1 John 2:12-14
It's Time to Grow Up in Your Faith
In 1 John 2:12-14, the apostle John writes to dear children, young men and fathers: three seasons of the Christian life, not a ranking. New believers can know their sins are forgiven and that they know the Father. Maturing believers are strong because God’s word lives in them. Mature believers make disciples, and the whole thing comes back to knowing the Father.
Message notes
Thomas Costello opens on Father’s Day with a memory from growing up in Hawaii Kai. As a kid he sang along with the Toys R Us jingle, “I don’t want to grow up,” and when the first Oahu store opened in the early ’90s he vowed he would be a Toys R Us kid forever. About 20 years later, as a dad in Madison, Wisconsin, he walked into a Toys R Us on Black Friday morning. Trash everywhere, people yelling. He was done. He says there is something healthy about putting childish things behind us, and Scripture talks about it.
Taking a one-week break from Matthew, he turns to 1 John 2:12-14. John, likely between 80 and 90 years old, writes to a young church and addresses dear children, young men and fathers. Thomas says this is about where we are in our walk, immature, maturing and mature, and it is not a ranking.
To the children, John says your sins are forgiven and you know the Father. Thomas loves brand-new believers, like the men from a rehab program who visited his church in Northern California and gave testimonies full of expletives about how much they loved Jesus. He describes his son as a clingy toddler who always wanted to be under his mom’s arm. New believers can pursue the Lord like that, and “know” means real closeness.
To the young men, John says you have overcome the evil one, you are strong and the word of God lives in you. Thomas tells how he helped his 13-year-old daughter start a small printing business. At first she repeated his emails word for word to a client, and over time his words became hers. As we read the Bible, “his words will start to become your words.”
To the fathers, John twice says you know him who is from the beginning. Fathers have spiritual children, and the biblical word for that is discipleship, which at New Hope often happens in life groups. In the end, he says, “the whole thing is about knowing the Father.”
He closes with four questions: what season are you in, what is keeping you there, what place does God’s word have in your life, and who could you pour into?
From the message
The same power that raised Jesus Christ out of the grave lives inside of every single person that is a follower of Jesus.
His words will start to become your words and he’ll transform you from the inside out.
To be a father, you have to have spiritual children. The biblical word for that is discipleship.
In the end, the whole thing is about knowing the Father.
Life Group discussion guide
It's Time to Grow Up in Your Faith, 1 John 2:12-14. June 21, 2026.
Start here
What toy or store did you love as a kid that you would never go near as an adult?
Read 1 John 2:12-14
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In 1 John 2:12-14, what three groups does John write to, and what does he say to each one?
Which statement does John repeat word for word to the fathers in verses 13 and 14?
According to verse 14, what makes the young men strong?
What does it mean?
Thomas said these groups describe where we are in our walk, not our age. Why is it helpful to see faith in seasons rather than as a ranking?
The encouragement to the fathers sounds almost like the one to the children: they know the Father. Why might mature faith come full circle back to knowing him?
Paul wrote, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). How does that describe what a spiritual father or mother does?
What do we do with it?
Which season do you think you are in right now, and which season would someone who knows you well say you are in?
What, if anything, is keeping you in your current season, whether it is your schedule, your habits or how you spend time with God’s word?
Who is one person you could start pouring into, through a life group, youth ministry or a regular conversation over coffee?
Pray
Ask the Father to show you honestly where you are in your walk, to make his words your words as you read the Bible, and to put on your heart the name of someone you can disciple.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/its-time-to-grow-up-in-your-faith/