There have been a lot of stories from the church world in the last year of leaders who have had to step down or were removed from their place of leadership because of some moral failing. One pastor was not faithful in his marriage, another on the other side of the country was abusive and therefore not faithful to his calling. Everyone’s hope for both these men is that they will repent and honestly seek the help they need. At least, that’s my hope and prayer for them.

But there is another type of unfaithfulness in ministry, one not so easily identified or dealt with. There is the possibility of a leader being unfaithful to the gospel, representing a different Jesus than the one revealed there. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 John 4:1-6, and John will send a strong caution to the church to be careful about the leaders we follow.

What do you believe John means by “test the spirits”? Why do you believe he uses that term instead saying leaders or pastors? It’s not that I’m looking for a right answer, I’m just curious about what you think of that.

What is John’s criteria for a message that is consistent with the Spirit of God? What, or who does it center on? Why do you think John focuses on that issue? How important is that issue to your determination of orthodoxy?

On the other side of this, John doesn’t want our carefulness to result in paranoia. He encourages us in v4 that the One inhabiting our lives is greater than the one who directs the flow of this world’s system. What do you believe he means by greater…greater in what way?

Take some time to read the story of Elisha and the army surrounding him. What do we learn from a story like that, and how can we apply it to what John writes in v4?

Hope to see you on Sunday!

When people really get into football season, they can sometimes go to outrageous lengths to display their hope and faith in a team. The things they wear, the chants they chant, almost everything they project is a display of their loyalty. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 John 3:11-24, and we’ll be considering how Jesus gave his followers some specific instructions about how we would display our loyalty and faith in him….through our love for people.

As John begins, he takes us back to basics. The first command the churches he planted heard was the one that Jesus gave in John’s gospel, that his disciples should love one another. Then he goes back further – to the creation story, where Cain murdered his brother Abel over religious rivalry. He equates Cain with the broken world’s system of life, and he contrasts it with Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf. The love we are called to express displays the difference between Christ and the world’s systems. What are some of the contrasts that come into your mind as you consider Cain’s path and Christ’s path?

John uses Jesus’ sacrificial death to describe the shape of love. This kind of love was not just sentiment – it had practical impact on the object of love. Who benefits from Christ laying down his life? What is displayed in that kind of love? How does John picture our love for each other taking shape in our community? In what ways does this challenge you about your purpose in the church?

John even gets into the dynamic of our relationship with God. We can look at a lofty calling to love sacrificially and start to feel a little queasy about the many times we’ve failed to do that – we can start to condemn ourselves for how poorly we seem to be able to suppress our egos and put others first. But even there, John reminds us that “God is greater than our hearts and knows everything” – that is, he’s bigger than our failures and is all about drawing what’s best out of us, not condemning us. To know that we’re accepted in his love inspires confidence, which inspires us to love God in return, which results in expressing that love to others. There is a wonderful rhythm and flow to this that mere religion is oblivious to.

John summarizes the commandment in v23. What are the two words he uses to epitomize God’s intent for us? What do they display about our relationship with God? This will be a challenging but encouraging passage to explore!

The last Surf N Grill of the season is this Sunday – hope you can make out to hang with the fam and support those making a public declaration of following Christ (getting baptized…I know, I’m too verbose).

 

When I look at pictures of my wife as a young girl and pictures of my youngest daughter side by side, it’s difficult to distinguish who is who. Honestly, almost as soon as a baby gets born into a family we begin inspecting the child to see who she or he favors, the mom or dad. Genetic traits get passed along a tree of shared DNA and the connection to a particular family becomes conspicuous.

This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 John 3:1-10 (I highly recommend reading the Message version of this passage) where John will talk about how we’ve been brought into God’s family by his love for us – and how we will start bearing the family resemblance as a result of it.

John tells us that because we’re part of that family, there will be a future revelation of who we really are and it will be tied to who Jesus is. His point seems to be that the future of our redeemed selves is reaching back and manifesting in our present.

It’s important to keep in mind that what John is referring to in this passage, when he talks about sin and sinning, is a lifestyle of habitual, unrestrained determination to refuse God’s will in favor of self-will. He already made it clear back in chapter 1 vs 8 that we lie to ourselves and other if we claim we don’t sin. His point here is about the overall tone that our life takes.

When he says that a person who keeps on sinning as a lifestyle choice has not seen or known Christ, what do you think he means by that?

Being “of” the devil (enemy) means to be in cooperation with. Jesus came to take away sin and destroy the work of our enemy. What does it mean relationally to ally ourselves with someone at odds with someone else we care about?

The whole section revolves around relationship with God – he uses terms like children, know,  abide, born of, love. How do you think keeping a relationship in view as opposed to obligation to a religious system can better guide us towards righteousness (living rightly)?

It will be a challenging study – hope to see you on Sunday.

 

 

 

This Sunday we’ll be examining 1 John 2:18-19

John is going to warn us very emphatically about false leaders who are opposing the young church. He uses strong language to describe them. Liars and antichrists. Antichrist is a provocative word, isn’t it? What do we usually associate the name with?  It may surprise us where that word is found in the Bible…and where it isn’t. The main concept of the word is “anti-messiah” – opposing or undermining the truth of Jesus as Messiah while appearing to represent or replace him.

John has specific people in mind when he uses this term. He’s talking about false leaders who are attempting to derail the faith of the young believers in the churches he planted.

How does John describe their deception in v19 and 22? How would we translate to our present day church…what would we need to be wary of when it comes to the teachers we listen to?

John also encourages us that we don’t have to fear or bother about false teachers much – we have some specific provisions given to us by God to preserve us on our journey. V20,21,24, 28,29 all describe specific ways in which God has given us what we need to stay the course when being opposed by deception. How would you word what John says in these verses?

Well…it will be a challenging study (be prepared to think), but I believe a very encouraging one as well. Hope to see you then!

 

There is no way around it, the Bible presents us with a dualistic worldview. We are continually presented with two paths, two choices, two loves.  Middle ground is hard to come by in Scripture. As the Didache says in it’s opening: “There are only two paths; one leads to life and the other to death and there is a world of difference between the two.”  This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 John 2:12-17, where John will state a similar sort of theme.

V12-14 are considered by many to be an ancient hymn or liturgy which John is quoting. The liturgy speaks to children, fathers and young men – most probably signifying stages of life within the context of family. If John is trying to encourage his readers about who they are and what they’ve been given – what are the attributes he describes of these sets of people within the church? How can knowing who we are and what we’ve been given by God lend itself to stability in our Christian journey?

In v 15-17 John gives his impassioned warning about the two paths. One way is false – a lie, a construct pulled over our eyes and if we embrace it, we do so to the neglect of our God. When John says not to love the word…what do you think that means? What is the world…and how would we love it?

How does v16 help in identifying what the “things” of the world are? What is the root of this issue? How can we determine a love of the world in our own experience?

What is John’s encouragement centered on in v17? In what ways is this world and it’s desires passing away? What sort of things will last forever, according to the Bible?

I can say this….it will be a challenging study this Sunday.  Also…SURF N GRILL is this Sunday!!! Hope you can come hang with the Fam!

I know it’s not Christmas…but that scene is just delightful to me! It reminds me of what we’re going to be studying this Sunday, as we read 1 John 2:3-11.

John is going to sniff at the way some people who claim to be Christians live and say “You sit on a throne of lies…you smell like beef and cheese, you don’t smell like Jesus!”

Well…he doesn’t say that exactly – but its close. The way Venus is close to Earth kind of close.

John is providing a means of evaluating the path our life is taking. He does so by posing three false ideas and refuting them.

First, he says if we know him (God), we will keep his commands. What do you think it means to KNOW  God? What commands do you think he’s talking about? Does John 13:34-35 provide any insight on what he may have in view?

This is the big distinction between keeping commands in order to be saved, and keeping commands because we are saved. John doesn’t say “in order to know him you must…”, but rather, “IF you know him, you will…”.  John is providing an evaluation for our lives – if what we say or claim to be has no apparent outworking in our living, there may be a reason to examine if we’ve really ever come into relationship with God.

He can’t be talking about sinless perfection or even doing this well…as we learned from our study last week. I believe he’s talking about an overall direction in life. When we make choices and decisions in life, does God play any part in it at all? If not…John is warning that our pants may be on fire. (get it? Liar, liar, pants….oh never mind)

Then John talks about a commandment that isn’t new, except that it’s new. That could be confusing, but he is most likely referring to how Christ didn’t introduce some new commandment out of thin air, but that the fullness of all of God’s commands are realized in him, and newly expressed in his command that we cited above (John 13).

It all boils down to love. Love one another – we can’t claim to be enlightened by Christ and continue to hate our fellow human being. The two are incompatible. Why do you think that is? How can love be the total fulfillment of God’s commands?

Hope to see you this Sunday!

This Sunday we’re going to be starting a new series – a study of 1 John! We’ll begin by reading the first seven verses.

We’ve just finished up a year-long study of John’s gospel, and it was suggested to me that keeping with the same author may not be a bad idea. I had to agree. We pointed out before that John wrote his gospel many years after the other gospels were written; many years after the actual events. In those years John had traveled from Jerusalem and settled in Ephesus, in Asia Minor. He planted churches and served as an overseer for many of them.

An exact timeline for John’s life is difficult to produce. We only have bits of information passed down through tradition – the Scriptures shed no real light on what he was up to in all those years. We know he was at one time held in exile on the island of Patmos, where he received the revelation which he recorded and we now have as the book of Revelation. Tradition says that after that time was up, he returned to Ephesus and lived out his days there. Scholars are divided as to where to place these letters (1-3rd John) – whether they were written before Revelation or after. It probably doesn’t matter much. He never actually tells his name in this letter – but the earliest testaments we have about them attribute them to John. The writing style is almost identical to the writing of the fourth gospel – so if we attribute that to John, I don’t see why we would argue his authorship of this letter.

John was writing to provide clarity for the various churches. A lot of time had passed from the time of Jesus, and a whole new set of voices was trying to re-direct the momentum of the fledgling church.

John was the last eyewitness – his voice carried the greatest weight. So he lent it to correct some errors that were developing and splitting up the church. Chief among those errors was that of Christian Gnosticism.

We’ll be reading this letter as an encouragement and direction for those who have set out on a journey to find life – real, whole and eternal life.

In v1-2, John makes uses some pointed verbs: heard, seen, touched – in light of the dualism of the Gnostic worldview (all matter is inherently evil, only non-substance/spirit is good), what do you think John is trying to say about Jesus?

V 3-4 highlights the joy that comes from being in fellowship with other travelers on this journey. Why would that be a source of joy?

V5 John declares that God is light. How does light effect you and the world in which you live? How do we apply that as a metaphor for God?

V6-7  are set out as a challenge. What is the most common complaint that you’ve heard people make about the church and Christianity? How does John’s challenge here address that? What do you think “walking in the light” means?

I really hope this will be a beneficial study – hope to see you this Sunday!

Whenever we go through times and circumstances that push us out of our regular patterns in life, as humans, we tend to get uncomfortable. How often I’ve heard people say, as I’ve visited with them in the hospital, “I just want to get back to normal, I’m sick of this place.” It seems to be an ingrained reaction on our part – when life is hard and confusing, we just want to get back to something familiar so we can try and reorient ourselves. It’s a typical response.

We’re going to be reading about Jesus’ disciples doing just that as we finish our study in the Gospel of John this Sunday. We’ll be reading John 21:1-25. Peter and six other disciples don’t quite know what to do with themselves after all of the events that unfolded in Jesus’ execution and then mind-blowing resurrection. They probably had hoped that the skies would rain fire and Rome would fall into the earth…but none of that stuff happened. Instead, life seemed to just go on and Jesus just kept popping up unexpectedly, and I’m sure it all felt really strange. It makes sense to me that they wanted to get back to what they knew how to do, fishing.

However, now that Jesus is on the loose, things done under their own initiative seem to result in frustration. Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever not known what God is up to and so in exasperation just decided to go back to old habits and patterns you had before meeting Christ? What were the results, and what can we learn from that?

Jesus’ interaction with Peter is, to me, one of the most moving scenes in all of the Gospels. Three times Pete denied Jesus behind his back, now three times he’s given the opportunity to express his love to his face. Do you think Jesus is trying to shame Peter, or bring him closure? How could this interaction provide a sense of closure to Peter? What can that tell us about our own failures and Jesus’ intent?

Jesus doesn’t just let Peter say words, he commissions him with a way of demonstrating his love for Christ. How does Jesus indicate a love for him is revealed? Is it something we can do in isolation, and if not, what does that tell us about our Christian priorities?

Jesus finishes his instruction to Peter by commanding him to follow. What does it mean to you to follow Jesus? What does it look like for a 21st Century American Christian? When Peter looks around and sees the DWJL (disciple whom Jesus loved), he tries to bring his story into the mix by way of comparison. But in v22, Jesus nips that in the bud. “What is his story to you? You follow Me!” What can we learn about comparing ourselves to other believers in our attempt to follow Jesus?

I’ve really loved this gospel. I hope it’s not the last time I teach through it – there was so much left unturned.  We barely scratched the surface. With that in mind, I truly hope this isn’t the last time you explore the Gospel of John – go there often, and go looking for Jesus in those words.

See y’all Sundee!

Happy 4th of July everyone! May your grilling go smoothly and your fireworks be loud and obnoxious, as they should be.

This Sunday we’re going to be reading John 20:19-31, which finishes up the chapter. Many believe this was John’s original ending to his gospel, but added chapter 21 later on. In this chapter we’ll be reading about Jesus’ appearance to the rest of the disciples – and we’ll be considering the ramifications of the risen Christ in the midst of his followers.

Jesus shows up in the middle of a locked room. He is obviously present in a new kind of physicality, one that is not hindered by normal obstacles. Think about that locked door and the symbolism of it. What kind of doors do we lock in life…and how effective are they in keeping Jesus out?

The first thing out of Jesus’ mouth is the common greeting: Shalom. It means peace, wholeness, stability of life. John is using this event to convey the meaning of Christ’s presence with us still – and how his presence brings with it wholeness and fullness of life. In what ways have you found stability, wholeness and well being in the presence of Christ?

Jesus commissions his followers to do the same thing he’d been doing. That would be unthinkable if he didn’t follow it up by giving the Holy Spirit to empower us for such a task. How can we start developing habits of following the Holy Spirit’s lead to do good and help the oppressed in this world?

V23 is a stumper. I have heard an opinion on what he’s saying that I’m persuaded by (I’ll share it Sunday) – what do YOU think he’s saying?

The account of Thomas is awesome to me. I love that dude. Do you think Tommy was doubting Jesus, or the testimony of the other disciples? Is there a difference when it comes to the gospel, in your view? How did Jesus interact with Tom: rebuke, anger, irritation, compassion, care…? What was the first thing he said to him? Do you think that Jesus is angered by our questions or honest skepticism?  Do you believe that doubt and sincere searching is debilitating to faith, or can it actually encourage and enhance faith? How does Jesus’ interaction with Thomas inform your view?

Okay…well…again, I’m really looking forward to this passage! I think we’ll have a lot of good stuff to chew on!

Whenever we say things like “I’m in the dark”, we usually mean that we don’t understand something, we’re confused or just don’t have the clarity we need. If we say “I’m going through a dark time”, we mean the circumstances and our emotional response to them are difficult and desolate. Darkness as a metaphor is never a positive image. Darkness is something we seek a solution to, a change from.

The creation account in Genesis begins in the dark: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and chaotic, and darkness covered the surface of the deep”. God intervened and spoke light, order and life.

All of that went wrong when a man and a woman stood in a garden and rejected God’s rule. As a result, darkness, chaos and death again captivated the scene.

After a long time, there is another garden…a man and a woman are standing there…and a new creation is breaking out of the old. God once again dispels the darkness and shines a hope beyond our wildest dreams into the chaos of a broken world. Creation 2.0 has commenced.

We’re going to be reading John 20:1-18 this Sunday (and yes, I’m finally back in the lineup), the account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

The themes of new creation are all through John’s gospel, and his symbolism is almost heavy-handed in this section. He just really doesn’t want us to miss the point. All that Jesus did and taught was revealing what God is like and what God is up to – and here in his resurrection we see it in full bloom: redemption; new creation….RESURRECTION!

As you read this account, put yourself in the place of Peter and TDWJL (the disciple whom Jesus loved) – how do you think you would have reacted to Mary’s news? What would you think was going on initially?

V9 says Pete and TDWJL returned to their own home (literally, to themselves). What ways do we turn back to ourselves when we go through dark times?

Mary was inconsolable. She was on task: find the corpse of Jesus and get it re-buried. She was so miserable and fixated on that problem that she didn’t even realize the solution to her dilemma was standing right in front of her. What can that tell us about how we perceive our troubles – how should creation 2.0 affect our expectations?

If I asked you who the first evangelist, ambassador, teacher and missionary of the gospel was…who would you say? I know who v 18 says it was.

Hey…I’m really looking forward to this chapter! This should be some really encouraging stuff for us to explore! Hope to see you there!