As humans, we will look for what we long for; its part of who we are and how we live. But what if this season we stopped looking at the people and places we normally do and started looking at what happened at the first Christmas? Wed find what weve been looking for all along: a love that will last and we can never lose.

John assumes a world where the power and presence of God is tangibly at work. By contrast, much of our world today feels spiritually flat. How might we participate in the work of the Spirit? For John, the answer lies in the gift of discernment.

Both our external and internal worlds can leave us feeling unsettled and like we are on shaky ground. With this going on in us and around us, 1 John gives us a pathway to experience a heart at rest.

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Our world is infatuated with identity. It dominates our political conversations, our relational dynamics, and our personal wrestling. It's also one of Jesus' highest priorities: giving us a new identity.

We are living in what John calls the last hour, a time marked by what is good and beautiful but also what is opposed to that. How do you live in a time like this? In this next teaching from 1 John, well find that has to do with the person, presence, and activity of the Spirit who gives us what we need to thrive in the last hour.

If we want to both experience and display the love of God, we must renounce the world. How do we do that? Hear the wisdom of 1 John 2:15-17 for our day.

As a first hand witness of the life and teaching of Jesus, John doesn't mince words. Some of what he writes could be a little overwhelming and intimidating for his readers, especially for those who are sincerely seeking to be faithful to Jesus and to John's message. In 1 John 2:12-14 John reassures the faithful..."Before I go any further, let's make sure we get a few things straight!"

Its an inescapable reality right now: there is so much hate and darkness in the worldright now. Its everywhere we look. The question is: how does the community of Jesus called the church live in world like this? In this next teaching from our series in 1 John well see the answer is: love one another.

Obedience is a word that comes with a lot of baggage, especially in a culture thatadheres to the belief that the best life comes when theres no one telling me what to do.In this teaching from 1 John, were going to unpack the tension we feel with this andexplore the idea that maybe, just maybe, doing what Jesus says is a pathway to lovinghim more and a way to find the rest we long for.