Sunday Sermons

Have you ever wondered where you stand with God? Do you find yourself trying to earn His approval, afraid that your failures might change how He feels about you?

In this message from 1 John 4:13–21, Pastor Peter N. Anderson reminds us that our confidence before God isn't built on our performance. It's grounded in what Jesus Christ has already accomplished.

God loved us first. He sent His Son to be our Savior, gave us His Spirit, and invites us to rest in His love. And when we truly understand the love we've received, it changes how we treat the people around us.

In this message, discover:

• How we can have assurance of our relationship with God.

• Why perfect love drives out the fear of condemnation.

• What it means to know and rely on God's love.

• Why loving God and loving others cannot be separated.

• How to take practical steps toward forgiveness, reconciliation, and sharing Jesus.

Make God's Love Visible | 1 John 4:7–12 

What does it really mean to love others the way God has loved us?

We often expect grace, patience, and forgiveness from others while struggling to extend those same things ourselves.

In this message from 1 John 4:7–12, Pastor Peter Anderson explains how God's love, demonstrated through Jesus Christ, transforms the way we treat the people around us.

Discover why love is more than a feeling, why forgiveness and repentance matter, and how our everyday relationships can reveal God's love to the world.

Join us as we grow together in faith and learn to make God's love visible.

#FirstBaptistHanford #1John #GodsLove #LoveOneAnother #ChristianLiving #BibleTeaching #JesusChrist

Test the Spirits: Knowing the Real Jesus

1 John 4:1–6 | Pastor Peter N. Anderson

Who is shaping what you believe about Jesus? Every day, we encounter countless voices through podcasts, social media, political commentators, and spiritual teachers. But how can we distinguish biblical truth from convincing misinformation?

In this message from 1 John 4:1–6, Pastor Peter Anderson explores the importance of spiritual discernment and why Christians must test every teaching against God's Word.

The Apostle John reminds believers that not every spiritual claim comes from God. True teaching acknowledges Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God who genuinely came in the flesh—fully God and fully human. Understanding who Jesus really is matters because our salvation depends on His true identity and saving work.

Discover how to recognize false teaching, evaluate the voices influencing your faith, and remain grounded in the truth of Scripture.

The challenge: Are we following the Jesus revealed in Scripture, or have we created a version of Jesus who simply agrees with us?

Join First Baptist Hanford as we continue our study through 1 John and learn what it means to know, trust, and follow the real Jesus.

Love in Action | 1 John 3:11–24

Everyone wants to belong to a community where they are known, loved, and supported. But what happens when loving someone requires sacrificing our time, comfort, resources, or personal preferences?

In this message from 1 John 3:11–24, Pastor Peter N. Anderson challenges us to examine what genuine Christian love looks like. The Apostle John reminds us that love is more than something we say or feel. It is something we demonstrate through our actions.

Jesus Christ gave His life for us, providing the ultimate example of sacrificial love. As followers of Jesus, we are called to reflect that same love by caring for those in need, surrendering resentment, and putting the needs of others before our own convenience.

At First Baptist Hanford, we believe the church should be a family where people experience the love of Christ in practical, meaningful ways.

The question isn't simply whether we want others to show up for us. It's whether we're willing to show up for them.

Join us as we discover how the love of Jesus transforms our relationships, strengthens the church, and moves us from good intentions to genuine action.

How can we know that we truly belong to Jesus?

In 1 John 2:28–3:10, John points believers beyond a past profession of faith to the evidence of a life being transformed by Christ. We are saved by grace, not by our obedience—but the grace that saves us also begins to change us.

This message confronts the difference between struggling with sin and making peace with sin. Christians still stumble, fight temptation, and need forgiveness. But those who have been born of God cannot comfortably make ongoing rebellion their way of life. Genuine repentance stops defending sin and begins taking real steps toward obedience.

As we look forward to Christ's return, John calls us to examine our lives: Are we continuing in Christ? Are we practicing righteousness? Are we turning from sin? Are we loving others? Is the life of Jesus increasingly evident in us?

The message ultimately points us to hope: Jesus came not only to forgive our sins, but “to destroy the devil's work.”There is forgiveness, freedom, and new life in Him. SKM_C750i26100507140

Not everyone who uses the name “Jesus” is talking about the Jesus revealed in Scripture.

In 1 John 2:18–27, John warns the church about false teachers who distort the identity of Christ while reassuring believers that they have been given the truth and the Holy Spirit. The answer to deception isn’t chasing every new teaching—it’s remaining in what God has revealed from the beginning.

This message challenges us to examine not only the voices influencing us, but also the version of Jesus we may be creating for ourselves. What happens when Jesus confronts our desires, priorities, relationships, spending, politics, or ambitions? Do we surrender to Him—or slowly edit Him into someone who agrees with us?

We don't need a newer Jesus, an easier Jesus, or a Jesus who promises to give us everything we want. We need the real Jesus—the eternal Son, the incarnate Christ, the crucified Savior, and the risen Lord.

We all know what it feels like to believe the next thing will finally satisfy us. A new purchase, a better job, more money, a relationship, recognition, success, or even the approval of others can quietly become the thing we believe will make us whole. But eventually, the excitement fades and we begin searching for something else.

In 1 John 2:12–17, John confronts this cycle by reminding Christians of something essential: before telling believers what they should stop loving, he reminds them of who they already are in Jesus Christ. Their sins have been forgiven. They know the Father. God’s Word lives in them. They have overcome the evil one.

That identity changes how Christians relate to the world.

When John says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world,” he is not commanding Christians to reject God’s creation or stop loving people. He is describing a system of desires and priorities organized in rebellion against God—a way of living as though God does not exist.

John describes this worldly system through three powerful categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These temptations promise satisfaction, security, and significance, but they cannot deliver what only God can provide. 

The answer is not simply trying harder or creating more rules. Christians fight temptation from an identity that has already been secured by Christ. Jesus remained faithful where humanity has failed, carried our sin to the cross, rose again, and defeated the evil one.

Ultimately, John reminds us that “the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Everything we are tempted to build our identity around will eventually disappear. Our possessions, accomplishments, recognition, comfort, and status are temporary. But a life surrendered to Jesus has eternal significance.

The question, then, is not simply, What do I love? It is: What has my heart?

Jesus frees us to hold temporary things loosely, love people deeply, live generously, serve faithfully, and invest our lives in the things that will last.

How can you know that your faith in Jesus is genuine? In 1 John 2:3–11, John addresses one of the most important questions a Christian can ask: What does authentic faith actually look like?

John teaches that knowing God, loving God, and obeying God are inseparably connected. He writes that we know we have come to know Christ when we keep His commands, and that whoever claims to live in Christ “must live as Jesus did.” This does not mean that obedience earns salvation. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Rather, obedience is evidence of a life that has truly been transformed by Christ. 

Jesus taught the same truth in John 15. Those who remain in Christ bear fruit, keep His commands, and grow in love. Christianity is not simply about escaping judgment or wearing the name “Christian.” God saves His people so that they might increasingly become like Jesus. This lifelong process of sanctification means that believers will not immediately become perfect, but their lives should increasingly reflect the character of Christ. 

One of the clearest signs of this transformation is love. John contrasts those walking in the light with those walking in darkness. Those who belong to Christ demonstrate love toward their brothers and sisters, echoing Jesus’ teaching that the world will recognize His disciples by their love for one another. 

The challenge is deeply personal: Is your faith marked by love and obedience to Jesus? Christians are called to examine their lives, identify areas where they resist God’s commands, bring those struggles honestly before Him, and continue growing toward Christ. Authentic Christianity is more than claiming the name of Jesus—it is a life increasingly transformed into His image. 

What if people really knew you? What if they could see beyond the carefully managed surface into the struggles, resentment, pride, fear, or sin we would rather keep hidden?

In 1 John 1:5–2:2, John begins with a foundational truth: “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Walking with God therefore means walking in the light. But that does not mean Christians reach a place where they have no sin. Instead, the difference between walking in darkness and walking in the light is what we do when our sin is exposed. 

Like erosion beneath a parking lot, hidden problems can exist long before anything appears wrong on the surface. We can maintain appearances, protect our reputation, explain our behavior, and convince ourselves everything is fine. But what remains hidden continues to erode. The good news is that what is exposed can be repaired.

That is why confession is such an important part of the Christian life. Confession isn't informing God of something He doesn't already know. It is finally agreeing with God about what He has revealed. Rather than renaming our bitterness, pride, anger, jealousy, or selfishness, we bring it honestly into His light. 

Yet Christianity isn't simply an endless cycle of discovering everything wrong with ourselves. John gives us extraordinary hope: “If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” Our confidence isn't that we will eventually become righteous enough to stand before God on our own. Our confidence is that Jesus Christ is our Advocate.

Spiritual maturity, then, isn't reaching a point where there is nothing left to confess. It is reaching the point where there is nothing left that we are determined to hide. We can step into God's light without fear because Jesus has already dealt with our sin.

In 1 John 1:1–4, the apostle John writes as an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. He isn't passing along a philosophy, secret knowledge, or secondhand religious tradition. John and the other apostles heard Jesus, saw Him with their own eyes, and touched Him with their own hands. Their testimony points to a Savior who entered human history so that people could truly know God. 

One of the central challenges of this message is the difference between knowing about God and actually knowing God. A person can attend church, understand theology, serve faithfully, give generously, and know Christian language while gradually substituting religious activity for intimacy with God. Familiarity with Christianity is not necessarily the same thing as fellowship with Christ. 

John brings his readers back to the beginning. Rather than pursuing supposedly deeper spiritual secrets or newer revelations, Christians are called back to Jesus Himself. Spiritual maturity isn't about moving beyond the gospel; it is about going deeper into it. As the sermon emphasizes, “You never outgrow the gospel. You only grow deeper into it.”

Through Jesus, believers are invited into fellowship with the Father. This fellowship is more than church attendance or Christian community. It describes participation in a restored relationship with God made possible through Christ. Jesus came into the world, took our sin to the cross, and opened the way for sinners to come home to the Father. 

That restored relationship also produces joy. Circumstances change, disappointments come, and life remains difficult, but Christian joy is rooted in something deeper: belonging to God. The message ultimately calls listeners to examine whether they have settled for information about God when Jesus is inviting them into fellowship with God.

The invitation is simple but profound: stop hiding, stop performing, and come home. Jesus didn’t come to improve your religion. He came to restore your relationship with God.