Study Guide on 1st John
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)
Every time I study the letter of 1 John I find an amazing letter of encouragement, hope and expectation to followers of Christ. The older apostle John draws on his experience in the lifetime he had following Jesus, being a missionary, suffering hardships for the and glorying in the moment of God. As his hand is directed by the Holy Spirit to write these words, their power is fully seen not in the writing, but in the meaning. Living what the apostle writes is a fully fledged allegiance to the eternal and the benefits are found every day.
Below is a copy of a Bible Class Study Guide I put together to use in an adult Bible class. The material is not exhaustive of every verse in 1 John, but it was designed to be a discussion guide.
I have provided a copy of the Bible Class Study Guide below. You may download and distribute the study guide. Also below you will notice there are a couple editable copies below. You may download the editable copies and adapt them for use in your own congregation or studies.
To Download:
To Download a PDF copy of the Study Guide by clicking the picture to open up a new window or right clicking the picture and going to “Save As…”
Want a copy you may edit yourself? Below are two different links: one for an editable edition in Microsoft Word 2007 and another for the editable edition in Microsoft Word 2003. You may download the version you like by right clicking on the link and then choosing “Save As..”
All that I ask is you let me know you have downloaded the file and are using it.
Editable Copies:
If you have trouble downloading the files, contact me using the Contact link here or at the top of the page and I will email you a copy of the material.
I hope you will check out the other resources found on the Preacher’s Pen under Ebooks, Sermon Outlines and PowerPoints. Each of the resources is provided to you at no-cost.
Just some Friday thoughts,
Chris
Song of Solomon – Part #3
Feelings of passion have a tendency to rush one’s emotions for their love, especially in the season of spring. In 1966 the song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys became an instant hit because the lyrics spoke of young love and express feelings of young passion in musical lyrics
Wouldn’t it be nice it we were older
Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long
And wouldn’t it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
Today’s Text (Song of Solomon 2.8-17)
In our text for this post the young Shulamite woman writes passionately about her desire for her beloved to take her away.
As the Shulamite woman hears the voice of her beloved, her senses are aroused for a future with him. The sounds of his voice not only arouses her passionate love, but it stimulates her imagination. She pictures her beloved seeking her because her cannot be apart for her. His love is bringing him close enough to plead with her to rush away with him.
The picture the woman paints of her beloved’s desire for her is one of urgency. He leaps over the hills and mountains like a gazelle to find his love. His desire for her has brought him to a difficult position; he has traveled far, but his love is hidden behind a wall. He searches for her, but his longing for her is fully known.
Even though she is protected, he expresses his love for her in terms of certain urgency,
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one and come away.” (Song of Solomon 2.10)
Her Words of His Love (Song of Solomon 2:10 -15)
The next few verses are spoken by the woman as a description of her love’s desire for her. Her self-conscience of chapter 1 has faded because of her love’s thoughtful, romantic words describing her beauty. She now speaks as a young girl writing the name of her love in a notebook during a high school math class. The name of her love written on every page as she imagines the future that their love holds.
As she describes his words, she gives away the season of spring (Song of Solomon 2.11-12). The winter months have faded and given rise to the blooming flowers, budding trees and the season of life as their young love comes into full swing.
Verse 13 provides a further look towards the season of spring as the Shulamite woman gives a specific picture of the budding fig trees and the blooming plants. Her specific descriptions brings a scene of late March or very early in April.
Her thoughts concerning the season of spring, gives thought again to the sense of urgency. She again speaks of the powerful love when she repeats the same words as verse 10,
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one and come away.”
The Shulamite woman’s self-description, as through the eyes of her love, requests to see her beautiful face and to hear her soothing voice. He has travelled across hills and mountains to see her and seeing her face would be sign of hope and her voice a sound of sweet remembrance. Even though, she is hidden from his eyes, he desperately seeks to take her away.
Her Words of Possession (Song of Solomon 2.16-17)
The Shulamite woman ends her description of his words and moves to seal their love with one another by terms of possession, “My beloved it mine and I am his…”(Song of Solomon 2.16) Their love for one another is exclusive and hopeful toward the future. Chapter 2 closes with reflective poetry regarding a powerful, yet graceful picture of her beloved.
“My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.” (Song of Solomon 2:16-17)
Stay tuned for next week as we dive into Song of Solomon chapter 3.
Just some thoughts on Song of Solomon this morning,
Chris
How to Have Dinner with Your Family?
Believe it or not children are spending a very limited with their families and their time seems to be decreasing more and more. Though the age of technology is a powerful part of society, it is bring a new picture into the picture of the typical American family.
The amount of time children are spending with their parents is seemingly shrinking because both parents are working due to financial obligations and/or personal choices.** As a result of dual-working families, time is short, quick and desperately needed.
Picture this: the parents wake the children in the morning before sending them off to school 30 minutes later. The children go to school and the parents are off to work. After school, some children attend daycare, but many families are not together until 6:00 pm when the parents might arrive home from work. After a quick dinner, homework, work brought home from the parent’s occupation, plus the extra curricular activities (clubs, choirs, sports, etc.) the family begins to settle down for the evening at 8:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
The time factor above is quite short; through it you see many families are spending approximately two hours together. Now add to the time at home plagued by the age of technology; families have a cell phones, laptops, etc. to compete with their time as a family. A Norman Rockwell painting of the family today would show people in laptops and cell phones as they watch television.
A key component of strengthening the family is not just quality time or quantity time, but a combination of both. Below are some suggestions for the American family for having dinner as a family. Dinner is a time where families can grow closer together with just an under an hour.
How to Have Dinner with Your Family?
- Turn off technology – Take time before dinner and turn off all technology: home phone, cell phone, pagers, television, radio, laptops, game systems, MP3 players, etc. It is tempting to grab the phone when the ringer goes off, so turn your phone off to spend 30 great minutes with your family.
- Pray before dinner – Since God provides all that we need, why not spend some time as a family thanking him.
- Ask everyone about their favorite part of the day – Begin talking to your family about the favorite parts of the day. Spend time focusing on the positive things of school, work and home life. Let them know you are interested in knowing how well their day went by focusing on their favorite parts.
- Ask specifics, not just generalities – When asking your family about their day, there is a difference between “How was your day?” and “How did your project go?” Asking general questions usually gets general answers, asking specific questions allows you to know and even begin to understand the day as well as what the day meant to each other.
- Discuss the evening – As you eat dinner together, spend time discussing the evening’s activities. Discuss, even for a few minutes, what each other will do in the evening. Sharing this information together allows you to know more about your family and communicate clearly.
- Plan dinner for the next night - While eating together one night, spend time discussing the menu for the next night. Planning for the next night allows for less pressure because no one will be scrambling to put dinner together at the spur of the moment.
So, what do you think?
Just my thoughts,
Chris
**I mean no respect to dual working families, I want to point out the need for more time with the family.
Monday Morning Blues – Frank Caliendo
Since football season is almost over, I decided to post one of my favorite Frank Caliendo clips. If you have not heard Frank Caliendo impersonate John Madden, it is great! I miss John Madden broadcasting games. I want to see Madden back for the Super Bowl.
Take a moment and enjoy!
Enjoy!
Just a thought,
Chris
A Preacher’s Thoughts on Preaching
A few years ago I was playing my weekly game of basketball and feeling pretty exhausted when I got into a friendly discussion with one of the members where I was preaching. He said he was tired from working all day and I agreed I was tired too. In a joking way he said, “Yeah that two days a week is killing you isn’t it?” He said it as I was walking on the court to play and I turned around, gave him the serious look and said…
“Two days! Two Days! For your information, I work three hours on Sunday and one hour on Wednesday! It is four hours, not two days!” Then I walked on the court and began to warm up. When I turned around a few moments later he was still sitting on the bench with a look of amazement and confusion. I laughed and asked him what was wrong and he began to laugh. He was never expecting me to get back at him with a joke, he thought I was going to gripe him out.
There are few people outside of preachers who understand the role we play in the lives of people. We become their counselor, teacher, leader, ear of support, hands of prayer and at the same time wear the hat of preacher. The functions of our career are tiring, yet beautiful. We are on call 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to perform a variety of functions. We fill a role many would not consider twice, but we have devoted our entire life to ministering the word.
My advice to you is be a humble preacher in the grace of God, but be a preacher excited about the work you are doing. It takes work, prayer, more prayer and tons of support from family and friends; remember we need to strengthen ourselves.
I would encourage you to plan your time. Time management as the world views it is different than time management for preachers. Preachers “working hours” are different than most any other career. As you consider your time schedule let me add one appointment you should never miss – Time for God!
Ministers may spend all day in the scriptures, but never spend time in spiritual growth. I have learned there is a difference in preparing a lesson for the congregation and personal devotion. The Creator of the universe needs a place in our time, lest we become like the rich fool of Luke 12 and forget Him.
Remember, God will take care of you! The Bible reassures us of this in Matthew 6.25-34. I imagine there is a special resting place for preachers in Heaven. When God takes care of us, God does it on His time not ours. God’s timing is perfect, if you need an example, spend some personal time in Esther this week.
Even Jesus, throughout His ministry, made time for God. Consider the many times Jesus spent alone as He spoke to His Father. His communication with the Father even allowed for perfect timing – consider John 11.
Never forget! Never forget the Creator of the sun and the moon, which has determined our sense of time. Allow a place for our Father as you allow space for others.
Just a thought…
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