In 1 John 4:20–21, John gives one of the clearest tests of genuine faith in the entire letter: those who claim to love God must also love God’s people. This message explored the inseparable connection between love for God and love for the church, showing that a persistent refusal to love fellow believers exposes hypocrisy, while genuine love for God is authenticated through practical, sacrificial love for His people. 

Message Highlights: Love for God and love for God’s people cannot be separated. John argues that anyone who claims to love God while consistently turning away from fellow believers is deceiving themselves. Genuine love for God will inevitably express itself in love for His church.

Hatred is more than hostility—it is a turning away. Biblically, hatred is not limited to rage or aggression but includes deliberately rejecting, disregarding, or distancing ourselves from others because we love something else more. This kind of posture is incompatible with genuine Christian love.

A lack of love for God’s people reveals deeper spiritual problems. John calls those who claim to love God while hating fellow believers liars because their words and actions do not align. Love for God cannot be authentic if it is disconnected from love for those who belong to Him.

The gospel enables believers to love difficult people. Christians are not called to manufacture love through effort alone but to love others out of hearts transformed by Christ. The same grace that reconciled us to God empowers us to pursue reconciliation and love within the church.

Main Point: Authenticate your love for God by loving God’s people.

Practical Application:

Examine where you have turned away from others. Ask God to reveal places where bitterness, avoidance, prejudice, resentment, or indifference have caused you to distance yourself from fellow believers. Confess those attitudes and bring them into the light.

Move toward reconciliation instead of away from it. When relationships in the church are strained, take initiative to pursue peace, forgiveness, and restoration. Genuine love is demonstrated by moving toward people rather than avoiding them.

Prioritize commitment to God’s people. Loving the church involves more than attending services; it means investing in relationships, serving sacrificially, and embracing the responsibility of belonging to the family of God.

Remember that love flows from the gospel. The ability to love difficult people does not come from willpower but from remembering how Christ loved and reconciled us when we were still His enemies.

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible
1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study
1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You
Don’t Follow You Heart
1, 2, and 3 John: Joyful Certainty: 7-Session Bible Study
1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address?Submit it now!

In 1 John 4:17-19, John addresses one of the deepest struggles many Christians carry: fear before God. The perfected love of God in Christ replaces fear of judgment with confidence, reminding believers that Jesus has already stood in judgment for their sin so they can live in peace, freedom, and assurance before God.

Message Highlights:

God’s perfected love gives believers confidence before judgment. Christians do not stand before God hoping they have done enough to avoid punishment. Our confidence rests entirely in the finished work of Christ, who took the wrath of God on our behalf.

Christ has already been judged for believers. Jesus lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserved to die. Because God’s wrath was fully satisfied in Christ, there is no condemnation left for those who are in Him.

Fear is replaced by confidence through the gospel. Fear of punishment causes people to hide, pretend, and live in insecurity before God and others. But the love of Christ frees believers to confess sin, walk in the light, and approach God confidently as beloved children.

The Christian life is anchored in Christ, not circumstances. Peace and confidence are not rooted in comfort, politics, success, or stability in the world. The believer’s hope is fixed on Christ, who never changes and whose love remains secure forever.

Main Point: God’s perfected love replaces fear of judgment with confidence.

Practical Application:

Live in the freedom Christ purchased. Christians should not live as though God is waiting to punish them for every failure. Because Christ has already borne judgment for sin, believers can walk in peace, confession, and assurance before God.

Bring sin into the light instead of hiding it. Fear produces hiding, pretending, and isolation, but the gospel produces confession and freedom. Christians should regularly confess sin and remember that Christ has already paid for it completely.

Anchor your heart in Christ during fear and anxiety. The world constantly produces stress, fear, uncertainty, and instability, but Christ remains unchanged. Believers fight anxiety and fear by fixing their minds on the hope and love found in Jesus.

Be a peaceful and confident people. Christians should stand out as people marked by peace rather than panic and confidence rather than fear. Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in the finished work and perfected love of Christ.

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

Message Highlights:

God abides in His people by His Spirit. When God saves us, He does not merely forgive us; He comes to dwell in us. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in believers, transforming us from the inside out.

The Spirit produces transformative belief in Jesus. The Spirit does not merely help us affirm facts about Jesus, but opens our eyes to treasure Him as Savior and Son of God. True belief leads to worship, loyalty, obedience, and love.

The Spirit produces supernatural love for others. Christian love is not something we manufacture by personality, effort, or good intentions. It is the Spirit’s work in us, making the invisible love of God visible through the church.

The church desperately needs the Spirit. A church can be externally impressive and still be spiritually empty. What we need most is not worldly relevance or power, but the Spirit who makes much of Christ and forms Christlike love in us.

Main Point: People filled by God’s Spirit are people who experience a transformative belief in God’s Son, and a supernatural love for God’s people.

Practical Application:

Ask God for His Spirit. We should not assume we can live the Christian life in our own strength. We need to become a praying people who regularly ask the Father to pour out His Spirit.

Look for the Spirit’s primary work. The clearest evidence of the Spirit is not first impressive gifts or outward excitement, but treasuring Jesus and loving God’s people. We should measure spiritual health by what Scripture emphasizes most.

Pursue a Spirit-filled church. We should want Veritas to be known not merely as a large, organized, or impressive church, but as a church where Jesus is treasured. A Spirit-filled church is marked by deep love for Christ, His Word, and His people.

Make God’s love visible. When we love one another sacrificially, proactively, and in truth, the invisible God is displayed through His people. Our life together should help the watching world see the love of Christ.

A Few Key Texts Regarding the Spirit and Church

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

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Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

What does it mean to love one another and what is the ultimate example and reason of love? In 1 John 4:9-10, John shows us that love is not defined by the world, our feelings, or even our sacrifices, but by God’s sending of His Son. This message helped us see that God’s love is shown, proactive, sacrificial, and God-centered—and calls the church to love one another in a way that reflects the glory of God. 

Message Highlights:God’s love is shown. God’s love is not abstract or hidden, but was made visible in Jesus Christ. The incarnation shows us that love is tangible, personal, and revealed among us.

God’s love is proactive. God moved toward us while we were still sinners and enemies. He did not wait for us to clean ourselves up or move toward Him first.

God’s love is sacrificial. The Father sent His one and only Son into the world for sinners. True love is willing to give what is costly for the good of another.

God’s love is God-centered. Jesus was sent as the propitiation for our sins, satisfying the wrath of God and displaying the glory of God. Christian love must be centered on God, not merely comfort, approval, or human happiness.

Main Point: Show God’s love by proactively and sacrificially pursuing others for God’s sake.

Practical Application:

Move toward others first. Don’t wait for others to love, apologize, suffer, or ask for help before you act. God’s love teaches us to take initiative in pursuing others.

Love sacrificially. True love will cost us comfort, convenience, time, and sometimes even reputation. We should not avoid loving others simply because it may hurt.

Keep God at the center of your love. Loving others well does not mean pleasing them above God or affirming whatever they want. The most loving thing we can do is love people for God’s sake and according to God’s truth.

Let God’s love reshape your relationships. When we see how God has loved us in Christ, it changes how we love spouses, children, friends, coworkers, and the church. A greater devotion to God should produce a greater demonstration of love for others. 

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

What is love—really? In a world that constantly redefines love around feelings, self-expression, and personal fulfillment, 1 John 4:7-8 brings us back to the source: God Himself.

In this message, we explored the foundational truth that God is love—and why that changes everything about how we understand and practice love. This episode further unpacks how love is not defined by culture or emotion, but by God’s character, and how genuine love for others becomes the clearest evidence that we truly know Him.

Message Highlights:Love Is a Big Deal—but Often Misunderstood. Culture elevates love but often reduces it to feelings or personal fulfillment. The key issue is not whether we value love, but whether we define it rightly.

“God Is Love” — The Foundation. Love is not ultimate—God is, and He defines what love truly is. Reversing this leads to self-centered living and justification of sin.

Two Implications of “God Is Love”. God alone defines love, and everything He does flows from His loving nature. Even difficult circumstances are not outside His love but are shaped by His purposes.

Love Comes From God. All true love originates in God and flows outward from Him. Our love for others is meant to be an overflow of our love for God.

Love Is Evidence of New Birth. Loving others does not make you a Christian, but it reveals that you are one. A transformed heart will naturally reflect the character of God.

Knowing God Produces Loving Others. Knowing God is experiential, not just intellectual, and it changes how we live. Genuine relationship with God results in tangible love for His people.

The Sobering Reality. A lack of love reveals a lack of true knowledge of God. Faith that produces no change is not the faith Scripture describes.

Main Point: Knowing God is proven in love for one another.

Practical Application:

Grow in Your Knowledge of God. Prioritize time in Scripture and intentional learning so your understanding of God deepens. As your knowledge grows, your love for Him and others will grow as well.

Examine Your Love for Others. Ask whether your love is consistent, sacrificial, and rooted in truth. Evaluate both your actions and your attitudes toward people in your church.

Avoid Passivity and Harshness. Do not avoid difficult conversations out of fear or comfort. At the same time, speak truth with humility and care, not harshness or pride.

Practice Tangible Love. Look for practical ways to serve, support, and care for others in your church. Love should be visible in your presence, generosity, and consistency.

The Trinity: An Introduction - Scott Swain

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

Delighting in the Trinity - Reeves

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

How do you actually discern false teaching without becoming cynical, arrogant, or fearful? In this message from 1 John 4:1-6, we continue John’s call to “test the spirits” by exploring three additional tests: the life test, the worldly test, and the Bible test. While false teaching is a real and present danger, John also gives deep comfort—“he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

The Christian response is not panic, but discernment rooted in truth. This sermon helps the church see that false teaching can be identified not just by what is said, but by how someone lives, what they value, and whether they align with the apostles’ teaching. 

Message Highlights:A Call to Discernment Without Fear. False teaching is prevalent and dangerous. But believers are not called to be afraid—Christ has already secured the victory. Discernment is necessary, but panic is not.

The Life Test – Does Their Life Match Their Message? True teaching is accompanied by godly living. False teaching often minimizes or justifies sin. There should be alignment between what someone proclaims and how they live.

The Worldly Test – Who Do They Appeal To? False teachers often promote worldly values under a Christian label. They affirm the desires of the flesh, the eyes, and pride instead of confronting them. Their message is often embraced and applauded by the world.

Courage Matters in True Teaching. Faithful teachers are willing to say hard, unpopular truths. False teachers edit their message for approval. Truth that never confronts sin is likely compromised.

The Bible Test – Do They Align with Scripture? True teaching submits to and explains the apostles’ teaching. False teaching twists, adds to, or undermines Scripture. Discernment requires knowing the Word of God well.

The Ongoing Battle for Truth. The fight for truth did not end in the first century. It continues today in culture, churches, and personal belief. Christians must actively contend for and preserve truth.

Discernment Requires Growth. Spiritual maturity trains us to distinguish truth from error. A lack of engagement with Scripture leads to vulnerability. Discernment is developed through consistent exposure to God’s Word.

Practical Application:

Test every message you hear. Run teaching through these questions: Do they get Jesus right? Do they live what they teach? Do they challenge or cater to the world? Do they align with Scripture?

Don’t confuse humility with uncertainty. You can be humble and still be confident in truth.

Pay attention to fruit, not just words. A compelling message means little if the life behind it contradicts it.

Watch for subtle distortions. False teaching often sounds close to the truth but shifts key foundations.

Commit to knowing the Bible deeply. Discernment is impossible without familiarity with Scripture.

Evaluate churches wisely. Look beyond style, preference, or experience—focus on truth, leadership, courage, and teaching.

Use these tests on yourself. Do you get Jesus right? Is there evidence of the Spirit in your life? Are you shaped more by the world or by Christ? Do you submit to God’s Word?

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

Why does John continue to warn those he is writing to? Because truth is under attack, and Christians are called to be discerning. In this message from 1 John 4:1-6, the church is urged not to believe everything it hears, but to test the spirits, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The core issue is not just sincerity or spiritual language, but whether Jesus is rightly understood and confessed. This sermon presses the church to see that spiritual deception is real, often subtle, and ultimately aimed at distorting the person and work of Jesus Christ. The first and most important test of any teacher, message, or movement is this: do they get Jesus right? 

Message Highlights:John gives a clear warning: do not be gullible. Christians are not called to believe everything they hear. They are called to test, discern, and think carefully because false teaching is a real and present danger.

False teaching is not just human error. There is a spiritual battle behind deception. John’s language about “testing the spirits” reminds us that lies about God and Christ are not neutral.

The problem is widespread. John says many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is not a rare problem but a common one, which means Christians must stay alert.

The first test is the Jesus test. The primary question is not whether someone sounds sincere, moral, or impressive. The question is whether they rightly confess Jesus Christ.

Getting Jesus almost right is still getting Jesus wrong. The sermon stresses that many false teachers do not openly reject Jesus. They distort Him. That distortion is serious because the gospel depends on who Jesus truly is.

Jesus must be confessed accurately. To confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is to affirm the true humanity and true divinity of Christ, which is essential to the gospel.

If you get Jesus wrong, you get God wrong. John’s point is that the person and work of Christ are foundational. You cannot honor the Father while distorting the Son.

This is not just a test for teachers but for all of us. The sermon presses the listener personally: who do you say Jesus is? The issue is not only what others teach, but whether you yourself truly know and confess Him rightly.

Main Point: We have to get Jesus right.

Practical Application:

Test what you hear. Do not automatically trust messages just because they use Christian language, quote Scripture, or sound spiritual.

Be discerning everywhere. Apply this not just to sermons and books, but also to podcasts, music, media, and the broader messages shaping your thinking.

Make the person of Christ central. When evaluating teaching, ask first: what is this saying about Jesus? Is He being presented as He truly is?

Refuse both gullibility and arrogance. The goal is not to become cynical or harsh, but thoughtful, humble, and grounded in truth.

Examine your own confession of Christ. Do not assume that believing in a vague idea of Jesus is enough. Ask whether you truly know Him as the eternal Son of God, Savior, Lord, and worthy King.

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

How can a Christian have real assurance before God when their own heart keeps condemning them? In this message from 1 John 3:19-24, John does not ignore the reality of self-condemnation—he expects it. But he also shows that believers do not have to stay trapped there. Danny and Michael discuss yesterday’s sermon, unpack the main points, and go beyond yesterday with additional insight into the text.

God wants His people to move from insecurity and fear to deep assurance and confidence before Him. This passage helps us see that biblical assurance is not built on feelings or wishful thinking, but on the transforming work of God in us, the fruit He produces through us, and ultimately the greatness of the God who knows everything and has given us Christ as our Advocate.

Message Highlights:John expects believers to wrestle with condemnation. He says, “whenever our heart condemns us,” showing that this is a real and common part of the Christian fight.

John wants believers to have assurance. He is not content for Christians to live in constant insecurity before God. He wants them to be reassured and to have confidence before Him.

Love for God’s people strengthens assurance. Sacrificial love for fellow believers is evidence that God has truly changed the heart.

Obedience also strengthens assurance. Not because obedience saves us, but because genuine faith produces genuine change. Real obedience is fruit, not the root, of salvation.

God sees more than we see. When our hearts only notice failure, God also sees the hidden fruit of grace, the real desires for Him, and the evidence of His work in us.

God is greater than our condemning hearts. Our hearts are not the final judge. God is. And for those in Christ, He has given us an Advocate who pleads our case perfectly.

Assurance grows when we look in and then look up. Healthy self-examination matters, but it must always lead us to lift our eyes to God’s character, Christ’s advocacy, and the truth of the gospel.

Main Point: Biblical assurance comes from loving who our God loves, obeying what our God says, trusting what our God sees, and remembering who our God is.

Practical Application:

Practice healthy self-examination. Take time to honestly ask whether love and obedience are present in your life as evidence of God’s work.

Do not stop with looking inward. If all you do is look at yourself, you will spiral into discouragement. Look up to the God who is greater than your heart.

Preach the gospel to yourself often. When your heart condemns you, remind yourself that Christ is your Advocate and that God’s verdict is greater than your feelings.

Let assurance fuel your walk with God. Real assurance is not meant to make you passive. It gives joy, courage, confidence in prayer, and strength to keep following Jesus.

Learn to distinguish conviction from condemnation. Conviction leads you back to Christ. Condemnation tries to leave you hopeless. The Christian responds by running to the Savior, not hiding from Him.

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

Easter Sunday | 1 Corinthians 15:17“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17) Jake, Matt, and Sam discuss yesterday’s Easter Sunday sermon.

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!

What does real Christian love actually look like? In this message from 1 John 3:16–18, we saw that love is not just something we feel or say—it’s something we do. Jake, Michael, and Sam discuss yesterday’s sermon, unpack the main points, and go beyond yesterday with additional insight into the text.

Jesus defines love by laying down His life, and that same sacrificial, practical love is meant to flow out of us toward others, especially within the family of God. But living this out isn’t always simple. With endless needs around us, how do we love wisely without becoming overwhelmed or cynical? This passage calls us to a love that is both tangible and truthful—one that reflects Christ, strengthens the church, and becomes a powerful witness to the world.

Message Highlights:Jesus defines love. Love is not abstract—Jesus shows us what it looks like by laying down His life. Christian love is sacrificial and practical.

Love should overflow from being loved. We don’t love out of obligation but as a response to how deeply we’ve been loved by Christ.

Love must be tangible. John pushes beyond words—real love shows up in action, meeting real needs in real ways.

A lack of love raises serious questions. If God’s love has truly changed us, it should be visible. Withholding love reveals a deeper spiritual disconnect.

Love is meant to be lived out in the church. There is a clear emphasis on loving fellow believers—this is where care, accountability, and real community collide.

Main Point: Create a church family that loves each other in a way that others would want to be part of it.

Practical application:

Start with what you have and what you see. You are not responsible for every need—only the ones God has put in front of you with the ability to help.

Don’t let overwhelm lead to inaction. The temptation is to do nothing because you can’t do everything. Faithful love starts somewhere.

Prioritize love within community. The local church is the primary place where practical, accountable care should happen.

Fight the pull toward self-centeredness. Materialism and comfort push us inward—Christian love pushes us outward.

Let your love reflect Christ to others. A loving church becomes a compelling witness—people are drawn to a community that truly cares. 

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

1 John - The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible

1-3 John - Knowing The Bible 12 Week Study

1,2, & 3 John For You - God’s Word For You

Don’t Follow You Heart

1-3 John ESV Scripture Journal

Do you have a question you want us to address? Submit it now!