Letters to a Troubled Church; John 1:1-4

Delivered during the Evenfall; Sunday Evening Worship, 9/21/2025. We will begin our study of the Epistles of John by familiarizing ourselves with the background that led to the epistles. Particularly, the disunity and schism in the church or churches John is writing to due to false teaching and internal discord. As is our practice when starting a new book, we will delve into the particulars of the book such as when it was written, by whom, and to whom; as well as pointing out First John's unique form. But our main focus will be on the two great heresies that created the problem-- the fundamental heresy of Gnosticism and how it has crept into Christian thought, and the logical result of that fallacy-- Docetism, which argued that Jesus was never really human. Once we understand these heresies, and the behavioral problems they created (antinomianism and asceticism), we will be better equipped to understand these letters to a troubled church.