11

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."
--_1 John 4:18_

II
GOD IN THE WORLD 26

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son...."
--_John 3:16_

III
HEREIN IS LOVE 43

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and
he who loves is born of God and knows God."--_1 John 4:7_

IV
SOME OBJECTIVES OF LOVE 61

"Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in
deed and in truth."--_1 John 3:18_

V
THOSE WHO WOULD LOVE 82

"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because
we love the brethren."--_1 John 3:14_

VI
LOVE IN ACTION 99

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
--_1 John 3:16_

I

SOME FRIGHTENED FRIENDS

"There is no fear in love,
but perfect love casts out fear."--_1 John 4:18_

"It seems to me that the church has lost its influence. Nobody pays much
attention to it any more, except some of its own members; and they don't
seem to be interested in anything except their own activities. The time
was when the word of the minister carried weight. Some may not have
agreed, but when the church spoke they paid attention. It's not true
now, though."

Mr. Clarke eyed the others in the group as if he were testing their
reactions to the statements he had just made. The church had always
given him a sense of security, and now he was both worried that it
seemed to have lost its power, and resentful that people no longer
listened to its teaching.

He was one of a group of leaders of a local congregation who, at the
request of their minister, were meeting to re-examine the purpose of the
church. Not all of the group had arrived as yet, and the minister of the
congregation, Mr. Gates, had been detained in his office by an emergency
call upon his pastoral care.

Within the minute after Mr. Clarke finished, Mr. Wise spoke up. He was a
thoughtful and compassionate member of the congregation who often raised
the kind of questions that carried the discussion to deeper levels. When
his questions were ignored, as they oft