Calvary Chapel South Messages

In this teaching on 1 John 5:1-12, Pastor Elliot explains what it looks like to belong to Jesus: obeying God’s commandments and overcoming the world. John says God’s commands are not a burden, because they come from a good Father who wants us to have real life. Victory doesn’t come from cleaning ourselves up or trying harder. It comes through faith in Jesus, who has already defeated sin, death, and the devil. John also points to God’s own testimony about his Son, and the simple truth that whoever has the Son has eternal life.

In Luke 16:1-31, Pastor Kevin teaches on what Jesus says about money, from a fired manager who cleverly plans for his future to a rich man who never noticed the beggar at his gate. Money is one of the quietest tests of what we love, and Jesus is blunt that no one can serve both God and wealth. Everything we hold belongs to God, and we are only managing it for a while. The rich man and Lazarus show that how we handle what we have points to who we have been serving all along.

In 1 John 4:7-21, Pastor John teaches on what it means that God is love and why John keeps returning to the theme of loving one another. God’s love is shown in Jesus, who became the propitiation for our sins, the sacrifice that fully satisfied God’s judgment against sin. Because that wrath was poured out on Christ, believers can trust God’s discipline as the care of a good father rather than fearing punishment. Like a plum ripening on the tree, God’s love grows to maturity in us, and we love others as people who were loved first.

In Luke 15, Pastor Kevin teaches through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, all pointing to one theme: heaven rejoices when what was lost is found. The shepherd seeks, the woman searches, and the father waits, then runs to meet his returning son with compassion instead of a lecture. Kevin also looks at the older brother, who never left home but was lost in his legalism and stayed outside the celebration. The message ends with Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders and the joy in heaven over every sinner who repents.

How do we know what's truth from God and what's a convincing lie? Pastor Gerrit takes us through John's warning in 1 John 4 to not believe that everything spiritual is from God, even if it claims to be. John emphasizes the necessity of a right view of Jesus for something to be true.

Jeff Kinley teaches through 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 on the rapture, the moment Jesus returns to gather his people. Paul says this hope rests on the resurrection: because Jesus rose, those who have died in Christ will rise too. Christ descends with a shout, an archangel’s voice, and the trumpet of God, and believers living and dead are caught up to meet him. The word itself comes from the Greek harpazo, meaning to snatch away suddenly. Paul wrote it to comfort grieving people with the promise that we will be with the Lord forever.

In this message from 1 John 3:10-24, Pastor Elliot teaches that the way we live reveals whose family we belong to. John says a child of God practices righteousness and loves in deed and truth, following the example of Christ, who laid down his life for people who did not deserve it. Because Jesus finished the work on the cross, a believer can answer condemnation with the gospel and turn toward God in repentance rather than shame. Prayer then flows from the same place, as a child who knows the Father asks for what fits his good will.

Pastor Gerrit teaches through Luke 14:25-35 on the cost of being a disciple of Jesus. He starts with what it means to be a disciple, then looks at why Jesus used such strong language about loving family, carrying a cross, and giving up everything. Along the way he explains the parables of the tower builder and the king going to war, and shares examples of what the true cost looks like. The message weighs that cost against the treasure of knowing Christ, and shows why a disciple who stops following becomes like salt that has lost its flavor.

Pastor Bobby Cruz teaches through 1 John 2:28-3:10, examining what it means to be called a child of God. John writes that God's love gives us a new identity, one we receive as a gift rather than earn by being good. Because Jesus came to take away our sins, those who belong to him begin to change, and the pattern of their lives starts to show it. Everyone stumbles, but a life of unrepentant rebellion does not fit with being born of God. The passage shows that being loved by the Father and being made new in Christ belong together.

Pastor Gerrit teaches through Luke 14:1-24, where Jesus uses a Sabbath dinner party to show what humility looks like. He heals a sick man in front of religious leaders who were looking for fault, then tells guests not to chase the best seats and tells hosts to invite those who cannot repay them. The excuse makers who decline the great supper miss the feast entirely, while the poor and the lonely fill the house. Everyone longs to feel significant, and God gives that freely to those who humble themselves, since he alone exalts.