Welcome to Day 2689 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2689 – A Joyful Life Because God Is Life Putnam Church Message – 08/03/2025 Sermon Series: 1, 2, & 3 John “A Joyful Life - God is Life.”   Last week, we began a new systematic verse-by-verse study of the letters 1, 2, & 3 John, followed by Jude with insights and introduction to 1, 2, & 3 John., This week, we will begin going through these letters, and today, we will cover 1 John 1:1-4 as we explore “A Joyful Life - God is Life.” Let’s read 1 John 1:1-4 from the NIV, which is found on page 1898 of your Pew Bibles. 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[a] joy complete. Opening Prayer The Old Elder's Sacred Hymnal Imagine, if you will, a community nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains, where generations had always found their deepest solace and strongest unity in the act of worship. At the very heart of their gatherings was a sacred treasure: the Sacred Hymnal. It was an ancient, hand-bound volume, filled not just with words and notes, but with the very deep and rich hymns of the faith that had been the core of their Christian community for centuries. This Hymnal held the essence of their spiritual identity,> their history with the Lord, their enduring promises, and their profound, unshakeable joy. Its melodies and truths had been intimately given and taught by the Divine Composer Himself, who had shared His very heart in song through His Beloved Son. Now, only a few, very old members of this community, the Original Witness Bearers, had actually walked and sung with the Beloved Son. They had seen Him teach the very first hymns, had heard His voice ring out with divine authority, and had even felt the tangible presence of His Spirit as their hands held the first copies of the Hymnal's truths. Their lives were utterly intertwined with these living songs. But as years turned into decades, and the younger generations grew up, many had begun to rely on distant echoes of the hymns. Some knew the words on the page, but the melody had faded in their hearts. Others listened to flimsy, modern tunes, catchy but shallow, that lacked the profound depth and spiritual weight of the originals. A subtle, lethargic boredom, a kind of spiritual apathy, crept into the community. The initial thrill of shared worship