1 John: We Are Children of God

A Lion, a Pit, and a Snowy Day

Podcast Synopsis In Week 3 of One Hit Wonders, we meet Benaiah—a man mentioned in a short list of David’s mighty warriors who went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. Benaiah did not get an ideal moment. It was a pit. There was a lion. And it was snowing. But he responded with courage to what was in front of him. His story reminds us that faithfulness is not always dramatic, but it is responsive. We do not need to chase every opportunity or make every hard thing into a “lion.” But many opportunities to do good are clearer than we pretend. What is in your hand? What is before you? What does love require? Sometimes the next faithful step is already right in front of us.

The Women Who Let Them Live

Podcast Synopsis In Week 2 of One Hit Wonders: The People, Places, & Passages We Miss, we looked at Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1. They show up briefly, but their courage leaves a lasting mark. In a moment when Pharaoh’s fear led to oppression and violence, these women feared God and chose life. They did not have obvious power, status, or control, but they still had agency. They could not change everything, but they could be faithful to who was in front of them. Their story reminds us that the fear of God is not just a feeling or belief. It shows up in tangible love for our neighbors. And even when our actions feel small, hidden, or limited, God does not forget faithful work done in love.

The Faith They Handed Down

We kicked off our summer series, One Hit Wonders: The People, Places, & Passages We Miss, by looking at two women who are only mentioned briefly in Scripture: Lois and Eunice, Timothy’s grandmother and mother. We do not know much about them, but we know this: they passed down a sincere faith to Timothy. Their faithfulness helped shape a young leader who would later be mentored by Paul and serve the church. This message reminds us that passing down faith is not only the work of parents, pastors, or children’s ministry volunteers. It belongs to all of God’s people. Whether through sharing our stories, learning the names of the kids in our church, asking about their lives, encouraging them, including them, or simply showing up with love and consistency, we all have a part to play in helping the next generation know and trust Jesus.

1 John: Because Christ Is Real, We Know Who to Follow

Who should we trust? In a world filled with opinions, influencers, teachers, podcasts, videos, and competing voices, John tells us not to believe every spirit but to test them. In this week's message from 1 John 4:1–6, we return to our original question: "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?" How do we recognize what is true and who is worth following? John offers two tests. First, those who truly speak for God proclaim that Jesus is the Christ—the One through whom God has revealed Himself and brought salvation and restoration to the world. Second, their lives increasingly reflect the love of Jesus. This does not mean perfection. It does not mean we never partner with or learn from people who believe differently than we do. But it does mean we are thoughtful about whose voices shape us and whose lives we imitate. As summer begins, we end with a simple challenge: How can we trust Christ more deeply? And how can we better love the people God has placed in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities?

1 John: When Love Looks Like Jesus

In this week’s message from 1 John, we explore one of the central claims of the entire letter: God is love. Not love as sentiment or vague niceness, but love made visible in Jesus. John tells us that God’s love becomes complete in us as we love others—both those inside the church and those outside it. Which means following Jesus is not simply about believing the right things about Him, but learning to model our lives after the way He loved. We talk about how love is evidence that the life of Christ is alive in us, why fear often keeps us from loving well, and how the perfect love of God frees us from living defensively and anxiously. Because when we truly trust that we are loved by God, we become more free to love like Jesus.