Grace Community Church
A Banished Missionary: John (1 John 5:1-5)
Big Idea: Our faith is our ticket to living the life of an overcomer, as long as we choose to cash it in.
Locations & Times
Grace Community Church
9755 N La Cholla Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85742, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
Free Resource - Bible in One Year
Start your day with the Bible in One Year, a free Bible reading app with commentary by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel. Nicky Gumbel is the Vicar of HTB in London and pioneer of Alpha.
https://www.bibleinoneyear.orgNew Sermon Series - Scary Prayers
Join us next Sunday, March 19, as we begin a new sermon series, Scary Prayers. For more information about this series, click here.
http://www.gracetucson.org/blog/post/scary-prayers-new-teaching-series53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.
Article - No One Submits Verified Claim for $63 Million California Lottery Prize
Luck may have run out for the winner of a California Lottery jackpot, after nobody showed up at a state lottery office by 5 p.m. Thursday with the ticket or submitted a verified claim for the $63 million prize. Read all about it here.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/04/legal-battle-brews-over-unclaimed-63m-california-lottery-prize-as-deadline-looms.htmlArticle - Unclaimed Lottery Prizes: $2 Billion a Year
Stashed in desk drawers, the tops of dressers, under refrigerator magnets and in piles of accumulated scrap paper lie millions of winning lottery tickets worth billions of dollars. Click here to read an article by Chris Isidore at CNNTech.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/02/technology/mobile/2-billion-unclaimed-lottery-prizes/Persecution Blog: Boiled in Oil but Remains Alive
It is said that Roman emperor Domitian commanded that the apostle John be boiled to death in oil, but John only continued to preach from within the pot. Another time, John was forced to drink poison, but, as promised in Mark 16:18, it did not hurt him. Thus John, the head of the church in Ephesus at the time, was banished to Patmos in A.D. 97.Click here to read more.
http://www.persecutionblog.com/2006/09/boiled_in_oil_b.html1 John 4:4 (NIV)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1. Overcomers keep believing.
1 John 5:4-5 (NIV)
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.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV)
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” 38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
1. Overcomers keep believing.
2. Overcomers keep obeying.
1 John 5:2-3 (NIV)
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,
James 2:14, 17 (NIV)
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Revelation 12:11 (NIV)
They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
1. Overcomers keep believing.
2. Overcomers keep obeying.
3. Overcomers keep loving.
1 John 5:1-3 (NIV)
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.
Romans 8:37 (NIV)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
1 John 4:20 (NIV)
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.
Article - Francis and Arabella Barlow: Romantic Legends of the Civil War
Read more about Francis and Arabella Barlow here.
http://www.civilwarwomenblog.com/francis-and-arabella-barlow/CBE - Final Video
Congratulations on making it through the New Testament in 40 days! Take a look at our final video here. If you've fallen behind in your readings, don't give up. Finish strong!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Oa0V1TqLg&ab_channel=CommunityBibleExperienceMy Next Step
What impossible situation in your life today is God asking you to overcome by believing? Obeying? Loving? Click here to take one step closer to Christ today.
https://form.jotform.com/61595517299167[#1] John’s message in his letters was focused around love — loving God and loving others. What draws you to love God as you do? Is your love for others — even difficult people — reflective of that love you have for God? Why/why not?
[#2] The main theme of Revelation is Jesus’ role as “overcomer.” How is this message applicable to your life today? What are some of the evils in this world that you can’t wait for Jesus to defeat? How important is it to you that you fully understand how this is going to happen?
[#3] Take some time this week to be thoughtful about the seemingly impossible situations you are facing in your life today. Write them down. What are they? How long have they been there? Have you been tempted to give up? As you look at those situations, what is God specifically asking of you today?
[#4] Catch up on any readings during the Community Bible Experience that you had to skip over, during the past 8 weeks. As you do so, consider these 5 questions (which will be the 5 questions everyone shares in their book clubs this week):
1. What’s something you noticed for the first time?
2. What questions did you have?
3. Was there anything that bothered you?
4. What did you learn about loving God?
5. What did you learn about loving others?
How can we pray for you?
Our Grace prayer team is ready to join with you in prayer for whatever concerns you have. We take your requests seriously and would be honored to stand with you as you bring your concerns before our heavenly Father. Click here to submit a prayer request. All submissions are kept confidential unless you request otherwise.
http://www.gracetucson.org/needprayerOnline Giving
Help us make a kingdom difference by giving through our secure, online giving portal. IF YOU HAVE a login in Realm already, please use your login email address so that your gift will be attached to your other giving records.
https://onrealm.org/gracetucson/Give/MZGXNRCFCPHow was your experience today?
What helped you connect to God, and what could our teams have done even better? If you have any questions, please leave them here along with a way to contact you. We will be glad to do so this week .
https://form.jotform.com/60788528795173