John has prepared us for this message by teaching us about spiritual maturity. The world is full of lusts of flesh, eyes and pride. Antichrists make their way into the church who desire division. Christ gave us to church to be able to discern and protect children the faith from them. God is good and He does not fail!

John gives a description of spiritual maturity in the Body of Christ. This is an important message because he is preparing believers for a message about the dangers of the world. The good news is that God has given us the church to prepare, love and care for each other!

It seems confusing at first. John says there this is not a new commandment, but then it is a new commandment. But what is really happening is that John is accentuating what Christ has already renewed, our love for one another. The Law and the Prophets hangs on 2 commandments; our love for the Lord and our love for each other. We are not just called to love, but to love as Jesus loves!

John's call to the church in this message is to stop sinning. Perspective is key here. We do not stop sinning to gain favor with God. Conversely, we stop sinning because we know who we are in HIM and recognize that Jesus is our Advocate with the Father! This is good news!

This is a great study about the struggle of being a believer who is living in a fallen world. We are called to walk in the light, yet there is still the struggle with our sinful nature. It is good news that God is Light! He has given us the fellowship of believers and fellowship with Jesus Christ, who washes away our sin!

This introduction to John's Epistles is filled with hope. John is explaining to believers that we can enjoy the fellowship that he and the other disciples of Jesus have with God as well. That in Jesus, the Word of Life, our joy is made complete!

Chad White walks us through the Advent theme, Love. This profound statement really helps us to understand the purpose of the theme: "When we understand love, as believers, Christmas becomes worship, not sentiment."

Mark Little takes us through a study this week that helps us to understand where we find our joy. Joy is not different than happiness, as some would teach. But it is also not a simple, temporal feeling . It is about understanding that we have been saved by Jesus through his work on the cross. Having joy at Christmas is celebrating the coming of our Savior!

This week, Tony Holt helps us to understand how Jesus Christ is our peace. We are not just called to have peace, or to be peaceful, but to understand that Jesus is the peace that we need.

Did you know that hope is not just wishful thinking or expecting something to happen in the future? True Hope in Jesus is a certainty of the promises delivered to us by God! The first week of Advent has us looking at the hope all believers can have in that truth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!