The Book of 1 John: Love One Another

7 Weeks

Big Idea of the Series

A Christian’s life should be living proof of their connection to the Father. Essentially, our sacrificial love for others is a testament of our sacrificial love for God. In his first epistle—which forms the basis for this series—the apostle John walks through several aspects of the Christian life, revealing where the evidence lies for each. Do you know God? You can prove it because the evidence is in your obedience. Do you truly love your neighbor? You can prove it because the evidence is in your sacrifice. We don’t earn God’s forgiveness with our good deeds, but a transformed life should look just like that—transformed. Each entry in this 7-week series examines different claims made within the church, and asks for the evidence to prove that it’s true. It deals with themes like sin, the identity of Christ, and obedience. This series is a great way for your people to evaluate what areas of their life they need to change to be more obedient to Christ. You can say it with your mouth, but the evidence is in your actions.

What is the Series Guide?

Included in each guide is:

A sermon series outline that breaks up the teaching set into a specific number of weeks.
A "big idea" of the series.
A passage, "big idea" of the sermon, topic list, and a number of illustrations and talking point ideas are included in each weekly section. The "Sermon Ideas and Talking Points" area is filled with observations about the text, relevant applications, creative ideas, and illustrations.
A small group discussion (located in a separate document in this bundle).

What is the Series Guide Not?

This guide isn't a set of sermon manuscripts. While sermon manuscripts can be both useful and a powerful training tool, our sermon series guides are different. Rather than tell you what to say, our aim is for this material to spark your imagination, assist you in planning your sermon, and offer a boost to your study time.
This guide isn't ironclad. While we hope you use our material, the pieces of this document are designed to be moved, tweaked, and altered. As you study the suggested passages, and pray through your message, this guide will hopefully be a launching pad, rather than a landing net.

How Do I Use this Series Guide?

Plan ahead. Our guides are best utilized in advance versus the day or night before. Read over the ideas and illustrations provided, thinking through how you can possibly utilize them in your message. We've purposely kept our guides simple so as to give you the best opportunity to create your own, unique message.
While we give you a passage and "big idea" of the message, take time to study the text.
Utilize the media contained in this bundle to promote and communicate your series message.