Opener: Begin by having one of your group members read aloud 1 John 4:1-6.
Note: See if anyone would like to share any thoughts or takeaways they had from the sermon or the passage for this week. (Give 3 to 5 minutes.)
Q1: What are the 3 tests in John? (See if you can remember without notes.)
Q2: How do these 3 tests help us grow in certainty?
Q3: We will not be “hated” for Christlike holiness or love for others; hatred will come because of the “doctrinal” or truth test. Why?
Q4: We won’t be mocked for the applications of the gospel but for the implications of the gospel. This is an oversimplification, but in general, what does it mean?
Q5: What we consistently believe and how we consistently behave equals who we become. How has this practically played out for you over the past few months or years?
Q6: What is John’s description of the problem and prescription of the solution?
Q7: Where have you seen (work, family, school) beliefs about Christ that were not true to the gospel? What have been some implications regarding how their life is going or how it impacts your relationship with them?
Q8: When you feel threatened for your beliefs (not necessarily physical harm but mockery, argument, etc.), do you tend towards fight, flight, or freeze?
Q9: How can you grow in your response that more closely models confidence? (see verse below)
2 Tim. 2:23-26 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Q10: John’s three tests, Doctrinal, Moral, Social (Truth of Jesus, Holiness of Jesus, Love of Jesus) all revolve around a focus on who Jesus is and how he lived. What practical steps could you take in your life to grow in one or all of these three areas in your own life?