Know You Have Eternal Life

SERMON TITLE:    “Know You Have Eternal Life”
SERMON TEXT:    1 John 5:9-13
PREACHER:           Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:           May 27, 2018, at First UMC   (Heritage-Memorial Sunday)
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                In a recent conversation at bell choir rehearsal, Anthony and Nora Costello were telling the rest of us what was happening at their school.  Anthony is a sixth grade teacher, and Nora is a teaching assistant at Voyage Academy.  Instead of having normal end-of-the year parent-teacher conferences in which the teacher tells the parents how their child had been doing, their particular charter school does things differently.  At the end of the school year, each sixth grade student has to make a poised and confident presentation to their family and teacher about how and what he or she has learned and why they should be moved on to the seventh grade.  In the presentation of their portfolio, the student has to state clearly and convincingly, “Here’s what I know that I know.”
                In this season of passages from one grade to the next and graduations from high school and college, it’s natural for us to think about the acquisition of academic competency.  But knowledge isn’t just for subjects like reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and science.  There’s also a kind of knowledge that has to do with our Christian faith.  And this kind of knowledge is especially pertinent in this weekend when we remember our loved ones who have died before us.  As we prepare ourselves for that day when we too will cross over from earth to heaven, I invite you to consider our scripture reading from First John, chapter five.   As we focus our attention on verse 13, let’s see what it means to know you have eternal life.

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