That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched --this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you; God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Discussion:
- Discuss your thought in reference to the above italicized verses. What is it to claim to have fellowship with Christ yet walk in the darkness?
- Also, in the how often to we claim to have not sinned, when we do, possibly because we rationalize some of the things we do?
- The introduction to the Book of I John says that, "Because the letter addresses broad moral topics, it is clear that John's goal was to provide direction for those Christians who faced new challenges to their faith...As opposition to the believers' faith arose, John encouraged them to continue walking in fellowship with Christ, so as to not be drawn into false beliefs and sinful lifestyles." Discuss how this still hits home with us today...give some literal examples.
2 comments:
When we walk with the Lord day by day or better yet, moment by moment. We truly . . . sorry I'll continue later . crying kids
Continued. . . When we walk with the Lord moment by moment we are walking in the light. When we forget that God is with us each step of our day or neglect to acknowledge him we are walking in darkness. It is my goal everyday to acknowledge God in as many circumstances as possible (thank you God for my little girl's smile, it's not too hot today what a blessing, God thank you that I have just enough gas to get to the store and back home because I can't take one more minute of the crying kids etc...)When I practice and truely appreciate the presence of God in my little life it is amazing the things that happen.
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