Wonder Church

Today’s sermon was all about drawing from God’s Love.  We study 1 John 4:7-21 and find that we are futile in our efforts without Him, & in order to reach out our arms in love to others, we must draw from the Source of Love.

In this special message, guest Pastor Robroy Ranger shares one of the most important lessons he learned from doing ministry in Redmond, WA for the last 20 years.  In studying a story in 2 Kings 13 of a king in the midst of war, we see how God wants us to "use all our arrows" and hold nothing back from him: Find all your arrows, and fire them.

1 John 5:1-5 makes a big promise: those who believe will overcome.  In this message, Marguerite Cole studies this passage and shows us how the power of belief can change everything about us and enables us to win.

Today, we study 1 John 4:1-7.  Here we see that there is a legitimate danger for those who believe the Gospel to be mislead by faulty teaching.  We can easily fall for faulty teaching, especially when we fear that the truth will lead to rejection, pain, or the need for us to change.  However, we will also learn that though the truth hurts; it also sets us free.  For anyone who dares to step into the light, despite fear of rejection, what they will find is that, in Christianity, repentance always leads to acceptance.

In this message, Pastor Madison studies 1 John 3:11-24.  There is a tension in scripture: are we saved by faith or by works?  We will discover that obedience is the evidence of faith.  And, according to 1 John 3:11-24, obedience is measured in our love for others.  

In this special Father's Day message, we study 1 John 2:1 - "See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we would be called His children, and so we are."  We often associate our experience with our biological father with our Father God.  However, if this verse, we see that even though what we think of God changes everything about us, it doesn't change how he thinks about us.

What is your favorite food?  Even though we may crave something, it doesn't make it good for us.  In the same way, there are cravings that, if indulged, could wreck our faith.  In this message, we 1 John 2:15-17 and find that loving the world and it's cravings is dangerous and the key to overcoming is repenting and replacing.

In this message, we study a poetic interlude found in 1 John 2:12-14.  We see that John is encouraging his readers and reminding them of who they are.  In this, we reminds us that we "have won our battle with the evil one."  Spiritual warfare is real, but the goodness is, Jesus has already won the battle and given us victory.

In 1 John 2:3-11, we are given a very high standard, to "live our lives as Jesus did."  This can be very intimidating.  Often, we can respond to a high calling like this by working harder and doing more, but this often backfires on us, resulting in burn out, failure, and guilt.  The secret to living the way that Jesus did is to live in close fellowship with the Father.  Jesus modeled communion with the Father and then encouraged his followers to do the same in one of the major themes of the Gospel of John and the letter of 1 John.  To live like Jesus did, we must first abide in Him.  If we learn to rest and abide, we can thrive.

Have you ever done something so bad that you thought it would change your life forever?  Have you ever wondered if what you have done would change your relationship with God, even after you believe in Jesus?  In this message, we continue our study of 1 John by looking at verses 1:5-2:2.  We will discover that while there is no place for sin in our life, God knows that we still sin, and when we do, the same advocate that saved us from our sin, is still advocating for us: repentance is always met with acceptance.