1 John 2

"Dear Beloved, As God's child, you need to know that some truth is very basic and very simple. You also need to realize that the evil one, whom John....."

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers..."

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the..."

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the..."

"This is how we know we are in [Jesus]: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

"My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the..."

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it...."

"I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from [the Holy One] remains in you, and....."

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:15-16 -- Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boastin

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:5-6 -- This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

"Dear Disciple, John was a masterful writer. He used a simple vocabulary to share nuances of truth and depths of theological insight. His use of such...."

So how perfect are you? Russ Lawson reminds us that we are imperfect, that we make mistakes, and that God forgives those mistakes and makes us perfect in his sight if we will try to live for him.

Do you still have to parent after they have left home? Parenting twenty-somethings is a challenge but can be a blessing if we do our job well.

Obeying what God commanded and avoiding the things he condemns is important. However, the way we deal with them must involve our interior world! Phil Ware reminds that to become JesuShaped, we have to pay attention to our interior worlds, the world of our hearts, and not just religious externals.

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ the...."

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

"[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and....."

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness."

"Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be in a healthy state of soul-if they would escape the...."

""If any man sin, we have an advocate." Yes, though we sin, we have him still. John does not say, "If any man sin he has forfeited his advocate," but....."

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:27 -- As for you, the anointing you received from him [the Spirit] remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counter

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:1 -- My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:2 -- He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Inspirational illustration of 1 John 2:17 -- The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

"Dear Disciple, The foundation for everything you hold dear as a Christian and as My disciple is this one fundamental truth: I came as God, in human....."

Sometimes when kids get it wrong, they get it right! Russ Lawson reminds us that kids can say something wrongly, but at the same time remind us of greater truth.

"Dear Beloved, You are the Father's child! You are precious! The Father adopted you into Our — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit's — family....."

Why is our sight so short-sided that we cannot see the whole world at Jesus' Table of grace? Phil Ware continues his series on 'Beyond Bread and Wine' focusing on Jesus' death for the sin of the whole world and a special Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand.

"Dear Disciple, Don't fall in love with what cannot ultimately satisfy or eternally sustain you. Many around you chase after things that do not last....."

"Dear Child of the Glorious and Gracious Father, As John neared the end of his physical life, he wrote three short letters to help churches facing all..."

"Dear Beloved, I came to your world to be God among you and die as the atoning sacrifice for your sins. However, My ministry for you did not end with...."

"Dear Disciple, The beloved elder John wrote to My disciples because he deeply loved them and wanted them to find eternal life in me. His words to..."

Most folks don't even know about this promise about Jesus! Phillip Morrison reminds us of Jesus' incredible role in interceding for us always and living to make that intercession in our defense.

"Dear Beloved, John wrote the truth powerfully and simply in his short little letter you call 1 John:You are my little children, so I am writing these..."

"Dear Friend, You have been blessed with great honor to be included at My table of grace! When you come and remember Me at what you call "the Lord's....."

Will we build our lives on the Lord's will, on the foundation of his loving instructions to us? Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to open our hearts to the call of God in our lives and to living according to his will and guidance for us.

What's true about the NCAA Basketball Tourney and life? Phi Ware reminds us that while the one and done principle is true in much of life, Jesus changed it for us in regard to sin.

"Dear Beloved, The Father loves you so much that He sent Me to your world to show you His love. The goal of God's love is your salvation —..."

The Bible and the early church were both exclusive and inclusive about salvation and fellowship. James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of both the exclusive claim of Jesus as the only way to God and the inclusive fellowship of welcoming all people who truly believed in Jesus.

How do we get rid of it? We can try all sorts of things, but only Jesus can take our guilt away.

We must not treat sin cavalierly, but we also must not think we have to earn God's grace! Rubel Shelly risks being misunderstood by talking about the frustration of trying to win God's grace by living perfectly and over-analyzing our sins, failures, mistakes, and missteps.

Are we losing focus? Phil Ware shares a reminder that not only must we do good and live morally, but we must not forget the main thing, letting others know about Jesus!

Somethings you just have to know! Somethings we just have to know because they are such a blessing.

You ready to reach out? Phil Ware talks about being mission-minded and outreach oriented and not letting other cultures, languages, ethnicities, races, or differences block us from sharing Jesus.

Do you feel like your prayers bounced and came back to you? Our prayers get to God, they don't bounce back to us and we can be sure about that because Jesus intercedes for us.

Few truths are more important to us than Jesus' promise to be at the Father's side interceding for us and presenting us to the Father as holy children of the King! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in online, virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of the great assurance we have with Jesus as our advocate interceding for us and presenting us to God in his righteousness.

Can we live like we know for sure? God is at work in the ordinary and unimportant aspects of life as well as the extraordinary and debilitating aspects of life.

What do we do with sinners? We must be tough on sin but offer mercy and forgiveness for those who are truly repentant.

Just how long is forever? When people talk about forever, it doesn't mean an eternity. But when God talks about forever, it means time without end.

Why would the sinless Son give himself, surrender his life and his dignity, to save those who were ungodly, helpless, sinners, and enemies of God? James Nored and Phil Ware remind us that Jesus gave his life for us because of his love for us and his unwillingness to leave us in sin and how his love defined

Does the connection show up in our ministry? All too frequently people claiming to follow Jesus separate proclamation from compassion, evangelism from service, but if we have a DNA connection with Jesus, both must be present.

Who or what really is our God? We show by our lifestyle and our choices if we really worship God or other gods.

How do you deal with those feelings of remorse? It doesn't matter what you have done. Your sins can be washed away. You can start over. God will cleanse you and give you a new life.

What can we really expect the Spirit to do for us, today, in our world? Phil Ware writes about Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit focusing on John 14 and Jesus' promise to not leave us as orphans but to come to us and show himself to us and be in us and make his home with us.

Rather than taking God's lavish grace for granted, we choose to offer ourselves to God and walk away from sin. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of all that we have received from God through grace and how we must say no to sin because we have been so blessed!

The description of the Good Shepherd in John 10 aligns beautifully with Jesus' definition of serving and giving himself to bless us in Mark 10. Phil Ware continues his thoughts on becoming JesuShaped disciples, this week focusing on the horrors of the litany of spiritual abuse cases in the news and how different they are from Jesus’ definition of a JesuShaped leader and godly shepherd.