Dear Church Family, Continuing in our study of 1 John, we come to a section in chapter four (1 John 4:7-12) in which John once again takes up the topic of love, specifically, a call for believers to love one another. In fact, that phrase, “love one another,” is repeated

Dear Church Family, The Apostle John begins the fourth chapter of his first epistle with a call for discernment, a call for believers to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). As we noted

Dear Church Family, In our study of 1 John, we’ve taken note of how the Apostle John emphasizes the three key elements of the Christian life: right doctrine (what you believe), right relationships (who you love), and right morality (how you live). As we come to chapter four of this

Dear Church Family, How would you answer this question: “As a child of God, what gives you confidence before God in prayer that He will give you what you ask for?” I suspect that there are many answers to that question, but I doubt that I would get the answer

Dear Church Family, When C.S. Lewis’ wife died, he kept a journal of his grief. Later, these observations were published in a book, A Grief Observed. In that book, Lewis describes how God feels so very distant in times of mourning and loss, something with which most everyone can relate: “Go

Dear Church Family, We’ve seen how God’s love in Christ for His people causes hate (1 John 3:11-15) – how the world hates those who are born of God. And, we’ve seen also how God’s love in Christ for His people causes change: “We know love by this, that He

Dear Church Family, Last week, in 1 John 3:11-15, we saw how God’s love in Christ for His people causes hate. That is to say, the world will hate those who are loved by God, those who are born again and thus love Him. John goes all the way back to

Dear Church Family, The love of God for His people is a major theme in Scripture. God’s very nature is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Our being predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, is based in the love of God (Ephesians 1:4-5). Because He died for us,

Dear Church Family, Last week, in our look at 1 John 2:28-3:5, we reflected on how as a child of God, “be” comes before “do.” That is to say, according to God’s Word, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then, only after we have

Dear Church Family, In most religions one must “do” in order to “be.” That is to say, most religions are works-based – you have to do things in order to become a new person or gain a reward. The Christian faith, however, is the exact opposite: one must “be” in