You Are His John’s Voice: Deep for God’s people! John’s Lens: and shoring up = to emphatically urge someone to do something John’s Exhortation: 1 John 2:28-3:10, Hebrews 4:16, 1 John 3:21, 5:14, Romans 7:14-25 . In what? . When Christ appears, there will be two responses: or . The Case for Sin Whoever sins practices . Sin you more than you want to and you longer than you want to . God does not us. does! The Case for Christ Christ appeared to take away . No one who remains in Him keeps on . Knowing God and His righteous character fully leads to its . Their Assurance: Confidence comes from and knowing we are . The best way to connect with us is the Connection Card in the bulletin. For the Digital Bulletin, visit myncc.info. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Support Our Ministry If you found this message beneficial and you would like to help continue our ministries, we would be grateful for your support. Go to northcoastchurch.com/give ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Life Group Study Questions For the week of February 4, 2024 QUICK REVIEW If you were to tell a friend something you heard, learned, or were encouraged by in this weekend’s message, how would you say it in your own words? MY STORY This weekend, we were reminded we are children of God. Draw or find a picture that represents to you what a parent and child relationship is like. Bring the picture to group with you and be ready to explain what you see in the image and what it represents. Does the picture reflect how you see your relationship with God as His child? In what ways does it? In what ways doesn’t it? Damean talked about the confidence we can have as children of God. When do you feel most confident? Is there a moment, memory, or season of your life you can look back on and see confidence? DIGGING DEEPER Read 1 John 2:28-3:10 and write down any insights, questions, or key observations. Then answer the questions that follow. 1 John 2:28-3:10 New International Version (NIV) 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 3:1 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. 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. When you hear that the Father has lavished great love on you, what comes to mind? Is there an image, story, action, verse or thought that pops into your head first? Damean talked about how God’s great love is “out of this world” in its unusual and unique nature. This is the love He lavishes on us – generously, extravagantly, abundantly. Do you feel His love in these ways, or do you struggle to feel these things about God’s love? Explain. When you think about being a child of God, does it feel like an honor, a gift, a responsibility, a burden? Does it make you feel confident? Does it feel freeing? Does it ever feel challenging? Explain. Damean pointed out that living like we are loved as children of God means we deal with sin differently. We know we all sin, which John established in chapter 1, but children of God do not make a lifestyle or continual practice of habitual sin. How do you tell the difference between struggling with sin and making a practice of sin? Damean shared that “sin costs you more than you want to pay and keeps you longer than you want to stay.” Have you ever felt that way about an area of sin in your life? Explain. While “do not sin” can feel like a command about behavior, it is rooted in a calling to identity— who He is and who we are becoming as His children. When you notice or respond to your own sin, do you usually think of it in terms of behavior or identity? What could help you remember your identity as a child of God in a moment you catch yourself sinning? TAKING IT HOME Is there one thing you want to focus on or remember from this week’s teaching? PRAYER REQUESTS IMPACT YOUR COMMUNITY Looking to serve with your Life Group? To check out all your options, go to NorthCoastCommunityService.org.