This document contains excerpts from a sermon given on the Apostles' Creed and 1 John 2:3-11, 15-17. It discusses three main points: 1) True followers of Christ will live according to his commandments and demonstrate love, even if ridiculed. 2) Believers who hold grudges enslave themselves and lose ability to help others. 3) As Christians, we should see our time on earth as an opportunity to make an eternal difference through serving God. The overall message is about living faithfully as disciples of Christ despite worldly opposition or personal hurts.

2. “Are You Really Who You
Say You Are?”
I John 2:3-11, 15-17

3. THE APOSTLES' CREED
"I believe in God the Father Almighty.
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our
Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the
Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate,
and buried; the third day He rose from the
dead;
He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right
hand of the Father, from thence He shall come
to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost; the holy Church; the
forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body;
the life everlasting."

4. 1. True followers of Christ will
live a lifestyle and
demonstrate a type of love
that is often ridiculed by a
“tolerant” and secular
society.

5. 1 John 2:3-6 (NASB) By this we know
that we have come to know Him, if
we keep His commandments. 4
The
one who says, "I have come to
know Him," and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him; 5
but whoever
keeps His word, in him the love of
God has truly been perfected. By
this we know that we are in Him: 6
the one who says he abides in Him
ought himself to walk in the same
manner as He walked.

6. IGNATIUS of ANTIOCH
“Be deaf, therefore, whenever
anyone speaks to you apart
from Jesus Christ … Who
really was born, Who both ate
and drank, Who really was
persecuted under Pontius
Pilate, Who really was crucified
and died … Who really was
raised from the dead.”

7. 1 John 2:7-8 (NASB) Beloved, I am
not writing a new commandment
to you, but an old commandment
which you have had from the
beginning; the old commandment
is the word which you have heard.
8
On the other hand, I am writing
a new commandment to you,
which is true in Him and in you,
because the darkness is passing
away and the true Light is already
shining.

8. 2. Believers who hold on to past
hurts enslave themselves and
lose the ability to provide
direction for the hopeless.

9. 1 John 2:9-11 (HCSB) The one who
says he is in the light but hates
his brother is in the darkness
until now.
10
The one who loves
his brother remains in the light,
and there is no cause for
stumbling in him.
11
But the one
who hates his brother is in the
darkness, walks in the
darkness, and doesn’t know
where he’s going, because the
darkness has blinded his eyes.

10. 3. As Christians we should view
our time on earth as an
opportunity to make an
eternal difference.

11. 1 John 2:15-17 (NLT) Do not love this
world nor the things it offers you,
for when you love the world, you
do not have the love of the Father
in you. 16
For the world offers only a
craving for physical pleasure, a
craving for everything we see, and
pride in our achievements and
possessions. These are not from the
Father, but are from this world. 17
And this world is fading away,
along with everything that people
crave. But anyone who does what
pleases God will live forever.

12. “Only one life ’twill soon be past,
only what’s done for Christ will
last.”