In 1 John 4:1-6 the apostle John warns the leaders of the church not to believe every “spirit” that comes into their community claiming to hear from God. For many “false prophets” are in the world. By looking back to chapter one, we re-examine what is the context of this letter and how it’s related to the warning in chapter four specifically relating to those who are denying the incarnation of Jesus. Why is the apostle so vigilant about fighting for this tenet of the faith? Because believing God came in the flesh is not just a doctrine that defines what Christians ought to believe, but it’s essential to who we are and how we are able to relate to God today. We also examine what it means to us that “he who is in us is greater than than he who is in the world.” While we are to watch out for the enemy’s schemes, we need not fear him.
Standalone Sermons: Desire For Prayer
We all know we should pray, but if we lack understanding of God’s desire for prayer it can seem to us more drudgery than delight. In this message guest speaker Colin McNulty shares on how God is both the author and sustainer of our prayer life. Prayer begins not with human willpower but with God’s word sparking desire and igniting faith in our hearts. God doesn’t need us to pray but he wants us to pray because he desires partnership with His Church.
Cloud of Condemnation
To be uncertain about our standing before God is an awful thing and yet countless Christians struggle to feel deeply assured in their relationship with God. The source of this condemnation may be from the enemy or from ourselves, from negative people or, in some cases, God (Psalm 32). Whatever the source of the cloud of condemnation it is important to find freedom from it or else it will inevitably lead to all kinds of trouble. The mistake many people make is trying to figure out why there’s a cloud over them without God’s help. Pastor Scott brings hope from 1 John 3:19-22 that says God knows everything and God is greater than our heart. God can lead us out of condemnation and into the place of assurance. He searches the heart and extracts the poison of wrong thinking and leads us into green pastures.
Love is a Verb
From 1 John 3:16-18 this message speaks of the wonder of God's love for us demonstrated in the sacrificial death of Jesus. When this love is made real to us it has a way of deeply affecting our hearts and moving us in practical ways to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. The message is a wonderful reminder of the otherworldly love packed into the act of Christ giving his life.
Standalone Sermons: House Of Prayer
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.