Joyful Obedience I John 5:1-5 (1) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (2) This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. (3) In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensom…

(17) This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. (18) There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (19) We love because he first loved us. (20) Whoever claims t…

Living In Him 1 John 4:12-16 (12) No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (13) And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. (14) Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of th…

Knowing God Through Love Part 2 1 John 4:7-11 (7) Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. (8) But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. NLT (9) God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might h…

“Every Christian would agree that man’s spiritual health is exactly in proportion to his love for God.”- C.S. Lewis Knowing God Through Love - PT 1 1 John 4:7-11 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love o…

1 John 4:1-6 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (2) This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, (3) but every spirit that does not acknowled…

Hearts at Rest 1 John 3:18-24 (18) Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (19) This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: (20) If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (21) Dear friends, if our h…

What is Love 1 John 3:10-17 John Wescott said, and I actually don’t know who this is, “Life reveals the children of God.” END QUOTE! There is no way of telling what a tree is other than by its fruits, and there is no way of telling what a person is other than by their conduct, how we love. (our property which is new to us has a lot of trees and pla…

Being A Child of God 1 John 3:1-10 (1)See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (2) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ app…

Continue As You Began 1 John 2:24-29 True Teaching, True Living, True Loving (24) As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. (25) And this is what he promised us—eternal life. (26) I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you a…

1 John 2:17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. Contrasted with But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (18) Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. (19) Thes…

The Resurrection What do we celebrate at Easter? Jesus' resurrection. Today we will discuss why the resurrection is so important. ASK: Why is it? I Cor 15:12 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even…

By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

HOLY WEEK EXERCISES Truly search your heart and determine who or what is your King. What is the King of your life? What are you giving your life to? What do you bow down to and worship with your time, money, and energy/thoughts? Holy Monday - Dig deep… Where am I looking religious, yet only have the appearance of a fruitful life (fig tree parable M…

The One Thing: One Thing You Need, One Thing You Lack, One Thing I Do EXERCISE…Take out the lyrics in front of you HOW SATISFIED / HAPPY? On the piece of paper write down on a scale of 1-10 10 being can’t name one thing that would make me more satisfied than I am today. 1 - being I have really nothing satisfying about my life. Quickly just name a f…

Cindy Roper rocks it !By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

What to love and what not to love. That is the question. Last week we had the comforting, assuring message to prepare ourselves for this week!!! :) I can chase the things of this world or I can choose the things of God. Jesus said we can’t serve 2 masters, we can’t serve both God and mammon. (15) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If a…

Today we are going to receive this encouragement no matter what stage of Christian Growth you are in. Some of us are precious embryos not get birthed into the loving arms of our Savior. Some are babes in Christ (baptism), little children all the way to being elders and aged in Jesus. We have two groups John is going to speak to all of us as dear ch…

1 John 2:7-11 (7) Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. (8) Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. (9) Anyone who claims to be in t…

Scott does a recap of what it means thus far to read the book of 1 John with the heart of true teaching, true loving, and true living.By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

1 John 2:1-6 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (2) He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. (3) And we can be sure …

1 John 1:8-2:2 The Heart of God (8) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1) My dear children…

1 John 1:5-7 (5) This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (6) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood o…

1 John 1:1-4 Before we read this, let’s jump in with “we” are the apostles, eyewitnesses, and disciples…perhaps just a few were left on Earth, but mainly John is saying, look…this gnosticism is crap... I WAS THERE, WE WERE THERE…And we are telling you there is JOY in this. Back then personal testimony held huge weight so he is starting out strong a…

We start a new book today and so let's watch a quick overview of 1 John by the amazing people at The Bible Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3QkE6nKylM John 1:1-4 In 1st John we are going to examine, What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? So ASK…What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Background information: Who wrote this letter…

Today is a topic from one of you. If you have something you’d like us to talk about, please let us know and if you could put it in writing and give it to Sandy, or John that would be great. So today’s topic is answering the question about what is Progressive Christianity and how we in our church be lovingly “inclusive” of everyone. This is a very i…

What is living an abundant life? John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Abundantly here is defined as “that which exceeds necessity”. Today we’re going to talk about 3 ways to help you live an abundant life. When you think of an abundant life what does that mean to you? …

The Greatest Gift - Colossians 1: 15-23 What is a gift? - Hebrew it is a masculine term = grace/gracious gift Freely given freely received To think about the birth of Jesus, the Messiah is to think about the greatest gift of all time. (PAINT THE BACKSTORY of then, why Messiah was needed) Messiah = anointed one = Anointed: symbolic of an appointment…

(19) My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, (20) you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. Review: Confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Th…

James 5: (16) Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (17) Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! (18) Then, when he prayed again,…

(12) Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. The Prayer of Faith (13) Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. (14) Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the …

The Sutherlands and Tara Melton share their journey of becoming a chosen family. A testimony of Jesus Christ's story of redemption. Generations change because Jesus gets in the middle of our story. The incredible divine details of how God wove this story together will keep you intrigued, crying, and laughing.…

This one might be hard to hear... Shandel lost her voice, so it is a quiet one - enjoy. James 5: 9-12 Stop It! James has been talking to us about what it looks like when you are living a life dependent on Jesus. We have talked about worry, asking for wisdom, resisting sin, the self-indulgence of money, and a host of other things… last week we start…

(7) Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. (8) You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. The next few Sunday’s we are going to be talking about patience in suffering. James shift…

show notes coming soonBy Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

Psalms 139:16 - You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. NLT Will (GREEK word: thello) Desire, Intend, Wish Want WE ALL WANT IT - we might not have words for it… we want to know what am I supposed to do with my life, should I date this guy, should I go to…

Our beloved Cindy Roper shares her love story.By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

What Jesus can do with one woman's story!By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

Sins We Tolerate James 4: 11-12 (11) Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. (12) God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to dest…

Submit yourself to God Part 2 James 4: 4-10 - PART 2 The solution - We must HUMBLE ourselves - Draw near to God, and resist the devil by RESISTing the World. READ: 4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. …

Our very own Cindy Roper shares a 10 minute dynamic testimony on June 17, 2023, at the Quincy, CA Women of Worship event. It is awesome!!By Dr. Scott Sutherland and Mrs. Shandel Sutherland

This morning is part 1 of 2 on You Are the Bride of Christ There are 3 things we are going to talk about today: The Rebuke The Problem The Solution (4) You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (5) Or do you think …

James 4:1-3 (1) What cuses fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (2) You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. (3) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, …

(13) Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. (14) But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. (15) Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. (16) For whe…

James 3:2-12 (2) We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. (3) When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. (4) Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steere…

James 3: 1-2 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (2) We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. NLT (2) If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also contr…

Proof of Faith James 2: 18-26 (18) But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” (19) Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that —and shudder. (20) You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (21) Was not …

Today we are talking about Whether you’ve ever thought about it or not there’s Proof of our Faith. There is a way to know for sure you are a believer in Jesus and have faith in Him? James 2:14-17 (14) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? (15) Suppose a brother or a sis…

James 2:12-13 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Today we will dig deep into the Law that gives freedom. We are building upon the differentiations of LAW that James is helping us underst…

James 1: 26-27 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.…