When I prepared for my very first backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail, I remember excitedly asking the questions, “Where are we going?” and “What will we see?”  Like a tour guide, my friend gave me a brief set of expectations so I could begin to think about what lay ahead.  

And so, as we prepare to start a new book of the Bible in the weeks ahead, I wanted to give the church just a brief introduction for our journey through 1 John.

1. The author of the letter is widely accepted throughout history to be John the Apostle.
2. The date of his writing this letter is suggested to be sometime between the years of AD 85-95.
3. The audience to which John wrote this letter was likely for the Christian churches across modern day Asia Minor.  Interestingly, many of these churches would have been planted years earlier by the Apostle Paul on his missionary journey.  So, we see that the churches which Paul had earlier planted, John later helped pastor.  What a team effort by the whole church of Jesus Christ!
4. It seems that John was led to write these letters to help these Christians resist counterfeit Christianity.  Surprisingly, rather than facing false teachers breaking into the church, these churches were facing false teachers who were breaking away from the church.  If you like, the difficulty was not coming from the outside in, but the inside out.
5. In order to help these churches resist counterfeit Christianity, John sought to reinforce their commitment to Jesus Christ.  For John, beholding the true Christ is the key to being Truly Christian.