Christian Challenge: Confess Christ Alone

Introduction

Who here considers themselves a fan of something?

Sports, Reading, Music, Art, Speaker (Tim Franks)

What are some words that you would use to describe a great fan?

Loyalty, Unashamed, Confidence, Unwavering, Proud

Some of the these words are also seen in the opening verse in our passage in 1 John this evening.

Read 1 John 2:28

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Did you catch the similarities in this verse with some of the descriptive words we used for a fan?

The apostle John, who is the writer of this text, is encouraging Christians, who he describes as little children in his fatherly tone. He is encouraging them to remain in Him and Him is referencing to Jesus Christ. We see this in the verse right above this passage in verse 24 and 25 of 1 John 2.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.

The Apostle John encourages Christians to remain in Jesus with confidence and without shame. This is where we see some similarities in descriptive words in how we described fans. In fact, this would remain means to continue to exist, especially after other similar or related people or things have ceased to exist.

This cause me to think of a fan of a really bad team who sticks through the good times and the bad times. This fan is cheering for this team when it’s popular and also when they risk being made fun of. An example of this that came to mind is Chicago Cubs fans. Before the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 they had over 100 year drought of not winning a championship. So when