First Reformed EPC Sermons | Edgerton, MN

This week's message walks through 1 John 5:1-5 and the connection between faith, love, and obedience. Genuine faith in Jesus produces love for God's people. That love proves itself through obedience, not just feeling. And that obedience isn't a burden, because the outcome of the fight has already been decided. Everyone born of God overcomes the world.

Part of the "Walking in the Light" series through 1 John.

No one has ever seen God. So how does an unseen God become known? This message from 1 John 4:7-21 traces the answer through the sacrifice of Christ and through the love believers show one another, a love that also drives out the fear of judgment. Part of the Walking in the Light series through 1 John, from First Reformed Church (EPC) in Edgerton, Minnesota.

This week's message in the "Walking in the Light" series through 1 John is "Listening to the Voice of Truth," from 1 John 4:1-6. John warns the church to test the spirits rather than believing every voice claiming spiritual authority, gives a simple test rooted in the confession of Christ come in the flesh, and assures believers that the one who is in them is greater than the one who is in the world.

Newer is usually better. Cameras, phones, and TVs have all improved dramatically over the decades. But there's one message John says was never in need of an upgrade: love one another. In this episode, we look at 1 John 3:11-24, where John contrasts the hatred of Cain with the sacrificial love shown at the cross, and shows how that love becomes evidence of a settled conscience before God.

Part of the "Walking in the Light" series through 1 John. This week's message asks what it looks like to truly belong to God's family — not proving it to get in, but living in light of it because you're already in. From confidence at Christ's appearing, to the wonder of being called children of God, to the practical evidence of a purified life, this passage shows how hope for the future reshapes obedience today.

Everyone is trusting something to hold them up when the storm hits. Psalm 52 was written after a man named Doeg betrayed a priest and a whole town paid for it with their lives, and it asks the question underneath that story: where is your trust actually rooted? This sermon traces David's answer, from the false confidence of a man who trusted his own cunning, to the steadfast love of God, to the refuge believers now have in Christ.

What does it mean to hold fast to the truth when false teaching creeps in from within the church itself? This message works through 1 John 2:18-27, tracing John's warning about the "antichrists" of his day, his encouragement that believers already have what they need to stand firm, and his repeated call to abide in Christ. Part of the ongoing "Walking in the Light" series through 1 John from First Reformed Church (EPC) in Edgerton, MN.

What does it mean to love the world — and why does John say we must not? In this week's sermon from 1 John 2:15–17, Pastor Mark Groen works through John's three-part diagnosis of worldly desire: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. He names the sins we have made respectable — comfort, acquisition, comparison, self-sufficiency — and then turns to the positive vision of verse 17: whoever does the will of God abides forever. Part of the ongoing series "Walking in the Light" through 1 John at First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota.

In this week's sermon from 1 John 2:7–14, Pastor Mark Groen works through John's claim that the command to love is both ancient and new — fulfilled and illuminated by Christ. The passage moves from theological foundation to pointed conviction to surprising gospel comfort, as John reminds his readers that even in their failure to love, they are forgiven, known by the Father, and overcomers in Christ. A challenging and encouraging word for every believer.

Sin rightly deserves the wrath of God — so where does that wrath land? In this message on 1 John 2:1-6, we explore two essential words: advocate and propitiation. Jesus stands as our righteous advocate before the Father, and as the one who propitiated — turned aside — the wrath we deserved, bearing it himself. This is good news that fuels a daily call to holiness.