Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 20:36:10
There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear. Is that true?
Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 20:38:04
How is our fear being cast out today? We use the word "love" for many things but how much of what we do as a church helps to cast out fear?
Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 20:40:14
If we are moving toward perfection and our love is not yet perfect, how do we grow in love in such a way that we help each other be free of fear?
Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 20:42:35
"NO FEAR" was a slogan on t-shirts a few years ago but most church people did not see such messages as particularly consistant with the gospel. WHY?
Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 20:47:17
Non violence is a highly respected approach among many Christians. Resorting to violence is considered a means unacceptable for most purposes. Why is is that using fear is a means so commonly accepted in most churches?
Does this also mean that the voice of fear that may be successful in many pulpits is really not speaking as the voice of God?
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 05:24:37
Believing that perfect love casts out fear is a matter of faith, because we cannot comprehend the full breadth of a love that is perfect. We believe in a God who loves with perfect love, but we are still viewing that love "through a mirror, dimly." So,we still have to deal with the presence of our own fears. Thise fears are very real, and I think "No Fear" turned most Christians off because the slogan and the attitude of those who took up the slogan suggested that there wasn't really anything to be afraid of, a kind of an "I'm unconquerable" frame of mind. We know that thereis plenty to fear, and that we have no real protection from the pitfalls & dark valleys of life. But there is a Christian equivalent. Even though we can't stand against the darkness on our own, we believe in the One whose perfect love can cast out our strongest enemies and our fear with them. It's the One who says to us, "Fear Not!" Ken in WV
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 17:13:42
Thanks Ken in WV I believe that fear is the opposite of love and not hate. the t-shirt slogan "no fear" is a faith in the power of the self-- I am strong, you are weak. But our faith is "no fear" because we are weak but He is strong. We have no reason to fear and every reason to love because of God's perfect love. --I may tie this into Acts, where Philip demonstrates love and lack of fear by telling a foreigner, an ethiopian eunuch, the good news. I am going to title my sermon "No Fear". KB in AB
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 17:19:19
I plan to preach about being a loving community, about basing our church life on love, rather than other values, like having things in common, or even liking one another.
But real love needs to be defined. Love, in this context, is not sentimentality or even affection. Last week's epistle lesson equated love with sharing one's food and clothing. Love is both word and action. Though I'm not sure how, or if, I'll fit it in, I was reminded of one part of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, where Screwtape, the supervising devil, advises his underling and nephew, Wormwood, to make Wormwood's "patient" (the new Christian, young man) focus on the people sitting in the pews when he went to church. Screwtape encourages Wormwood to have the man be distracted by their appearance and their petty faults, and that way find the idea of being united with them in the body of Christ a distasteful prospect.
Love, on the other hand, is not about liking or admiring one another. But about serving each other the way Christ served us. Thanks be to God that affection and warmth often follow, but these are not the basis of our community. Something much stronger is: love.
JGC in MA
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 17:58:12
A bit of humor on this text...A man was invited to the wedding of a girl he knew and befriended in college but whom he had not seen in several years. Due to distance and scedules, he regretted being unable to attend. Instead, he sent the following telegram due to arrive on the wedding day. "On this special day, I wish you the best. Always remember the words of I JOHN 4:18. Yours truly, John." As the telegram was being copied, the clerk, thinking the "I JOHN" was a misprint, simply omitted the "I" making the text John 4:18. The couple received the telegram but instead of reading the intended 1 JOHN text, "There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear..." The bride read aloud JOHN 4:18. "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband!" Oops! Army Chaplain E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 17:59:14
A bit of humor on this text...A man was invited to the wedding of a girl he knew and befriended in college but whom he had not seen in several years. Due to distance and schedules, he regretted being unable to attend. Instead, he sent the following telegram due to arrive on the wedding day. "On this special day, I wish you the best. Always remember the words of I JOHN 4:18. Yours truly, John." As the telegram was being copied, the clerk, thinking the "I JOHN" was a misprint, simply omitted the "I" making the text John 4:18. The couple received the telegram but instead of reading the intended 1 JOHN text, "There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear..." The bride read aloud JOHN 4:18. "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband!" Oops! Army Chaplain E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 18:01:38
A bit of humor on this text...A man was invited to the wedding of a girl he knew and befriended in college but whom he had not seen in several years. Due to distance and schedules, he regretted being unable to attend. Instead, he sent the following telegram due to arrive on the wedding day. "On this special day, I wish you the best. Always remember the words of I JOHN 4:18. Yours truly, John." As the telegram was being copied, the clerk, thinking the "I JOHN" was a misprint, simply omitted the "I" making the text John 4:18. The couple received the telegram but instead of reading the intended 1 JOHN text, "There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear..." Fetching a Bible, the bride read aloud JOHN 4:18. "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband!" Oops! Army Chaplain E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 18:04:00
A bit of humor on this text...A man was invited to the wedding of a girl he knew and befriended in college but whom he had not seen in several years. Due to distance and schedules, he regretted being unable to attend. Instead, he sent the following telegram due to arrive on the wedding day. "On this special day, I wish you the best. Always remember the words of I JOHN 4:18. Yours truly, John." As the telegram was being copied, the clerk, thinking the "I JOHN" was a misprint, simply omitted the "I" making the text John 4:18. The couple received the telegram but instead of reading the intended 1 JOHN text, "There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear..." the bride, quickly fetching a Bible, leafed through it and read aloud JOHN 4:18. "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband!" Oops! Army Chaplain E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 18:06:06
A bit of humor on this text...A man was invited to the wedding of a girl he knew and befriended in college but whom he had not seen in several years. Due to distance and schedules, he regretted being unable to attend. Instead, he sent the following telegram due to arrive on the wedding day. "On this special day, I wish you the best. Always remember the words of I JOHN 4:18. One of your many friends, Jim." As the telegram was being copied, the clerk, thinking the "I JOHN" was a misprint, simply omitted the "I" making the text John 4:18. The couple received the telegram but instead of reading the intended 1 JOHN text, "There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear..." the bride, quickly fetching a Bible, leafed through it and read aloud JOHN 4:18. "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband!" Oops! Army Chaplain E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 17 May 2000
Time: 18:13:02
Sorry about the redundancy of the previous submission. I was making corrections and it seemed to post each. I will submit this message ONCE ONLY. Army Ch E
Date: 21 May 2000
Time: 07:10:19
Chaplain E, regardless of the version, the humorous little tale about I John 4:18 was helpful. I plan to use it in my message. Thanks. Rev R from AL