Here is an index that may help you locate a particular passage from our thirteen-week discussion group. Continue reading →

After our twelve weeks in the letters written by the Apostle John, this week our discussion was about overall impressions or questions resulting from our study.  What was John wanting to communicate in these letters he wrote to a church he cared about deeply? Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  3 John 1:1-15

One of the most obvious differences in 3 John that sets it apart from the writer’s two other letters is the fact that here John names names.  The letter of 1 John contained no personal references other than terms of endearment such as “my little children.”  In 2 John, the author identifies himself as “the elder” and his recipient as “the elect lady and her children.”  In contrast, 3 John includes the names of three specific individuals.  In fact, as one member of our discussion group pointed out, the structure of the letter is a “sandwich” with the negative portion inserted between two very positive segments.  The sandwich arrangement reflects the three individuals that John identifies:  Gaius (v. 1), Diotrephes (v. 9), and Demetrius (v. 12). Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  3 John 1:1-15

What more does John have to say?  How does this letter (the shortest book in the New Testament) relate to the other two letters of John, or to the Gospel he recorded, or to his vision in exile on the island of Patmos?  Does this letter exhibit the similarities that connect 1 & 2 John?  How is this letter substantially different?  Download the handout and join us for our continuing discussion on Sunday morning.

Download discussion questions:  2 John 1:1-13

Table Talk:  How do we distinguish orthodox teaching from cults or heresy?  Scripture, of course.  But lots of people use Scripture and come to very different conclusions.  How do we decide who to listen to?

[“Table Talk” is an opening question or topic for discussion at the beginning of our time together.  The intent is to help group members (around tables, with four to six at each table) build connections with each other, as well as to guide thinking in a direction related to the passage.]

The book of 2 John is just over ten-percent the length of 1 John, and after spending nine weeks in 1 John, our group spent one meeting time in 2 John.  At least two observations stand out after reading 2 John:  This shorter letter contains hints or reminders of most of the major themes of the longer letter.  However, the 2 John also includes several marked differences in form and content.  Our discussion explored both those similarities and differences. Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1 John 5:2-21

One part of the passage generated considerable discussion, but somehow I neglected to mention it in the first draft of the blog entry.  I went back to add a few sentences to cover that part of our discussion, but I realized that the topic deserved more attention. Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  2 John 1:1-13

This brief letter written by the Apostle John includes both similarities and differences when compared to 1 John.  As you read 2 John, what impression do you get about the relationship of the two letters?  Several books of the New Testament are by the same author and to the same recipients, such as 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians.  The order of the books in the New Testament is not always in the sequence of their writing.  Sometimes the books were organized with the longer book first, followed by shorter books.  Does the content of 2 John suggest it was written before or after 1 John?  Do 1 & 2 John appear to be to the same recipients, or to related recipients?  What themes are repeated in 2 John?  What new ideas are introduced?  Join us on Sunday to see what we can learn from a much shorter piece of John’s writing.

Download discussion questions:  1 John 5:2-21

Table Talk:  What is the “elevator speech” of your testimony (the thirty-seconds-or-less version)?

[“Table Talk” is an opening question or topic for discussion at the beginning of our time together.  The intent is to help group members (around tables, with four to six at each table) build connections with each other, as well as to guide thinking in a direction related to the passage.]

After reading through the passage, our discussion began with a hypothetical question:  You have arrived in heaven and you have the opportunity to ask the Apostle John one question about this passage.  It finally gets to be your turn (the line is long!).  What would you ask? Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1 John 5:2-21

This passage brings us to the end of John’s first letter.  When you are wrapping up a long, complicated correspondence (think back to the days before email and Twitter!), what is on your mind?  What do you want to leave as a last impression on your readers?  Is John summarizing and recapitulating his previous thoughts?  Is he introducing last-minute new ideas in a sort of first-century postscript?  Take time to read through all of 1 John (10-15 minutes).  Then read the handout, and see how John’s conclusion fits the rest of his letter.  Join us on Sunday to see what we can discover together in this passage.

Download discussion questions:  1 John 4:7-5:3

Table Talk:  What motivates you in your Christian life?  What keeps you going through difficult times?  Duty?  Guilt?  Joy?  Fear?  Gratitude?  Obligation?  Reputation?  We all know the ‘right’ answers, but what really goes on inside you when facing a hard decision or inconvenient task?

[“Table Talk” is an opening question or topic for discussion at the beginning of our time together.  The intent is to help group members (around tables, with four to six at each table) build connections with each other, as well as to guide thinking in a direction related to the passage.]

In excellent inductive-study–observation form, one of the members of our group pointed out near the beginning of our discussion that John uses the word “love” thirty-four times in this passage, a likely clue to the theme we should be looking for!  Considering the fact that the entire letter of 1 John contains the word a total of fifty-two times, there is even a disproportionate concentration in these verses.  Another person asked if different Greek words for love were used, but all the occurrences in this passage (in fact, all the occurrences in the entire letter) are the word for the highest form of love (agapē, ἀγάπῃ). Continue reading →