Just this past week I received an e-mail from a gentleman I do not know. He was obviously sending this e-mail out to a long list of people. In essence his message was that I should go to a web site he listed and read the essay there about abortion. At one point in his e-mail he wrote the following: 

Remember, abortion is not just a political issue. It is very much a religious one. It drives straight to the heart of our beliefs. I am going to do everything possible to tell believers about this essay and I ask for your help also. 

Now my point this morning is not to talk about abortion. This morning, rather, I would like us to focus on a sentence in this marvelous first letter of John, imbedded in the fifth chapter, verses 4 and 5: 

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and thi…