Worship Service Saturday, August 21, 2021
We were blessed to have four Americans who are new to Hurghada join us for worship services this morning.
Today we continued our study in the book of 1 John. Verses discussed were chapter 3:1-10.
We were each challenged to answer the following questions:
1. What does the writer mean, “the world does not know us” in 1 John 3:1b.
2. How would you describe the “hope” mentioned in verse 3?
3. What did the Son of God come to destroy?
4. How did he destroy it?
5. How can we participate personally in his victory?
6. What is the writer implying in verse 9, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin?”
The following excerpted sermon notes from pastor, writer and theologian, John Piper, offer a summary explanation of 1 John 3:1-10.
Sermon notes by John Piper
Read scripture verses: 1 John 3:1-10
1 John 3:1: “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God.”
Not only did it cost him his Son to save us from sin and death and hell (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16); and not only were we enemies so that God had to propitiate his own righteous anger in order to save us (1 John 4:10); but he went way beyond the love of rescue and the love of sacrifice and the love of clemency to his enemies. He showed us another kind of love beyond all that. He took us into his family. He made us to be called children of God.
1 John 3:3–5: “Everyone who thus hopes in him [in other words, every child of God who is assured of being made like Christ when he comes] purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”
Both justification and purification are implied here. Purification is explicit. John says: if you have experienced the new birth, you will love the day of Christ’s appearing and long for the day when you will be transformed into his perfect likeness (as verse 2 says, “when he appears we shall be like him”). And then, John says in verse 3, “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” That means everyone who loves the day of his final purification loves purity now, and hates impurity now, and fights sin now.
A changed life shows you are already connected to God as his child. 1 John 3:9 says that the reason born-again people don’t go on casually sinning is that “no one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin.” In other words, God has come into their lives, caused them to be born again, put his “seed” – or his Spirit – in them, and is working in them to awaken them to the ugliness and folly and danger of sin so that they will be unable to choose it.
We hope to see you next Saturday August 28th from 10:00 am – 12 pm.