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The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W9: Testimony & Confidence
1 John 5:6-13 & 21
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.​ 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
​& 
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Reflection:
  • Why are there three witnesses?
  • Who are these witnesses?
  • What is their testimony?
  • Why does this testimony matter today?
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W8: God is Love
1 John 4:7-21
​​
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Reflection:
  • ​A love revealed: In what ways has God chosen to reveal himself to us?
  • A love arranged: What is important to remember about the Father's, the Son's and the Spirit's love?
  • ​A love with purpose: How do I love?
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W7: God is Greater
1 John 3:19-20
​19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:
 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Reflection:
What does it practically look like for you to align…

  • Your thoughts to truth
  • Your actions to obedience
  • ​Your heart to God’s love
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W6: Children of God
1 John 2:28-29
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Reflection:
  • Is abiding in Jesus a top priority?
  1. Ask: establish habits of prayer
  2. Believe: grow in trust and loyalty
  3. Immerse:  soak in scripture
  4. Deny: reject the old nature (over & over)
  5. Engage: prioritize loving God & others.
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W5: Resistance Part 2
1 John 2:18-19
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

Reflection:
  • Be informed of the forces of evil, but do not be afraid because the Spirit of Christ is within us and He has already won.
  • Stand firm, because Jesus said the one who stands firm to end will be saved.
  • The way forward as the global church & for Laurel Church is discipleship. loving, living, & lasting discipleship. Faithful & fruitful discipleship. 
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W4: Resistance Part 1
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1John 5:1-5
 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Reflection:
  • What is “the world,” and why is the world at odds with God?
  • ​How do we  “overcome the world”?
  • How do we balance consecration and mission?
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W3: The New Commandment
1 John 2:3-11

3 We know we have joined Him in an intimate relationship because we live out His commands. 4 If someone claims, “I am in an intimate relationship with Him,” but this big talker doesn’t live out His commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. 5 But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and filled him. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him: 6 anyone who says, “I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked. 7 My loved ones, in one sense, I am not writing a new command for you. I am only reminding you of the old command. It’s a word you already know, a word that has existed from the beginning. 8 However, in another sense, I am writing a new command for you. The new command is the truth that He lived; and now you are living it, too, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining among you. ​9 Anyone who says, “I live in the light,” but hates his brother or sister is still living in the shadows. 10 Anyone who loves his brother or sister lives in the light and will not trip because his conscience is clear. 11 But anyone who hates his brother is in the darkness, stumbling around with no idea where he is going, blinded by the darkness.

Reflection:
  • Are we living out the kind of love that Jesus loves us with?​
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W2: God is Light
1 John 1:5-2:2

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 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[a] sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. ​2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Reflection:
  • What do I need to confess before God?
  • What do I need to confess to others as the Lord is leading me?
  • How am I going to respond to others confessing?
  • Am I living in the light?
The New Command
Living & Loving like Jesus
W1: Fellowshipping with the Word
1 John 1:1-4

1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

Reflection:
  • Do you know Jesus more today than you did six months ago?
  • Do you long for others to know Jesus more today than you did six months ago?​
Laurel Church
162 W Laurel Road
Bellingham, WA 98226
Office Phone/Text: (360) 935-1494
Office Email: [email protected]
Care Needs Phone/Text: (564)243-0623
Care Pastor Carl: [email protected]
Office Hours: 
Monday: 9am-12pm
Tuesday - Thursday: 9am-2pm
Friday - Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 9am-10am
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