1 John 4:15-16: Love Week 5
January 30, 2022
Pastor Ricky Smith
Sermon Notes
I. Love Changes Everything
1 John 4:15
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
A. Confession
Jesus is King whether we acknowledge Him or not.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
B. Communion
1 Corinthians 1:9
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matthew 22:37
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
II. Love Abides
1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
A. Sworn Allegiance
B. Shared Mission
John 6:69
and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.
John 17:26
I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Abiding in Christ should stir in us loving action
Next Steps
- I confess that Jesus is my King for the first time.
- I commit to fellowship with God this week through daily study and prayer.
- I confess that my actions are not showing God’s love and repent.
Deep Dive
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and share your personal experience of being made new in Christ.
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and discuss how our daily expression of love points to God’s ministry of reconciliation.
- How accurately do your actions reflect the love of Christ?
Springboards
- Describe a time when you were afraid while you should have been brave? What could you have done differently?
- Read Romans 8:14-15. If God is our Father how should this impact the boldness in which we act and the fear that we reject?
- Read 1 John 4:17. Are you generally afraid of dying or are you more excited for heaven? Why or why not?
