The Joshua Victor Theory

  Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! This is the end of 1 John. A letter of faith and love. Re-read the whole letter once or twice this week and reflect on its resurrection messages and the new life we’re given. There’s always more there than we can unpack. Mine the Bible for those precious jewels. God’s Word is a treasure trove for your life! Today we’re mining the word “testimony.” In chapter 5, John compares the testimony of God to the testimony of man. Testimony is a borrowed word from the courtrooms. Witnesses give their testimony to what they’ve seen or heard. “Martyr” is Greek for “witness” and later came to mean someone who died for their testimony, because so many early Christians were put to death because they wouldn’t deny, change, or surrender their testimony to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. A “testimony” or “witness” has a certain “weight” to it. A court weighs whether they can trust the witnesses. That takes discernment. We talked two weeks ago ab...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today the youth of our congregation are called to testify—to declare their testimony before God and before us. When someone is “called to testify”, we usually think of a witness in a courtroom. They are asked to speak about what they’ve seen. To be a witness, or give testimony, meant the same in Bible times. John writes his letter with this strong opening and conclusion, testifying about what he and others saw with their very own eyes—concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection—and how God Himself gave witness to about His Son. It’s a little tricky that in English we have several words for the same idea, but to bear witness or give testimony, to testify, all mean the same thing. It’s speaking out about what you see or know. Our youth will (have) testify about their faith—declaring to you that the Christian faith in which they were baptized is their faith today. Each of us as Christians may at any time in our l...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. As we’ve been reading through the book of 1 John these past weeks in church, the themes of faith and love have echoed again and again. Last week it was about hearing God’s Word of Truth and believing and confessing Jesus in the flesh. It was about God’s first-love coming to us, and producing love in us in return. Building on that same thought, that faith and love are inseparable, today we hear in 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.” This is family-talk. It’s saying that we are children of God, born of God because we’re believers in Jesus Christ. As part of God’s family we love both our heavenly Father and other believers born of Him as well. Church, your fellow Christians, is your family. Even if your natural family is no longer living or is far from you, your fellow believers are God’s famil...

Sermon Outline: 1.       C.S. Lewis: two equal and opposite errors that can occur with regard to demons (fallen angels)--  1) disbelieving in their existence or 2) to believe, but have an unhealthy fascination. They are happy with either error--the first allows them to do their work unnoticed--the second because our focus lands on them, instead of God. Lewis referred to demons, but I think we could easily borrow his point to talk about the good angels as well. Same two easy errors: 1) disbelieve or 2) excessive fascination. On the one hand we would be ignorant of their protection or duty. But especially with the 2nd, how do we teach about them, but not lose focus of God, who is of greatest importance? Angels too are conscious of this problem--infrequent appearances in Bible--have the effect of frightening humans because of their brilliant shining appearance--quick to add in many cases “do not fear!” or “Don’t be afraid!” When humans fall down to worship ...