Chatham Christian Church

God is love and the ultimate expression of God’s love was made 2,000 years ago when He sent His only begotten Son. That fact has changed our lives. However by itself that fact doesn’t change many lives.

God defines love. And if we define love as expressed in God and revealed the Bible, love can be the guiding principle of life.

Love helps us understand God. And God helps us understand love.

John reminds us that even though the spirit of the antichrist is prominent, the spirit of truth will win.

A Christian must be a believer... a Christian is also called to be an unbeliever. The same Scriptures that encourage us to believe also encourage us not to believe.

John has made it very clear that we can be assured of our standing before God... Not only can we have assurance, we can actually have confidence before God.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the world today.

This morning we continue our study of the two most powerful forces in the world: love and hate.

John has already drawn our attention to light and darkness, life and death, truth and error, God and the devil. And this morning we come to love and hate, the two most powerful forces on earth.

There are more children of the devil in the world than there are children of God.

Ignatius, one of the early church fathers who was a disciple of the Apostle John, said ingratitude was the cause, the beginning, and the origin, of all evils and sins. And that understanding didn’t come just from John.

If we are abiding in Him there will be no need for shame. In fact, as John points out, we can even be confident when He appears.

You’ve no doubt heard that the current war in Israel may very well be the beginning of that battle... I don’t accept that line of thinking. Let me simply say that I believe the battle pictured in Revelation is spiritual in nature.

It’s impossible to be driven by the lusts of the world and the love of God at the same time.

Immature Christians may be standing in the light, but they are not walking in the light. They are going nowhere, suffering from arrested spiritual development.

The Apostle John speaks of something that is both old and new that when carried into a marriage not only blesses it, but guarantees its success. In fact, it’s something that needs to be carried into every relationship of life including our relationship with God.

How do you know if you really know the Lord?

Let’s take an honest look at sin... and see what John has to say about it.

How would you finish this sentence: "God is ____" ?

Our faith must be built on the witness of those who actually beheld and handled Jesus while on earth. And on our shared experience of listening to Christ and seeing Him at work in our lives and in the lives of others.