Out of the Darkness Part 6

Introduction

Rewind

To be in the light, we must accept Jesus as our savior.

We must willingly admit that we sin and seek forgiveness for that sin.

We must love others. There can’t be room for hate in our heart.

We must be spiritually growing

We should be reassured because of our faith in Jesus

We should be encouraged to have the truth of God.

We must always seek to do what is right.

LOVE

What are some specific things you love?

If you had to rate how loving you are to people around you, how would you do that?

Leading up to this point John has been laying this foundation of how we, as children of God are to behave.

At the end of the last section he ends it by drawing this line in the sand.

Without reading it, who remembers how he did that?

He literally lays it out and says, you either belong to God or you belong to the devil.

That may seem really harsh but it’s a reality that John was wanting the readers to realize. When we belong to God, we follow His commands. When we belong to the devil, we reject God’s commands and do our own thing.

Tonight, we are taking this turn in 1 John, and now see how we can be this light to the world.

Read 1 John 3:11-24

John comes out the gate not commanding anything, but almost announcing it in this huge way. Love One Another.

Have you ever done something that wasn’t very loving? What?

John gives us an instance of a really bad way to show love.

How important is your rep?

John goes into this speech about that fact that the world will probably hate us because of what we hold so important.

We do this because of what God did for us.

Push verse 16-18.

What kind of word is love?

We have a simple task in front of us, but yet so very difficult.

He lays it out for us very clearly here. V. 23

TAKEAWAYS

We need to love another

Our love has to be found in what Jesus did for us

Keep keeping His commands

Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live?