Overview of 1 John 4:19-21

As we wrap up chapter 4 of 1 John, we will take the next three days to talk about verses 19-21. What truths from these verses do you use to encourage others? How are these verses encouraging to you?

Overcoming Fear

How can we overcome our fears? Well, surprise, surprise....we made a list! We explain this list today and tomorrow. This list can also be found on our study notes, along with the verses we give for each. 1) Spiritual growth 2) Love God & others because He loves me 3) Trust in His word 4) Prayer 5) Admonition from other believers 6) Hearing God's word (church, Bible studies, radio) Can you think of anything else to add to this list?

Fear, cont...

As we continue to talk about fear from 1 John, we ask "what is the problem with fear?" Is it wrong to be afraid? As we talk about this, I hope you will see that when we fear, we are not trusting in God. We are choosing to not believe the promise that we read in Scripture, that we do not need to be afraid. Psalm 56:3 - "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." At the moment you recognize your fear, you must trust in God! To continue along in your fear is sin. Again, the fear we are talking about in this context, is fear of God's judgment & guilt of sin. Are you choosing to meditate on God's truth or ignore His promises?

Fear

1 John 4:18 talks about fear. This fear has to do with "punishment" or the coming judgment on the world. Fear is "dread, terror, state of severe distress, concern for impending pain, danger or evil." As we talk about fear in this context, it is important to remember that John is telling his readers that we do not have to fear the coming judgment. Believers have been redeemed and because of God's perfect love, we do not need to be afraid of God's wrath on the unsaved. Praise the Lord! Believers can be fearful of judgment or punishment of sin, but we can remember that God is faithful and will forgive (1 Jn. 1:9). Because of his perfect love, He has forigven us completely and will not hold us accountable for our sins. However, this does NOT mean that we won't suffer present physical consequences - say, a speeding ticket for driving over the speed limit. There are consequences for our sin, but God does not hold us eternally accountable for them as through Christ, they have been forgiven. Some Christians fear death....this ought not to be. For we know that if we are absent from our body, we are present with the Lord.

1 John 4:15-21

We begin today digging into chapter 4:15-21 today. We chose to skip verses 15 and 16, only because we have discussed these verses in the past with other sections of our study. They are much a repeat of what John has already said, so to move on with our study, we are going to skip right ahead to verses 17 & 18. Over the next several days we are asking ourselves how these 2 verses fit together. We want to gain a proper understanding and so we hope you'll join us as we discuss the importance of these verses!

1 John - a Review

We are going to take the next couple of days to review what we have studied so far in 1 John. We have been studying intensely the last several weeks and so we thought it would be helpful to take a step back and look at the book of 1 John again as a whole. If you are following our online outline, we start today with question #1 of chapter 4, verses 15-21. What has been the emphasis in John's communications so far? Main ideas of chapters 1-4: Chapter 1) Jesus is a real man whom we have fellowship, 2) Those who claim to know Him must love the brothers, 3) God's children must not live in sin, 4) Learn to discern the spirit of truth and falsehood.

Personal application

How can you personally apply 1 John 4:13-14 to your life? We will be sharing our testimony concerning these verses in the next two days and would love to hear from you! We start off by talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. Check our online notes for the specific things we mention.

Testifying

We've been talking the last several days about how John testified the fact that God the Father sent God the Son to be the Savior of the world. As believer's we are also to testify of this fact. The question we are asking today is, "How can we as believers testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world"? We shared our thoughts on this matter....please share how you testify.

Getting practical - The difficulty to love

What makes it difficult for you to love others? The next 2 days we will seek to answer this question very practically. Do you struggle to love others because of pride? Selfishness? Do you see the response of "I need ME time" as selfish? God calls us to love others and that takes sacrifice; it takes giving up something we want for the good of another. What excuses do you give to NOT show love? Evaluate those excuses and determine if you have a biblical reason for withholding love. If you do not, take time to repent and ask God to help you practice love in a biblical way. We know this is hard work, yet it honors our Savior and is so worth it!

"One anothers" in the Bible

Today we talk about question #7 on our outline - "What is the result of loving one another?" Today and tomorrow we'll talk about other "one another's" in Scripture. See the online notes for the verses. Then on Monday, October 11th, we'll answer question #7 in more detail. What are your thoughts?

What loving others looks like, part 4

Our final topic of discussion on loving others is loving others who are in your sphere of influence. This might be your co-worker, neighbor, friend who lives in another state, or extended family members. How do you show them love?

What loving others looks like, part 3

Third in our categories of loving others is our church family. What does it look like to love others in your church? How have you loved others and what have others in your church done to show you love?

What loving others looks like, part 2

Today we move on in our discussion about love and will talk about what it looks like to love our children? Again, we will share personal examples in our situations. What does it look like in your home?

What loving others looks like, part 1

We are going to spend some time now discussing what loving others looks like. What are some practical every day things that we as women can do to love others. Today and tomorrow we are going to talk about what it looks like to love your husband? We will share our answers as it applies to our situations. If you are married, what does this look like in your life?