Sermon Outline: 1 John 3:1

-

1 John 3:1
P.S. I Love You (God Practically Showing Us)
Pastor Jason Stewart
I.      Introduction:
Every inch of Scripture is motivated by the fact that God is trying to tell us, “P.S. I Love You”, and “I have a wonderful plan for your life.”

See Need a New Plan in Life? illustration to further illustrate the heart behind this message.

II.     Revelation: P.S. I Love You (A Personal Savior)
a. “Behold” God’s Love for us
  God showed His love for us practically by sending us a Personal Savior (2:28-29). The word that John uses to get us to stop and reflect upon our relationship with God, is “behold.” In the Greek this word means, “to see, pay attention to, understand, and experience” something. John calls his readers to stop and spend time reflecting upon their relationship with God, and just how very special they are to Him.
   This word is used in other parts of the Bible to describe:
  1. WITNESSING SOMETHING: Acts 13:31 & 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 use this word to describe Jesus being “seen” by many witnesses after being raised from the dead. We can bear witness of God’s love
  2. UNDERSTANDING: James 2:24 uses this word to describe our ability to “reason” or “understand” the difference between a living faith that bears fruit and a dead faith going nowhere. We can understand God’s love.
  3. VISITING SOMEONE: Hebrews 13:23 uses this word to describe a person “visiting” or “seeing” someone who comes to visit. God’s love visits us.
  4. EXPERIENCING SOMETHING: John 3:36 uses this word to describe those who will and those who will not experience eternal life. We can experience God’s love in our lives.
  5. LEARNING SOMETHING: John 7:52 uses this word to describe a person seeking out knowledge of something. In other words, we can grow in our knowledge of God’s word.
   In this verse we see that John exhorts us to “behold”, or stop and spend time reflecting upon the fact that we are loved by God (3:1a), and have been given the special privilege of being called His children (3:1b). To behold how much God loves us means to “see, pay attention to, understand, and experience” the love that He has for us. As God’s Children we are to behold the great privilege that comes with this title. We become God’s children through faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Because we believe in Christ we are called to live like Christ (3:27)

III.   Application: P.S. I Love You (A Personal Savior)
a. How do we become God’s Children?
  1. We are born of God (1 John 2:29. Cf. John 3:1-5)
  2. By Receiving Jesus (John 1:12)
  3. Faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:26)
b. What are the Benefits of being God’s Children?
  1. We are loved by God (1 John 3:1)
  2. We are given the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16)
  3. The Holy Spirit Affirms to us that we are God’s children (8:16)
  4. Through pouring out God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:4), and flipping an internal switch within our hearts and minds that brings us out of spiritual darkness, and into His miraculous light (1 Peter 2:9).The Bible tells us “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Gal. 6:6). This word “Abba” in the Hebrew can be equivalent to a little girl or boy saying, “Daddy! Daddy!” It is a term of ultimate affection and trust that the child uses to call upon their father. In essence God flips a spiritual switch within us that we never knew was there, and we can’t explain it, but we just know that everything is different now.
  5. We are given Every Spiritual Blessing in heaven in Christ (Eph. 1:3)
  6. We receive an inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:1-5)
  7. We are Royal in heaven (1 Peter 2:9)
  8. We become kings for God (Revelation 1:6), although Jesus is always the King of all kings.
  9. We are called to be separate from the world (2 Cor. 6:18-19). Paul writes, “Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”
   A Saving faith in Jesus will be seen in the way a person is baptized into Jesus, or in other words takes on His death to self, and life for others. We will live like Jesus mentally, morally, and missionally.

IV.  Conclusion:
   Every time God answers your prayers, blesses you with His peace, joy, comfort, purpose, and hope, He signs it with “P.S. I am Practically Showing you My Love!”

Popular posts from this blog

What is godless chatter?

-
Image
What is godless chatter? The term godless chatter is used by the apostle Paul when he exhorts Timothy to, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18, NIV). In context, this passage of Scripture is dealing with the godless chatter of false teachers who were sneaking into the church and trying to corrupt the truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:14-3:9). Paul clearly warns Timothy about them when he points them out by saying, “Their teaching will spread like gangrene” (2:17). Paul likens the godless chatter of false teachers to gangrene, which was a deadly disease that spread rapidly and ate away at a persons flesh. This Greek idiom truly emphasizes the repulsiveness of the ministry of the false
Read more

Sermon Outline: 1 John 4:7-21

-
Image
I.       Introduction: On June 25, 1967 the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom’s contribution to a T.V. show, called Our World, which was the first live global television link. The Beatles were asked to write and perform a song that would contain a simple message to be understood by all nations. What was the song that they wrote? “Love is all you need.” And with that song the Beatles struck a nerve that was felt around the world, as it hit home in the heart of over 400 million television viewers. After playing this song to over 400 million viewers, they quickly released it in the UK, where it soared to the top of the charts to number 1, and then after that they released the song in the US where it also reached number 1 on the billboard charts. The concept of love reaches down into the deepest part of almost every human being’s heart and soul. It has such an appeal to the human race that Amazon has over 245,000 books w
Read more

Sermon Outline: 1 John 3:18-24

-
Image
1 John 3:18-24 Conquering Condemnation Pastor Jason Stewart I.       Introduction:    A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he noticed her pet duck, and like a sniper quietly approached the duck, not really believing he would hit the duck of course, as he hadn’t hit anything he was aiming at all day. However, as this young sniper approached this poor unsuspecting duck, he took aim and let his rock fly. Wouldn’t you know it, the rock ended up hitting the duck right on the head, and as the duck fell dead, the little sniper panicked. He then desperately began trying to hide the dead duck before Grandma found out, and so he buried it in a nearby woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Johnny t
Read more