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
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” 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
John continues his theme of God’s love and our response. Is he repeating himself for emphasis? How is he elaborating on what he has already been saying? What nuances about love fill his thinking as he writes? What does he want indelibly stamped into his readers’ thinking? Download the handout and find how this passage impacts you. Then join us on Sunday to share your discoveries.
Download discussion questions: 1 John 3:14-4:6
One repeated phrase characterizes this section of John’s letter: “We know.” Once he words it as “we will know” and again as “you know,” but the theme is consistent. He is confirming certain truths about the faith and about the lives of believers. Over and over John makes assertions about reliable facts. He describes the evidence for the facts. He states the implications of the facts. Our discussion focused on following that pattern through the passage. Continue reading
Download discussion questions: 1 John 3:14-4:6
John is emphatic about what Christians know (or should know). Growing up in a western culture, perhaps even in a Christian home, we may take many Christian truths for granted, even if our neighbors may not. For John’s original readers this clarity and certainty was not guaranteed. If you were surrounded by apathetic or even hostile challengers you would probably want to know exactly what the Gospel is and what difference it makes. If some of those around you were offering very different explanations, how would you know what to believe? John is writing to help believers – first-century and twenty-first century – sort out truth from error. Use the handout to stir your thinking, then join us on Sunday for a lively discussion.
Download discussion questions: 1 John 3:1-16
Table Talk: What are ways that you have seen evidence of God’s work in your life? What have you seen recently? What have you seen over the long term?
[“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.]
This passage seems to contain a shift in John’s tone. He has made many encouraging and comforting statements about the forgiveness of sin and having fellowship with God. Some of his comments have been warnings about the consequences of “walking in darkness” or loving the things of the world. In these verses he makes stronger, unbending absolute statements, such as “no one who abides in Him sins” (1 John 3:6a) and “no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him” (v. 6b). Any honest reader must be troubled by these pronouncements: “I sin, so what is John saying about me?” Continue reading
Download discussion questions: 1 John 3:1-16
John has written about not sinning (1 John 2:1) and keeping commandments (1 John 2:3) and living in the light (1 John 2:10). This passage seems to take on a new urgency and intensity. John makes seemingly radical, even extreme universal statements about who does and does not sin. Download the handout and see how your life corresponds to the standards that John sets. Join us for a discussion on Sunday that is certain to be interesting.