November 19, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 3 John 5–12
God invites us to come to the light of Jesus Christ, which exposes us but also refines us.
Love that is Confident
November 12, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 5:13–21
John teaches us how we can be like our Heavenly Father. Since God is love, may we walk in love toward each other.
Love that Testifies to Jesus
November 5, 2023 • Elder Matt Poppe • 1 John 5:6–12
God's testimony about Jesus is true and is confirmed by the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
Love that Overcomes the World
October 29, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 5:1–5
Jesus Christ's love sets us free to love God back and then we're set free to love others.
Transcript:
We're in the series that we're calling That Love in First John and we've been going through just passage by passage almost verse by verse at times in taking what God has for us about love, and the culture says a lot about love does it not? But this passage of this book of the Bible is kind of reframing, it's kind of re-calibrating our viewpoint when it comes to God's love. How many off you would say the topic of Salvation is important? Yeah probably like pretty like up there you talking about like what's important in life probably salvation, I would think man that's up there at the top. For those of you that are new that is the teaching of how we can have a relationship with God and be reconciled to him. Tt is how we can be saved from our sin and death and eternal separation from God and have an eternal reconciled relationship to God so man getting that right I would think that is exceedingly critical. I wanted to share with you the story of this man his name is Marcus Gray. He also goes by the name Flame because he's a rapper; he is an Oscar nominated, uh rather excuse me, Grammy nominated artist and he came from a theological tradition where they were teaching God talks to you through your inner voice so I don't know if any of you have kind of mastered that but you know
that can be kind of challenging. But anyway, he really tried to do that, he tried to discern how is God talking to me cuz that is what his church was teaching him to do and he describes this day where he was in his bedroom and he was like God can you please just give me a word from you and so his inner voice said turn to John chapter 23. Just seeing seeing how many of you caught it, and as he opened up to John 23, and he's like "man there is no John 23", so he was like "God you're playing games with me you're messing with me." and then you know he kind of was like "man I'm going to I just need to graduate from this inner voice thing that I'm trying to do here." And so also in his theological tradition they were teaching you know you are saved by your performance, okay so by your good works you will know you are saved. Also you know you are saved by having pure motives and so there was a lot of internal kind of looking at what kind of motives do you have what kind of affection do you have. And I would say is it good to have affections for Jesus Christ yeah but man if that's all you're looking at from day to day, like "did I have pure motives as I woke up really early and dropped my kids off at school this morning when I really didn't feel like getting out of bed," like you could go crazy with looking inward at your motives and your affections and what is going on. And so what ended up happening is Flame did not have assurance of his Salvation and it led to depression. He was depressed like man he just was like I don't know if I'm in or if I'm out for sure cuz I'm looking inward and I am not sure and so what I would tell you is this is that Satan has a lot of lies he will seek to throw at you from your day-to-day lives; I would call them deception. That's what he seeks to do but I would say they're all going to be summarized by fear if I could just analyze how Satan's schemes how does Satan work he's going to try to get you to live in a state of fear all of the time and deception. Number one from Satan is this: he wants
you to ultimately doubt God's love for you. That is kind of his endgame because he knows if he can get you to doubt God's love uh then you're going to spiral into discouragement or despair or not trust in his love you're not going to have a flourishing relationship with God and man he's got you where he wants you. And so how many of you have had doubts before? All right this is you guys are engaging. I love it! How about some of you are like man I haven't done my devotion in a while I haven't done my quiet time in a while haven't had my prayer time in a while my Bible reading time and man you could start to think I maybe I'm not as righteous as I used to be or as I think I was and maybe God's not happy with me right now. Also how
many of you have a habit that you just can't break and you would love to just break it? It would be nice if you could break the habit that you have been seeking to break? I mean I think that a lot of human beings are after that. A year ago there was a book going around in our church called Atomic Habits. There's a reason why it's selling a lot because we don't have them. You know we need them. At the time of the Reformation, this is 16th century, the Protestant reformer Martin Luther also was in great discouragement much in the similar way as
Flame. He had doubts. The teaching of the church at that that time was good works are necessary to merit your salvation, okay we would use the word earn your salvation. Also, if you didn't have enough good works, check this out, there was a treasury of saints that had merits stored up for you. So the treasury of the merits of the saints were like all of the saints from the past who had this record that could hopefully be transferred to you by certain church practices. Penance was an important doctrine at the time in which you would then try to pay off the debt you owed God depending on the sin you incurred. So I kind of liken it to like when you have to do community service because you committed a crime in the eyes of the law. They actually had that in a strong way in the church. In addition you could make pilgrimages to holy sights and this was a way to merit or earn your salvation before http://god.ou could say a certain amount of Hail Marys and Our Fathers on certain steps of a particular building that was considered a holy sight and hopefully your motivations. But what I read is if you believe in Jesus Christ and you possess saving faith in his death and his resurrection for you, his atonement and his bodily resurrecting victory on your behalf, you are born of God, born of the Holy Spirit, born again, you are spiritually made new, that's what it says. And here is where I would go with this kind of verse today and this is the teaching that inspired the Protestant Reformation which we are also commemorating today this is the day where we observe it in the church it is don't look internal to yourself all the time look outside of yourself to God's love his death and his resurrection they're outside of you um and then also his word like you just read it and it's coming at you in verbal form right as we speak this is the word of God outside of you and so you believe it and you receive it and the word of God is this God says this today to you I love you because I love you that's his word to you simple it's external to you and when you believe it you receive it what does he say You're Made Alive you don't need all this other stuff to earn your way into getting God's love but rather through the gift of Jesus you can have a personal relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ and you have the victory okay so the triumphant are born of God by faith in Jesus Christ but then in addition check out verses 2 and three it says this by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his Commandments. All right now some of you may have been thinking with that first deception of Satan Pastor Andrew there's a flip side to that too right Satan can also make people think they're Christians when they're not showing evidence either so let me be clear: good works are evidence of Salvation they are not a means of earning salvation. Obedience to the Commandments of God is not a way that you earn salvation but it's evidence and a byproduct that you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and so other people may kind of challenge you or from time to time or whatever uh and call you to a great A Closer Walk With Jesus because what does Jesus say you will know them by their fruit however I want to continue to see where he's going with it he says this he says for this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and then this is the part I highlighted here and his Commandments are not burdensome how many of you see the Christian life and all the Commandments as burdensome it could become a burden if you think about it in terms of obligation here's another way Satan will try to get at you check this out I want you to be so aware of his schemes he Satan wants you to think think that God com God's Commandments are burdensome because if you think they're burdensome man it's going to be all about your willpower can I get the willpower to do it and then maybe you're like man God's Commandments take away my freedom I don't have fun I don't get to do what I want to do and then he's got you flame was under that discouragement and depression because he really felt the weight of God's Commandments he thought that they were a means to earning your salvation Marcus gray in 2018 that's Flames name he ended up by the invitation of a friend to go to Concordia Seminary in St Louis in 2018 to get his master's degree that's where I graduated from in 2009 and it was at the Seminary where a lot of the professors that are still there from the time I was there um they taught him a paradigm based on scripture that would transform his life and it was this teaching that Paul and Luther it's inspired by the Apostle Paul but Martin Luther the great Protestant reformer would call it two kinds of righteousness and it goes like this in the vertical Realm in your relationship before God you are righteous by faith alone not by your works you are declared righteous because of what Jesus did for you not because of what you can do for God and then in the horizontal Dimension this is your relationships with other people you are righteous by your Works people know you are righteous by how you live and by your lifestyle by how you behave but see check this out the freedom for flame was that how he's doing in his growth and Holiness has nothing to do with his righteousness before God but rather he is declared righteous and now what he can do with his good works is be set free to bless his neighbor his good works are not to earn righteousness but his good works are to bless the people around him so here's my question for you this morning does God need your good works no but your neighbor does the people around us do now this is this is a freeing belief if we embrace it because Jesus has setting us free to live free Jesus is setting us free to flourish and now it's the people around us that simply need to be love and there's a blessing that God gives us as we love them and that's what John was focusing on in those couple of verses and so um it was a process but Flame converted to Lutheranism uh while he was at the Seminary he had a paradigm shift that caused him to regain his joy in the Lord um and to regain the biblical truth that we are justified by faith alone and not by our works his last three albums are all about his conversion um to uh believing that you're righteous before God by faith and he will come to St John's Church to do a concert right here uh May 10th 2024 if you want to just save the date right now can mark your calendar uh Hey Hey listen even if you don't like rap this is a great family friendly opportunity cuz see your children if you're here and you have kids live in the home rap is gonna come through their phones at some point so trust me you don't want them listening to the you don't want them listening to Eminem that dude is crazy so just you know you want to get them back into some really good content flame is awesome um but then I would also say this it's not just about the music and whether about you like rap or not but it's going to be like his messages before each song that I think you're going to really appreciate I'm finishing up a Book By Flame I highly recommend called extra no in Latin that means outside of us um I'm almost finished with it highly recommend uh coming to just show support that's May 10th 2024 here and then here's what happens the burden becomes a blessing when you adopt this Paradigm into your life the burden becomes a blessing now all these things that I think I have to do it's not for me to earn righteousness but it is to receive blessing and to bless others check this out worship okay you could say man this is a burdensome commandment God wants us to come on Sundays and worship him or you can say he's going to turn that burden into a blessing as I get blessed by his word and I also Bless the people around me like it's a blessing to see your facei your faces it's a blessing to see each other's faces as the family of God see and now all of a sudden there's a different Paradigm a burden becomes a blessing honoring Authority have you ever been in a situation maybe someone near to you or whatever where Authority wasn't being honored maybe it was a supervisor uh there's several contexts but I'll tell you what man it can be a disaster for the whole company it could be a disaster for the people around when it's healthy supervision when there's healthy Authority see now all of a sudden I'm not doing this to earn righteousness I'm doing it to be a blessing to my community making time for your marriage we're busy people right but God turns it around the burden becomes a blessing as I make the time and as I bless my spouse Purity our culture and Satan will tempt us towards impurity at every chance he can get our sinful nature will be tempted towards impurity okay God's word would turn it around and say I want to bless you I want to protect you I want you to flourish okay and then it's going to be a blessing to those around you peacemaking okay how many of you have some enemies right now no none of none of you that's good uh God turns the burden into a blessing why Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called Sons and Daughters of God you can forgive as God in Christ forgave you and now man peace does our world need a little peace right now yes it can be a blessing to those around us have you ever been around someone that is consistently discontent man that's hard cuz you could try all kinds of different angles but man if they're just discontent and they're happy to be discontent they're it it's just a it's a ripple effect burden becomes a blessing your contentment blesses others in Christ you're set free by the love of Jesus to help to flourish and man you're flourishing and guess who else is flourishing your family your community the people around you are flourishing because you are flourishing in Christ I want you to know that the Commandments of God they are not meant to be a burden they're meant to bless you protect you and keep you safe when you see it like that man you're going to say I want this not I have to do this but man I want this and I know that I need this so the triumphant are born of God the triumphant obey God's Commandments but then also I would tell you this and let's jump back in together let's read it together for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God and I highlighted this key phrase and it's what was kind of the the key to the Reformation that we celebrate today and it is this that we are saved by faith and faith alone Sola Latin means alone faith alone by grace alone and that where is Authority in our life it's in scripture alone these three Solas inspired the Protestant Reformation and I believe that one of Satan's deceptions is this that he wants you to wants to come at you with he wants you to live in fear of the past and fear of the future what does God want want you to receive his peace here's how you get it when you live in the moment you live each day by faith worrying about tomorrow does nothing Jesus said you will gain nothing it will add not one hour to your life and it messes with your health on top of that live by faith each day faith says God you got this fear says Satan I trust you I want you to know that sounds harsh but we have to hear it because man I don't think any of us in this room want to trust Satan with anything. So about every month or so I have a mentor that I zoom with. He's a pastor in Oregon who is a retired. Sometimes we meet and he kind of talks to me about different things and there was a time where I was getting into this mode of rehearsing a conversation that I might have with someone. Have you ever done that before? Some of you are nodding you're like I've done that before sometimes it happens when during your jog right or when you exercise whatever but we've done it and so one person that I sought advice from he was like Hey you could and it is very therapeutic to practice what you would say and then to kind of practice what you think they would say and I was like there would be nothing therapeutic about about that for me zero so I talked to my mentor and he said Andrew what you need is Ephesians 6:16 which says this in all circumstances take up the shield of Faith it's a weapon with which you can extinguish all the Flaming darts of the evil one and he said Andrew and he says this to you too living in fear of the future those are darts that he's coming at you to attack you but Faith you live in the moment you get peace with God and you also get peace from God Elise Fitzpatrick came to our church uh yesterday there were 70 women in that room over there hearing from this wonderful author and speaker and she talked about how the love of God in Jesus Christ sets us free sets us free and it does two things we can love God back and then we're set free to love others and this is what she said that I thought was so beautiful she said do you want to be around people you love I think we all would say yeah it's much better Jesus is love is Limitless in its dimensions and it's high and wide and deep and it's for you all of you here and when we receive it and when we have the strength to comprehend it who do we want to spend more time with Jesus whose presence do we want to be with Jesus who do we want to follow their directions Jesus because we know he loves us Satan would cause us to live in fear God would lead us to live by faith fear causes you to live defeated Faith gives you the victory and it's Faith so we would love him back as he has loved us and so the triumphant are born of God the triumphant obey his Commandments because we know they're good for us and it's his best for us and the triumphant live by faith we walk by faith and not by sight and so I'm excited because today we're going to sing A Mighty Fortress as our God I can't wait to sing that uh together with all of you and that Anthem is a declaration that we are declared righteous before God by faith alone in Christ alone and now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding may he guard your heart may he guard your mind through faith in Christ. Amen
Love is what God is
October 22, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 4:7–21
Love is a war of motivation, discrepancy, and duplicity. The love of Jesus will come again to bring restoration and to rescue and renew us.
Transcript:
So grateful to be able to continue in first John with us together and we just going through it we're seeing a lot about love uh different dimensions of love we hear so much about love through our culture do we not but yet scripture has a a lot to say about what it looks like and what we can do to live it out as people who have been loved. As I was preparing this week I was thinking about there was this time where my she's now 14 she's getting older my daughter she loves to walk around the house with her phone on and the music at full volume full blast and don't worry I got permission she's on one of the cameras right now but she
just said hey whatever stories you want to tell it's fine so now I have a ton of Leila stories to tell you um but nevertheless like her phone is just blasting and so I just come up to her and I'm like Leila you know how when you get in the radio and there's treble and there's bass with this cell phone that you're utilizing it's just such high treble so what I want to do is I want to buy you this it is an Anor sound core surround sound speaker with I mean that thing's small but it has some more base than you would expect it to have um so I got this for
her I got her this amazing gift but then the next day even though she has this fabulous gift I gave her she still
walking around with her cell phone you know just going and going through the kitchen and you know like you know how you get like passive aggressive and so I I started to get that look in my face and in my mind I was like how dare she not use my fabulous magnificent surround sound Encore stereo that I got her
like how could she just not even use it and so I I start sitting on the couch and just looking over at the kitchen you know how you kind of look over at somebody and you're trying to send a message you know but you're not talking you have kind of those silent messages going on so I'm kind of doing that and then Daisy walks down and Daisy knows that I bought this speaker as well and Daisy doesn't even say anything like she's supposed to have my back and say hey you need to honor my husband's amazing you know base filled Bluetooth portable speaker that he got you you know so anyway I just sat there and what's the temp what's the Temptation kind of in in a moment like that I think the Temptation in a moment like that is to get kind of self-centered is to get self centered in a moment like that this passage has so much to say to us and I believe that love is a war love love is a war right here love is a war right here and it's a war of three things it's a war of
motivation it's a war of discrepancy and it's a war of duplicity it's a war of motivation and in verse seven I think it's kind of like his thesis that he'll unpack and some of the themes he repeats and he proves and as AJ gave a great illustration about three weeks ago where he said that some passages are like a sandwich this passage is also like a sandwich as well and we will see that as we walk through this so let's just start at the top verse seven love is a war of motivation he says this beloved let us love one another for love is from from God I highlighted that and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God there's this concept that we are born of the spirit we are made new it's a rebirth all of us need to have but then he says this love is from God and here is what I would submit to you this morning love is not from you love is not from us here's why in the beginning our first parents Adam and Eve they enjoyed full trust full Harmony full love in perfect
relationship with our creator but then what ended up happening is is that there was a decision to not trust God there was a decision to distrust have any of you ever experienced a relationship that with something
happened but it caused some distrust in the relationship with Adam and Eve and our creator distrust occurred and so that there was a little stain on the relationship by consequence all of us inherit what's called a sinful nature from our first parents Adam and Eve we all have a sinful nature then that and we we call it selfishness or self centeredness or whatever the scriptures call it sin it's a nature that we have that's there unfortunately but here is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that God's love through Jesus Christ explodes out of our hearts as a demonstration of gratitude to what God has given to us let me say that again God's love explodes out of our hearts as a gift of gratitude that he gave to us and here is why that he gave us a love that is sacrificial he gave us a love that is unconditional he gave us a love that is Everlasting that's forever and so the word that's used in first John is called agape love it is a a word that really took a new form in first century uh because of the movement that we know as Christianity and it was from the fact that God although he is all powerful and all knowing and Transcendent he came to this world to sacrifice himself to bring forgiveness to the world and Reconciliation to humanity and so if there's pain if there's guilt here's what happens pain and guilt get transferred to the Cross pain and guilt get transferred to the cross of Jesus Jesus Christ and Jesus Takes pain Jesus Takes guilt and then in an exchange he gives us love he gives us forgiveness he gives us freedom he gives us restoration he gives us harmony with our creator and so this is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ yes uh love is a war of motivation um but here here is what I I think happens sometimes in the Christian Life do you guys ever feel like as a Christian you feel like you've arrived you ever do you ever feel like a sense of arrival okay uh some of you are tracking with me um I think that sometimes we're like yeah I I know uh the Old Testament pretty well I know the first five books of the Bible like what the point is I knew what I know what the gospels are supposed to be about I know what the Epistles are supposed to be about and so we can get to this thinking that hey we got like pretty good basic biblical knowledge and we're kind of we're arriving you kind of get settled in you get settled into a bit of complacency uh and apathy in your walk with God but here is what I would tell you the Christian life is never a fe it should never be a sense of arrival because we are being transformed into whose image the image of Jesus Christ who is perfect and on this side we ain't never going to be perfect but through the power of the Holy Spirit we're undergoing a process and we are a work in progress and so we're never arrived by
the grace of God we're leaning into and I and I hope you'll take take this away if you take nothing else from
today saturate yourself with the love that comes from God through Jesus Christ CU because we all need that we are all desperate for that love's not coming from here through our selfish sinful nature but it's going to come from above to us through God's one and only son and I was as I was praying this week over this passage and what it means for our particular Community it says love one another like you guys have heard that they will know we are Christians by our love and you're like well we kind of need to work on that
um and you guys are like yeah you need to work on that too um uh but here's here's kind of some
pastoral applications and I I say this with great affection um and I'm included we're all
included in this but I I just here are some applications that I want to share with you this
morning since I'm loved by God I will love those that are different okay this is different ages different races different socioeconomic statuses people who you might find uninteresting because what happens if we
don't love in that fashion man we're just like the rest of the world we just have our clicks and we
have people like us that we tend to like hang out with but what does the gospel
say there's neither Jew nor Greek slave nor free free male nor female but we are one in the
body of Jesus Christ since I'm loved by God I will initiate and make an effort
what would happen if none of us ever initiated a loving relationship uh with
somebody else a loving friendship with somebody else what would happen man we would just all be lonely
like no nothing I want to invite you as people who are loved by God and have received
the gospel of Christ to have the courage to reach out with the love of Jesus to
somebody else in the community since I'm loved by God I will seek to settle
differences man the New Testament because of the gospel because we have
been forgiven by Jesus because we have been reconciled to the father what are
we supposed to be about we're supposed to be a people of Peace Jesus Jesus said blessed are the
peacemakers Paul says so much as it depends on you live at peace as we've been forgiven so also forgive others that's man that's like every book of the New Testament if I could it's there and
everyone we're still too quick to just not settle differences and just leave something I want to invite you to man there's some of you write me emails or say hey we got to talk that's healthy I I'm grateful for that H keep having the courage to do that write to somebody talk to somebody that you need to settle something with get resolution because why we're supposed to be people who are peacemakers who've been touched by the love of God in Jesus Christ and so love is a war of motivation and when we get that gratitude in our hearts because of the Gospel we then have the power to extend it to others uh and then in addition love is a war of discrepancy why don't we just read this one together anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love and then check out the sandwich in verse 20 he unpacks it in a way that's kind of like wow he says this if anyone says I love God and hates his brother he's a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen I think that I'm just as as I Was preparing this week I was kind of stunned by Just John's a straight shooter he's a liar and you're just like okay we say we love God but there's a contradiction because we're still indifferent to others we still separate from other
believers we still compare ourselves to others in a way that can bring out jealousy we still exclude others but yet we say we love God that's what he's what he's saying to us and that's what hit me as I prepared this week but check this out John is not saying there's a war in your heart between being selfish and loving others so just battle it just battle that that kind of that tug-of-war selfish other centered me centered other Center he's not saying that's the battle what he is saying is the battle is me centeredness versus your love for God that's what he's getting after now I wish I could you know just stand up here and say man every situation I get every situation that comes my way man I'm just batting a thousand and killing it I'm always loving God I wish I could say that see because like in this instance like what what's going on up here like I I want you know to get a little bit of Praise honor and Glory dad you are so knowledgeable about portable Bluetooth speakers you've blessed my life I want Daisy to walk down and be like man you always give us amazing benevolent presence you're you're so benevolent to our family and so there's a little bit of that in our hearts but it all comes back to what filling that hole that wants to go inward to fill it with the love of God Paul David trip who had a lot of good things to say about first John chapter 4 in my uh studies this week he says this me being the center is one place I will never be that place must be inhabited by God and God alone that's the invitation of the sermon so love is a war of motivation love is a war of discrepancy but here's what he's also saying love is a war of duplicity let's read the second half or I'll just read it the second half of verse 20 check out what he says he said for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen what's he saying there what's he saying what he's saying is this it's easy to come in to a sanctuary and meditate on and sing songs that are all about the love of God right but then but we can't see God but yet we can come in here and do that and it's so easy to do but what he is getting at is your public life versus your private life uh Paul David trip asked a group of people what do you guys think makes a mature believer what would you guys say what makes a mature believer foress see Mike Mike always gets a A+ in here Mike always kills it um some people would say Church attendance and praise God we should love the word and communion um some people might say giving yeah suppose we should respond to God in gratitude with our time our
talents our treasures and give back to the cause of Jesus and help others some might say volunteering and
serving praise God we should serve others in the name of Jesus some of you might say it's the people that are really mature raise their arms when they're singing you know so continuing it's easy to love or show a display of love in public but what's really going on here in the inner workings of our
being um in another community that I was a part of uh someone came to me once and she was like you know
um on display I'm loving I'm kind and I'm positive but then when I get home I
start just drinking some hard alcohol and then I just start putting everybody down in this building with my husband and then everything just comes out and I'm grateful that she came to me with that but what I would tell you is this or what I ask you for us to examine ourselves is are we a people who are
congruent like if I was a different man on Monday than I was when I preached up here on Sunday
you guys would start to be like man we I don't know if we can trust
him where are you at with being congruent congruent authentic like I'm
this I'm the same person today tomorrow like I am who I am by the grace of God
living in me and so there's a war of duplicity
and that Fallen sinful nature that heart that we have that's Fallen our selfish Hearts need to be
visited by Divine love our souls need to be visited by
divine grace and that divine grace from above comes to us in the person of Jesus
Christ and in a moment we're going to have communion and I want you to know that that's like a visitation from Divine to below to visit our hearts with the grace
and power of God and I want to just say this the way that we treat others the way we treat each other is a testimony to the Holy Spirit living in us that's our
witness that's our witness I said that this passage was like a s but I want to show you the meat of it all the men just perked up they're like verse 17 and 18 says this by this is love perfected with us it's talking
about God's love so that we may have confidence uh for the day of
judgment because as he is so also are we in this world so he wants the love of
God to come and visit us so much that we have confidence and then it says this there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear isn't that a beautiful sentence for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love and so I want to be just very Invitational to us today and say this may we
put away fear of comparison may we put away fear of judgment may we put away fear of man fear of other human beings but rather may we know this Jesus already took my judgment Jesus already took my friend's judgment my brother's judgment my enemies judgment and so as he has forgiven me and Love me so I'm going to love others as God has loved me and so God's love was displayed again when he rose again through Jesus Christ on that beautiful Easter morning and his love will come again to bring restoration to rescue us and renew us when his love comes and my prayer for us as a community when we hear this good news is this we're all invited to believe it and receive it right here in our hearts and now May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding may he guard your heart may he guard your mind through faith in Jesus Christ and it's in Jesus name we pray amen.
Love that Tests the Spirits
October 15, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 4:1–6
As followers of Christ, we need high love and high truth to grow and to minister to others in our community.
Love that Lays Down One's Life
October 8, 2023 • Pastor PJ Aarsvold • 1 John 3:11–24
Transcript:
Perfect so the Apostle John is really nice to us this morning um when you were making a point uh there are two ways that you can make a point Point um you can do a deductive point where you state your point and then you explain it or you can do an inductive point where you slowly build to the conclusion and here's the point and John was really nice he did a deductive point the whole reading that we had today can be summarized by the very first verse that Matt read and that was this for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another so that's the point today I thought I'd save us all time in Jesus name amen um we're going to continueous some prayers just kidding can you imagine that would be ridiculous some people were a little too excited I saw a little like oh man we get a brunch early we'll beat the rush um no it's a John
really does make this point right off the bat um really quickly he he just says like hey this is what I want you to
get out of this section right when you're reading this I want you to know that this message that you've heard from the very beginning that we should love one another now it's an interesting that he makes this point in this part of the letter um if you've been following along with this series chapter 3 is all about being children of God so at the very beginning of chapter 3 a couple weeks ago we had a sermon on this beautiful section where John writes um see how great a love that we have that we should be called um children that we should be
called children of God he goes on to contrast children of God versus Children of the devil says you're you're one or the other um he talks about uh at the beginning how we become children of God what Jesus has done to graft us into his family adopt us and then kind of what that looks like to live out as a child of God so it's interesting that he's talking about children of God and then he's like all right so love one another now it's
funny because you think like oh if we're brothers and sisters in Christ if we're a family then loving should be given right that should be obvious that why do you need to rehash that that feels like it's just implied and yet John feels the need to talk to Christians and say you know what as brothers and sisters you should love one another it's that important to him to to bring this up because sibling relationships are kind of a funny thing like I don't know if you have brothers and sisters I'm the oldest of five and you love your siblings but you also do stuff to your siblings right things don't always go super smoothly like sometimes there's tension sometimes there a proximity I remember this one time I won't tell you which brother but when we were kids my parents are teachers by trade we were at a Teachers Conference in Minnesota and there's teachers from all across the state of Minnesota and at one point one of my little brothers we were probably in like Elementary School we're playing on this hill and and we're kind of up overlooking everybody and my brother goes hey Mom Dad look at me and he's kind of like shaking his hands or something and they look up and all these teachers look up and it's this cute moment and I saw an opportunity and so I see my brother waving and everybody looking at him and I'm kind of behind him I'm like and I pants him I know this was not good I I Repent of that okay I I've been
forgiven and I you know man what a jerk brother I just I like to think overall that I wasn't that bad of a brother um I don't think you know I hear some stories I'm like you I did pretty well but that was a moment I'm not proud of um and it's not like I just did it to him at
home like in front of all these people like this shame and I look back and it's like how in the world could you do that to your brother right like this brother
you're you're supposed to love you know parents are always telling their kids to get along like how could you do this to your
brother and and so John is talking about sibling relationships here because he knows that even though you and I I get
to call each other's Brothers and Sisters in Christ um those relationships are a little complicated sometimes and
we don't always love one another as we should now John takes this very
seriously he invoked a certain brotherly relationship did anyone catch what brothers he
referenced Cain and Abel if you don't know the story of Cain and a uh let's
just say this is not the picture of how Brothers should act so you have these two brother s they're the first children
of Adam and Eve and so the first humans sin has just entered the world and and
it goes downhill pretty quick this beautiful paradise is devolving and descending into sin and you have these
two brothers Cain and Abel and they're both offer sacrifices to God now we're
told that Abel's sacrifice is really pleasing to God he loves it Cain's sacrifice for whatever reason not
doesn't have the same response so God takes delight and Abel's and not C's so
Cain like a like a responsible person goes to God and says hey God you know what's wrong with my sacrifice what should I be doing differently no he
doesn't do that instead Cain is jealous of his brother and so he leads him out into a field and he murders
him so John is like hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ you should love one another don't be like Cain now some of
us are probably thinking you know what I have murdered zero Christians I've actually murdered zero
people so take that I am not like Cain and yet this is what John is evoking
because he's so concerned about how Christians treat one another and this section we we're called to love all people but this section is very much
about Christians brothers and sisters how do we get along that's what John's concerned about here and so yes he he
references the story of Cain he says it like this he says we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one and
murdered his brother and why did he murder him because his own Deeds were
evil and his Brothers righteous now this last sentence is so interesting um that Cain would murder
his brother because his brother's Deeds were righteous we like to think that when you are good and loving and right that people respond well and generally
they do but sometimes um there's something about goodness and righteousness and Holiness that can
bring out the worst in other people right so when a light shines it shines into all sorts of Dark Places and
exposes what happens in the dark I uh I shared the story our renewal campus a couple weeks ago but when I was in high
scho I went to something called boy State now boy state is this uh summer camp that's basically designed to teach
people about how our government works how you can be a good citizen how you can be involved there's also a girl state so there's a boy and girl
equivalent and and boy St was really cool because there's these high schoolers from all over the state and we had a chance to learn about um what it
means to partake in government we got to run for the kind of mock offices and like here's what the postmaster does
here's what the secretary of state does all of that now there was this guy at boy state that I met named name Simeon
Toronto which first off is like the coolest name ever I like that guy hit the jackpot Simeon Toronto I will never
forget that name um Simeon was awesome and I remember when I first met him he was just the most genuine compassionate
person he was just like hey if I can ever do anything for you please let me know and Simeon just was like everyone
noticed Simeon is a really cool dude and you know what happened I started to think he's got to
be faking it there's no way right because I saw all of these good things Simeon was doing and it exposed
all of the things that I lacked right man I didn't tell all these people that I was thinking of them and wanted to
help them I just said hi you know and so I I it was easier for me to try and knock him down to kind of hate him in my
heart than it was to just be like wow this guy's great and that's exactly what
what John's getting out here with Cain right he he sees his brother and his righteousness exposes Cain's own evildoings and so Cain responds in
jealousy so much so that he commits murder I I want to share a painting with
you um this is by a French painter and I'm so bad with French I'm going to read his name his name is William
Adolf bugaro bgo o okay if anyone knows French find me afterwards I'd love to
help PR pronounce that William Adolf borero now bgo paints this painting in
1888 um called the first morning and when you hear that like when I first heard like oh there's a painting called
the first morning I thought you know like good morning like it's the first day and I was like oh is this you know the first day of creation or something
or what's this going to be but the first morning is spelled m o you are
aning the first mour the first grieving and he painted this and what he
depicts is the moment that Adam and Eve find the body of their son Abel in the
field this is that painting it's called the first morning by Adolf burgo and
what you'll see here is you see Abel's body the victim of this terrible monstrosity the victim of this Murder by
the hand of his own brother sprawled out limp dead pale you see Eve mourning her
son crying you see Adam holding his wife trying to comfort her kissing her head
while at the same time holding his heart as he Grieves as well a a a picture depicting what
happens in the most extreme case of when brothers hate instead of loving one
another and this isn't in scripture but I can just imagine Adam and Eve wondering and talking to Cain and and
asking that question that I asked my younger self how could you do that to your
brother how could you do that to your brother and so John takes for us the
story of Cain and and says don't be like that don't go that route and again most
of us are probably thinking I haven't killed my brother I haven't committed murder and there's no no corpses around
that I caused and then John then follows It Up by saying this and and he references Jesus's teaching on The Sermon on the
Mount he says 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 so for John for you to hate your brother is just as bad as murdering them
now there's different consequences and obviously one is much more extreme but it's the Same Spirit right if brothers
and sisters are supposed to dwell in harmony then there is this spirit that we are prone to that we can fall victim
to that we can give into that leads us to hate one another the same way ha Cain hated Abel that eventually led to murder
and so John is concerned about Christians hating their brothers and sisters and he's calling them to do
something different rather to love one another now um hate shows itself in a
lot of different ways we don't always see people screaming during worship I at least I don't see you guys screaming
during worship at each other nobody else I hate you which is good don't do that
um but hate shows up in a lot of different ways so John one of the examples he gives is is one of indifference one of the ways that we can
hate each other is by being indifferent John says this but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in
need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him
JN says if you see a fellow Christian in need and you have something that could
help them and you close your heart and walk away it's like somebody drowning in
front of you and you could just reach out and give them a hand and you're like oh that water's pretty
cold yeah and so he's saying if it's that extreme if you're going to see the
see a brother in need and just you have means to helping and you don't how can God's love even abide in you
indifference right and and indifference shows all sorts of different ways Francis Chan he's a he's a pastor he had a very large
church and then he moved overseas was part of the church in Asia came back he's kind of started this new kind of
movement well he's a good author and he has this book called letters to the church and he's reflecting on some of the trends in the American church and
ways that um it can get back to its roots get back to kind of the historic faith and what that's supposed to look
like lived out one of the things he comments on is that the American Church traditionally not everywhere
but has lost the idea of being siblings with one another and instead functions more like people who just happen to go watch the same movie in the same
theater think about that for a second he's saying we don't operate like brothers and sisters but instead people who just happen to go and watch the same
movie and and so when we look in this room God sees us as siblings brothers
and sisters right I hope that you're not indifferent to your biological siblings
um I hope that when you see a need when one of your siblings is down is struggling that you you talk to them you
ask about them and John says that's exactly how we're supposed to love one another right we don't just walk out of
here thinking like all right so long everyone but are there people here who need help are there people who I can
check in on I have a friend who has a family member and there's a struggle in this
relationship because this friend's family member whenever they are angry just quits
talking they just check out so this friend it's it's so challenging for them because they'll be communicating and all
of a sudden they just get ghosted and this family member will just quit chatting because they're they're angry they're mad something offended them
something was frustrating that's not a healthy way for families to function a healthy way is to
say hey I have an issue but how often in the the church is is it tempting when something is when somebody does
something to us when somebody says something that we're hurt by or the church makes a decision that we don't
like we just kind of disappear we just check out I don't want to deal with the confrontation I'm just going to leave or
I'm just going to avoid that person right a certain
indifference we do this other ways too by the ways that we speak about one another we think about one another you
see this in Generations all the time right so generally this is a generalization I
have noticed that and this is true of the outside world but it happens in the church too sadly right older Generations
tend to look at younger Generations as idealistic they don't really get it
they're selfish instead of older Generations looking at younger generations and saying you are an equal member of this
body you are just as much much of a part of this church as I am and your opinion and your thoughts and the Holy Spirit
that dwells in you has a place here and my way is not the most important
way inversely um younger Generations s to look at older Generations as outdated
stuck in their ways right instead of viewing them as scripture
talks about as people who have been granted great wisdom right who the Holy Spirit has Sanctified and made holy over
the course of years people to honor and to respect and so this this seeps into
the way that we think of people we write people off it it seeps into the way we speak about one
another and John's words is that that's hating one
another and if you allow that to dwell in you if you allow that to be your your mode of operation
then John says how can the love of God abide in you so there's this great call from John
to look at the people in this room the people in our church not as just other people who are interested in the same
product not just to be people who happen to sit near us but it's people that God has put
right in front of us to love and to care for and not just in Flowery language
like Matt read little children let us not love in word or talk but in indeed
and in truth it's not enough just to say I love these people it's a whole another thing to actually do it to live it out
so that the world sees the church and says wow those are people who really care about one another wow those are people who really
know how to love now all of this love is ultimately not something that we muster not
something that we just come up with ourselves but it's a love that's been given to us which is why John tells us
how do we even know what love is by this we know love that he laid down his life
for us now it doesn't say he who the he is but hopefully we understand this is
Jesus how do we even know what love is right the world has tons of definitions of love if you ask a 100 people what
love is you're going to get 100 answers right John says You Want To Know What Love looks like look at the fact that
Jesus laid down his life that's what love is and then John says therefore we
ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren brothers and sisters
so what I want to think about now is again this love that comes from Jesus
because Jesus saw God's people all sorts of messes right not loving each other um
if you know the story of Israel you have these chosen people of God right they they called themselves children of Abraham God's chosen people and there's
all of these issues and people seeing needs and not taking care of it people fighting people hating people oppressing
one another and then Jesus came into that to try and sort it all out to try
and fix everything to try and bring Unity to the family again he was righteous he was good and
he was holy and he and he brought love into Loveless places and hope into hopeless places but if we learn something from
the story of Abel how do how do evil people react to righteousness not usually well I want to
show you this painting Again by adol bordo one detail I didn't uh didn't
highlight earlier is I want you to look at Abel's posture you'll notice his his palms are
turned out as if they're stretched out on a beam and his legs are are
crossed so you could drive a nail right through them see what bero was getting at is
that in the story of Abel we get a preview of what would happened to
Jesus that this true and good brother who is right with God and who loved
perfectly would then be rejected by the very people that he came to love and so
in Abel we see a picture of what Jesus would do for us it's like we sang earlier right why are we
forgiven because he was Forsaken and that that cost was great
and as you look at Adam and Eve mourning here I can't help but imagine Jesus's own mother Mary there watching this all
happen when Jesus was on the cross I think of of God in heaven looking down on his son whom he
loved or even John the Apostle who wrote this letter he was at the Cross Too
mourning his savior but Jesus was willing to endure all of this so that as we look at
ourselves and we realize man I have been lacking love God is asking me to love all these
people like brothers and sisters and I barely give them a passing glance or I've been harboring anger I've been
refusing to forgive I've been refusing to to reconcile I always love when Jesus talks about um reconcil ation he says if
your brother sins against you who goes to make things right you go but they sin
against me you go and and Jesus saw all of this and he
came to forgive it and he was willing to endure everything even death on a cross so that way those sins that shame that
we feel the guilt that we feel from not loving we might look not to our own love but to the love of God made manifest in
Jesus and know that we were baptized into that death and into that Resurrection and because of it there is hope I love
in this reading that John writes when our heart condemns us when our heart tells us you know what I am messed up I
am sinful and I've geez I've really really hurt some people and I've failed to love
he says God is greater than our heart and the love of God in Jesus Christ is far greater than any sin the sins that
we've committed and the sins that we because of the things we failed to do far greater and so we look back to this
love to know that we are restored that we have hope this is why John could kind of summarize this whole section in verse
23 by saying and this is the Commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another just
as he has commanded us two parts believe in the name of the son his
son Jesus Christ believe in Jesus bring your sins to him trust him and then love
one another just as he has commanded us believe in Jesus and then love one
another so I just want to take those two and I want you to know walking away from today I want you to know one thing I
want you to do one thing okay one thing I want you to know whenever your heart condemns you whenever you feel as broken
whenever you realize how little love you actually show people don't look to your love because
it'll never be enough but look to the love of Jesus Christ that says in me you are
forgiven it's the only way other If we're honest we're only going to fall into Despair and then one thing to
do go out of here today maybe during communion while we're singing and you're in your spot reflect on this pray about
this maybe in your car ride you can talk to somebody if you came with somebody how can we love the people in
this congregation even better than we do now is there somebody that we have been hating is there somebody that we've been overlooking are there people that we've
been indifferent towards and again it sometimes it's small everyone's closer to some siblings
than others right that's okay but are there ways that we can love better cuz the call of John and the call
of Jesus is to love one another just as Jesus loved us and so the way that Paul puts this in
Philippians I love he says this when it comes to the Christians treating one another he says do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves I just think about this room for a second think for a moment and realize
that God is asking to think of every single person in this room as more significant than you every person I'm the least
significant person here how might I treat them but I treat them with honor respect should I see if I can help them
and then Vice vers they then they think of you more significantly than themselves it's this beautiful family relationship that we have and so the
call is are there ways that we can bless this community are there ways that we can love better I think of the JFK quote
right ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country it's the same for us as Christians it's
not hey what can this church do for me but it's hey what can I do for this congregation what can I do for these
people right because Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us so we get to
lay down ours for others and that doesn't mean only that you're willing to take a bullet for
somebody which you should you know that's good that's great that's you know what John says um No Greater Love is
this than we should lay down our life for another but but as I talk about it in marriage counseling um laying down
one's life which is what husbands are called to do for their wives is not just I'll be the one to die if one of us has to but it means that I no longer view my
life is more important than theirs and this life and this gift that I have this is a wonderful opportunity to
then go out and bless other people so one thing to know when you
feel like your love is far shorter than it should be far less don't look to your love look to Jesus's and secondly how
can you love those around us even more than we currently do are the ways that we can Embrace each other as brothers
and sisters not as just strangers not as just people who happen to watch the same movie but as people that Jesus died for
and has called us into relationship with may that be our goal and our mission as God's family
amen we're now going to enter into a time of prayer um if you're on the live stream I thank you for joining us um you
can comment any prayer request we'd love to as a church pray for you um one thing that I love about prayer is uh God
invites us to come to him um not just like all right sure I'll hear you out um
but God actually wants us to come to him prayer is actually a really cool thing that God wants to hear from us I'm a
father um some of us are parents I love when my son asks me to do things I love
when my son says hey I can't reach this Dad can you go get that hey can you come wrestle on the bed it's usually what it
is um but but it brings me joy when he wants something from me when he says Hey Dad could you do this for me and in the
same way we're told that God Delights when his children come to him and say hey heavenly father I'm struggling with
this could you help me says yeah I'd love to hey God I just want to thank you for this you're welcome you're welcome
Daughter you're welcome son so we get a chance to pray and to lift up the concerns on our hearts in our minds all
those things um that we're going through that loved ones are going through the world is going through it's one of the best things we can do as a Christian
Church is just pray for the world and because there's only one person who holds everything in his hands and his
name is Jesus and we actually have an opportunity to come to him and say hey Jesus could you do this so we're now
going to go before God in a time of prayer I invite you to Bow your heads with
me Heavenly Father we thank you for your son Jesus who was willing to be forsaken
so we might be forgiven we we thank you for your love that knows no bounds That Forgives us
even with our lack of love our lack of action we pray that you would make us a
people that loves one another that we would mutually lay down our lives for each
other father we thank you for your Apostle St John who wrote these beautiful words for us and as a church
named after him I just pray that people would see those words embodied that this is a place that loves one another and
says look how they love I just pray that you continue to stir up a heart of service
generosity of sacrifice that we might look at each other as you call us to look
at we now ask you hear these prayers on behalf of your people father we pray for the healing
and recovery of Janet strong following knee replacement surgery um we thank you
for doctors and medical professionals who could perform such surgeries and we pray that the recovery would go smooth
um keep Janet in good spirits and be with her throughout this whole process and hopefully making a full
recovery Heavenly Father we lift up to you a request for resolution for the
conflict in the Middle East we pray for peace between the Jewish and the Palestinian
people God there are situations in this world that humanly we cannot see how they're going to
resolve and our only hope is that it is all in your control and so we just pray for for all of those who are mourning
right now all of those who have lost loved ones all of those who are caught in crossfire we pray for peace in the
Middle East Heavenly Father we pray for all families in our church we pray for
husbands and wives to cling to one another in steadfast love and
faithfulness pray that they would love and honor one another we pray for children to be
raised um in obedience in love and in joy
we pray that they might grow day by day to know your love and your will more and more we pray for parents that you would
equip them for this great Duty that you would strengthen and enable them to raise their kids um in love and fear for
you and in love and fear for their parents father we pray for all of those
who are expectant mothers all of those who have babies on the way um we pray that you would watch over both mother
and child um that you would be with them that you would guide them safely to delivery that You' prepare those
expectant parents for this great calling that is being put upon them um that you would lead them and prepare them in this
time of anticipation to be good parents to their kids with that Lord we also pray for
those um for whom expectancy in pregnancy is is a struggle is a reminder
of pain we pray for all of those who are struggling with infertility all of those who have experienced miscarriages and
stillborns we pray that at a time of of tragedy and of mourning for pain that that does not
just go away that you would be in the midst of it that you would bring comfort and hope that you would use us as your
people to Bear their burdens with them so nobody has to walk alone through those
pains father we pray for the singles in our church um we thank you for the gift that they are to our congregation for
all of those who are currently not married um we thank you for their gifts their blessing we thank you that they are a reminder that your true church is
the true family and that everybody can find a home in here so for those who are single
we pray that you would give them meaningful relationships and friendships um people to lean on spend time with for
those who desire marriage we pray that you would um provide for them Godly
spouses in your time um but no matter what happens we pray that they would grow in love and Trust according to your
will and we pray for our church family that we would continue to embody the great desire that you have for your
community of people Heavenly Father we pray for the imprisoned on those who are
incarcerated and behind bars who are a waiting trials or serving sentences your son Jesus said to his
people when I was in prisoned you visited me we pray that we never forget those who are in a situation that is
often isolating and lonely often filled with Despair and we pray that you would bring comfort and hope in that dark
place that you'd bring community we pray for justice in our Judiciary System that everyone would receive faird process
that the truth would remain would come Supreme and we just pray for all of
those who are currently incarcerated we also pray for all those who are currently exposed to the elements as the
temperature goes down lord there are those who lack shelter lack clothing we just pray that you would whether it's
through organizations or programs or through us um keep those individuals exposed warm keep them them fed continue
to bless them and be with them Father we pray for your church on Earth we pray that you would remain pure
and holy according to the teaching and the love of your son Jesus that you
would be unified and we pray for resolution to the many splinters in your Christian Church that we could unite
around the one true faith we pray that you would keep the church on its
mission to live out your will and to bring more people into the hope and life of
Jesus finally father we pray for the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan for the many people who have lost loved
ones um for those who are trying to pick up the pieces um we pray that in the
midst of disaster you would again be present to bring comfort and hope we pray that you would use what is
bad for your good and maybe at this time you would use This Disaster for people to turn to you as the one source of
light father we thank you um for this time of prayer we thank you that you eagerly
await our prayers that you love when we speak to you and we come to you and we ask things of you we thank you for your
goodness and we have confidence that we can do this because of your son Jesus who in his sacrifice and Resurrection is
now the great mediator and so it is with boldness that we can come together and pray with one voice the prayer that he
has taught us to pray Our Father who is in heaven
Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in
heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver
Us from Evil for yours is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever
amen we're not just going to have a time of confession um in the world we often have to try and dress ourselves up make
ourselves look successful and good and like everything's together confession is a time when we get to be siblings
siblings see all your worse stuff um my brothers have more dirt on me than anybody but we get to just confess God
you know what I haven't loved as I should I haven't loved you I haven't loved these people and I'm
sorry un likee a loving father the word we get back it's okay you're forgiven so
I'm just going to give you a moment to silently confess anything that's on your heart or mind especially today's we think about the ways that we have or
have not loved our brothers and sisters in this congregation um we just get to
uh to confess that to God to be honest about it and then be released from that
and forgiven so I'm just going to give you a moment now to Sil confess [Music]
that [Music]
[Music] please pray with me Lord Jesus Christ we confess to you
that we have sinned by our thoughts by our words and by our
Deeds by both those things that we have done against what you want and those things you've asked us to do that we
haven't done God we have sinned against you we've not Loved You Jesus with our whole
heart mind soul and strength and we have not loved our neighbors and our brothers and sisters as
ourselves and God according to your perfect holy righteous judgment we would deserve nothing but punishment and yet
according to your infinite mercy and the love and sacrifice of your son Jesus we ask that you would forgive us that you
would cleanse us from all unrighteous ious nness you would not take your Holy Spirit from us but renew your spirit
once again in US lead us to lives of love not just in words and talk but in
deeds and in truth we ask this all in Jesus name amen and our God Delights in forgiving
us when we confess he is faithful and just and forgives us all our sins therefore as I called and ordained
servant of the word by the authority and command of my Lord Jesus Christ to hereby forgive you all of your sins in the name of the father and of the son
and of the holy spirit amen and now we have a beautiful opportunity to experience a and receive
a family meal um we're told that communion is a foretaste it is a preview of that final Feast that we will get
when Jesus comes back and we're United with all Christians across all time and place uh this week I got to go to a
conference and we had service there and usually when I'm at a worship service I'm usually have a role in it I'm
usually leading it uh this was one of the first ones in a while that I just got to partake in and one of my favorite things to do when I take Comm communion
is to be looking around the room at all the people I'm communing with and saying wow these are my brothers and sisters
and these are the people that one day I'm going to be sitting at a table with and we're going to be rejoicing in the love of
God and this is a family meal just like if you have a a Thanksgiving or Christmas tradition where everyone gathers together and everyone catches up
and laughs and talks we get to experience that but this meal is so special it's not just any old food it's
actually Jesus giving himself once again giving his body and his blood blood to us for our life forgiveness and
salvation now it's a meal that we celebrate because Jesus himself told us
to because Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took
bread when he had given thanks he gave it to his disciples and said Take and Eat This is my body given for you do
this in remembrance of me and in the same way he took the cup
after supper when he given thanks he gave it to to all of them said take and drink this cup is my blood of the New
Testament shed for the Forgiveness of all of your sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of
me so during this next song I invite you if you wish to receive Jesus's body and blood for your life forgiveness and
salvation as part of this family part of this Brotherhood and Sisterhood I invite
you to come forward and come to the Lord's
table [Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
wory of every song we could ever [Music]
sing worthy of all the praise we could ever
bre worthy of every breath we could ever be we live for
you come on we sing Jesus Jesus the name above every other
name Jesus the only one who could ever
say you're worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for
you oh we live for you holy and
holy there is no one like you there is is none beside you open up my eyes in
Wonder and show me who you are and fill
me with your heart and Lead Me In Your
Love to those around [Music]
me come on he's worthy let's sing to him
worthy of every song we could ever
sing worthy of all the praise we could ever
[Music] bring worthy of every breath we could
ever breathe we live for [Music] you we live for you
Jesus Jesus the name above every other
name Jesus the only one who could ever say you
are worthy of every breath we could ever bre we live for
you oh we live for you Lord
holy holy there is no one like you there is
nothing beside you open up my eyes in
Wonder and show me who you are and fill
me with your heart and Lead Me In Your
Love holy we sing
Holy there is no one like you there is
beside you open up my eyes in Wonder and
show me who you are and fill me with
your heart and need in your love to
those [Music]
me Hallelujah
[Music] and I will build my life
upon your love it is a firm
foundation and I will put my trust in
you alone and I will not be I will build you
I will build my life upon your love it
is a and I will put my
trust in you alone Jesus I will not be
Shen come on let's sing holy to him this morning and
holy there is no one like you there is
none beside you open up my eyes in
Wonder and show me who you are and F me
with your heart and Le Me In Your Love
come on just the voices let's lift it up [Music] holy there is no one like you there is
none beside you open up my eyes and show
us Lord show who you are and fill me with your
heart and Lead Me In Your Love to those
around me [Music]
now may the eating and drinking of this true body and blood strengthen and preserve you to life Everlasting amen
one quick announcement before our final blessing there are more pies this is the last week to buy them go get your pies
it's great Sports a good cause and they are delicious um so please please uh know that those are out there um thanks
for having me it's always a blessing to be here thanks for your warm and hospitality and I want to leave you with this blessing from Romans 15 May the god
of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope amen
have a blessed week
English (auto-generated)
Love that does not Practice Sinning
October 1, 2023 • AJ Vega
Love God
September 24, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 2:28–29, 1 John 3:1–3
Love not Deceived
September 17, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat
Love that does not Love the World
September 10, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 2:15–17
Love from Our Advocate
September 3, 2023 • Matt Walton • 1 John 2:1–6
True love is a love that discerns, it's a love that does not practice sin, and it's a love that will be rejected by the world but will overcome the world. Ultimately, it flows from "That Love" that comes to us from Jesus (1 John 4:10), and hopefully leads us to say, "I want to embody 'that love.'" We'll be looking at John's letters to see what true love looks like and how we can show the world that love.
Love that Walks in the Light
August 27, 2023 • Pastor Andrew Farhat • 1 John 1:1–4
Coming into and living in the light of Jesus every day!
