By Sam E. Stone It is easy to understand why John has often been referred to as “the apostle of love.” That theme runs throughout the letters that he wrote to the first-century church. Today’s text is the third time in this epistle when John described love as the supreme test of the Christian life […]
By David Faust Refuge is a warm, welcoming word. A young child finds refuge in her mother’s arms. A traveler finds refuge during a storm. Millions have found refuge in the U.S., responding to the Statue of Liberty’s inscription, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Joshua 20 tells […]
By Sam E. Stone Love is the hallmark of God’s community. It is also the theme of the apostle John’s epistles. The first-century believers to whom John wrote received tremendous encouragement as well as great challenge from his inspired words. Love as Action 1 John 3:11-18 In the verses just before our printed text, John […]
By Laura Adkins “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” This quote, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, echoes John’s writing that we should not “love with words or tongue but with action and in truth.” One of St. Francis’s many acts of love was giving up his material possessions and […]
By Michael C. Mack 1. What is the most outrageous thing you’ve ever been told to do? Read 1 John 3:11-24. 2. John made what people may consider some pretty outrageous statements in this passage. Which one do you think is the most outrageous? Why? 3. How is real love for one another defined in […]
