Church Year: Easter 6:
Date: May 17, 2009
Theme: “Test the Spirits Whether They Are of God”
– 1 John 4:1-11
– Pastor: John Hein
The Order of Worship: Bulletin
Liturgy: TLH, p. 5 ff.
Hymns:
TLH 261 : Lord, Keep us Steadfast in Thy Word 
TLH 292 st. 1-2,6-9: Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide
TLH 473 : The Church's One Foundation
TLH 290 : We Have a Sure Prophetic Word
Scripture Readings:
Acts 11:19-26
John 15:9-17
Theme: “Test the Spirits Whether They Are of God”
1 John 4:1-11
Test the Spirits
4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (ESV)