Love that Completes
God has given us completed love in a world of fear
His completed love drives away our fear
We fight our fears with God’s completed love
“The weight of our obligation to love each other is measured by the magnitude of the love God has shown us in Jesus Christ.
God is Love
God has Loved Us
We Ought to Love Each Other
We know the true Spirit of God because…
He confesses the truth about Jesus
He makes you overcome the world
He awakes our heart to the word of God
A heart that is absolutely assured in the presence of God
Knows that Condemnation has been Removed
Knows it has Confidence in Prayer
Because of Keeping the Commandment
A Love that Reverses
“See what kind of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (3:1)
What this kind of love accomplishes
How this kind of love is powerful
Who this kind of love effects
Continuing in the Light
Be aware of the qualities of the antichrists
Be assured of the qualities of the anointed
Hating In The Light
Why we ought not love the world
What are the things of the world
How we keep from loving the world
Loving in the Light
The Commandment to love each other
The Consequence of loving each other
The Cause for loving each other
Living in the Light
The Hypocrisy Test (1-6-7)
The Holier-Than-Thou Test (1:8-9)
The Humanist Test (1:10-2:2)
The Half-Hearted Test (2:3-6)
The Life Made Real
The Life must be revealed
The Life must be received
The Life must be proclaimed
The Joy will be finished
The Life
Theological Clarity: Jesus is God
Personal Piety: Stop sinning
Collective Charity: Love one another…for real
The Finished City . . . and Yet . . .
The city we build
The city built for us
The building we do now
Unfinished Reforms . . . for Now
The centrality of God in all of life
The life of faith rather than self-determination
The life of (collective) holiness rather than worldliness
Unfinished Turnaround . . . for Now
Read the word of God
Revel in redemptive truth
Repent of causal sin
Re-engage in covenant living
Unfinished Struggle…for now
Strategies of opposition: escalating threat
Strategy of our advance: deepening roots in truth
Unfinished City . . . for now
Walls are for . . .
Definition: this is who we are
Purpose: this is why we’re here
Distinction: this is how we live
Living as God’s new kind of people requires a new kind of leader
Broken-hearted over sin
Humble and bold before God
Humble and bold before kings
Undaunted by intense and persistent opposition
Committed to teamwork and togetherness
Takes justice personally
Unfinished Faithfulness . . . for Now
Faithlessness is our toxic problem
Contrite confession is our only recourse
Covenant reinforcement is our response
Sacrificial obedience is our hope and assurance
Unfinished Heart . . . for Now
Study the Word
Do the Word
Teach the Word
Set your heart on the Word