White Stone Church: Audio Messages White Stone Church

Becoming a christian is easy. Being a christian is hard. Having an encounter that changes you is easy. Walking the narrow road is hard.

One way the author of First John describes Christ-followers is as people who "practice" righteousness. That's an interesting way to describe our faith, and an interesting way to describe sanctification. We are to "practice" righteousness.
We don't use that word "practice" a lot in Christian circles; but maybe we should, as long as we're talking about it in terms of post-Jesus and not pre-Jesus. Because when we use that word practice, all we're saying is that we're trying to get better at something.

It is definitely true that practicing good works cannot make you a christian. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. But practicing good works can make you a better christian, and that is what discipleship and formation is all about.

We want to improve, plain and simple. And how incredible it is that we can actually practice our faith, and that it can become richer and deeper with time.

Colby brings us into the third chapter of 1st John in this next installment of our verse-by-verse series through 1st John. In this stunning passage, John makes the incredible statement that our identity is that of sons and daughters of God, and even though we were once separated from Him, he has made us a part of his family.

In verse 28 of 1 John chapter 2, the author of 1 John urges us to prepare ourselves for Christ's return. Whether we are ready or not, Jesus is coming again. And the first time he came as a lamb, but the next time he will come as a lion. And though the day and time of his coming is uncertain, the reality of his coming is certain.

Jesus said himself in John 14:3, "if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also."
And so it's with that thought in mind, the reality of the second coming that the author urges us here: why not get ready? Why not abide?

Because ultimately, we know we can't be righteous on our own; that only comes from abiding— allowing God to set us in the right direction.

Entitlement, bitterness, cynicism, and resentment threaten every relationship we have. We have all been placed among people who we are called to love sacrificially, but the reality is that there are times when we feel like we are pouring out more of ourselves than we are getting back from others, and that can lead us to become bitter. It can tempt us to draw back from those God has placed in our lives for a reason.

We could all stand to learn a little from the great mothers of the world in that way, because while every other relationship seems to be threatened by one party sacrificing more than their fair share, the constant sacrifices that mothers make for their kids actually cause them to love their kids more; not less.

As we pick up our series through 1 John on this Mothers' Day, Cody reminds us that the danger of going from being part of Christ's Kingdom, to being anti-Christ, begins with the urge to grow bitter and pull away from the people God has called you to love when things get hard. The mark of a true citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, is steadfastness, consistency, and the ability to bear with our brothers and sisters in love.

Sometimes even good things can become bad things if they are keeping us from Christ the King.

Each and every one of us have received an invitation to sit at the King's table— an invitation to be with our Father. The problem is that there are all sorts of other things vying for our attention, trying to keep us from accepting that invitation.

At the midpoint of 1 John chapter 2, the author reminds us that if we love the world and the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in us. This simple truth isn't designed to offend us; it's designed to remind us that a relationship with our Father and creator is so much better than any of the temporary pleasures the world can provide. In this message, Brock reminds us that true Christianity runs much deeper than simply abstaining from sin and worldly pleasure. It is also about laying aside those weights so that we may taste the supreme goodness that can only be found in God alone.

What is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God?

Although it is a small letter, 1 John is packed full of ideas that have incredibly vast implications for what we believe and how we live. Three of the main themes covered in the letter are: sound doctrine about who Jesus is, obedience to his commands, and love. All three of these themes work together to give a full picture of what it looks like to genuinely know God through Jesus.

As we have gone through the first two chapters verse-by-verse, we have seen much of John's writing about the first two of these themes: sound doctrine and obedience. In Colby's message this week, we take a short detour from where we left off in 1 John and skip to chapter four, to touch on the last of the three major themes of the letter: love.

In 1 John 4 we receive the command to love one another, and the author elaborates that anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. But what exactly does it mean that God is love? And how does that inform the way that we love our brothers and sisters?