May 17 – Sermon Discussion Guide
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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?