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.

Download discussion questions:  1 John 2:23-3:3

Table Talk:  What are things that concern you about the future?  What stirs in you when you think about the future?  What is your reaction to conversations about the future?  Are you hopeful?  Angry?  Frightened?  Indifferent?  Something Else?

[“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 this passage John makes repeated references to events – some in the past, some in the present (for John and his readers), some in the future.  We began our discussion by organizing his comments into those three categories on a whiteboard, similar to the table below: Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1 John 2:23-3:3

John has warned about the dangers of inappropriate love for the world and of an inaccurate understanding of God.  In this passage he summarizes a wide overview of the Christian experience, from the first hearing of the Gospel to the return of Christ.  Download the handout and see what you can learn about John’s perspective on the different timeframes of our Christian life.

Download discussion questions:  1 John 2:15-25

Table Talk:  “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” – A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

What comes into your mind when you think about God?

[“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.]

Our discussion began with the difference in perspective between our reading of the passage and the original recipients’ reaction.  Phrases like “the world is passing away” and “this is the last hour” probably caused a more intense response in the first century, read from the pen of the last living member of the Twelve.   We tend to take such statements figuratively.  We believe that Jesus will come someday, but usually the belief has little immediate practical impact on us.  Even the warning about the coming antichrist is part of our “sometime, not now” thinking.  John’s statement that “now many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18b) carries a different tone.  Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1 John 2:15-25

 John’s letter so far has described weighty concepts about light and darkness (1 John 1:5), about sin and forgiveness (1:9), and about making superficial claims to know God (2:4).  He has given words of encouragement for all those at different seasons of their Christian life (2:12-14).  This passage begins with the first actual direct command he has given in this letter, a negative instruction:  “Do not love the world” (2:15a).  He mentions the last hour and the antichrist, lies and truth, denial and abiding.  Download the handout and see how these different threads intertwine in John’s thinking.  Join us on Sunday for our continuing discussion exploring this first of John’s three letters.

Download discussion questions:  1John 2:10-17 Children, Fathers, Young Men

 Table Talk:  Think about where you were in life when you first responded to the Gospel.  Then think of the most spiritual individual who you know personally.  Where are you along that path, from first belief to mature faith?
(“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.)

Our discussion started with the question, “What part of this passage do you find the most puzzling or even confusing?”  That approach led us first to almost the end of the passage, when John writes, “If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).  Our discussion soon focused on a single word, a small preposition, the love “for” the Father, since someone pointed out that other translations say love “of” the Father.[1]  The importance of the question became clear when one person suggested that love “for” the Father was directed “upward” as our love for Him, while love “of” the Father (or “the Father’s love”) is downward, from Him.  Is John saying that if we love the world, God will not love us?  That seemed to be an alarming suggestion. Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1-john-2_10-17-children-fathers-young-men

John has been writing to a wide range of people in this letter.  First he seems to address those who may doubt the writer’s credibility, so he establishes himself as a dependable eyewitness to the Gospel events (1 John 1:1-4).  Then he makes sure his readers understand the simplicity of the good news and the forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:5-2:2).  Next he seems to change his tone and talks about behavior and attitudes that should be part of the Christian life, sounding like there is a test we need to pass (1 John 2:3-11).

Who is he writing to?  What kind of Christians would have been reading this letter?  How does John want them (and us) to respond to what he is communicating?  Download the passage for this week, and join us on Sunday to see if we gain any clarity about the intentions behind John’s letter.

Download discussion questions:  1 John-2:1-11 knowing

Table Talk:  Christians talk of knowing God.  How well do you know God?  How do you evaluate how well you know God?
[“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.]

Early in our discussion one of the group members pointed out the affectionate language John uses at the beginning of this passage, “My little children” (1 John 2:1).  After the abrupt beginning of his letter with eyewitness testimony (1 John 1:1-4) he changed to second person “we” describing the confession of sin (vv. 5-10).  Now he changes to an even more personal and affectionate tone.  “Little children” expresses the care of a loving father.  Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  1 John-2:1-11-knowing 

Christians often speak of “knowing God” and that our faith is a relationship, not a religion.  John has some things to say about that.  How does the “beloved disciple” understand what it means to know God?  How does that relationship affect our behavior and especially our relationships with others?

Download the passage and see what you can learn that will deepen your relationship with God.   Join us on Sunday to learn together what that relationship looks like.