5/21 Sermon on 1 John, Part 6

This past Sunday at The Family Church, Pastor Philip Griffin continued his message series on the New Testament book of 1 John, this sermon titled The Truth About Anger.  The text of focus was Chapter 3, Verses 11-16...shown here in the New International Version, courtesy of Bible Gateway:

¹¹ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Note that the author made reference to Cain, Adam's son from the book of Genesis.  As Pastor Philip pointed out, Cain was angry about God's rejection of his sacrifice in favor of his brother Abel.  This anger he fostered and built into a hateful rage, culminating in Cain's murder of Abel.  So while initial anger in itself is normal, what leads to sin and hate is the harboring of it...the ultimate target of vented wrath that has been stored up through time is often someone completely unrelated to...or at least innocent of...the initially perceived transgression.  And the violence contained within that rage is not only expressed in our actions, but also in what we say.  But while, as Philip further stated, murder starts in our hearts, we have a hope to overcome the devastation that harbored anger can lead to: Jesus, who bore punishment for our sins so that we can overcome hate and, like him, truly love...

I think you'll enjoy watching Philip's message, in which he gives a striking analogy using the story of a bomb buried in the ground under a Ukrainian woman's bed for 41 years.  You can see it through the church's YouTube video channel...here's the link to this message: [link]. The Family Church is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street and holds its Sunday morning services at 9:30 and 11, with friendly people, good coffee, and lively praise music included...