Greetings! Below you will find questions which reference the sermon preached on Sunday, September 29th, 2013 at The Park. This week we studied chapter 5. 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.
[hr]
- 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?
- The NET translation of verse 4 says, “This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith.” What does this mean? How would you define your faith? What does John mean by “conquer?”
- What does it mean that “life is in his Son?” Is John talking about temporal or eternal life? What kind of “life” do you want to have in Jesus?
- Why is verse 13 important in the life of a follower of Jesus?
- Verse 19 talks about believers being from God and the world “lies in the power of the evil one”. How does the language here affect your interactions with people who don’t follow Jesus?
- We have come through quite a lot of doctrine in our study of First John. Re-read the book all in one sitting and identify the major themes and points of application for yourself. Share these with someone.