Sermon Discussion Questions 

1) If our hearts condemn us, we might have sins to confess in his presence (1Jn.1:8-2:2). Sometimes, however, our hearts still condemn us, even after we’ve confessed and received forgiveness. How then can we comfort our hearts before him? Read 1John 3:19-20 and discuss. 

2) Our actions of loving one another “in deed and in truth” (3:17-18) provide a weighty confirmation of God’s love abiding in us (3:19). How have you experienced sacrificial love within the church, both in mundane and extraordinary ways? 

3) John speaks of God’s love abiding in us (3:17). It flows in us and through us. But the fountainhead from which it flows is God’s singular act of love in Christ: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,” (3:16a; see also 4:9-10; John 15:13). Having received this divine love by faith, we are now obligated to "lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters” (3:16b; see also 4:11; compare 2Co.5:14-15). How has God’s love for you in Christ compelled you recently to love someone else sacrificially?