I John 4:7-21 Acts 8:26-40

1) v.10 has the reformed emphasis on God as the source of love. Our love is a response.

2) Perfect love casts our fear.(v.18) This is a good topic for sermon, class, or spiritual

formation. To what degreedoes fear of punishment motivate us? Should it be religious motivation?

3) v. 8, 16 assert: God is love. What does that mean to you? How is this prone to becoming overly sentimental?

4) Love=agape in reek. Some made much of love alos being philia, brotherly love, and eros, unitive love. Is this a distinction worth making, as the word love floats through all three in the NT?

5) v.10 is a rare use of a notion of atoning sacrifice in the sense of propitiation.

6) What are some ways, at least 3, of God abiding, living, dwelling in u?

7)love perfected (v.12) has the sense of a purpose fulfilled, a telos, an end, a goal met. It could be seen as the abstract made concrete.

8) I love tha tit refuses to separate love of God and love for others. It is a direct assault on the sort of piety that judges others harshly and sees others as objects, not people to love.

Acts 8:26-40

1. 
   

   I first want to emphasize a eunuch in these days of sexual conflict. Here, the new age is looking past sexual issues to become more inclusive. See the move from exclusion in Dt. 23:2 to the hop of Is. 56:4-5 to this inclusion.

   
   
2. 
   

   I’m too lazy to look it up, but Interpreter is an early figure in Pilgrim’s Progress. Here Philip is in that role with the Scriptures. Notice that the bible is not magical, it needs to be read and understood.

   
   
3. 
   

   Baptism here is inclusion in the community, a move away from the traditional exclusion. I have no patience with using the text to try to prove something about the amount of water used for baptism to be effective.

   
   
4. 
   

   Since he is from Ethiopia, we may be getting a sense of world-wide mission, see Ps.68:31

   
   
5. 
   

   The suffering servant quotation is a great example of reading the OT through the lens of Jesus Christ.

   
   
6. 
   

   6) Why was Philip snatched away? How could the eunuch go on his way rejoicing? Why is rejoicing not especially present in our lives?