Southland Christian Church

The Enemy Behind My Pain (I Peter 5:8-10): When we face suffering, we need to remember that the enemy wants to use our pain to draw us away from God. This enemy is not to be taken lightly. He desires to devour us. This message will make us more aware of Satan's intent to destroy us and how we can stand against his attacks.

Peter's story of guilt and shame is one for the ages. He was part of Jesus' inner circle, but on the night of His arrest, Peter passionately denied Jesus. He even swore that he didn't know Jesus. Then, they made momentary eye contact, and Peter ran off and wept bitterly. This message will examine how to recover from our worst sins.

Marriage and parenting are a reflection of the deepest and most intimate ways in which God relates to us. The family was created by God and it functions properly when we align our families with Him.

Our friends and neighbors see how we live and they know if we really love them. How we express our faith matters in big way at the local level.

The good news about Jesus is something everyone needs to hear so that everyone has the opportunity to respond. We have the beautiful responsibility to take that good news to the very ends of the earth.

“He is not here, but has risen.” Those seven words spoken at the empty tomb changed everything for all of us. Because of Jesus'; death, burial, and resurrection we can experience new life.

When we love someone who is hurting, it isn't enough to express sympathy; in reality, that changes nothing. Empathy is a better approach. Empathy empowers compassion to move us to action. This message will remind us that we're called to identify and understand other's pain and serve them compassionately.

Legalism is what it looks like when one is living on the wrong side of the Cross, not seeing our old nature buried with Jesus and our new life alive in Him. Jesus came to fulfill the law through grace—dying for our sins on the Cross. This message will remind us that legalism loses and grace wins.

We all need to be prepared to deal with criticism. Criticism is inevitable in this life. As Christians, how we respond to and handle criticism reveals the level of our faith in God. Handling criticism gracefully is possible because Jesus vividly portrayed it, and He's our example.

Real faith helps people in real need. Our faith isn't only for us; it's also for others. Jesus demonstrated this daily and we have the opportunity to live in the same way. 

When our minds are set on the right things our emotions will follow. Our feelings can and should be shaped by who God is and what He has done for us.

We have solid reasons for what we believe and every Christian needs to be well versed in them. This doesn't mean we should try to bully people into accepting our positions on faith, but we can gently and humbly challenge those who oppose our beliefs. 

Our speech and our action need to align. Instructing others with our words is only effective when we demonstrate what we teach with our lives.

How, when and what we speak to others matters deeply. When we encourage others with our words it reflects what God has done for us in giving us His Word.

Controlling our words may be one of the most difficult things to do. The same mouths we praise God with also can be used to hurt and harm others. Understanding how powerful and dangerous words can be can also lead to using them for the ultimate good which is praising God.

Romans 10:9-17 | The Gospel is the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done. When we use our words to spread and share this good news beautiful things happen! Instead of choosing to spread gossip we can spread the gospel.

Family, faith, and community—we'll discover how God places the lonely in families and how strong families grow through grace and truth. Southland has always been a place where the broken find belonging. Jesus came to bring people from death to life, and our mission is to join Him in that work.

Jon Weece and Scott Nickell discuss Southland's exciting future.

The Bible describes the church as “the body of Christ.” In other words, the church should look a lot like Jesus. And one of the best things Jesus did for people was encourage them to serve and empower them to lead. Southland will always need an abundance of servant leaders.

In order to have the kind of life we really want; we have to walk away from the current life we have. Jesus specializes in moving people in a new direction towards a stronger life.

As we begin the new year, we're diving into what it means to love God, love people, and grow closer to Jesus. Over the next couple of weeks, as we wrap up 2024 and step into 2025, join us as we explore growth in our relationship with Jesus and how to live out His love!

As we begin the new year, we're diving into what it means to love God, love people, and grow closer to Jesus. Over the next couple of weeks, as we wrap up 2024 and step into 2025, join us as we explore growth in our relationship with Jesus and how to live out His love!

We long for peace. We long for the fighting to stop, the pain to cease, and the tears to stop flowing. Jesus made peace for us and peace is available to everyone! Who can we introduce to Jesus this Christmas season? 

In a world where things and people wear out, grow old, fall apart, and die we have an everlasting Father who doesn't get tired. He never fails and he never fades. Who can we extend an invitation to this Christmas season to sit at our table, come to church with us and sit by our fire? 

When life gets painful and the days grow dark we need a strong and mighty God to run to, lean on, and trust. His strength is displayed in our weakness. Who can we lend our strength to this Christmas season?

A counselor comes alongside someone in their time of need and imparts truth and wisdom. In a culture saturated with counselors we have the perfect counselor in and through Jesus who came alongside us in our time of need. Who can we come alongside during this Christmas season?

No church is perfect because there are not perfect people in the world. That shouldn't stop us from serving within the church. None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something.

Living in community can be scary, but not as scary as being alone, especially when trouble steers our way. We need each other, but we don't have to be perfect to be a good friend. We already have the perfect friend in Jesus. 

What you do is simply that, it's what you do. It is not who you are. Working is a good thing but it's not an ultimate thing. Our ultimate purpose is to honor and glorify God with who we are and what we do. This means our job doesn't have to provide us with fulfillment, satisfaction, or joy because God is the source of those good things in life. 

We have a purpose far higher than the latest election. We have a mission far bigger than any political platform. We are called and commanded to love God and love people and if we will remain faithful to that mission God promises to strengthen us in the process.

When the world moves towards chaos we can choose to move toward order. When everyone and everything is dividing and isolating we can choose to remain united. This means we have to choose harmony and listen well to each other.

Our culture has taught us that whatever we feel is not only real, but should be expressed. The Bible teaches us to control ourselves and stay calm. We don't know what is ahead, but we can choose ahead of time to keep our heads.

No one ever plans to be an addict. It happens incrementally as we indulge in unhealthy behaviors and repeatedly make bad choices. “I can handle it” is the lie we perpetually choose to believe. Eventually, we realize that we can't handle it. Such is the roller coaster ride of addiction. This message will suggest ways to overcome rather than submit to unhealthy behaviors.

Few words elicit more emotion than the word “divorce.” We all evaluate it differently, but when we experience it, there are no words. In this message, we will learn how to help everyone involved in the emotional tug of war get to a place of healing.

There's a great story in I Kings where Elijah challenges a group of 450 false prophets to a “duel” of sorts and wins a resounding victory. In the very next chapter, we watch Elijah run 100 miles into the wilderness, where he sits under a tree depressed and begs God to take his life. In this message, we'll learn how God can minister to us in the dregs of depression. 

“Fear.” Just the sound of the word brings a variety of emotions. It asks the question, “Fight or Flight?” Fear can unnerve us or empower us. Spur us on or hold us back. Everyone struggles with fear, and there are all kinds of fears to stare down in life. In this message, we'll look at ways to pray away fear's slimy grip on our lives.

The level of fear, worry, and anxiety we experience is connected to the amount of time we spend staring at and scrolling through images on screens. What we're looking for in technology can be found in God's love for us and the joy it delivers when we surrender to it and train our minds to think about it throughout the day. 

In many ways, convenience has replaced common sense when it comes to our eating habits and our physical bodies pay the price. Instead of neglecting physical health, we should do everything we can to respect and strengthen what God has blessed us with.

Our cultural mantra is, “If it feels good, do it.” We've compromised purity for the sake of pleasure. God loves us enough to give us sexual boundaries that are meant to protect us from emotional and physical harm. True sexual freedom is experienced in the safe confines of a committed marriage relationship.

The laundry room is where we turn dirty clothes into clean clothes. The same is true in the church. It's a safe family where we don't hide our hurts, habits, and hang ups, rather we surrender them to the transformational power of Jesus.

In the construction world, a foundation has to be solid before anything can be built on it. The same is true with the Christian faith. Everything we believe is grounded in the reality that every word in the Bible is true because it's author is trustworthy.

We often live as if doubt is the opposite of faith. But what if doubt is a gateway to greater faith? Today, we'll ask "What to do with doubt?" And discover, to struggle with one's faith is often the surest sign we actually have one. 

If you want to get stronger you only need one thing. Resistance. In Paul's second letter to Timothy he continues to challenge him to get stronger by giving him three vivid pictures. Soldier. Athlete. Farmer. All three know a lot about facing resistance. Soldiers fight. Athletes compete. Farmers work. If we want to become stronger followers of Jesus we have to embrace the resistance we face on a daily basis as an opportunity to become stronger and more effective.

How vulnerability transforms a broken church into a church for the broken.

In Mark 12:12-17, the religious leaders of Jesus' day tried to trap him saying something he shouldn't say. Jesus refused to fall prey to their polarizing options. Instead, he brilliantly found a middle ground in his response giving us a blueprint for how to navigate difficult conversations. Loving one option doesn't always infer that we hate the other option. Sometimes our choices aren't between right and wrong, but between better and best. In this sermon, we will learn how to find the middle ground with the goal of uniting people in a divided world.