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A Most Exciting Journey Through

First John

Episode 1: The Joy That Lasts Forever

Presented By DAPH & JOSH

What’s Inside Episode 1

Introduction

The Joy That Lasts Forever

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IntroductionWhat follows is the original script for Episode 1 of An Exciting Jour-ney Through First John. It was written by Daph and Josh with a little help from their friends Rick and Dave.

If you’re reading about this journey on Twitter, you might find slight differences between it and the script. This is because Twitter has few-er characters than a Russian novel.

For those of you who have never taken a journey through First John, here’s a brief description of what you can expect on the trip:

First, you must journey back in time about 1920 years. This is when the Apostle John wrote his letter. We’re not sure whom the letter was addressed to. Most likely they were Christians who had been getting a lot of misinformation about Jesus from false teachers. These liars were doing everything in their power to turn Christians away from the Gos-pel. John’s goal was to protect his friends from these liars by setting the record straight. As he didn’t have any boxing gloves (just kidding), he used his pen instead.

You can be sure that John knew what he was talking about. As one of the original 12 disciples, he knew Jesus intimately. He even refers to himself in the Book of John (which he also wrote) as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

You can find a copy of First John (a translation) in the New Testament of the Bible. The original was written in Greek. We hope that you read it as you accompany Daph and Josh on their journey. In this episode, they’re covering 1st John 1:1-4.

That’s it for now. Let’s head on in for Episode 1.

Episode 1

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Josh: Hello Everyone. Welcome to our most Exciting Journey Through First John.

Daph: This is our very first episode.

Josh: It’s called—

Daph: The Joy That Lasts Forever.

Josh: That’s a very long time.

Daph: Very, very long.

Josh: Which is much longer than this episode—

Daph: And much longer than First John, which is a book you can find in the Bible.

Josh: We learned about it in our Sunday School.

Daph: It was a little hard to understand, but our teacher helped us.

Josh: His name is Dave.

Daph: We are going to tell you what Dave told us. We will also elabo-

The Joy That Lasts Forever

rate a little.

Josh: Then you can tell everyone you know.

Daph: After a while everyone will know about First John—

Josh: And The Joy That Lasts Forever.

Daph: We’ll start by talking about joy.

Josh: I used to think it was something that made you very happy.

Daph: Like walking on a very nice beach—

Josh: Or having chocolate ice cream for dessert—

Daph: Or having a really big birthday party—

Josh: Or having some sardines on crispy crackers.

Daph: Agh!

Josh: As you can see, different things make different people happy.

Daph: But joy is something else.

Josh: Did you notice that we don’t seem to hear the word much any-more?

Daph: I know someone named Joy. She hears it all the time.

Josh: Seriously, when’s the last time you heard someone say joy?

Daph: I saw it in a book at school the other day.

Josh: See what I mean. It’s a very special word for very special occa-sions.

Daph: Like when someone has a baby—

Josh: Or sees their dad after he’s been gone for seventeen years—

Daph: Or when we sing “Joy To The World” at Christmas time.

Josh: Remember what the angels said on the very first Christmas?

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Daph: You mean to the shepherds?

Josh: That’s right. It was a very scary first Christmas until an angel told them not to be afraid.

Daph: “Do not be afraid,” he said, for behold, I bring you good tid-ings of great joy—

Josh: “Which will be to all people—

Daph: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Sav-ior—

Josh: “Who is Christ the Lord.”

Daph: It is one of my favorite messages in all the world to hear.

Josh: It’s mine, too.

Daph: But what’s it got to do with John’s letter?

Josh: Okay. Here’s the story. Eighty years have gone by since that very first Christmas.

Daph: That’s a very long time.

Josh: Unless you’re pretty old. Then it seems like nothing.

Daph: How do you know that?

Josh: That’s what Grandpa says.

Daph: Oh.

Josh: So John gets out his pen and his paper and he starts to write.

Daph: I don’t think they had pens and paper back then.

Josh: Okay. He had something like a pen and something like paper and he started writing like mad.

Daph: He was remembering his days with Jesus.

Josh: Exactly. John was one of His best friends.

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Daph: Jesus called him and his brother the Sons of Thunder.

Josh: It sounds like a movie.

Daph: Maybe we can make a movie about John.

Josh: Not that again.

Daph: But you promised.

Josh: There are already movies about John.

Daph: I never saw one.

Josh: You did too. You saw the one where he was on the island.

Daph: That was John?

Josh: Yes. But that happened later. Right now we’re talking about John’s letter.

Daph: Eighty years had gone by since that first Christmas.

Josh: And fifty years since John had walked with Jesus.

Daph: They’d gone everywhere together, all through Palestine.

Josh: Which was run by the Romans.

Daph: They told everyone they saw the Good News.

Josh: Jesus was the Savior the angel had talked about.

Daph: He’d come to save the people from their sins. That’s why He is called the Savior.

Josh: And that is why he died on the cross.

Daph: To pay the price for ours sins—

Josh: Which are all of the bad things that we say or do or think.

Daph: I think it is much more than that.

Josh: Isn’t that everything?

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Daph: No. We have to be Jesus’ friend. We have to love Him just like John did.

Josh: But what about the bad things?

Daph: If we love Him, we won’t do them. John writes about that in his letter.

Josh: That’s in a later episode.

Daph: I don’t care. I want to say it now. It’s very important.

Josh: That’s right. It’s the Good News.

Daph: That’s right!

Josh: And John wanted everyone to hear it—

Daph: Because Jesus is the only one who can give us the joy that lasts forever—

Josh: Which is the title of our episode.

Daph: And he even wrote about it in his letter. It was at the very beginning.

Josh: After he wrote that Jesus is the Son of God—

Daph: And that he knew Him personally and wants us to be His friend—

Josh: After which he wrote these words:

Daph: “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

Josh: They are kind of old-fashioned words.

Daph: But everyone can tell what they mean.

Josh: John wants to share his joy of knowing Jesus with all of us.

Daph: Even now, two thousand years later.

Josh: This is a friend like no one else in all the world.

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Daph: Which He made, by the way.

Josh: Yes. And everything in it and under it and over it, including you and me.

Daph: All He had to do was say the word and everything popped into existence.

Josh: Even skunks—

Daph: And hummingbirds—

Josh: And horses!

Daph: It says so in the Colossal Book and lots of other places.

Josh: Actually, the name of the book is Colossians.

Daph: Which I’m able to remember because it was a very colossal achievement.

Josh: You didn’t remember it. You thought it was the Book of Colos-sal.

Daph: I was just kidding around.

Josh: Okay, but we’ve got to say a few other things about Jesus before the end of the episode.

Daph: Most important, He is God.

Josh: And when He walked with John He was a man.

Daph: Even so, He was still God. It says so in the book that I think is so colossal.

Josh: Which is Colossians. It’s says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

Daph: Which, of course, includes us.

Josh: John wants us to know that Jesus was a real person, just like us.

Daph: He wasn’t some kind of spirit or ghost, like in the movies.

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Josh: Even so, He lives forever.

Daph: Because He IS Forever.

Josh: Meaning that He IS Eternal Life.

Daph: And if we become His friend, like John did, we’ll also live forever—

Josh: Because Jesus fought against death and beat it.

Daph: After He died on the cross, He brought Himself back to life.

Josh: That proved that He was the winner over death.

Daph: Yes, and He also was able to bring Lazamus back to life.

Josh: You mean Lazarus.

Daph: That’s right. He can turn us from dead to alive as easy as flip-ping a light switch.

Josh: But we have to want Him to switch on the light.

Daph: We have to want to be with Him in the bright places—

Josh: And not in the dark ones where the bad things are.

Daph: It’s like in the old movies where someone is in a dungeon.

Josh: Like in the Count of Monte Cristo.

Daph: Yes, Monty is in a terrifically dark dungeon.

Josh: His name isn’t Monty. It’s Edmond.

Daph: But he still wants to get out.

Josh: Then, because his friend dies, he’s able to escape.

Daph: It’s a little like the Jesus story.

Josh: Yes, because He died we are able to get out of the dungeon.

Daph: But Jesus is much more powerful than Monty’s friend.

The Joy That Lasts Forever

Josh: Much more powerful.

Daph: One whack and He can smash anything to tiny pieces.

Josh: Like the dungeon we want to get out of—

Daph: Or the world. Or even the whole universe.

Josh: One day He will smash everything.

Daph: But not now.

Josh: Right now He is speaking to us softly, just like He did to John.

Daph: Right now He is calling us to His side.

Josh: He is saying—

Daph: I am Joy—

Josh: And I am Forever.

Daph: Follow me and you’ll have—

Josh: The Joy That Lasts Forever.

Daph: And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the end of our first epi-sode.

Josh: Which you can see didn’t last forever.

Daph: Please come back next time for our next exciting episode of—

Josh: A Most Exciting Journey Through First John—

Daph: Which we are calling—

Josh: The Light Of Life.

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Daph & Josh

A Most Exciting Journey Through First John

Episode 1: The Joy That Lasts Forever

Copyright © 2012 by Rick Nau

Published by Dancing Pen Books

www.dancingpenbooks.com

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