Monday Nights @ First B (10)

In one paragraph

This was the closing message in the series on 1 John. Pastor Carl walked through the final verses of the letter, using John's six themes as a framework: trust, ask, pray, obey, know, and keep. The sermon kept returning to the same center, that everything in the Christian life flows from a real relationship with Jesus. Pastor Carl opened by talking about the Bible itself, describing the tendency to...

Read together

1. Colossians 2 (partial, verse not specified) He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross
2. 1 John 5:13 identified as the key verse: written so believers may know they have eternal life
3. 1 John 5:13-21 the closing passage of 1 John read aloud in full as the sermon text
4. John 5 (verse not specified) those who listen and believe in God who sent Jesus have eternal life and have passed from death
5. Matthew 6 (verse not specified) the Lord's Prayer quoted to illustrate asking for God's will, not our own
6. John 15:5 Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, remaining in him produces fruit
7. Psalm 51 (verse not specified) David's prayer: create in me a clean heart and renew a loyal spirit within me

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl talked about how we can look at our Bibles and see a boring portrait on a wall instead of a window into eternity. What gets in the way of you seeing it that way, and has there been a time when God's word hit you at exactly the right moment?
2. Pastor Carl said that sometimes we can question our salvation to the point where it becomes crippling, but he also said wrestling with it can be healthy. Where is the line between healthy wrestling and that crippling doubt, and how do you know when you have crossed it?
3. Pastor Carl was honest that he knows what Carl wants, and that is not always what God wants. How do you personally work through the tension of bringing your own desires to God while praying for His will to be done?
4. Pastor Carl said prayer is one of the most effective gifts we have been given, and that our job is to pray for God to do His life-transforming work in people rather than trying to change them ourselves. Is there someone God keeps putting on your heart, and what would it look like to actually commit to praying for that person?
5. Pastor Carl drew a distinction between behavior modification, just trying harder and doing better, and behavior transformation through staying attached to Christ the way a branch stays on a vine. What does that difference look like in everyday life, and where have you seen it play out in your own experience?