May 12, 2019

Watch the Sermon

1 John 1:1-4

1. Pastor Nate began by saying that John’s writing in 1 John is polemical, it is a writing that argues against false teaching, against deception. Why is it important to have people like John that can speak truth & also defend truth?

2. 1 John is also has a pastoral dimension, John has affection for those reading. In 1 John 1:4 we see a desire for increased joy, in 1 John 2:1 we see a desire for increased holiness, & in 1 John 5:13 we see a desire for increase certainty. Why is having love for others rarely connected to these desires in our world today?

3. Next we looked at 1 John 1:1 & saw John immediately begin to defend both the humanity & deity of Jesus. Pastor Nate talked about HYPOSTATIC UNION: that Jesus has 2 fully & truly complete natures…he is fully & truly God & man. What happens when you abandon this truth concerning Jesus? What are the ramifications? 

4. We then looked in 1 John 1:2 & talked about making Jesus known as He is according to the Scriptures. Connecting back to last week, are you prepared to speak with others about Jesus according to the Scriptures when given the opportunity?

5. From 1 John 1:3 we then unpacked fellowship with God as God’s heartbeat becoming our heartbeat…His mission becomes our mission…what God loves/hates is what we love/hate. What are ways in your life or in the life of another that you’ve seen fellowship with God lead to changes in our mission or values?

6. We also see in 1 John 1:3 that it speaks of fellowship among believers…and Pastor Nate said that fellowship with God’s people is our sharing, savoring, serving, spreading & suffering together for the name of Jesus Christ. How does time, priorities, effort influence the depth of Christian fellowship?

7. We ended by seeing in 1 John 1:4 that the result of all that had been seen in 1 John 1:1-3 is joy for all of God’s people. It was said that joy is having a spirit of exaltation & living in the reality of genuine satisfaction regardless of circumstances, and is only given by God. So with this text still in our mind, how does knowing Christ & being known by Christ relate to lasting joy? What changes when we begin to believe that joy is deeply connected to knowing & being known?