“A Time To Remember”

Joshua 4:1-9 NLT

1 When all the people were safely across the river, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell the men to take twelve stones from where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan and pile them up at the place where you camp tonight." 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men 5 and told them, "Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder--twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?' 7 Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD's covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel." 8 So the men did as Joshua told them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the LORD had commanded Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. 9 Joshua also built another memorial of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. The memorial remains there to this day.
5 REASONS WE NEED TO BUILD MEMORIALS IN OUR OWN LIVES
1.Memorials are a reminder of our most important VALUES
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NLT

6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. 8 Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

2.Memorials helps us to be GRATEFUL
Psalms 103:2

Praise the LORD, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me. 3.Memorials remind us toavoid life’s pitfalls
Judges 2:10-12 NLT

10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight and worshiped the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They chased after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. NLT

3. Memorials remind us to AVOID LIFE'S PITFALLS

Judges 2:10-12 NLT

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight and worshiped the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They chased after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD.

4. Memorials helps us cope with our GRIEF
1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

Philippians 1:3 NLT

Every time Ithink of you, I give thanks to my God.

5.Memorials helps us to keep OUR PRIORITIES straight.
Luke 12:21 NLT

"Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."

Part One: Guarding the Door (2 John)

2 John 1–3 NASB 2020The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth which remains in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2 John 4–6 NASB 2020I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you are to walk in it.
2 John 7 NASB 2020For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2 John 10–11 NASB 2020If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
2 John 8–9 NASB 2020Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Part Two: Opening the Door Wide (3 John)

3 John 1 NASB 2020The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
3 John 2 NASB 2020Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
3 John 3–4 NASB 2020For I was overjoyed when brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.
3 John 5–7 NASB 2020Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brothers and sisters, and especially when they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
3 John 8 NASB 2020Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth.
3 John 9 NASB 2020I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
3 John 10 NASB 2020For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
3 John 11 NASB 2020Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.
1. Gaius: generous, truth-loving, open-handed.2. Diotrephes: self-serving, controlling, closed.3. Demetrius: a life so aligned with the gospel that the truth itself serves as his character reference.
Which portrait looks most like yours?

Bringing It Together

Guard the truth.Advance the truth.Resist the spirit of Diotrephes.Be a Demetrius.
John started as a Son of Thunder: impulsive, ambitious, ready to call down fire on his enemies. He ended as the Apostle of Love, still fierce in his devotion to truth, but entirely consumed by the love that had transformed him.
That same transformation is available to every one of us.
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." — 1 John 5:21
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)

Faith, Testimony, and the Assurance of Eternal Life

This final chapter is about the confidence that belongs to every believer—confidence in our identity, confidence in our testimony, confidence in our prayers, and confidence in the eternal life that is ours in Christ.

Central Idea: Rooted in Christ, you don't just survive — you overcome.

1. Faith That Overcomes the World (vv. 1–5)

1 John 5:1 NASB 2020

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him.

1 John 5:2–3 NASB 2020

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

1 John 5:4 NASB 2020

For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

1 John 5:5 NASB 2020

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

2. The Threefold Testimony (vv. 6–12)

1 John 5:6 NASB 2020

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

1 John 5:7–8 NASB 2020

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

1 John 5:9 NASB 2020

If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.

1 John 5:10 NASB 2020

The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.

1 John 5:11–12 NASB 2020

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

3. The Confidence of Answered Prayer (vv. 13–15)

1 John 5:13 NASB 2020

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:14–15 NASB 2020

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

4. Protecting One Another and Keeping from Idols (vv. 16–21)

1 John 5:16 NASB 2020

If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leadingto death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that.

1 John 5:18–20 NASB 2020

We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5:21 NASB 2020

Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Application: Living as Overcomers

• First, settle your assurance.
• Second, pray with confidence, aligned with His will.
• Third, protect your brothers and sisters.
• Fourth, keep yourselves from idols.

Testing Spirits, Perfecting Love

Central Idea: Testing the spirits and loving one another can't be separated. The God who is truth is the same God who is love.

We live in a world overflowing with spiritual voices. Podcasts, books, social media influencers, and self-proclaimed prophets compete for our attention, each claiming to speak truth.

• How do we know which voices are from God and which are not?

• And in a culture that often reduces love to a warm sentiment, what does it actually look like to love as God loves?

1. Test the Spirits (vv. 1–6)

1 John 4:1 NASB 2020

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:2 NASB 2020

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

1 John 4:3 NLT

But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

1 John 4:4 NASB 2020

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:5–6 NASB 2020

They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

2. God Is Love (vv. 7–12)

1 John 4:7–8 NASB 2020

Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:9 NASB 2020

By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.

1 John 4:10 NASB 2020

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:11 NASB 2020

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:12 NASB 2020

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.

3. Abiding in Love, Abiding in God (vv. 13–16)

1 John 4:13 NASB 2020

By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit.

1 John 4:14–15 NASB 2020

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

1 John 4:16 NASB 2020

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

4. Love Casts Out Fear (vv. 17–21)

1 John 4:17–18 NASB 2020

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

1 John 4:19 NASB 2020

We love, because He first loved us.

1 John 4:20 NASB 2020

If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

1 John 4:21 NASB 2020

And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Application: Discerning and Loving

1. First, develop a Christological filter for every teaching you encounter.
2. Second, let God’s prior love be the engine of your love for others.
3. Third, stop loving God and hating people.

Follow along with

1 John Chapter 3

Confidence in Christ- 1 John Chapter 2

Series Main Idea: “Genuine fellowship with God, made possible only through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, transforms how we walk, how we love, and howe we discern truth from deception.”

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin."

- 1 John 2:1-2

Question: What helps “little children” to not sin?

Context to Consider:

1 John Chapter 1: God is the Light, and His followers walk in this Light, having fellowship with one another, confessing our sins, and believing Jesus cleanses us from those sins.

- 1 John 2:1b-2

Our Confidence is in Christ alone, through faith alone,by grace alone

- 1 John 2:4-6

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another

- John 13:34

- John 14:15, 21 & 23

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

- John 15:9-10

- 1 John 2:7-11

Question: What helps “little children” to not sin?

- 1 John 2:12-14

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

- 1 John 2:15-17

Children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

- 1 John 2:18

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

- Matthew 7:14-15

They went out from us, but there were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

- 1 John 2:19-23

Question: What is the one marker of antichrist teachings?

As for your, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

- 1 John 2:25-27

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

- 1 John 2:28-29

Takeaways:

Do you know Christ?

Are you striving or abiding?

4/12/26 - The Book of 1st John : Chapter 1- Pastor Melissa Stelly

“Genuine fellowship with God, made possible only through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, transforms how we walk, how we love, and how we discern truth from deception.”

Matthew 4:18-22 NLT

“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.

A little farther up the shore,he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”

Luke 9: 51-56 NLT

"As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.”

1 John 1: 10

“Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.”

Central Idea: “Jesus’ incarnation was God’s radical plan to bring salvation to humanity enslaved by sin—and our response to that plan is to walk in the light through honest confession and genuine fellowship.

I. The Word of Life Incarnate (vv. 1–4 NIV)

“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.”

II. God Is Light (vv. 5–7 NIV)

“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 and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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.”

III. The Deadly Trap of Denial (vv. 8–10)

“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 is not in us.”

First lie (v. 8): “We have no sin.” 

Second lie (v. 10): “We have not sinned.” 

The remedy (v. 9): Confession. 

1. Anchor your faith in the incarnation. 
2. Make confession a regular spiritual discipline. 
3. Pursue transparency in community. 

Sermon notes not available.