Jesus says the greatest Commandment is for us to love God. The problem: there's not step-by-step checklist to do so. Instead, we can only love God with the help of God. Bren spends this message explaining what this means, and why it's an important component of a follower's life.

This week Rev kicks off a mini series about the church. Bren begins by reminding us that the church is a people -- not an organization or building. He explains that the church is made up of both the spiritually young and spiritually old, and the part that grace plays in helping us live in community.

Ending his letter, John says that, given what we know about our relationship with God, we must guard yourself against idols -- even in the 21st Century. Bren explains what this means in our lives, and how we can identify and guard against our own idols.

If you are a disciple of Jesus, it is your job to raise up the next generation to love Him as well; to run the race with endurance and hand off the baton of faith.  Join the community here at Rev22 as we dedicate His children back to Him and learn how to give up control and obey God's commands while raising the next generation up to love God and love others.

Sometimes the scriptures are messy; that's the case this week. John says, for example, that some sin leads to death and other sin doesn't, but doesn't clarify what "death" means or which sins these are.  Bren talks through what all of this means, and how it can affect how we pray for others. He ultimately challenges us on how we think about and pray for other followers we're in community with.

If you struggle with prayer, this is the text for you. The Apostle John writes about how to pray with confidence, while Pastor Bren ties it into the purpose of prayer. You'll want to listen to the whole podcast, but perhaps the best summary is a quote by Bren:

"God designed prayer not so that we can have the things we want, but so that we can have him."

Anger is an outgrowth of love.  Anyone who loves, hates that which attacks what they love.  Righteous anger is good, but when that which we love the most is ourself, things go awry.

In this section the Apostle John tackles how we know that what Jesus says is true. He points out three proofs, and that they always agree. Guest speaker Dusty Benner teaches that these proofs leave us with the choice to accept that what Jesus says is true, and have the eternal life that comes with it; or deny and live a life disconnected from God.

The Apostle John says that when we're born again we develop a love for God and others, and they become delighted to keep God's commandments. These things, John teaches, are a delight and not a burden. He even says that when we encounter struggles in life we can overcome them because of Jesus in us.

As a real world representation of this at work, Bren invites his friend Reese to share his story of how Jesus has "overcome" something so seemingly burdensome in their life -- cancer.