Anointing, Abiding, and Appearing
A preview of this week's sermon and announcing a special guest for next week's podcast!
One of the key words and concepts that connects the sermon of 1 John with the Gospel of John is the word "abide." The New International Version renders the Greek word meno as "remain," but the concept is the same. John wants his readers to not only believe in Jesus, but to "abide" or "remain" in him as the key to living a fruitful life. As John writes to the churches of Asia Minor, he exhorts them to avoid anything that keeps them from "abiding," including false "antichrist" teaching and the temptation to sin, remembering that they are "children of God." Learning to abide in Christ is an essential quality for being his disciples, and we'll be exploring how to do that in this week's message on 1 John 2:20-3:6.
The Seedbed Wake-Up Call: Another Resource on 1 John
In addition to the daily devotional book by JD Walt, which is available for purchase in the Atrium at Aldersgate as well as online, I wanted to point you to a fantastic online resource that is also focusing on 1 John. Seedbed publishing features a daily “Wake-Up Call” devotional that will help you follow along with the series. Subscribe here and you’ll get each day’s installment delivered to your inbox. JD offers some great insights in these daily reflections, and it’s all free. You can sign up any time and keep subscribing for a great daily devotional!
The Aldersgate Experience: Announcing a Special Guest!
We’re pleased to announce that JD Walt will be joining Pastor Jeff and me via Zoom on next week’s Aldersgate Experience podcast! We’ll be talking about 1 John and tap into some of JD’s insights into this important piece of Scripture. We’re scheduled to record on Monday, so watch for the installment to be posted on Tuesday. You can subscribe to our YouTube page or follow the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Meanwhile, I invite you to check out this week’s episode where we have a great discussion on sanctification as “the rest of the gospel.” I think it helps answer some of the questions that people have about this important doctrine, which is a distinctive focus for those in the Wesleyan tradition.
Sunday’s Sermon (5/11): The Rest of the Gospel
If you missed Sunday’s sermon, I think it’s probably an essential one for understanding the thrust of John’s message about the goal of the gospel. I’m also including the graphic that I showed on Sunday with the data from the 2011 Barna study on the Ten Transformational Stops on the journey of faith. You can read the full article about the study here.
We were excited to welcome 17 new members and 5 confirmands into our fellowship this week. Great things are happening at Aldersgate! Join us in person or online at 9:00 or 10:30AM each Sunday as we worship and learn how to live out the gospel together!