In 2009 the Lord brought a strong call to the church to be a house of prayer for all nations. As we approach almost a decade of following that call Pastor Scott brings some needed assessment to how we are doing. The message is a reminder of the key ideas God spoke to the church in 2009 and a fresh motivation to press in. The last part of the message includes several practical initiatives unveiled which are intended to foster this renewed emphasis on prayer.
Anger and Abide
In 1 John 3:11-15 we read the apostle John’s instruction not be like Cain who was full of rage and jealousy, which led to murder. Certainly Cain’s heart was evil as he raged against his brother and God... but is anger towards God always wrong? Do we have the right to be angry with God? How should we deal with that anger? We also look at the implications that go along with John’s frequent use of the word “abide.”
Don't Be Fooled
It has become an epidemic widespread problem that many people who profess to be Catholic or Protestant or Evangelical have never truly been born of God. They can be found in both dead churches and churches that are alive. Being without God’s Spirit power these professing Christians, naturally, make a regular practice of sinning. They disregard many of the clear commands of God in Scripture and yet claim to know and love Jesus. Suffice to say, it’s confusing. The danger of this massive construct of pseudo Christianity is that it normalizes sin inside the church so that those who are authentic can be enticed into thinking sin is okay. Pastor Scott expounds on 1 John 3:4-10 which is a strong protective fatherly call to the saints to not be fooled by pseudo Christians. Don’t follow them. Don’t listen to their counsel. Don’t adopt their theology. We must be discerning and selective in who we imitate.
Standalone Sermons: Showing No Partiality
This particular Sunday was special as it was the Sunday before the launch of the CityLove initiative. The main message from the Word came from Sarah Batchelor who works as an engineer in Boston who has been attending, serving, and loving the Ren community for over 6 years now. She gave us a very fresh “laypersons” perspective on the story in Acts 10 when the Gospel expanded to the gentiles. Pastor Scott followed up the message with some practical exhortations on how this call to reach all kinds of people plays out in the local church. The double sermon morning was like a one-two punch to motivate the church to fulfill her mission with great passion in this season while there’s still time!
Children of God
There’s nothing more wondrous than the love of God and this message amplifies the idea. Not only does God love us but He has adopted us into His family and made us children of God. We are the apple of His eye and God has set His affection upon us. The message also gives us a glimpse of the future for the children of God in all of its wonder to know and enjoy God for eternity. This is a sermon designed to increase the joy of those who are in Christ!
Abide
As Christians, there are countless movements that seek to influence us to reduce Jesus to something of a mere man or an angel at best. This spirit of antichrist often comes packaged in charm, in winsomeness, in intellectual sophistication, in beauty and compelling persuasiveness. In these verses (1 John 2:18-29) John is writing to the believers so they are not deceived by these forces. He warns them. He encourages them. He exhorts them and he gives them a motivation to live with eternity in view. This message is specifically for the genuine Christian born of God with the aim of protecting them from the very real threat of drifting away into unhealthy movements. In these last days we must be discerning and we must make every effort to abide in Christ. We cannot allow ourselves to become lazy or shoddy in our worship. We must excel in repentance, prayer and the Word if we are going to stand firm against the powerful currents trying to sweep us away. Everything we need to overcome is within us.
Satisfied
In this message, we look at John's warning about loving the world in 1 John 2:15-17. First, we look at the various uses of the Greek word for the world, kosmos. Next, special attention is paid to the emptiness that results from pursuing the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Finally, we see that abiding in God is the ultimate remedy of a wandering heart. Christians may seek to drink deeply from these "wells," but they will find themselves unsatisfied until they find their fulfillment in the true Living Water, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Overcome
A natural result of the decision to say 'Yes' to following Jesus is that we are also saying 'No' to Satan, the world & our flesh. Sadly, we can often forget this truth and the fact that we've been pulled from the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God. In this sermon on I John 2:12-14, we look at John's promise to the believers that they have overcome the evil one. We are no longer helpless in our sin to temptation and deception, Jesus has pulled us out by his sacrifice and given us the power to overcome the lies and destruction of Satan.
A New Kind of Love
In the first part of the message the difference between the old command and new command to love is discussed. The command to love takes on a fresh deeper understanding since the dawn of Christ! Pastor Scott also talks about the difference between human love and God’s love throughout the message. Human love is not enough. The mark of being an authentic Christian is that we possess supernatural Spirit-empowered love for all people. The verses looked at also give us yet another authenticity test. If we hate then we are not yet born again. But when filled with God’s love we will find ourselves very naturally and almost effortlessly living out the commands of God.
Obedience
This message starts out talking about the huge heart of affectionate fatherly love John had for the people. The balance of being intolerant toward all sin and yet realizing there is grace when we do sin is discussed. The bulk of the message is about obedience as one of the great authenticity tests. When we obey the commands of God, especially in secret when no one but God sees, it is evidence that we are genuine in our relationship with Christ. To disregard the commands of God is evidence that we are perhaps not yet truly converted. The message is aimed at deepening the assurance of the authentic believer and awakening the person with false assurance to their desperate need to be born again.