Greetings! Below you will find questions which reference the sermon preached on Sunday, September 22nd, 2013 at The Park. This week we studied chapter 4:7-21. Each week new questions are posted to track along with the sermons. Work hard to facilitate discussion. Listen to the hearts around the room and close with prayer.
Intro to 1 John:
Jesus, despite what you may have heard, was fully man and fully God. I saw Him, I touched Him, I did life with Him. The fellowship I had as an Apostle, the eye witness of Jesus’s life and miracles, is now readily available for all of you who will confront the most venomous reality, one from which we all come. To have fellowship with this God-Man you have to confront your love disorder, you must face up to the fact you love something more than your Heavenly Father. That love, that trust in something else is forcing you into the darkness. These idols, the beginning of sin, are the anti-fellowship, the anti-community, and let’s face it… they are robbing you of the Joy of life with Jesus. Stop pretending you don’t have idols, be honest. That’s what confession is all about, it’s you stepping into the light of Jesus, the light of a faith community. He can smash these idols but only when we finally confess they exist.
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- What are some observations you had from this chapter?
- Were there any new insights you learned about the passage from the sermon?
- What theology was present in this chapter?
- What did you learn about God from reading this chapter?
- What does John mean in verse 12 & 17 that “love is perfected with us?” What is he referring to when he says love in this verse (salvation, our relationship with God, God’s global love)?
- In verse 13 & 14 is one of the few times in Scripture that the entire Trinity is mentioned together. What is the significance of this in the passage? What does this have to do with Love?
- John ties love to “keeping God’s commands,” in 5:2-3. How do you make sense of the tie between love and obedience? What did Jesus say was the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34-40)?
- In verse 8 of chapter 4 John identifies that “God is love.” How is this different from God loves or God is loving? What would it mean in your life if “you were love?”