Love the Child 1 John 5:1-3a Dr. Grant Hodges Are These Discouraging Times? Are souls being saved in 2010? Who do you know that has recently been saved? How did they come to know the Lord? I. Loving the Child Is The Test of Our Faith verse 1 What is the first half of verse one mean (as far as its teaching goes)? What is the implied command in the second half of verse one? Combine the second half of verse one with Christ’s statement, "If you love me, keep my Commandments." What do you get? So what should those who love the Father be doing? Why is it that we generally do anything else? What are the points of those rabbit trails? Why is trust an essential ingredient of obedience (cf. "Whoever believes . . . Whoever loves . . . ")? The first part of verse one is a thought; the second part of verse one is an action. Discuss the significance of this difference. II. "He Who Winneth Souls Is Wise." verse 2 Given verse one, what do the people who love God do? What does this look like? What does Matthew 28 imply about the nature of obeying this command? Begin reading at Romans 9:31 and continued to 10:2. Who is Paul talking about? What is his motivation? How do we apply this? What do you know about the Great Awakening? Was it simply an emotional outpouring? What is this based on when it is said? How did the evangelical movement contained in the Great Awakening influence the development of democratic concepts as the colonies progressed toward the Revolution? What great social movement came out of the Great Awakening? (Hint: it starts with an "A"! It is with a "T".) Why has evangelism trailed off in America? (ex. Finney – "burned over places") What is to be done about it? III. Understanding Verse One by Verse Two How does the first part of verse to explain the last part of verse one? Why is the emphasis here on doing as opposed to feeling? How do we justify understanding agape love as doing not merely feeling? What are the risks involved in evangelism? Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-13 and explain why people are worth the risks involved in evangelism. What is better, a poor yet wise lad or an old and foolish king? So what should you do?

Dr. Grant Hodges

The mission of Grace Church is to share the love of Jesus Christ through Worship, Discipleship, and Evangelism.