God has given us one book that can change the entire direction of our lives, the Bible.

And in this study, journeying through scriptures, we will take a brief big-picture look at every book of the Bible, tracing God's unfolding story

from Genesis to Revelation. Our prayer is that this journey will stir your heart to open God's

word daily. Let's join Scott Pauli for today's study.

There are five men in the New Testament that bear the same name. The name means Jehovah is gracious, but one of them seems to stand head and shoulders above all the rest. Before

he became a disciple, he was a fisherman. He was actually a cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their mothers were sisters. And he became a disciple, he was a fisherman. He was actually a cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their mothers were sisters.

And he became a part of the inner circle of disciples during Christ's earthly ministry.

He's known as the beloved disciple, or in the words of Scripture,

the disciple whom Jesus loved.

He had a very close personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Near the end of his life, he's referred to as the elder. And he would later write the

revelation of Jesus Christ. Think of this. He's going to outlive Peter. He's going to outlive Paul

by probably 30 years. He'll die when he was nearly a hundred years of age, and God

used this man named John to pen some of the most simple and yet profound pages of Holy Scripture.

We've come in our journey through Scripture to the little book of First John, a book that really

is a sequel, I believe,

to the gospel record that John wrote by the same name. Someone has even suggested that

First John is really an interpretation or a commentary of his gospel account. And there are a host

of similarities that would make a great in-depth study. But John writes this particular book for a specific reason.

You see, 1 John is a family book.

You know, there's nothing quite like family, and there is a fellowship, a sense of belonging

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