Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

A Call to Persevere 17   But, dear friends, remember what the apostles  of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.   18  They said to you, “In the last times  there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”   19  These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.   20  But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up  in your most holy faith  and praying in the Holy Spirit,   21  keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait  for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  22  Be merciful to those who doubt;   23  save others by snatching them from the fire;  to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude is the shortest letter of the bible at 25 verses.  We don't know exactly who Jude is, but the letter is written to James, his dear brother in the faith.  Most scholars believe this is "James the Just", the half brother on Jesus and leader i

3 John "Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,   even though they are strangers to you.   6  They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way  in a manner that honors  God.   7  It was for the sake of the Name  that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.   8  We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth." The letter of 3 John is a very short letter and very specific in its theme.  The apostle John is commending Gaius to the church and specifically that they might welcome him as a brother in Christ.  The other overarching theme is "hospitality".  Hospitality is a very important theme in the New Testament.  We know from church growth research that how we welcome someone into our church makes a huge impact and can determine whether they come back or not.  Some say that a person's experience from their car to their pew is a huge determ

2 John 7-11   I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ  as coming in the flesh,  have gone out into the world.  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.   8  Watch out that you do not lose what we [ a ]  have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9  Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.   10  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.   11  Anyone who welcomes them shares  in their wicked work. Most everyone agrees that the letter of 2 John is written by the apostle John.  It reflects similar themes as 1 John, and is almost identical to the short letter right after it, 3 John.  The main heresy, or false teaching he is confronting is the teaching that Jesus did not really come in the flesh.  This was a heresy called "docetism". It said Jesus on

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God 5  Everyone who believes  that Jesus is the Christ  is born of God,  and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.   2  This is how we know  that we love the children of God:  by loving God and carrying out his commands.   3  In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome,   4  for everyone born of God  overcomes  the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.   5  Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. These first four verses of chapter 5 of John's letter to the early Christians is a great summary of not only the Christian faith, but the Christian life.  Why?   A Christian believes that Jesus is the "Christ".  In other words that, Jesus is the "Messiah".  He is the only Son of God, "fully God" and "fully man".  When we believe in Jesus by faith empowered by the Ho

John 4:16-21 God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.   17  This is how love is made complete  among us so that we will have confidence  on the day of judgment:  In this world we are like Jesus.   18  There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,  because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  19  We love because he first loved us.   20  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister  is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,  cannot love God, whom they have not seen.   21  And he has given us this command:  Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. You can see the common theme in this passage is "love".  The passage starts by saying "God is love".  If we want to really understand love, we have to look at its source, God.  There is nothing about God that is not love.  The love John is referring to is a differ

1 John 3:1-3  See what great love  the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.   2  Dear friends,  now we are children of God,  and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him,  for we shall see him as he is.   3  All who have this hope in him purify themselves,  just as he is pure. John's gospel is also called the "relational" gospel.  While Matthew, Mark and Luke focus more on the events in Jesus' life, John focuses more on how Jesus came to earth so God could be known by us.  We see this reflected in John's letter to early Christians as well.  One of the issues John is addressing is the worldliness he is seeing in the church. He keeps emphazing that if they keep on "sinning", they are not showing they are in an authentic relationship with God. I.e. They don't real

1 John 2:3-8 We know  that we have come to know him  if we keep his commands. 4  Whoever says, “I know him,”  but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.   5  But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.  This is how we know  we are in him:   6  Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.  7  Dear friends,  I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.  This old command is the message you have heard.   8  Yet I am writing you a new command;  its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing  and the true light  is already shining. John challenges these believers in their obedience to God's commands.  He is not just laying on a heavy burden on them, but associating "knowing God" with keeping his commands.  It is out of our relationship Christ that our obedience flows.  In John 15:5 Jesus says, "If you abide in me and I in

The Incarnation of the Word of Life 1  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. John, the writer of the fourth gospel, also write this letter to the early church toward the end of the 1st century.   The epistle of 1 John starts in a similar way to the gospel of John when he writes about the "Word".  We know from John's gospel that though the Word was with God from the beginning, the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us.   Another theme for John i