I am doing a new plan on the Bible app called, “Everyday Faith”. It is a 50 day plan that has been really good so far. I am up to day 9 and have found it very encouraging. I have copied today’s reading below. If you are interested, you can click on the link above.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 NLT
The writer of Hebrews makes a distinction. There is sin. And there are weights. Not everything that slows you down is rebellion. Some things are simply heavy: old disappointments that never fully resolved. Expectations placed on you that you owned without question. Roles you stepped into without discernment. Conversations that replay in your mind long after they ended.
You can love Christ and still be carrying unnecessary weight.
We grow used to carrying these weights, even though they drain us. Over time, the burden begins to feel normal. But normal does not mean healthy.
As The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan illustrates, the traveler, Christian, could not move freely because of what he carried: “He could not go fast, by reason of the burden that was upon his back.”
And when Christian finally came to the cross, the story tells us: “His burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble…”
The burden was not managed. It was released.
When you picture following Christ with freedom, what feels in the way? What makes you cautious when you should be courageous? What makes you hesitant when you sense you should move? The call is simple, but not easy: lay it aside. Not analyze it endlessly. Not manage it more carefully. Lay it down. You cannot run while gripping what Christ never asked you to carry or protect.
Action Question: What weight have you been carrying that the journey with Jesus does not require?
Prayer: Jesus, I lay down my burdens, the unnecessary weight I am carrying. I cast my burden upon you. Take them from me now and allow me the grace to feel them lifted.
About 10 years ago I swapped my home computers to Linux. My first go was with Ubuntu which worked well. It was a big learning curve as I had only ever used Windows products.
After about a year I found Linux Mint. This is built on Ubuntu but has a much friendlier layout and it looks a bit more like Windows. It has a “start” button in the bottom left hand corner and everything flows from that.
So for the last 9 years I have been using Linux Mint on my laptop. I use this for all of my preaching preparation and for building and maintaining my websites. It has worked really well. So much so that I installed it on my new refurbished laptop I bought this week!
One of the things I was concerned about when I switched over to Linux was how would I replace my programmes I used. In a short time I realised Linux Mint comes with many products similar to what I already used.
For Microsoft Office programmes like Word, Excel and Powerpoint you have Libre Office already included. It opens all the Microsoft programmes and you can save them as .doc, .xls or .ppt after editing. They even have a built in PDF creator which is handy.
For surfing the web it comes with Mozilla Firefox included. For email it has Mozilla Thunderbird. Both of these are preinstalled and easy to use. For website building and maintenance you can install Mozilla SeaMonkey for free.
Another cool feature of Linux Mint is the “app store” called the software manager. This has over 30,000 of free apps for all your needs. I found I could replace all of my Windows based programmes from there and they cost me nothing. No more yearly fees for using products I already own!
Computer experts say that Linux is generally more secure than other operating systems. Mint has a built in firewall called UFW. UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) is a user-friendly interface for managing firewall rules in Linux. You can also install ClamAV for free from the app store which takes care of viruses and malware.
One of the best features of Linux (apart from being free!) is that it does not have a lot of bloatware that slows down your system. It often brings an old computer back to life as the system requirements are much lower than other operating systems.
If you are interested you can visit the Linux Mint website here. Or if you want to watch an introduction video, I found this just now on YouTube.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT – So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Today I have been thinking about the above verse and encouraging people. As I did I felt like God say, “Who can you encourage this week?” This made me think about all the places I am going to be in the next week and who are the people I am going to see. In each place who can I encourage?
I decided to encourage at least one person at each place I find myself. It might be something they do, something they say, or something they have done in the past which helped me. And it does not matter if it was a big thing or small thing they have done.
How about you? Where will you be in the next week? Who will you see? How can you encourage them? I think it is worth reflecting on and praying about. As many people never get any encouragement at all. You might make the world of difference.
Today I am starting a new sermon series on the books of 1, 2 & 3 John. Over the coming weeks, I will be looking at one chapter a week for my sermon and I will be pulling out the main points.
I will also be doing a companion Bible study that flows on from the sermon. This is just a simple study with about 8-10 questions that will help us to further engage with the Scriptures and reinforce the sermon main points.
As you can see on the screen, the title of this first message is, “The eternal Jesus who calls us to walk in the light”.
Introduction to 1 John
Before I read our text for today I want to give us some background to the Book of 1 John.
First John was written by John, one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples who also wrote the Gospel of John. There are similarities in the style of writing, the words used, and themes in both this epistle and the Gospel of John, so there is no real arguments about who was the author.
There is also external evidence that John is the author. Polycarp, a close associate of John, makes reference to this epistle in a letter to the Philippians at the beginning of the second century.
John was referred to as “the disciple Jesus loved” (John 21:20), and along with Peter and James, he had a special relationship with Jesus. Most scholars agree that this letter was written between A.D. 85 and 90 from Ephesus, before John’s exile to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).
While 1 John is not addressed to anyone in particular, we know that Jerusalem had been destroyed in A.D. 70, and Christians were scattered throughout the empire. So by the time John wrote this letter, Christianity had been around for more than a generation. It had faced and survived severe persecution.
The main problem confronting the church at this time was declining commitment: Many believers were conforming to the world’s standards, failing to stand up for Christ and compromising their faith. False teachers were plentiful, and they were accelerating the church’s downward slide away from the Christian faith.
John wrote this letter to put believers back on track, to show the difference between light and darkness (truth and error), and to encourage the church to grow in genuine love for God and for one another.
He also wrote to assure true believers that they possessed eternal life and to help them know that their faith was genuine—so they could enjoy all the benefits of being God’s children.
So now we have a bit of background, let’s have a look at our first reading…
Bible Reading – 1 John 1:1-10
We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This One who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.
Main points
Today I want to being out three main points in my sermon.
John wanted us to know Jesus is eternal
John begins this letter in a very similar way to how he begins the Gospel of John.
In 1 John 1 he says in verse 1-2, “We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, … 2 This One who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us.”
At the start of the Gospel of John he says, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him (John 1:1-3).
John is very strong in his description of Jesus being eternal and there before the creation of this world. This is to counter many of the false teachings that were spreading around the church. Some tried to deny the deity of Christ and say He was just another created being, but John tells us emphatically this is not the case.
This doctrine is known as the doctrine of eternal Sonship among Bible scholars. The doctrine of eternal Sonship simply affirms that the second Person of the triune Godhead has eternally existed as the Son. In other words, there was never a time when He was not the Son of God, and there has always been a Father/Son relationship within the Godhead. This doctrine recognizes that the idea of Sonship is not merely a title or role that Christ assumed at some specific point in history, but that it is the essential identity of the second Person of the Godhead. According to this doctrine, Christ is and always has been the Son of God and always has been eternal.
Today many false religions and scholars try to deny the deity of Christ, they try to say He did not really die on the cross or He was raised in spirit only. Some even try to prove that Jesus never existed. John and the other writers of the New Testament affirm that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, who was there from the beginning. This is what John is trying to get across to his readers.
John talked about what he had seen and heard
One thing I really noticed at the start of 1 John is the phrase “seen and heard”. John uses it several times in the start of chapter one. He is saying we have seen and heard Jesus ourselves and touched Him in the flesh.
He wants us to know he is an eye witness and he knows who Jesus is. He knows He is the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God. He knows He is eternal and there from the beginning. John also wanted his readers to know these things so they would have fellowship together and that their joy may be complete. We see this in verses 3 & 4:
“We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy”.
John wanted his readers to understand he was actually there as a witness to all Jesus said and Jesus did. Unlike the book of Luke which was written as an orderly account through research and careful study, John was there first hand. Because he was so close with Jesus he was a reliable witness to pass on who Jesus was, the things Jesus did and what Jesus wants us to do.
For us today, a simple testimony of what I have seen and heard in the Bible, in church, in my life or the lives of others can help people come to Christ. A testimony can bring the Bible to life. I have found that people love hearing stories of how God has done great things for you.
When I share about my testimony I touch on three main areas. These three things really help me to structure my story and how Jesus’ story impacted and changed my life.
My life before Christ – I share things like how I felt, my illness, what sort of things I was in to, my upbringing and the sense of emptiness I had inside. These things set the scene.
My conversion – I then share how I came to Jesus. I talk about how I was feeling in the year before coming to Jesus, the people who helped me and the story of Jesus coming to die on the cross for me.
How my life has changed – In this final section I share how knowing Jesus personally has changed my whole life and outlook. I talk about the love, acceptance, hope, joy and purpose I now feel inside.
You can also share things some of the things that God has done for you. I actually have several short testimonies that I share with people depending on the situation. If it is someone who is suffering with a long term illness, I might share my story of living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and how God has worked in my life through it. If they are lonely or depressed I share the difference Christ has made in my life and how that I never feel alone any more. If they can’t see anything good in the future or have lost hope, I share how Christ has given me hope, direction and a purpose for living.
Like the Apostle John, we can tell other what we have seen and heard and testify to God’s goodness. We can share what God has done so they will have fellowship with Jesus and us.
John calls us to live in the light
In the next section 1 John 1:5-10 is titled “Living in the light”.
Verse 6 says, “So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.”
At the time of writing false teachers who practiced an early form of Gnosticism had infiltrated the church and John was partly writing to address that.
The various false teachers taught that the physical body was evil and they took one of two approaches.
a. Live in strict discipline to deny the body and hence defeat evil, or
b. Give in to it and live a life of lust. They reasoned that since the body was evil you can give in to it. This approach was popular to many.
The problem was that we can’t live in the light if we are walking in darkness at the same time. If we do we are not walking with God and practicing the truth. John goes on to share a truth that helps us to live in the light – confession. Verse 9 tells us that if we confess our sin God is faithful and will forgive and purify us.
As a Christian man, I long to live right before God and walk in the truth. But there are times when I fail in word, thought or deed. Rather than beat myself up, I simple go to God, confess and ask forgiveness.
Sometimes I feel a huge flood of relief in my soul knowing I am forgiven. Other times I don’t really feel anything but I know from His Word that I am forgiven and purified. When I do this I know I am free and I can walk in the light with God. I know my sin is covered by Jesus’ blood and I am in fellowship with Him.
Story
A number of years ago I read a story about a young boy. It is called, “Saints that shine”.
A couple took their young son with them on a trip to Europe where they visited many of the large churches and cathedrals on the tourist trek. When they returned home the little boy’s Sunday school teacher asked him, “Did you learn what a saint is?”
He remembered the many stained glass windows which depicted the Christian saints so beautifully, and he said, “A saint is a person who the light shines through.”
A saint is someone the light shines through. This is what God wants from us. He wants us to walk in the light as He is in the light and He wants us to let our light shine. As it says in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Closing summary
So today as I close the first message in the series. I want to remind us of the three things the Apostle John wanted us to know from this first chapter of his letter.
That Jesus is the eternal Son of God who was there from the beginning.
That John simply shared with others what he has seen and heard. He did this so they would have fellowship with God and one another.
That John calls us to live in the light because God is light and He wants us to shine our lights to others.
Now I have completed my Great Words of the Gospel series I thought I would do a post to have them all in one place. You can find links to the individual messages below.
