August 18, 2025 • 41 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, my name is Jude Goosberg, I go to Benicia High
School and I'm in ninth gradeand I'll be reading John,
chapter 1 through 7.
That which was from thebeginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and
our hands have touched, this weproclaim concerning the word of
life the life appeared.
(00:27):
We have seen it and testify toit.
And we proclaim to you theeternal life which was the
Father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we haveseen and heard so that you also
may have fellowship with us,and our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son, jesusChrist.
We write this to make our joycomplete.
(00:50):
This is the message we haveheard from Him and declare to
you God is light.
In Him there is no darkness atall.
If we claim to have worshipwith Him and yet walk in the
darkness, we lie and do not livewithout the truth.
But if we walk in the light, ashe is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another andthe blood of Christ, his son,
(01:12):
purifies us all with from sin.
1 John 1-7 is the word of theLord.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thanks be to God, thanks, brother, appreciate it
Well.
Last week we didn't have power,then Friday we had a fire that
tried to take us out.
And then you guys came in hereand you're like where'd my seat
go?
Like I see some of you are justangry right now.
Like you moved my seat.
It brings me so much joy.
I'm a weirdo like that.
(01:40):
We're starting this new seriesin these letters of John.
It's in the back of your newTestament.
I'm just going to tell youahead of time that one of the
easiest things to do is justgoing to be like open up, like a
pastor can said open up a Bibleapp or bring a Bible each week.
You'll be able to follow alongin the scripture I'll throw up
on the screen, but it'll behelpful.
So if you've ever played chess,if you're a chess person, you
(02:00):
know what checkmate means.
It means that the game is over,like your opponent has no moves
left, like there's no options,there's no way out, it's final,
it's done.
And what we discover in the NewTestament is that is exactly
what Jesus did through his life,his death, resurrection, that
(02:20):
he made this ultimate move, thatthere's no longer any room for
debate, that he is who heclaimed to be God in the flesh.
Every miracle, every teaching,every I am statement was a part
of this master plan, where hesays I am light, I am living
water, I am the bread of life, Iam the gate, I am the good
(02:44):
shepherd, I am the door.
I am the bread of life, I amthe gate, I am the good shepherd
, I am the door, I am the way, Iam the resurrection and I am
the life.
And then Easter.
Easter was the final proof,checkmate.
And yet there's this beautifulparadox that, even though
victory is his, that he stillgives you and I a move.
(03:05):
You still have a choice and hewon't force himself upon you.
You can live with him as kingand you can hold on to that
title yourself.
But here's the tension whenthere's two kings that remain on
the board, the game can't go on.
It's a stalemate, it's a draw.
(03:25):
Essentially, it's a deadreligion.
And so where does that leave us?
Well, it leaves us with thegame of chess that could never
end Two kings face to face onthe board of life, where I want
to call my own shots, I want tomake my own rights and my own
wrongs, I want to follow my ownrules and I want to make my own
rights and my own wrongs.
I want to follow my own rulesand I want to make my own
(03:47):
guidelines.
Now, listen, I know that some ofus, we might say, like I'm not
against God, like I'm not like aanti-Christ type of person,
like I want him as a guide.
I want him as somebody who cananswer my prayers, like a good
luck charm, a great counselorwho will maybe give me some
(04:07):
wisdom on some things that arebeyond my thought and control,
or maybe somebody who can helpme out of a jam that most of the
time, usually I put myself intolike, oh, I want a God who's at
my beck and call according tomy will, my desires, my life.
What it does is it leaves us inthis place of stalemate.
(04:29):
There's a draw, and so we havethis great board of life where
we're face to face with thistruth and our Christian life
isn't a stalemate, it's a draw,until I actually decide to
topple and fall and decide tolet him be the king that he
needs to be, or I'm going tohave to get rid of him as king
(04:51):
of my life, putting him back inthe box and what we did together
as a faith community over 150weeks and the gospel of Matthew
before this, is that we learnedultimately, god won and it's
over, but your move stillactually matters and that's the
beauty of this series that we'reactually entering into today.
(05:11):
Like, what do you do afterstudying for three years?
I know you guys hung with mefor three years about Jesus and
the life of Jesus through thebook of Matthew.
Well, I thought we shouldprobably figure this out.
Like, now that we know this,how do we actually apply it?
How do we actually, like, walkin it?
And John he writes a gospelhimself ends up writing three
(05:31):
little books in the back of theNew Testament First, second and
third John.
Now, what we know is we learnedwho Jesus was and that, who he
claimed to be, and that he wasGod, what he did, and we learn
about the cross, we learn aboutthe empty tomb, and so now, what
Like?
What does that mean for my life?
What does that mean for yourlife?
And that's what we get to learnthroughout this entire series.
(05:55):
The other thing that we know isJohn is an old man by the time
that he writes this.
John is the last of thedisciples.
We know that he was the onlydisciple that actually died of
old age.
The rest of his fellow 12colleagues all were put to death
.
And John is this guy now whohas watched for the last 55, 60
(06:16):
years now, christianity come andgo since the cross, and John
has watched the first centuryworld already begin to lose its
grip on who Jesus was.
It's already become more of ahabit, if you will, more of a
religion.
It becomes something that youknow my family disbelieves in,
so I adhere to it as well, andit's no longer this life-giving
(06:41):
source that John was likeactually able to walk with and
be with.
I mean, you can imagine, youknow the old man gets stopped
all the time in the streets allaround the city and in the area
of Ephesus where John will livethe last of his days.
People have got to be stoppinghim all the time.
Like, can you, can you tell usabout that one time?
Remember that we heard thatthere's a time in that boat and
(07:04):
you all thought you're going todie and the storm was just on
you and so intense, and so youwent and you woke him up.
Can you tell us, like, how didit happen?
Like, did it just end instantly, like the wind just stopped.
Was it gradual?
Did it just like?
How did it right?
He's got to get stopped all thetime to ask these questions
about what took place.
He tells about the time whereyou were allowed to go into that
(07:26):
one house where that12-year-old girl had died and
they let you in there.
How did he do it?
Like?
How long before he said thosewords did she like sit up in bed
?
And then what were the parents'reactions?
What was the crowd really likeoutside?
Like what was taking place?
John's got to be gettingstopped constantly to tell these
(07:47):
stories and to share it.
Did the leprosy just heal itself?
Did it just like all happen atonce?
At one time?
It was just gone Like?
Was it gradual?
Did it like fall off?
Did it just disappear?
Could you see the skin actuallymoving on into some other type
of form?
And everybody wants to know.
I would want to know, you wouldwant to know.
When the blind guy oh my gosh,we heard when the blind guy saw
(08:12):
for the first time.
What was his reaction?
Did he even know what he waslooking at?
What did his face look like?
Everyone wants to know thestory.
And now John, as the lastdisciple, he now carries the
weight of understanding.
He's the last disciple and thelast of the apostles, the last
of the eyewitnesses, and in thelast 50 years, since the empty
(08:35):
tomb, the church has alreadystarted to lose it.
Have you been there?
That early passion, that earlydesire to walk with Christ, that
initial feeling where now justfeels like that flame, is some
distant spark, a camp high, orretreat high, if you will, an
(08:57):
ember that somewhere, every oncein a while gets blown on, and
the right type of service orthat special song or the right
kind of teaching.
See, what we find here is thatthe church has become complacent
.
The church has taken this risenlife of the creator and turned
it into another lifelessreligion, a bunch of soulless
(09:18):
individuals simply just like,fingers crossed, hoping that
they have the right God pickedout and that they can get the
right answers.
And John, in these five pages,writes a small letter and says
you got to come back, like yougot to come back to what you're
missing.
Jesus is actually who heclaimed to be checkmate Like
(09:40):
your God has proven everythingthat he needs to prove to you,
but he's still giving you achoice, that you still have a
move, and here's what that'sgoing to look like.
If you want your life back, ifyou want your purpose back, or
to find it for the first time,you're going to have to come to
a decision during this series DoI choose to allow him to be
(10:03):
king or is it still going to beme?
So today we start with thisintro 1, john 1, verse 1.
Here we go.
It begins like this and let metell you, it starts in such a
powerful way.
It says this that which wasfrom the beginning, which we
(10:24):
have heard, which we have seenwith our eyes, which we have
looked at and our hands havetouched.
This we proclaim, concerningthe word of life, that life
appeared and we have seen it andtestified to it.
And we proclaim to you theeternal life which was with the
(10:46):
father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we haveseen and heard so that you may
also have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with thefather and with his son, jesus
Christ.
And we write this to make ourjoy complete.
See, 50 years after the emptytomb, the church is like already
(11:12):
battling different philosophies.
The church has these differentteachings that are kind of like
starting to creep into it.
And John's right off the bat.
He's got to set the recordstraight, not just for the
church in Ephesus but thesurrounding churches.
This isn't just written to oneperson or not just to one church
.
It's written to be circulated,this letter, to be circulated
around to all the house,churches, the small groups that
(11:33):
are gathering.
And he's saying, hey, hold on,let me just tell you.
You've heard a lot of stuffabout Christianity, like what it
is or what it isn't, but let mejust tell you what we are
writing to you, which is fromthe very beginning, as in like
this, is way before Bethlehem.
What you've heard about him,this is before Genesis 1.
This we're writing you aboutthe God that existed before time
(11:57):
, that we've seen him he'stalking about, we've heard him,
we've gazed at him, we'vetouched him, we've walked with
him.
And what John is trying to doright here, right off the bat,
in this letter, is he's tryingto set this authority for what
he's about, to teach us whatwe're going to be reading here
in the next few months.
John is trying to tell you andI, this didn't come from some
(12:18):
story that was passed through ingeneration to generation.
This didn't come from this oldliterature or scripture.
This isn't some family religionor hearsay.
This isn't some secondhandknowledge or what someone else
taught, or some wise man or somesage or some monk in a cave
(12:40):
wrote down this is the God thatwe walked with.
He's saying we walked with him,we saw him, we touched him, we
heard with our own ears, wetouched with our own hands, we
saw with our own eyes.
And what John is doing as thelast of the disciples is he's
actually setting up an authorityon this, saying I don't care
(13:03):
who walked into your Bible studyand told you something.
Saying I don't care what youGoogled or what you found on the
internet, what you looked up orwhat someone else has passed
down to you.
Hold on.
He says let me tell you from aneyewitness account Right here,
the guy who walked with Jesusfor three years.
(13:23):
I mean essentially he could saylook at, I've lived every story
from Matthew, mark, luke and,yes, the one I wrote, john.
Right, let me tell you who hewas and what he was about.
And also, if you just turn yourBible just back a couple of
pages, 2, peter is right before1 John, and Peter himself was
one of the other disciples andhe wrote this letter.
(13:45):
And in 2 Peter 1, verse 16, hesays for we didn't follow
cleverly devised stories that wetold you about that the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ came inpower, but we he says this were
eyewitnesses of his majesty.
So here's a problem that'staking place in this first
(14:05):
century church and it's aproblem that we're actually
going to see in the book of 1John right here in the second
chapter We'll get into that somenext week.
There's this group of peoplethat have started teaching some
things that are different,essentially kind of started
making up their own Christianity, their own version, following
their own thought, their owndefinition, their own way to
(14:26):
apply Jesus.
And John is trying to, rightoff the bat, what he's going to
start doing is saying like hey,I'm not one of those people that
you've experienced, I'm one ofthe eyewitnesses.
And so let me tell you whoJesus was himself, the God
before time, the very word thatbecame flesh and actually dwelt
among us.
And the beginning we see thisin the beginning of 1 John
(14:48):
shouldn't actually surprise us,because when you read the gospel
according to John, he starts itvery similar he starts it with
in the beginning was the word ofGod, and the word of God became
flesh and the word was God andhe was God in the beginning.
Then he says and through him,things were made and without him
that nothing was actually made.
(15:09):
In him was life, and that lifewas the light of all mankind.
And the light shines indarkness.
He's using these really clearmetaphors and that darkness has
not overcome it.
And so when John starts thisletter, he's starting it in a
very similar way.
He says I'm writing you tothese things in which I've seen
that, we've heard that, I'vetouched from the very beginning.
(15:31):
He's going there From beforetime.
This was the very word of Godand this was the very life of
God that walked amongst us.
So, for today, I think it wouldbe helpful if we all understand
the purpose, as we're jumping in, of this letter.
He's going to use this phrasefour different times.
You'll see this.
It makes it this letter.
He's going to use this phrasefour different times.
You'll see this.
It makes it really clear.
(15:52):
He's going to say I write youthis, which is why he's writing
to us.
So the first one is he says wewrite you this to make our joy
complete.
So the purpose of this letternumber one is that a joy that
cannot be taken from us?
A complete joy.
Joy that cannot be taken fromus a complete joy.
(16:14):
You can ask yourself have I everfound myself running on empty?
Uh-huh, maybe has your faithbecome dry or lifeless or
routine.
You know like you still go tochurch.
You'll hold your coffee, you'llraise your hand a little bit
every once in a while duringworship, but you're not really
thinking about the words.
You find yourself just prayingbefore meals because it's like
(16:35):
habit.
You read your Bible when theapp reminds you to, or you got
your daily verse, like.
You find yourself doingspiritual things, but your soul
just feels numb and you'reexhausted by parenting and work
and grief and financial stressand burnout.
And you've quietly stoppedbelieving that God has anything
(16:57):
new for you.
You don't doubt that God isreal.
You just you don't feel him.
You believe in him, you justfeel distant from him.
And what John does in thisletter is John reminds us
beautifully, over and over again, that a life should be marked,
(17:17):
a life of Jesus, should bemarked by deep, abiding joy, not
just like momentary happiness,but a joy that actually survives
hardship and disappointment andeven doubt.
That's who John is writing to Apeople who once walked on fire,
now just living on autopilot,and what he says is come back,
(17:42):
not to religion, not to rituals,not to rules, but to Jesus, who
is the source of life and lightand joy.
The second thing he does numbertwo, the purpose of this letter
says I write you this so thatyou will not sin, good luck.
So the purpose of this letteris actually a victory over what
(18:03):
sin has stolen.
This is what he's talking about.
I don't know if you've everbeen stuck in guilt, shame, old
patterns.
I wrote that part for myself.
Yeah, like you have things thatyou just don't feel like you
can break free from.
I don't know if you know this.
You know how the Bible spellsvictory.
It's spelled F-R-E-E-D-O-M,which is freedom.
(18:28):
I know somebody got sorry.
He writes to declare thatfreedom, that we get freedom
over what sin has stolen.
And this letter actually offersmore than just forgiveness.
It offers freedom, a way tolive like, beyond the weight of
sin and shame, and walk in thisdaily victory that Jesus has
(18:49):
already secured.
The third thing that we see hesays I'm writing to you these
things about those who aretrying to lead you astray.
So the purpose of this letternumber three is a truth that
lies cannot lead us away from.
I don't know if you're, like,aware of news and culture, but
are you confused aboutconflicting messages that are
(19:12):
out there?
Like does it make you questionwhat is real or what is even
right?
Like you've seen it, you feltit, our world is full and
drowning in opinions aboutmorality, about identity, about
spirituality, about truth ortruthiness.
Like one, tiktok says one thing, a podcast says another, a
(19:36):
friend says, like, just followyour heart.
Another one says that's hatespeech, right.
So no wonder we're confused inthe midst of this.
But John's saying, like hold on, guys, I'm actually writing to
you right now so you won't beled astray, that truth actually
isn't changing, that truth isn'tshifting and truth actually has
a name, and his name is Jesus.
(19:56):
And so John gives us, in thisletter, this unshakable
foundation of truth, so that wearen't tossed by trends or
opinions or lies that soundspiritual but aren't biblical.
The fourth thing he says I writeyou these things so that you
may know you have eternal life.
(20:18):
So the purpose of this letter,this fourth one, this final one,
is a promise of salvation thatdoubt cannot deny.
I don't know if you've everfelt this way.
I know I've felt this waybefore, but you ever like sit
there and wonder, like, am Ireally saved Right?
Like you're like this is this,is it, this is good?
Or or a fear that God isdisappointed or distant to you.
(20:41):
I know I can often find a voicein my head full of it's not
enough, you're not good enough,and shame, or you're just an
imposter.
And John wants to erase thedoubt.
He wants you to know, not guess, not just hope that you belong
(21:03):
to God, that you are enough andeternal life is already yours,
that you are enough and eternallife is already yours.
Now, how many of us right nowwould go like, yep, I need to
have joy.
That can't be taken.
I need to have freedom andvictory in my life.
I need a truth and I'll pausejust for a moment.
(21:25):
Not just a truth, because itdoesn't seem difficult Like,
what is truth today?
As I was preparing this, I waslike I don't even know if I can
define what truth is today.
And John was really helpful.
He says well, I'm going to giveyou one, I'm going to give you
a truth so that you'll never beled astray in this area and then
a promise of salvation and whatthat's going to do is give you
(21:48):
an assurance that you will neverhave to doubt again.
So my question for you and asI've gone through this, is like,
who wouldn't want to sign upfor this?
Do you want to sign up for this?
Like, literally, is thereanything else in this life that
I desire right now more, or thatwould make more a higher on
(22:09):
this top four list than thesethat are on this list Like this?
I look at this and I'm like,geez, this might solve my life.
Like, if I'm a person of joywith freedom and victory, my
gosh, if I have truth that's soironclad in my life and a
promise of salvation that doubtscan't actually touch and that
this isn't just hearsay, thisisn't story time, this isn't
(22:31):
just from old scriptures Likethis wasn't from this cleverly
devised writing in a cave thatthis all actually came from an
eyewitness experience.
This guy, john, who was there,I can only imagine he's now
realizing, as he's getting readyto write this stuff somewhere
in his old age, like into hisnineties, that there's not going
to be much time left whenpeople are going to just stop me
(22:53):
in the street and ask me aboutthese stories that essentially
he can only straighten outpeople's theology for so much
longer while he's in theirpresence and there's a
weightiness to him understandingthat, like he's got to be
sitting there going.
I've gotta put pen to paper soothers can know that you're
living a stale, dead draw oflife and it's a stalemate and
(23:16):
you've literally got two kingson the board and the game cannot
be played that way.
I read something this last weekthe other week from Charles
Spurgeon about joy.
It was really helpful.
This is what he says.
Too many Christians are passiveabout losing their joy.
They need to realize it is ofgreat loss and do everything
(23:40):
they can to draw close to Godand to reclaim the fullness of
joy.
If any of you have lost the joyof the Lord, I pray you do not
think it is simple or a smallloss.
It is the very essence of yourrelationship.
It is the very character ofGod's life in us and through us.
Friends, I would just say don'tallow your spirituality to end
(24:05):
up in a religion like that adraw, a stalemate, a dead
religion.
So if the gospel of Matthewthat we studied was offering us
new life with God, then the bookof 1 John explains what that
life is and then how we actuallycan remain in it.
(24:28):
And the problem we see in thechurch was at this time that
everyone began to define whattheir life, light and love looks
like.
And this is the problem thatthis letter is going to be going
after over and over and overagain.
And we get these three keywords as we go through this
Words, which is life, light andlove.
You get this cool introductionin chapter one, but in chapters
(24:50):
two, three, four and most offive, everything gets kind of
amplified, it doesn't stay verylinear and what's going to
happen is, week after week,we're going to hear about life
and we're going to hear aboutlight, we're going to hear about
love, and he's going to give usthese four, four and a half
chapters or so in as manydifferent times and as many
different ways as he possiblycan, saying, hey, let me just
(25:13):
tell you about life, hey, let mejust tell you about light and
what love is.
And it's become like verycyclical in this manner, over
and over again, because theproblem was, 60 years after
Jesus died and rose again, thechurch again was getting their
own definitions of what it meantto be to live this life and,
frankly, we run into the samethings in our culture.
(25:35):
What does it mean that God islight?
What does it mean to love andwho can I love or who shouldn't
I love?
And everyone began to define iton their own.
We're going to find thatthere's a group of people next
week in chapter two that areactually kicked out of the
church because of that.
We're going to find thatthey're still actually going
(25:55):
from church to church andthey're teaching the opposite
truth and this is whatChristianity is and it's in this
fight, and we don't get a lotof their teaching.
You'll see this.
We get John's answer to theirnegative comments, but we never
actually hear what they are andI love that.
Like, maybe we shouldn't beexposed to what their arguments
(26:16):
were all about?
Maybe that's a life lesson forthe things we're exposing
ourselves to as well.
Like we should just come backto the truth and John is trying
to encourage people.
I want you to get your lifeback.
I want you to get your hopeback, and the early church
confusion and the heresy, all ofthat stuff honestly just led to
(26:38):
then people leaving the churchbecause they were teaching lies,
they were creating doubt, theywere creating questions about
whether believers even reallyknew God, whether you even
really had salvation.
Were you even really walkingwith him?
Were you really walking in thelights?
Do you even really know whattruth is?
(26:59):
Are you really saved?
So confusing, so confusing.
So, friends, may this be aseries that you and I come to,
the eyewitness that you and Ijust come back to the very word
(27:21):
of God and you and I come backto this 2,000 year old book that
has stood the test of literarycriticism, that has stood up
against every Greek scholar overand over again and has come
back to the same phrases, theexact same words.
And may you and I be the kingon the board that bows and
topples and says it's you andsays it's you.
(27:51):
And then, continuing after thisintro, in verse five he says
this message that we have heardfrom him now declare to you here
it is God is light In him.
There is no darkness at all.
So John begins with thisfoundational, bold statement God
is light, thank you.
Yeah, here we go, yeah, solight.
In scripture, it oftensymbolizes purity, truth,
(28:13):
goodness and life.
And so when John says thatthere's no darkness at all in
God, he's saying that there'sactually not even a hint, like
there's not even a hint ofdeceit or evil or corruption in
him.
That not that he's mostly goodor occasionally pure, no, no,
he's saying that, look, he's100%, perfectly holy, 100% of
the time.
This verse echoes actually whatJohn wrote in his gospel In him
(28:37):
was life, and that life was inthe light of mankind, and so
light.
You know this.
It doesn't just expose somethings that are darkness, it
actually drives darkness out, itreveals truth of what's taking
place and it shows you then theway.
So then John does this, hestarts here and then he
continues then with this warninghe says now, if we claim to
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have fellowship with him and yetwalk in the darkness, we lie
and we do not live out the truth.
So here's the tension we cansay we have fellowship with God
and we can still walk indarkness.
That's like an amen moment.
You guys know that right there.
(29:20):
That's the scary stuff.
This isn't just aboutstruggling with sin friends,
it's about living a double life.
And John is saying if we'reclaiming to know God but we're
deliberately living and hidingin sin and bitterness and lies
or spiritual apathy, we're notjust failing, we're just lying.
We're lying to ourselves we'relying to everybody else around
us, and understand this.
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Christianity isn't aboutclaiming the light, it's about
walking in it.
Then John then moves to thisreally beautiful invitation.
He says but if we walk in thelight, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship with oneanother.
And then the blood of Jesus,his son, purifies us from all
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sin.
Notice what happens when wewalk in the light, that we
actually have fellowship withothers.
This word for fellowship hereis a word called koinonia.
It's this not shallow, notSunday-only relationships, but
authentic, grace-filledcommunity that we then together,
collectively experience ongoingpurification, not perfection,
(30:27):
but it's this continualcleansing by Jesus's blood.
Now we didn't meet last week, soI'm going to really quickly
grossly summarize the next 11verses really fast.
Here's your homework for theweek.
Read John, chapter one, verseeight, through eight in the
second chapter.
So eight to eight.
Do that one.
This is what it is summarizing.
(30:48):
It's about just the realitiesof you and I as a human and that
we sin, just so you know.
We sin, which sin means we missthe mark, and it talks to that
Like we're all in the same club.
We've totally messed this thingup and we continue to do that.
So John emphasizes that when wedo, because you will just FYI,
and that's not permission,that's just acknowledgement,
just so you know right, when youdo, you have an advocate.
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He says you have an advocate,jesus Christ, who intercedes
before the Father.
God's forgiveness rests on hisown faithfulness and justice,
not our merit, and a reminderthat no sin is greater than
God's actual power to forgiveand cleanse and his reputation
is at stake on keeping that,because that's what he said, who
he is and that is his promise.
(31:34):
And when it comes to sin, youand I have these different
options and possibilities.
The first is this you can denyit capabilities.
The first is this you can denyit just refusing to acknowledge
wrongdoing.
It's a place where we can live.
The next thing is we canrationalize it, our sin, just
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justifying why it's acceptablein our case because you just had
to do it and so you make areason why it's taking place in
your life.
Or he talks about this you canconfess it, agreeing with God
about our sin and then turningfrom it.
This is such an importantmissed practice.
Confession is literally thegateway to restored fellowship
(32:15):
in ongoing transformation, notjust between you and God.
This daily process keepsbelievers walking in light
rather than darkness Confessionas you obey God's word, not out
of legalistic duty but out ofthis loving response to his
grace, you get to experience hislove being made complete in you
(32:36):
.
And then this verticalrelationship with God naturally
then begins to extendhorizontally to loving others.
And so he's emphasizing thisidea of not deceiving yourself.
Don't deceive yourself with therealities of who you are, and
then who you are in Jesus Christ.
He uses language even likedon't lie to yourself.
(32:57):
And these verses remind us thatwalking in the light isn't
about being flawless, friends,it's about being honest.
Honest, it's about bringingyour whole self, the good, the
broken, the hidden, into thelight of God's grace.
So let us glean the light ofthese letters, friends.
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Let us bring our whole self,the good, the broken, the hidden
, into the light of God's grace.
Over the next Sundays we spendtogether.
So here we are, the board isset, the pieces are in place,
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one king has claimed victory andthe other is still standing.
And maybe that king is you,your plans, your control, your
truth.
But the game cannot go on thisway, not without ending in a
stalemate.
And you, friends, were not madefor a dead religion, you
(34:05):
weren't made to survive off ofsparks of passion that then
flicker and fade away.
You were made for joy thatcannot be stolen, freedom that
sin cannot chain, and truth thatno culture can cancel, and a
salvation you have never have toquestion.
And that's the life 1 Johninvites us into.
(34:27):
And that's the life 1 Johninvites us into A real, lived
out, spirit-filled life thatwalks in light and love and
truth.
But it starts with one move.
So topple your crown, surrenderthe board and let the rightful
(34:49):
king take his place, because thegame's not over not for you,
not yet.
You still have a move, and 1John's going to show you how to
make it.
Let me pray for us, god.
Thank you for these lettersthat, although they were not
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written to us, they are so forus.
Thank you for your Holy Spiritthat works in us and helps us
understand these things.
Would you give us courage toconfess, to get right with you,
to walk in the light of love andlife?
God, may we just feel joy as weleave this place.
(35:34):
May we feel freedom and victoryas we leave this place.
Would we understand truth andbe so greatly comforted by that?
I thank you for the gift ofyour presence in this room and
as we respond to worship to youtoday, in your name, we pray
(35:55):
Amen.
Well, friends, I told many ofyou that today we are going to
be announcing who our newworship pastor is.
Let me first read to you a wordfrom the Lord, from the Old
Testament, deuteronomy, chapter31,.
Verse eight says this do not beafraid or discouraged, for the
Lord will personally go ahead ofyou.
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He will be with you and willneither fail you nor abandon you
.
And I just want to say, friends, that I am incredibly grateful
for the way that the Lord hasgone ahead of us here at this
church through and for manythings.
Most organizations, or evenministries, when they start
(36:37):
looking for someone, they lookat vision first, then they look
at task next and thenrelationships last.
And the problem with that iswhen it comes that the vision
actually then begins to changeor shift.
What happens is relationshipsthen have to change, and the
church is made up of people.
Relationship is the onlyorganizational currency, and so
(37:02):
this actually forced us to diveinto a model which then informs
relationships first and theninforms vision, which then
informs task.
And I believe that this is thekingdom way that relationships
first, people praying, peopledreaming, and we let that then
inform the rest and then visioncan change if it needs to and
(37:24):
jobs can change if they need to.
But with this model,relationships do all the
informing.
So a few months ago beganreflecting and praying through
this.
Who are we in deep relationshipwith, already Committed to
already, trusting already, whois pastoring and leading us
(37:48):
already, who have been dreamingand running with already, and it
was clear that she was a partof this faith community already,
and her name is Ostri Shoaz.
She can come out here.
Let me tell you this Ostri ishumble, she is powerful.
(38:10):
She's kind, gritty, godly,steadfast and caring.
I have known Ostri for thebetter half of a decade and I
love this woman of God.
I respect her life, herwonderful husband, kyle, her
girls, willow, paisley, autumn.
(38:32):
I'm so ready to be led into thethrone room with her to worship
our risen King with you.
We are ready now to be led inresponse with you, and so,
austri, may the Lord fill youwith his spirit and strengthen
your hands for the work and keepyour heart anchored in his love
In church.
(38:52):
The same God who has gone aheadof us in this decision is
calling us to walk, then, withfaith, unity and love.
We're not just receiving apastor today, not just receiving
a pastor today.
(39:13):
We're committing ourselves towalk with her in relationship,
to pray with her, to pray forher, serving alongside of her,
and to keep dreaming God'sdreams together.
And so let us be a people thatnot only just honor the shepherd
that God has sent us, but evenmore a people who keeps our eyes
on the chief shepherd who'sgoing ahead of all of us.
And so this is our charge.
This is our charge Go forwardtogether, strong in relationship
(39:36):
, bold in vision and faithful inevery task, knowing the Lord is
already ahead of us.
So, friends, would you stand toyour feet and give Austria a
spiritual welcome.
Hi, my name is Jude Goosberg, I go to Benicia High
School and I'm in ninth gradeand I'll be reading John,
chapter 1 through 7.
That which was from thebeginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and
our hands have touched, this weproclaim concerning the word of
life the life appeared.
(00:27):
We have seen it and testify toit.
And we proclaim to you theeternal life which was the
Father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we haveseen and heard so that you also
may have fellowship with us,and our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son, jesusChrist.
We write this to make our joycomplete.
(00:50):
This is the message we haveheard from Him and declare to
you God is light.
In Him there is no darkness atall.
If we claim to have worshipwith Him and yet walk in the
darkness, we lie and do not livewithout the truth.
But if we walk in the light, ashe is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another andthe blood of Christ, his son,
(01:12):
purifies us all with from sin.
1 John 1-7 is the word of theLord.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thanks be to God, thanks, brother, appreciate it
Well.
Last week we didn't have power,then Friday we had a fire that
tried to take us out.
And then you guys came in hereand you're like where'd my seat
go?
Like I see some of you are justangry right now.
Like you moved my seat.
It brings me so much joy.
I'm a weirdo like that.
(01:40):
We're starting this new seriesin these letters of John.
It's in the back of your newTestament.
I'm just going to tell youahead of time that one of the
easiest things to do is justgoing to be like open up, like a
pastor can said open up a Bibleapp or bring a Bible each week.
You'll be able to follow alongin the scripture I'll throw up
on the screen, but it'll behelpful.
So if you've ever played chess,if you're a chess person, you
(02:00):
know what checkmate means.
It means that the game is over,like your opponent has no moves
left, like there's no options,there's no way out, it's final,
it's done.
And what we discover in the NewTestament is that is exactly
what Jesus did through his life,his death, resurrection, that
(02:20):
he made this ultimate move, thatthere's no longer any room for
debate, that he is who heclaimed to be God in the flesh.
Every miracle, every teaching,every I am statement was a part
of this master plan, where hesays I am light, I am living
water, I am the bread of life, Iam the gate, I am the good
(02:44):
shepherd, I am the door.
I am the bread of life, I amthe gate, I am the good shepherd
, I am the door, I am the way, Iam the resurrection and I am
the life.
And then Easter.
Easter was the final proof,checkmate.
And yet there's this beautifulparadox that, even though
victory is his, that he stillgives you and I a move.
(03:05):
You still have a choice and hewon't force himself upon you.
You can live with him as kingand you can hold on to that
title yourself.
But here's the tension whenthere's two kings that remain on
the board, the game can't go on.
It's a stalemate, it's a draw.
(03:25):
Essentially, it's a deadreligion.
And so where does that leave us?
Well, it leaves us with thegame of chess that could never
end Two kings face to face onthe board of life, where I want
to call my own shots, I want tomake my own rights and my own
wrongs, I want to follow my ownrules and I want to make my own
rights and my own wrongs.
I want to follow my own rulesand I want to make my own
(03:47):
guidelines.
Now, listen, I know that some ofus, we might say, like I'm not
against God, like I'm not like aanti-Christ type of person,
like I want him as a guide.
I want him as somebody who cananswer my prayers, like a good
luck charm, a great counselorwho will maybe give me some
(04:07):
wisdom on some things that arebeyond my thought and control,
or maybe somebody who can helpme out of a jam that most of the
time, usually I put myself intolike, oh, I want a God who's at
my beck and call according tomy will, my desires, my life.
What it does is it leaves us inthis place of stalemate.
(04:29):
There's a draw, and so we havethis great board of life where
we're face to face with thistruth and our Christian life
isn't a stalemate, it's a draw,until I actually decide to
topple and fall and decide tolet him be the king that he
needs to be, or I'm going tohave to get rid of him as king
(04:51):
of my life, putting him back inthe box and what we did together
as a faith community over 150weeks and the gospel of Matthew
before this, is that we learnedultimately, god won and it's
over, but your move stillactually matters and that's the
beauty of this series that we'reactually entering into today.
(05:11):
Like, what do you do afterstudying for three years?
I know you guys hung with mefor three years about Jesus and
the life of Jesus through thebook of Matthew.
Well, I thought we shouldprobably figure this out.
Like, now that we know this,how do we actually apply it?
How do we actually, like, walkin it?
And John he writes a gospelhimself ends up writing three
(05:31):
little books in the back of theNew Testament First, second and
third John.
Now, what we know is we learnedwho Jesus was and that, who he
claimed to be, and that he wasGod, what he did, and we learn
about the cross, we learn aboutthe empty tomb, and so now, what
Like?
What does that mean for my life?
What does that mean for yourlife?
And that's what we get to learnthroughout this entire series.
(05:55):
The other thing that we know isJohn is an old man by the time
that he writes this.
John is the last of thedisciples.
We know that he was the onlydisciple that actually died of
old age.
The rest of his fellow 12colleagues all were put to death
.
And John is this guy now whohas watched for the last 55, 60
(06:16):
years now, christianity come andgo since the cross, and John
has watched the first centuryworld already begin to lose its
grip on who Jesus was.
It's already become more of ahabit, if you will, more of a
religion.
It becomes something that youknow my family disbelieves in,
so I adhere to it as well, andit's no longer this life-giving
(06:41):
source that John was likeactually able to walk with and
be with.
I mean, you can imagine, youknow the old man gets stopped
all the time in the streets allaround the city and in the area
of Ephesus where John will livethe last of his days.
People have got to be stoppinghim all the time.
Like, can you, can you tell usabout that one time?
Remember that we heard thatthere's a time in that boat and
(07:04):
you all thought you're going todie and the storm was just on
you and so intense, and so youwent and you woke him up.
Can you tell us, like, how didit happen?
Like, did it just end instantly, like the wind just stopped.
Was it gradual?
Did it just like?
How did it right?
He's got to get stopped all thetime to ask these questions
about what took place.
He tells about the time whereyou were allowed to go into that
(07:26):
one house where that12-year-old girl had died and
they let you in there.
How did he do it?
Like?
How long before he said thosewords did she like sit up in bed
?
And then what were the parents'reactions?
What was the crowd really likeoutside?
Like what was taking place?
John's got to be gettingstopped constantly to tell these
(07:47):
stories and to share it.
Did the leprosy just heal itself?
Did it just like all happen atonce?
At one time?
It was just gone Like?
Was it gradual?
Did it like fall off?
Did it just disappear?
Could you see the skin actuallymoving on into some other type
of form?
And everybody wants to know.
I would want to know, you wouldwant to know.
When the blind guy oh my gosh,we heard when the blind guy saw
(08:12):
for the first time.
What was his reaction?
Did he even know what he waslooking at?
What did his face look like?
Everyone wants to know thestory.
And now John, as the lastdisciple, he now carries the
weight of understanding.
He's the last disciple and thelast of the apostles, the last
of the eyewitnesses, and in thelast 50 years, since the empty
(08:35):
tomb, the church has alreadystarted to lose it.
Have you been there?
That early passion, that earlydesire to walk with Christ, that
initial feeling where now justfeels like that flame, is some
distant spark, a camp high, orretreat high, if you will, an
(08:57):
ember that somewhere, every oncein a while gets blown on, and
the right type of service orthat special song or the right
kind of teaching.
See, what we find here is thatthe church has become complacent
.
The church has taken this risenlife of the creator and turned
it into another lifelessreligion, a bunch of soulless
(09:18):
individuals simply just like,fingers crossed, hoping that
they have the right God pickedout and that they can get the
right answers.
And John, in these five pages,writes a small letter and says
you got to come back, like yougot to come back to what you're
missing.
Jesus is actually who heclaimed to be checkmate Like
(09:40):
your God has proven everythingthat he needs to prove to you,
but he's still giving you achoice, that you still have a
move, and here's what that'sgoing to look like.
If you want your life back, ifyou want your purpose back, or
to find it for the first time,you're going to have to come to
a decision during this series DoI choose to allow him to be
(10:03):
king or is it still going to beme?
So today we start with thisintro 1, john 1, verse 1.
Here we go.
It begins like this and let metell you, it starts in such a
powerful way.
It says this that which wasfrom the beginning, which we
(10:24):
have heard, which we have seenwith our eyes, which we have
looked at and our hands havetouched.
This we proclaim, concerningthe word of life, that life
appeared and we have seen it andtestified to it.
And we proclaim to you theeternal life which was with the
(10:46):
father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we haveseen and heard so that you may
also have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with thefather and with his son, jesus
Christ.
And we write this to make ourjoy complete.
See, 50 years after the emptytomb, the church is like already
(11:12):
battling different philosophies.
The church has these differentteachings that are kind of like
starting to creep into it.
And John's right off the bat.
He's got to set the recordstraight, not just for the
church in Ephesus but thesurrounding churches.
This isn't just written to oneperson or not just to one church
.
It's written to be circulated,this letter, to be circulated
around to all the house,churches, the small groups that
(11:33):
are gathering.
And he's saying, hey, hold on,let me just tell you.
You've heard a lot of stuffabout Christianity, like what it
is or what it isn't, but let mejust tell you what we are
writing to you, which is fromthe very beginning, as in like
this, is way before Bethlehem.
What you've heard about him,this is before Genesis 1.
This we're writing you aboutthe God that existed before time
(11:57):
, that we've seen him he'stalking about, we've heard him,
we've gazed at him, we'vetouched him, we've walked with
him.
And what John is trying to doright here, right off the bat,
in this letter, is he's tryingto set this authority for what
he's about, to teach us whatwe're going to be reading here
in the next few months.
John is trying to tell you andI, this didn't come from some
(12:18):
story that was passed through ingeneration to generation.
This didn't come from this oldliterature or scripture.
This isn't some family religionor hearsay.
This isn't some secondhandknowledge or what someone else
taught, or some wise man or somesage or some monk in a cave
(12:40):
wrote down this is the God thatwe walked with.
He's saying we walked with him,we saw him, we touched him, we
heard with our own ears, wetouched with our own hands, we
saw with our own eyes.
And what John is doing as thelast of the disciples is he's
actually setting up an authorityon this, saying I don't care
(13:03):
who walked into your Bible studyand told you something.
Saying I don't care what youGoogled or what you found on the
internet, what you looked up orwhat someone else has passed
down to you.
Hold on.
He says let me tell you from aneyewitness account Right here,
the guy who walked with Jesusfor three years.
(13:23):
I mean essentially he could saylook at, I've lived every story
from Matthew, mark, luke and,yes, the one I wrote, john.
Right, let me tell you who hewas and what he was about.
And also, if you just turn yourBible just back a couple of
pages, 2, peter is right before1 John, and Peter himself was
one of the other disciples andhe wrote this letter.
(13:45):
And in 2 Peter 1, verse 16, hesays for we didn't follow
cleverly devised stories that wetold you about that the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ came inpower, but we he says this were
eyewitnesses of his majesty.
So here's a problem that'staking place in this first
(14:05):
century church and it's aproblem that we're actually
going to see in the book of 1John right here in the second
chapter We'll get into that somenext week.
There's this group of peoplethat have started teaching some
things that are different,essentially kind of started
making up their own Christianity, their own version, following
their own thought, their owndefinition, their own way to
(14:26):
apply Jesus.
And John is trying to, rightoff the bat, what he's going to
start doing is saying like hey,I'm not one of those people that
you've experienced, I'm one ofthe eyewitnesses.
And so let me tell you whoJesus was himself, the God
before time, the very word thatbecame flesh and actually dwelt
among us.
And the beginning we see thisin the beginning of 1 John
(14:48):
shouldn't actually surprise us,because when you read the gospel
according to John, he starts itvery similar he starts it with
in the beginning was the word ofGod, and the word of God became
flesh and the word was God andhe was God in the beginning.
Then he says and through him,things were made and without him
that nothing was actually made.
(15:09):
In him was life, and that lifewas the light of all mankind.
And the light shines indarkness.
He's using these really clearmetaphors and that darkness has
not overcome it.
And so when John starts thisletter, he's starting it in a
very similar way.
He says I'm writing you tothese things in which I've seen
that, we've heard that, I'vetouched from the very beginning.
(15:31):
He's going there From beforetime.
This was the very word of Godand this was the very life of
God that walked amongst us.
So, for today, I think it wouldbe helpful if we all understand
the purpose, as we're jumping in, of this letter.
He's going to use this phrasefour different times.
You'll see this.
It makes it this letter.
He's going to use this phrasefour different times.
You'll see this.
It makes it really clear.
(15:52):
He's going to say I write youthis, which is why he's writing
to us.
So the first one is he says wewrite you this to make our joy
complete.
So the purpose of this letternumber one is that a joy that
cannot be taken from us?
A complete joy.
Joy that cannot be taken fromus a complete joy.
(16:14):
You can ask yourself have I everfound myself running on empty?
Uh-huh, maybe has your faithbecome dry or lifeless or
routine.
You know like you still go tochurch.
You'll hold your coffee, you'llraise your hand a little bit
every once in a while duringworship, but you're not really
thinking about the words.
You find yourself just prayingbefore meals because it's like
(16:35):
habit.
You read your Bible when theapp reminds you to, or you got
your daily verse, like.
You find yourself doingspiritual things, but your soul
just feels numb and you'reexhausted by parenting and work
and grief and financial stressand burnout.
And you've quietly stoppedbelieving that God has anything
(16:57):
new for you.
You don't doubt that God isreal.
You just you don't feel him.
You believe in him, you justfeel distant from him.
And what John does in thisletter is John reminds us
beautifully, over and over again, that a life should be marked,
(17:17):
a life of Jesus, should bemarked by deep, abiding joy, not
just like momentary happiness,but a joy that actually survives
hardship and disappointment andeven doubt.
That's who John is writing to Apeople who once walked on fire,
now just living on autopilot,and what he says is come back,
(17:42):
not to religion, not to rituals,not to rules, but to Jesus, who
is the source of life and lightand joy.
The second thing he does numbertwo, the purpose of this letter
says I write you this so thatyou will not sin, good luck.
So the purpose of this letteris actually a victory over what
(18:03):
sin has stolen.
This is what he's talking about.
I don't know if you've everbeen stuck in guilt, shame, old
patterns.
I wrote that part for myself.
Yeah, like you have things thatyou just don't feel like you
can break free from.
I don't know if you know this.
You know how the Bible spellsvictory.
It's spelled F-R-E-E-D-O-M,which is freedom.
(18:28):
I know somebody got sorry.
He writes to declare thatfreedom, that we get freedom
over what sin has stolen.
And this letter actually offersmore than just forgiveness.
It offers freedom, a way tolive like, beyond the weight of
sin and shame, and walk in thisdaily victory that Jesus has
(18:49):
already secured.
The third thing that we see hesays I'm writing to you these
things about those who aretrying to lead you astray.
So the purpose of this letternumber three is a truth that
lies cannot lead us away from.
I don't know if you're, like,aware of news and culture, but
are you confused aboutconflicting messages that are
(19:12):
out there?
Like does it make you questionwhat is real or what is even
right?
Like you've seen it, you feltit, our world is full and
drowning in opinions aboutmorality, about identity, about
spirituality, about truth ortruthiness.
Like one, tiktok says one thing, a podcast says another, a
(19:36):
friend says, like, just followyour heart.
Another one says that's hatespeech, right.
So no wonder we're confused inthe midst of this.
But John's saying, like hold on, guys, I'm actually writing to
you right now so you won't beled astray, that truth actually
isn't changing, that truth isn'tshifting and truth actually has
a name, and his name is Jesus.
(19:56):
And so John gives us, in thisletter, this unshakable
foundation of truth, so that wearen't tossed by trends or
opinions or lies that soundspiritual but aren't biblical.
The fourth thing he says I writeyou these things so that you
may know you have eternal life.
(20:18):
So the purpose of this letter,this fourth one, this final one,
is a promise of salvation thatdoubt cannot deny.
I don't know if you've everfelt this way.
I know I've felt this waybefore, but you ever like sit
there and wonder, like, am Ireally saved Right?
Like you're like this is this,is it, this is good?
Or or a fear that God isdisappointed or distant to you.
(20:41):
I know I can often find a voicein my head full of it's not
enough, you're not good enough,and shame, or you're just an
imposter.
And John wants to erase thedoubt.
He wants you to know, not guess, not just hope that you belong
(21:03):
to God, that you are enough andeternal life is already yours,
that you are enough and eternallife is already yours.
Now, how many of us right nowwould go like, yep, I need to
have joy.
That can't be taken.
I need to have freedom andvictory in my life.
I need a truth and I'll pausejust for a moment.
(21:25):
Not just a truth, because itdoesn't seem difficult Like,
what is truth today?
As I was preparing this, I waslike I don't even know if I can
define what truth is today.
And John was really helpful.
He says well, I'm going to giveyou one, I'm going to give you
a truth so that you'll never beled astray in this area and then
a promise of salvation and whatthat's going to do is give you
(21:48):
an assurance that you will neverhave to doubt again.
So my question for you and asI've gone through this, is like,
who wouldn't want to sign upfor this?
Do you want to sign up for this?
Like, literally, is thereanything else in this life that
I desire right now more, or thatwould make more a higher on
(22:09):
this top four list than thesethat are on this list Like this?
I look at this and I'm like,geez, this might solve my life.
Like, if I'm a person of joywith freedom and victory, my
gosh, if I have truth that's soironclad in my life and a
promise of salvation that doubtscan't actually touch and that
this isn't just hearsay, thisisn't story time, this isn't
(22:31):
just from old scriptures Likethis wasn't from this cleverly
devised writing in a cave thatthis all actually came from an
eyewitness experience.
This guy, john, who was there,I can only imagine he's now
realizing, as he's getting readyto write this stuff somewhere
in his old age, like into hisnineties, that there's not going
to be much time left whenpeople are going to just stop me
(22:53):
in the street and ask me aboutthese stories that essentially
he can only straighten outpeople's theology for so much
longer while he's in theirpresence and there's a
weightiness to him understandingthat, like he's got to be
sitting there going.
I've gotta put pen to paper soothers can know that you're
living a stale, dead draw oflife and it's a stalemate and
(23:16):
you've literally got two kingson the board and the game cannot
be played that way.
I read something this last weekthe other week from Charles
Spurgeon about joy.
It was really helpful.
This is what he says.
Too many Christians are passiveabout losing their joy.
They need to realize it is ofgreat loss and do everything
(23:40):
they can to draw close to Godand to reclaim the fullness of
joy.
If any of you have lost the joyof the Lord, I pray you do not
think it is simple or a smallloss.
It is the very essence of yourrelationship.
It is the very character ofGod's life in us and through us.
Friends, I would just say don'tallow your spirituality to end
(24:05):
up in a religion like that adraw, a stalemate, a dead
religion.
So if the gospel of Matthewthat we studied was offering us
new life with God, then the bookof 1 John explains what that
life is and then how we actuallycan remain in it.
(24:28):
And the problem we see in thechurch was at this time that
everyone began to define whattheir life, light and love looks
like.
And this is the problem thatthis letter is going to be going
after over and over and overagain.
And we get these three keywords as we go through this
Words, which is life, light andlove.
You get this cool introductionin chapter one, but in chapters
(24:50):
two, three, four and most offive, everything gets kind of
amplified, it doesn't stay verylinear and what's going to
happen is, week after week,we're going to hear about life
and we're going to hear aboutlight, we're going to hear about
love, and he's going to give usthese four, four and a half
chapters or so in as manydifferent times and as many
different ways as he possiblycan, saying, hey, let me just
(25:13):
tell you about life, hey, let mejust tell you about light and
what love is.
And it's become like verycyclical in this manner, over
and over again, because theproblem was, 60 years after
Jesus died and rose again, thechurch again was getting their
own definitions of what it meantto be to live this life and,
frankly, we run into the samethings in our culture.
(25:35):
What does it mean that God islight?
What does it mean to love andwho can I love or who shouldn't
I love?
And everyone began to define iton their own.
We're going to find thatthere's a group of people next
week in chapter two that areactually kicked out of the
church because of that.
We're going to find thatthey're still actually going
(25:55):
from church to church andthey're teaching the opposite
truth and this is whatChristianity is and it's in this
fight, and we don't get a lotof their teaching.
You'll see this.
We get John's answer to theirnegative comments, but we never
actually hear what they are andI love that.
Like, maybe we shouldn't beexposed to what their arguments
(26:16):
were all about?
Maybe that's a life lesson forthe things we're exposing
ourselves to as well.
Like we should just come backto the truth and John is trying
to encourage people.
I want you to get your lifeback.
I want you to get your hopeback, and the early church
confusion and the heresy, all ofthat stuff honestly just led to
(26:38):
then people leaving the churchbecause they were teaching lies,
they were creating doubt, theywere creating questions about
whether believers even reallyknew God, whether you even
really had salvation.
Were you even really walkingwith him?
Were you really walking in thelights?
Do you even really know whattruth is?
(26:59):
Are you really saved?
So confusing, so confusing.
So, friends, may this be aseries that you and I come to,
the eyewitness that you and Ijust come back to the very word
(27:21):
of God and you and I come backto this 2,000 year old book that
has stood the test of literarycriticism, that has stood up
against every Greek scholar overand over again and has come
back to the same phrases, theexact same words.
And may you and I be the kingon the board that bows and
topples and says it's you andsays it's you.
(27:51):
And then, continuing after thisintro, in verse five he says
this message that we have heardfrom him now declare to you here
it is God is light In him.
There is no darkness at all.
So John begins with thisfoundational, bold statement God
is light, thank you.
Yeah, here we go, yeah, solight.
In scripture, it oftensymbolizes purity, truth,
(28:13):
goodness and life.
And so when John says thatthere's no darkness at all in
God, he's saying that there'sactually not even a hint, like
there's not even a hint ofdeceit or evil or corruption in
him.
That not that he's mostly goodor occasionally pure, no, no,
he's saying that, look, he's100%, perfectly holy, 100% of
the time.
This verse echoes actually whatJohn wrote in his gospel In him
(28:37):
was life, and that life was inthe light of mankind, and so
light.
You know this.
It doesn't just expose somethings that are darkness, it
actually drives darkness out, itreveals truth of what's taking
place and it shows you then theway.
So then John does this, hestarts here and then he
continues then with this warninghe says now, if we claim to
(29:00):
have fellowship with him and yetwalk in the darkness, we lie
and we do not live out the truth.
So here's the tension we cansay we have fellowship with God
and we can still walk indarkness.
That's like an amen moment.
You guys know that right there.
(29:20):
That's the scary stuff.
This isn't just aboutstruggling with sin friends,
it's about living a double life.
And John is saying if we'reclaiming to know God but we're
deliberately living and hidingin sin and bitterness and lies
or spiritual apathy, we're notjust failing, we're just lying.
We're lying to ourselves we'relying to everybody else around
us, and understand this.
(29:41):
Christianity isn't aboutclaiming the light, it's about
walking in it.
Then John then moves to thisreally beautiful invitation.
He says but if we walk in thelight, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship with oneanother.
And then the blood of Jesus,his son, purifies us from all
(30:03):
sin.
Notice what happens when wewalk in the light, that we
actually have fellowship withothers.
This word for fellowship hereis a word called koinonia.
It's this not shallow, notSunday-only relationships, but
authentic, grace-filledcommunity that we then together,
collectively experience ongoingpurification, not perfection,
(30:27):
but it's this continualcleansing by Jesus's blood.
Now we didn't meet last week, soI'm going to really quickly
grossly summarize the next 11verses really fast.
Here's your homework for theweek.
Read John, chapter one, verseeight, through eight in the
second chapter.
So eight to eight.
Do that one.
This is what it is summarizing.
(30:48):
It's about just the realitiesof you and I as a human and that
we sin, just so you know.
We sin, which sin means we missthe mark, and it talks to that
Like we're all in the same club.
We've totally messed this thingup and we continue to do that.
So John emphasizes that when wedo, because you will just FYI,
and that's not permission,that's just acknowledgement,
just so you know right, when youdo, you have an advocate.
(31:13):
He says you have an advocate,jesus Christ, who intercedes
before the Father.
God's forgiveness rests on hisown faithfulness and justice,
not our merit, and a reminderthat no sin is greater than
God's actual power to forgiveand cleanse and his reputation
is at stake on keeping that,because that's what he said, who
he is and that is his promise.
(31:34):
And when it comes to sin, youand I have these different
options and possibilities.
The first is this you can denyit capabilities.
The first is this you can denyit just refusing to acknowledge
wrongdoing.
It's a place where we can live.
The next thing is we canrationalize it, our sin, just
(31:55):
justifying why it's acceptablein our case because you just had
to do it and so you make areason why it's taking place in
your life.
Or he talks about this you canconfess it, agreeing with God
about our sin and then turningfrom it.
This is such an importantmissed practice.
Confession is literally thegateway to restored fellowship
(32:15):
in ongoing transformation, notjust between you and God.
This daily process keepsbelievers walking in light
rather than darkness Confessionas you obey God's word, not out
of legalistic duty but out ofthis loving response to his
grace, you get to experience hislove being made complete in you
(32:36):
.
And then this verticalrelationship with God naturally
then begins to extendhorizontally to loving others.
And so he's emphasizing thisidea of not deceiving yourself.
Don't deceive yourself with therealities of who you are, and
then who you are in Jesus Christ.
He uses language even likedon't lie to yourself.
(32:57):
And these verses remind us thatwalking in the light isn't
about being flawless, friends,it's about being honest.
Honest, it's about bringingyour whole self, the good, the
broken, the hidden, into thelight of God's grace.
So let us glean the light ofthese letters, friends.
(33:21):
Let us bring our whole self,the good, the broken, the hidden
, into the light of God's grace.
Over the next Sundays we spendtogether.
So here we are, the board isset, the pieces are in place,
(33:44):
one king has claimed victory andthe other is still standing.
And maybe that king is you,your plans, your control, your
truth.
But the game cannot go on thisway, not without ending in a
stalemate.
And you, friends, were not madefor a dead religion, you
(34:05):
weren't made to survive off ofsparks of passion that then
flicker and fade away.
You were made for joy thatcannot be stolen, freedom that
sin cannot chain, and truth thatno culture can cancel, and a
salvation you have never have toquestion.
And that's the life 1 Johninvites us into.
(34:27):
And that's the life 1 Johninvites us into A real, lived
out, spirit-filled life thatwalks in light and love and
truth.
But it starts with one move.
So topple your crown, surrenderthe board and let the rightful
(34:49):
king take his place, because thegame's not over not for you,
not yet.
You still have a move, and 1John's going to show you how to
make it.
Let me pray for us, god.
Thank you for these lettersthat, although they were not
(35:09):
written to us, they are so forus.
Thank you for your Holy Spiritthat works in us and helps us
understand these things.
Would you give us courage toconfess, to get right with you,
to walk in the light of love andlife?
God, may we just feel joy as weleave this place.
(35:34):
May we feel freedom and victoryas we leave this place.
Would we understand truth andbe so greatly comforted by that?
I thank you for the gift ofyour presence in this room and
as we respond to worship to youtoday, in your name, we pray
(35:55):
Amen.
Well, friends, I told many ofyou that today we are going to
be announcing who our newworship pastor is.
Let me first read to you a wordfrom the Lord, from the Old
Testament, deuteronomy, chapter31,.
Verse eight says this do not beafraid or discouraged, for the
Lord will personally go ahead ofyou.
(36:16):
He will be with you and willneither fail you nor abandon you
.
And I just want to say, friends, that I am incredibly grateful
for the way that the Lord hasgone ahead of us here at this
church through and for manythings.
Most organizations, or evenministries, when they start
(36:37):
looking for someone, they lookat vision first, then they look
at task next and thenrelationships last.
And the problem with that iswhen it comes that the vision
actually then begins to changeor shift.
What happens is relationshipsthen have to change, and the
church is made up of people.
Relationship is the onlyorganizational currency, and so
(37:02):
this actually forced us to diveinto a model which then informs
relationships first and theninforms vision, which then
informs task.
And I believe that this is thekingdom way that relationships
first, people praying, peopledreaming, and we let that then
inform the rest and then visioncan change if it needs to and
(37:24):
jobs can change if they need to.
But with this model,relationships do all the
informing.
So a few months ago beganreflecting and praying through
this.
Who are we in deep relationshipwith, already Committed to
already, trusting already, whois pastoring and leading us
(37:48):
already, who have been dreamingand running with already, and it
was clear that she was a partof this faith community already,
and her name is Ostri Shoaz.
She can come out here.
Let me tell you this Ostri ishumble, she is powerful.
(38:10):
She's kind, gritty, godly,steadfast and caring.
I have known Ostri for thebetter half of a decade and I
love this woman of God.
I respect her life, herwonderful husband, kyle, her
girls, willow, paisley, autumn.
(38:32):
I'm so ready to be led into thethrone room with her to worship
our risen King with you.
We are ready now to be led inresponse with you, and so,
austri, may the Lord fill youwith his spirit and strengthen
your hands for the work and keepyour heart anchored in his love
In church.
(38:52):
The same God who has gone aheadof us in this decision is
calling us to walk, then, withfaith, unity and love.
We're not just receiving apastor today, not just receiving
a pastor today.
(39:13):
We're committing ourselves towalk with her in relationship,
to pray with her, to pray forher, serving alongside of her,
and to keep dreaming God'sdreams together.
And so let us be a people thatnot only just honor the shepherd
that God has sent us, but evenmore a people who keeps our eyes
on the chief shepherd who'sgoing ahead of all of us.
And so this is our charge.
This is our charge Go forwardtogether, strong in relationship
(39:36):
, bold in vision and faithful inevery task, knowing the Lord is
already ahead of us.
So, friends, would you stand toyour feet and give Austria a
spiritual welcome.
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