Connecting People in Community: Humans are not solitary beings. Our horizontal relationships with people must be shaped and empowered by our vertical relationship with God; but none of us are perfect. Thankfully, the gospel provides a wonderful promise: if we confess our sins in humility, God will not only forgive us but will purify us from all unrighteousness. Recorded on Jan 8, 2023, on 1 John 1:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our DNA, a sermon series on our core values that define who we are and what we’re trying to do. Our core values include inviting people to worship, connecting people in community, training people for ministry, and sending people on mission. These values provide a wonderful source of power, meaning, and joy for the Christian life.

Sermon Transcript:

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a 4-part sermon series called DNA, focusing on our identity and the core values which define who we are and what we’re trying to do here. Our core values include inviting people to worship, which we covered last week, but also connecting people in community, our focus of the day, as well as training people for ministry, and sending people on mission. At the most foundational level, worship, community, ministry, and mission are the basic building blocks of the Christian life. When these values are guided and empowered by our mission and vision and are rooted in the truth of God’s word, they become our DNA, encoding everything we need for life and flourishing as a church. Today, we’re considering relationships here in the church and the value of connecting people in community. Now, again, just like last week, there are so many places we could go in the Bible to see why this is true and should be part of our DNA. But I think the opening of a letter written by the Apostle John is a classic example. So if you have a Bible/app, please open to 1Jn 1:1. We’ll read through this text and then unpack it together.

1 John 1:1-7 (NIV), “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” 

So the book of 1 John is an epistle or letter in the NT from the Apostle John, one of the closest friends of Jesus, to the Christians most likely in and around the city of Ephesus in modern Turkey. The people in this area had initially heard the gospel from the Apostle Paul. According to church history, John was a leader in this region toward the end of his long life. And from his letter, we can see that there were problems there: people were be...