My name is Trent Garten. Uh I attend Benisha High School. I'm a sophomore, and I'll be reading 2 John. The elder to the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth which lives in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love. It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another, and this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the from flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what n uh we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use the patent newspaper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face so that our joy may be complete. The children of your sister, who is chosen chosen by God, send their greetings. This is the word of the Lord.

Um I don't know if you guys caught that, but Trent just read an entire book of the Bible to you. Congratulations. Um, so if you're new with us, we teach the Bible around here. Uh we're Bible-believing, uh, Bible teaching church. We've been doing this verse by verse, and we've been doing this uh series called 1, 2, 3, John. There's these letters uh at the very end of the New Testament written by a guy named John. A lot of you maybe are familiar with John's big book. That's where you get like John 3, 16, which is a really popular one. Uh, this is when he's much older. Last week we finished up the fifth chapter of 1 John, and today we're gonna do the entirety of 2 John. So congratulations. One day, an entire book in the New Testament. Uh, we're gonna tackle that today. So we're gonna hop on in. We got like 13 verses to do. Um, I think uh how many of you guys have a phone? Yeah, I think everybody can. So if your phone only let you keep two apps, most of us would probably pick this hard. Some of you guys just freaked out. Like, whoa, two. Most of us would probably pick uh maps and messages. Um, why? Well, one tells us what's true about the road, uh, and then one helps us keep stay connected with people that we love. You can survive without games or uh photos or notes, but you can't make it far without direction or relationship. See, if if you try driving with only one, all maps and no messages that makes you right, but alone. And all messages but no maps makes you kind, but lost. And that tension between being right and relational isn't just about your phone, it's about the tension of our age. Uh, and it's really the heartbeat of 2 John, where John writes as the elder to the elect lady and her children. Most likely, this is the local church and her members, just like this. And he's not firing off like a blog post. He's writing like a spiritual grandfather who's seen what happens when a generation chooses one rail and forgets the other. He's saying, in essence, that God's people travel on two rails, truth and love. And you derail when you choose just one. This uh tiny letter could fit in a screenshot, yet has the power to re-rail a wondering soul. Uh, John opens it with what sounds like a note wrapped in conviction. Verse one, he says, the elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever. See, he tells this church that he loves them in truth, and not just him, but everyone who is in the truth, they do too, because the truth abides in us, and it will be with us then forever. And that's not just like uh, I checked the fact box. Truth here isn't this cold data, it's Jesus-centered reality, the gospel that doesn't um start to bend when your feelings begin to wobble. It's the not the truth of you know, winning arguments, it's a truth that took on flesh and bled for our freedom. It's not uh an opinion to defend what it is, friends, is this this oxygen it's reminding us to breathe. And then he blesses them. He says, Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you and with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father, Son, in truth and love. So now we've heard this twice. Now, apparently heaven's hotline has two wires, truth and love, but both must stay connected if you want a clear call. But let's be honest, in our day, everyone tells you what? Speak your truth, uh, follow your heart, while also insisting that you keep the the group's vibe happy. And the currency of connection is likes and loves in the world that we live in, not necessarily light and truth. We tend to elevate um emotion to authority, and then we wonder why our compass keeps spinning around. We confuse love with agreement, uh, and a lot of times truth nowadays with aggression. And that pressure can begin to make truth feel cold and love mushy. And John actually says the opposite. He says, truth is warm because it's in a person who loves you. And love is sturdy because it obeys what God actually said. And this is why then he celebrates. He says, I rejoice greatly to find some of you, children, walking in the truth, just as we were commanded to by the Father. This is like a compliment and a nudge at the same time, like an encouragement and an invitation. What he's saying is, is I see some of you actually living this out. Now let's get everybody else walking in step. And then John shifts his tone from rejoicing now to reminding. He says, And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning, that we would love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. See, love isn't something he's saying that you just fall into, it's actually a direction you walk. Uh, it's obedience with a pulse. Uh, the world keeps asking, you know, us, like, well, what feels loving? And John pauses and he asks, What did Jesus command? Because love divorced from truth isn't compassion. Often it leads to confusion. And that's right here where John turns this corner because love, like real love, has boundaries. Why? Well, because deception is real. It says in verse 7, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and antichrist. See here, John isn't talking about like a cartoon villain with horns. He's describing a worldview that removes the need for our embodied Savior. Essentially, if Jesus didn't come in the flesh, there's no blood, there's no cross, there's no forgiveness, and ultimately then there's no hope. So, what does that mean? No incarnation, which is like him coming here equals no cross. Well, then if we don't have the cross, then for us that means no forgiveness. And if there's no forgiveness, there's no hope. See, what happens is without the incarnation, Christianity collapses just into self-help. You didn't need a life coach. You need God to put on skin, and he entered into history. And that's not this old theological argument. It's literally today's algorithm. Here's how this shows up for all of us in 2025. It's like the podcast that quotes spiritual Jesus but skips Lord Jesus. It's the influencer who loves his vibe but never mentions sin or resurrection. It's the progressive angle that says we've outgrown old doctrines and tradition and optimized angle that turns Jesus now suddenly into a productivity brand. And Jesus isn't anti-intellectual, he's anti-illusion. Like if your Jesus can't take on flesh, he can't take on your shame. And so what he does is he pivots from theology now to stewardship in this letter. He says, watch yourselves so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win the full reward. I think it's really important we understand this isn't him like being paranoid. This is pastoral wisdom. Um, think of it like uh faith is in compound interest. If you invest day by day by day, over time it grows in strength, right? But one bad trade, one shortcut, one compromise, one shiny new gospel can empty what it took years to build. Like imagine training uh for a marathon or a run for six months and then suddenly changing your running form because you saw like a trending video on TikTok. You'd ruin everything that you'd worked for, right? And here the church had already paid a price to be faithful, but John refuses to see that equity wasted. And so he says, guard the gains, guard your doctrine, yes, but also your habits, your relationships, your integrity. Because, see, truth, he's saying, is a treasure, and love is the lockbox. Lose either, and what happens is you lose both. Because the goal isn't to be trendy, it's to be true. The goal isn't to go viral, it's to finish faithful. And faithfulness rarely gets applause in real time because it always wins the long game. Okay, so uh real quick question. This is not shame, this is just our life that we live in. How many of you guys have a second phone, like for work? Oh, yeah, I feel you. This is hard at this moment. So uh I think many of us carry anxiety like a second phone. Like we feel spiritually ghosted by God, we feel relationally bruised by people, uh, mentally fried by a world that monetizes our attention. And John's pairing of truth and love isn't more homework, it's relief. Truth relieves anxiety because it tells you what is real and who is responsible. And love relieves isolation because obedience turns strangers into family. And when truth and love are yoked together, burnout drops, belonging rises, and holiness stops feeling like a museum word. But what about the hard cases? And I'm just gonna tell you up front, this is true for me too. The hard case is like the friends who once walk with Jesus but now call themselves spiritual. A family who says, I like Jesus, I just don't like the church. I don't do organized religion anymore. And John's letter isn't a script to win arguments. What it is is it's framework to walk wisely, to keep the door open to friendship and keep the microphone off and love them with presents and meals, not like presents, but your presence and meals and prayer, and refuse to spoof Jesus to make him more palatable. I think it's really important. A lot of times we don't understand that he doesn't need PR, he does his own resurrection, like he's got it. So, friends, here. Just here's an easy way to say it: be unusually kind and unusually clear. Then comes this line that I think sounds harsh until you realize it's actually mercy. Verse nine. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teachings of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. So, right here, John has like this word for people who brand themselves as beyond uh the gospel. They don't need it anymore, which is this goes on ahead. And that phrase actually can sound like progress, but what it is is it's actually drift. He's saying growth isn't moving past what Jesus said. It's actually digging deeper into it. Think of it this way: trees don't grow uh by uprooting themselves every spring, right? They grow by staying rooted in the same soil, drawing more life from it over time. And we live in a culture that mistakes novelty for maturity, where we just chase the next insight, uh, the next influencer, the next fresh revolution. Uh, but John insists that real progress looks like endurance, that to abide is to stay through boredom. Some of you guys right now, through boredom, through doubt, through daily uh just rhythms until fruit begins to appear. See, stability isn't stubbornness, it's faithfulness that over time begins to bear fruit. And the modern temptation is to mistake novelty for maturity. But abiding in Jesus, the same gospel, the same truth, the same love, not anti-growth, is actually how things grow. We don't um treat that like a kiddie pool that we grow out of. We we get to treat it like an ocean that we actually grow into. So, what does it look like for someone who is uh juggling rent, relationships, and like 12 different open tabs in your brain to do this? Well, it looks like rhythm over rush. It looks like letting scripture migrate from your notes app into your nervous system. It looks like showing up to worship when the week just wrecked you. It looks like confession with a friend who tells you the truth and loves you enough to actually ask next week, hey, how's it going? And abiding isn't just standing still, it's actually just staying with, it keeps you tethered while God grows in you. And then what happens is John turns what might be the most uncomfortable part of this letter. He says, If any one of you comes, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive them into your house or give them any greeting. For whoever greets him takes part in his wicked words, where we're like, whoa. To our our ears right here, I think, and you know, even as I read this, it sounds harsh. But I think what we need to understand in this context is in the first century, a house was a platform. Uh, hosting a teacher was the ancient version of boosting their message. And see, right here, John isn't uh forbidding kindness, he's forbidding co-signing a gospel that dismantles Jesus. So translated that into our world, it's the shares, it's the likes, it's the podcast. They they are literally becoming at the front doors. And every time that you and I amplify a voice, you lend your credibility and your community's attention. And you don't have to panic about every repost, but you do have to pause, I think it's really important, and ask some of these questions. What do they confess about Jesus? Do they affirm that he has come in the flesh and he is Lord? And they do they define love by his commands? This is so important. Do they define love by his commands? And if not, it's not you just throw it out, but just add some friction right there. Just take a moment and pause and pray and ask a trusted leader. You are free to be kind. This is important, but you are not free to be careless. And this is what John's reminding us. John's call isn't for you to be the theology police with ticket books. It's for you and I to actually be the medic with discernment. Uh, think of it like an EMT, not an all uh hall monitor. When someone collapses, you don't like critique their outfit, right? You check their vitals. You don't just pause and be like, well, they deserved it, right? Before you platform a voice, this is so important. Check their Christology. Before you normalize a narrative, look for its fruit. And remember, doctrine isn't a museum exhibit, it's the map that keeps love from driving into a lake. And our friends need both our compassion and our clarity. And then John, like a grandfather putting down the pen to reach for the phone, he closes tenderly. He says, Though I have much to write to you, I'd rather not use pen and paper. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk to you face to face so that our joy may be complete. Is any of you thinking, hmm, that's a lost art? Right? You know that moment when like 400 texts can't fix what one coffee can? That's what John means. That there's just some joy that requires eye contact, some clarity means tone of voice, and some discipleship demands presence and tacos. We were never meant to be a digital church with human avatars. We are embodied followers of an embodied savior. Face to face is still God's favorite medium. And then John wrote this. He was resisting when he wrote this, he he was resisting, I think, the same temptation that we fight right now to reduce relationship to transmission. Uh, he says, I'd rather be with you. That's how truth and love sound when they're mature. So, what does it look like for us to live like this in this age, in this space? I think it looks like truth with a face, like Jesus, truly God and truly human, who loved us to the cross and rose again. It looks like love with a spine, with obedience, obedience that forgives, that gives, and serves and stays. I think it looks like stewardship with holy caution, knowing every platform is a pulpit and every share is a sermon. And when we abide like that, the church becomes impossible to confuse and impossible to offend. Where we hold clarity and charity in the same hand, where we become too honest to be hypocrites and too kind to be cruel. And it's not perfect, but that, my friends, is real. That is love according to his commands, that's abiding in the teaching of Christ, and that's the full reward and what it begins to feel like. And then John ends with this one line that sounds almost ordinary, like he just ends this letter this way, but glows with like this family warmth. This last line is the children of your elect sister greet you. Now, what this means is you're not alone. That there are literally other churches, this is what he's talking about, walking the same rails of truth and love. That the family is bigger than the rose that you sit in on Sunday. And the elect sister isn't just one person, it's a community, and the church and her elect sister is another, just another sister church, if that's the way you want to put it. That means that your and I's obedience actually has communal impact. That when you and I choose to abide, younger Christians learn that staying is actually possible. When you resist reposting a teacher who denies the gospel, you protect not just your own feed, but someone else's faith. And when you show up face to face, you bring joy that cannot be streamed. And you're not curating this private spirituality, you're setting the rails for the whole house. So now if you're in the room today and you're even with us online and you're exploring faith and you're not sure what to do with Jesus, I would just say start here. I mean, he talked about in this letter in verse seven, he came in the flesh for you. He lived a life that you couldn't, died a death that you deserved and rose, so you can have a life with God. And that's not just a metaphor, that's news. And your next step isn't to behave better, but it's to believe and be loved, and then obey as love trains your steps as you walk in that. In fact, I think um baptism that we're doing in just two weeks is a beautiful picture of this, which might be a beautiful next step for many of you that are in this room. And for those of you who already follow Jesus, resist changing chasing the next thing. Just abide. You'll grow deeper instead of just louder. So here's the invitation, and this is as clear as I think I can make it. Some of us need to courageously add truth to our love. Stop enabling what Jesus died to forgive. Some need to courageously add love to truth. Stop using doctrine like a dodgeball and start using it like a map. And all of us need to abide again in scripture, in prayer, in a community that knows your name. And remember, Jesus hasn't ghosted you, he is with you in the flesh by his spirit, and he has given you people right next to you to walk with. And for some, maybe the next step is surrender. Believe that Jesus has come in the flesh for you, and for others, it's confession. Name the place where you've traded abiding for advancing. And for many, it's community. In a small group or a serve team where I really believe truth and love get muscle. And if you want help discerning voices, you can come talk to a pastor. We'd love to have a conversation with you. And next Sunday, bring someone who needs both rails under their life. Now, one last word for um my content creators in here and influencers in here and leaders in here. So this is for everyone in here. You have a stewardship. God has given you a microphone somewhere, whether it's 10 followers or 10,000. And I urge you to use it to tell the truth about Jesus and to love people towards obedience. And when you mess up and you will, repent quickly and publicly. And when cynicism feels clever, choose faithfulness. And remember, you don't have to be everywhere, you just have to be honest, abiding in Christ. And then what happens is you get to watch your work outlast your hype. Because you know this trends will trend, deceivers will come and go, and ideas will label themselves as advanced and then expire like milk. We've all experienced that. But Jesus, who came in the flesh, crucified and risen, abides, and then his truth remains in you and will be with you forever. His love literally teaches your feet how to move. His spirit keeps the church on the rails even when the landscape shifts. And that's something that we can walk in. So guard the gains. Practice discerning hospitabil hospitals hospitality and then a face-to-face conversation and let that joy be complete. So, church, let's move this week. You're gonna be squeezed. And may truth and love be what comes out. And when you feel pressured to choose between them, remember John's letter and refuse the false choice. And when we gather again, bring stories of how abiding made you steady and obedient and made love real. Because the world is watching not just what we say, but who we are. So let's represent Jesus and represent Jesus, the real one, until his joy fills our house. And then finally, remember the face-to-face principle. I think this is so important. John would rather talk than type because embodied presence reduces confusion, and I think it just increases joy. So practice the ministry of tone, soft answers, curious questions, and slow judgments. Because truth without tone sounds like a clanging symbol, and love without truth sounds like a lullaby into compromise. And understand, I think this is so important. If it's important enough to hurt you, it's important enough to handle off the internet. Literally, a DA, a DM might de-escalate, a phone call might heal, and a coffee might resurrect. So let me just end with a blessing for you. And over your week. Just grace for the parts that you can't fix, mercy for the parts you did wrong, and peace for the parts you can't protect and truth and love. And may God make us a church that's impossible to confuse and impossible to offend and full of clarity and charity at the same time. May He make us too honest to be hypocrites and too kind to be cruel, and may He give us face-to-face joy that outshines every counterfeit glow. Grace and peace, friends.