There are three indicators of God's love in you:
• Abiding in Christ
• Confidence in Christ
• Love of Christ for others
Don't Be Deceived
August 1, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic • 1 John 4:1–6
Build A Portfolio of Love
July 25, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
Future Forward Faith
July 11, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
Too many of us walk around living with some level of perpetual dread of God when we should long for His appearing. And what gives us the confidence to long for His appearing? Our identity as children of God.
Correct Belief in Jesus Prevents Deception
July 4, 2021 • Mark Henderson
Foundations of Faithful Followers
June 27, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
Coming out of the preceding passage, John pauses to speak an encouraging reminder over his audience. Verses 9-11 are a bit heavy. In those verses, John uses stark contrasts to highlight his point that selfless love for our neighbors is supposed to be a mark of a Christian. However, he doesn’t want those stark contrasts to unsettle the confidence and faith of his audience, so he reminds them of their great hope and confidence in Christ.
The Motivation for Selfless Love
June 20, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
The Model For Authentic Obedience
June 13, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
We’ve all been here recently; we have heard someone say one thing and then act in a different
way. With the amount of cultural and political critique and conversations going on, this is an
inescapable reality. And, honestly, all of the “evaluating” we’re doing is exhausting. It wears us
out emotionally, mentally, and even physically. It can lead to fractured relationships or just a
general sense of distrust. For those of us that claim to be Christians, we aren’t just
misrepresenting ourselves or a political party; when we do this, we are tarnishing the name
of Jesus. And as Christians, we don’t want that to be true of us because we want Jesus to be
glorified.
In our passage today, we are going to hear the words of John. He was writing to a group of
Christians that were confused and honestly exhausted by feeling as if they weren’t living an
authentic life with God. John is going to point them to the life and example of Jesus. Ultimately,
we will see that an authentic relationship with God means that we are obedient to God’s
commands. To claim that and then live otherwise is to lie to ourselves. It is like pretending to be
something that we’re not, and the only person we’re fooling is ourselves. Everyone else can see
through it. As we walk in obedience to God’s commands, God fills us with joy and a sense of
complete contentment that leaves us feeling complete.”
Authentically knowing God will be demonstrated through obedience to God’s commands, in
which Jesus is the ultimate model.
The Stability of Joy
June 6, 2021 • Kyle Bartholic
When we hold fast to Jesus, we acknowledge that he is our only hope and that we are not enough in and of ourselves. In Jesus, we are free and without shame to admit our brokenness, and in that vulnerable confession, have our joy made complete in fellowship.
