“The Call to Love”

1. The Command of Love (1 John 2:7-8)

1 John 2:7-8 - "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. 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."

1 John 3:11 - "For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

John 13:34-35 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

2. The Proof of Love (1 John 2:9-11)

1 John 2:9-11 - "Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

1 John 3:14-15 - "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

3. The Empowerment of Love (1 John 2:12-14)

1 John 2:12-14 - "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

Ephesians 4:32 - "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

1 John 4:11 - "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

Romans 15:7 - "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

Jeremiah 31:34 - "And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

1 John 4:19 - "We love because he first loved us."