3 John 1-10.18.22

SCRIPTURE:

3 John 1:5

"Dear friend, you are showing faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. They have testified to your love in front of the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans."

OBSERVATION:

John, the author of this book was an apostle of Jesus. This was his third letter, it was addressed to Gaius, his dear friend whom he considered one of his children. In his letter, John emphasized the importance of a healthy growing church, containing two specific ingredients: truth and love. John commended Gaius for being a man who walked in the truth. Whatever he did, he demonstrated his faithfulness to God. His gift of hospitality testified to his love for God; to the traveling missionaries, and even to strangers. He set an excellent example to the members of the church regarding the importance of taking time to care for the physical and financial needs of the ones who devoted a large amount of time to ministry.

UNDERSTANDING:

To grow in our love for one another, we must follow the example of Jesus. When we love one another as Christ loved us, we are revealing God's message of love and salvation to the world.

During our Sunday morning pre-service prayer time a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Warren reminded us of the benefits of having left overs. He talked about how God loves to lavish us with good things, and when we have left-overs, we aren't to hoard them, we are to lavish others with the good things that God has blessed us with. When we give with pure motives, our giving results in God getting the glory, and that should always be our motive for giving.

LIFE APPLICATION:

Showing hospitality and being generous are ways we can show that we care. Speaking of hospitality and generosity...

I want to give a special shout out to Crystal and Rich for the gift of hospitality that they have lavished on us as they have graciously opened up their beautiful home for us to gather with our "In the City Group". They have sacrificed a lot for us! As God has blessed them, they have been so kind to bless us! We appreciate them both so very much!

Like Gaius, who loved to show hospitality and meet the needs of others, Crystal and Rich have done both, and they have set such an excellent example to our church body to follow!

-Robin Orefice