Sermon Preparation

On Monday evening I really started to dive into the passage I'm going to be preaching in College Group at College Church on June 7. I came up with a color system to plot out for myself how John is using parallel expressions in his symphony-like writing style. The passage gives a basic message followed by 5 "If... then..." statements, which alternate between negative and positive. Check out what I did.

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,

that God is light,

and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness,

we lie

and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves,

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned,

we make him a liar,

and his word is not in us.

BIG WORDS: message, proclaim, light, darkness, fellowship, darkness, lie, truth, blood, cleanse, sin, deceive, confess, faithful, just, forgive, unrighteousness, liar, word.

Parallel Ideas:

message = God is light

walk in light = confess our sins

walk in darkness = lie = sin = unrighteousness

truth is not in us = word is not in us

I've done more since this, but I don't want to give too much away beforehand...