Week 22 – Christ is King
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How?
Who?
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May 24 Sermon Discussion Guide
Signs of Life: Righteousness
1 John 1:5-2:6, 3:4-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 1:5-2:6
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:4-10
Digging Deeper
From the very beginning God has communicated his character and will to and for humanity through his commands. His people are called to keep these commands throughout Scripture. Take some time to look up these passages of Scripture about the commands of the Lord to develop a greater understanding of obedience and righteousness.
- Deuteronomy 11:26-28
- 1 Samuel 15:22-23
- Psalm 19:7-11
- Proverbs 21:3
- Jeremiah 7:22-23
- Matthew 5:19
- John 14:15, 21
- 2 John 6
- Revelation 14:12
Digesting the Text
- Why is it so hard for us to admit when we are wrong and give an unqualified apology? What is your typical reaction when someone confronts you with something that you have done wrong? How does this reflect your perspective of yourself?
- identifies the false teachings of the heretics regarding obedience and righteousness with the phrase, “If we say…” in 1:6-10. What are these false prophets claiming? What is John’s answers to their false claims? What steps does he teach that children of God will take?
- Does John teach that Christians are immune from sin? What does John mean when he says that those born of God “cannot keep on sinning?”
- Is confessing our sin enough? If not, what else does John expect to characterize the children of God?
- As our advocate, Jesus is not trying to convince the Lord that we are more worthy than we are. Instead, he advocating his righteousness in our place. How can this gospel truth free you from a tendency to try to “get better” before you come to the Lord in pray and worship?
- The most significant fight against sin in the world today is in your own heart. What area of your life do you need to shine the light of God’s righteousness into this week in order to see your sins more clearly? How can you incorporate confession into your daily walk with the Lord? How can you turn from your sin and practice righteousness this week?
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Week 21 – Christ is Priest
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May 17 – Sermon Discussion Guide
Download Love Discussion Guide .pdf Here
Signs of Life: Love
1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-18; 4:7-12
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
– 1 John 2:7-11
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
– 1 John 3:11-18
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
– 1 John 4:7-12
Digging Deeper
John tells us that his command that we love is not a new commandment but an old one. The Bible is filled with testimony of God’s love and his command that we love like him. Take some time to look up these other passages of Scripture to get a fuller view of God’s command that we love.
- Leviticus 19:18
- Matthew 5:21-22
- John 13:34; 15:12-17
- Galatians 5:14
- Philippians 2:5-8
- James 2:1-9
- 1 Peter 2:19-23
Digesting the Text
- What is something that you consider valuable? What is it that determines its value?
- Take some time to read through the passages from 1 John. Take special notice of the words that John repeats throughout these verses. What patterns do you see? What is John trying to communicate to his audience and to us? What does John indicate has value and what does not?
- When is a time that you have struggled to love other believers? What are some ways that we tend to close our hearts (1 John 3:17) to someone in need?
- What was the response of Jesus to our need? Make a list of everything you can think that Jesus sacrificed to serve us in our need and save us from our sin.
- Pastor Will shared that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, two ends of the same spectrum. When we love one thing, we must hate another. How does this challenge you to be intentional to love who, what, and how Jesus loves this week? What are some real steps you can take to love on purpose this week?
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Week 20 – Christ is Prophet
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May 10 – Sermon Discussion Guide
Signs of Life – Truth
1 John 2:18-25, 4:1-6, 5:1-13
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
1 John 2:18-25
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:1-6
Digging Deeper
The Bible is full of evidence regarding the divine identity of Jesus Christ. Spend some time looking up these verses and allowing them to give you a fuller understanding of Jesus’s true identity.
- Daniel 7:13-14
- Mark 2:10-11
- Luke 1:35
- John 1:1-3, 14-18; 12:44-45
- Philippians 2:6-7
- Colossians 1:15-20
- Hebrews 2:16-17
Digesting the Text
- Who do you think is the greatest threat to the health of the church? Are you more concerned with persecution from outside or corruption from inside the church? Read Acts 17:10-12. Why were the Bereans commended? What does their example have to do with John’s letter and what does it mean for you as individual Christians and church members?
- What do you think are the claims being made by the antichrists? What are the assuring truths that John gives to counter their false teachings? What does John want to make clear about the identity of Jesus?
- If we “all… know the truth” (2:20) and “do not need anyone to teach” us (2:27) because of our anointing, does this mean that we don’t need preachers and Bible teachers? Why or why not?
- Would you be able to identify false teaching if you encountered it in a sermon, a book, or a movie? What steps can you take to be better prepared to identify and correct false teachings when they come?
- What does John mean when he says we must “confess” and “believe” in Jesus? Is this just a mental assent to a truth or is it something more? If it is more, what do you think it is and how is this confession and belief present in your life?
- Write down any questions that you might have from these verses or this sermon and discuss them with one another or reach out to Pastor Will for more help.
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