to demand a new opportunity. She went because she was spiritually exhausted, and she needed a place to simply be.

She knelt, and for the first time, her prayer was not a demand. It was a single, painful, honest whisper:

"God, I don't know how to forgive the circumstances. I don't know why this happened. But I'm here. I am letting go of my anger. Help me find a way to serve you without the company, without the money, and without the accolades. Show me that I can still trust you when everything else is gone."

Susan's life was not instantly fixed. The financial recovery was long and difficult. The external circumstances remained harsh. Yet, her spirit was changed.

She began volunteering, using her skills to help a small, underfunded non-profit. She found peace not in her previous power, but in her current purpose. She discovered that her faith was not a guarantor of success, but an anchor for her soul.

Romans 8:28-30 NIV [28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. [30] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Susan’s daily choice was no longer about getting her old life back. It was about showing God: "that my faith is in You, not in your gifts. I am choosing to trust your goodness even when my dreams lie in rubble."                  

Faith is essential, but there is a second attribute we need if 2026 is to mean all it ought to mean for us.

                  

II. We can’t do without hope.

During the massive wildfires that have devastated parts of Southern California, countless families have lost their homes and every possession within a matter of hours.

One family returned to the site of their home only to find a chimney stack and concrete foundation amidst ash. They lost everything—family photos, keepsakes, clothing, and the structure itself.

Instead of immediately sifting for valuables, the father knelt on the charred foundation and drew a large cross with a piece of charcoal on the concrete slab, where the living room had been.

The mother said, "We've been stripped of every single thing we own, but they didn't burn our faith. They didn't burn our marriage. They didn't burn the family we are, and they didn't burn the hope that God is still good."

Hope is something we can’t do without in 2026. Life will test us and try us. If we lose hope, we will never survive.

There is a painting titled “Hope” that is a perfect visual representation of the necessity of clinging to faith and hope when everything else is broken. In this painting, there is this woman playing a harp who is blindfolded, sitting precariously on a globe (the world), and she is trying to make music with only one functional string on her instrument. The idea that the painter George Frederic Watts is sharing and why he titled the painting hope is because he knew that as long as one string remained, there was still hope of making music from it.                 

Christian hope is a two-pronged thing: not only does hope give us victory in life’s current crises, but it also gives us assurance of rest and peace with God when this life is over.

The hope written of in the Bible is a confident expectation; hope is an assurance that is absolute.

Romans 5:5 NIV And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The hope we have (our confident expectation) will not lead to disappointment or shame because it is secured by the undeniable reality of God's love working through the Holy Spirit within us.

And this hope is what anchors the soul:

We live in hope that tomorrow will be better, that life will be sweeter, that we will become better. Hope is as natural to believers as the beating of our hearts. It is within us because God has put it there. It is something we can't do without in 2026.                  

Finally, let’s consider the last essential.

III. We can’t do without love.

Here's another story. 

John and his older sister, Mary, had always been close, but a bitter argument erupted over a misunderstanding about their mother's medical care. The argument happened over the phone, but the fallout played out entirely on a text message thread.

The last message sent by Mary, in the heat of the moment, was harsh and unfair: "I can't believe you'd prioritize your money over Mom. Don't call me until you get your priorities straight."

John, hurt and equally proud, immediately fired back, "Fine. I won't."

For six months, they maintained the digital standoff. John constantly opened their text thread, rereading the final message. He wanted to delete his angry reply, of “Fine I won/t”, but, every time, his pride whispered, "She fired the first shot. She has to apologize first."

One morning, John got a call, not from Mary, but from his mother. Mary had been in a sudden, tragic accident and did not survive.

John dropped his phone. The first thing he did was open the last text thread with Mary.

He saw Mary's final, angry message. He saw his own equally cold reply. The last communication they had shared, the final words exchanged between a brother and a sister who loved each other deeply, were words of division and pride.

John realized, in that shattering moment, that he had prioritized his own pride and need to be "right" over the necessity of love and reconciliation.

It was too late—too late for Mary to explain the misunderstanding, too late for John to confess his own error, and too late for either of them to speak the words of unconditional, reconciling love they both longed for.

For both it is too late. They learned in an agonizing way that love is one thing we can’t do without.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We need to share that love with others. Love is life’s most precious gift; in the new year we can’t do without it.

John 13:34-35 NIV [34]  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Conclusion

As we begin this new year, more than anything God wants to write Amplius, “greater” or “larger” across our lives. He wants to make our lives bigger and better. He who put the stars in the heavens and raised the rocky mountains above the flat plains can do it—will do it—if we will let him.              

The Next Step:

Ask yourself: "Where is God calling me to live 'Larger' (Amplius)? Is my foundation built on temporary things or on the eternal trio of Faith, Hope, and Love?" Let us pray that 2026 is the year we stop living small and start living according to the magnificent vision God has for us.

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Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, as we stand at the beginning of this new year, we thank You for the timeless promise found in Your Word: that Faith, Hope, and Love remain. They are the eternal necessities for a life lived well.

We pray first for Faith.

We remember Susan’s story and confess that sometimes our faith is too small; too transactional. We pray for a greater faith, a faith that anchors us not to temporary success or material blessings, but to Your unchanging goodness—even when our own dreams lie in rubble. Help us to trust You not just for the gifts, but for who You are, choosing You daily over all the shifting sands of this world.

We pray for Hope.

We think of the family kneeling on the ashes of their home, knowing that what the fire could not burn was the confident expectation of Your enduring presence. Lord, life in 2026 will bring its own tests. Give us the kind of hope that the world cannot extinguish—the confident assurance that Your plan is good, and that You are making all things work together for the good of those who love You. Give us the strength to keep playing the music, even when we feel we only have one string left.

And finally, we pray for Love.

We are humbled by the agonizing lesson of John and Mary. Forgive us for the pride, the selfishness, and the desire to be right that builds walls and silences reconciliation. Father, we confess that love is the greatest of these, and we need Your Spirit to pour Your unconditional love into our hearts so we can share it. Command our hearts to love one another, not just when it is easy, but when it is hard, when it is late, and when it is the only thing that truly matters.

O God, we hear Your call today to live "Amplius"—to live larger.

Tear down the small visions we have for ourselves. Make our Faith bigger, our Hope stronger, and our Love wider. May our lives in this new year testify not to our own efforts, but to Your magnificent and glorious plan.

We commit this year to You, praying that our foundation is built securely on You, our eternal rock, in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.