South Fellowship Church

Heart Check Luke 8

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Waiting Psalm 130

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Waiting Psalm 130 This summer when my family and I were on vacation, we went to Legoland in San Diego. They had a new ride there, Ninjago ride that my son was really excited to go on. It was a 4-D type of ride where you're karate chopping things that are flying at you, and there's mist and smells..... It was pretty epic! We chose our time wisely as to when we wanted to get into line, because the line was long. It got shorter as the day went on and so around 6 o'clock, when most...

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Perseverance Psalm 129

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Perseverance Psalm 129 Well, we're over a week in now, which means many of us are suffering from sleep deprivation. Talking, of course, about the Olympics. Anybody else? Week plus in and you've stayed up way too late watching sports that in a week you won't care about! I noticed that I'm spoiled; I don't even want to watch the qualifying races, I just want to watch the medal races. I also want to know ahead of time if we win, because I don't want to watch it if we didn't win. I...

Psalms of Ascent - Building - Psalm 127

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Restoration Psalm 126

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Restoration Psalm 126 It's hard to imagine what that day might have been like. My guess is that they knew that it was coming because the army was gathering and building around the outside of the city. But that day---that day when the walls of Jerusalem (their very shield) started to come down at the hands of the Babylonians. That day must have been like no other day they ever experienced in their life. Every single dad was trying to protect his kids; every single mom was trying...

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Worship Psalm 122

PSALMS OF ASCENT: Worship Psalm 122 What are we doing here? Have you ever stopped to think about that? I don't mean the existential question of: what are we doing here on this little blue ball that we call earth? I'm not asking about the purpose of life or anything all that deep. I'm simply asking, what are we doing HERE? At this moment in time, for this hour and fifteen minutes on a Sunday morning. My guess is you got up---you either set your alarm to get up or someone woke you up. You woke up,...

ALL I AM: Breathe In, Breathe Out Hebrews 11:21 & Genesis 48

ALL I AM: Breathe In, Breathe Out Hebrews 11:21 & Genesis 48 Growing up as a kid, I used to love going to amusement parks. We grew up near Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Six Flags, so I used to love to ride those roller coasters whenever we had the chance. I can remember, as a little kid, standing in line and seeing the loops and flips the coaster would do and each step in line getting closer and closer to actually getting on the ride. I could feel my blood pressure rising. It was this ...

ALL I AM: Going Back and Moving Forward Genesis 35:1-15

ALL I AM: Going Back and Moving Forward Genesis 35:1-15 Like many of you, we have two junk drawers in our kitchen. Don't lie and say you don't have them! We've got them and it's the place where we put everything that doesn't have a place. It's also the place where we put things that are on counter when we're having people come over! Oh crud, they're knocking on the door right now! and we pull everything into the junk drawer and close it. Inevitably, one of the things that always ends up in our j...

ALL I AM: Hulk Hogan and Hebrew Heroes Genesis 32:22-32

ALL I AM: Hulk Hogan and Hebrew Heroes Genesis 32:22-32 It wasn't the day that it took place that was actually the hardest. It was the next morning. It was waking up and before becoming totally conscious of what the day held ahead, it was that thought for just a brief moment that maybe, just maybe, the previous 24 hours were a terrible nightmare. But as I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and started to recognize no, in fact, it wasn't a dream. Like an avalanche or a tidal wave of emotion, it just ...

The Unexpected Journey

I began chemotherapy last February and will finish the 6th cycle this month. I am two thirds of the way through my sixth chemo cycle right now, as I stand in front of you. First of all, I want to thank South Fellowship, and so many others around the country and the world, for walking with us through this journey. Thank you for surrounding us. Loving us. Supporting us. Encouraging us.

Thirsty - Josh Suddath - Psalm 42

All I Am: Masquerade - Genesis 32-33:3

ALL I AM: Transition Time - Genesis 30 & 31

ALL I AM: Transition Time - Genesis 30 & 31 When I was 11 years old, my dad's company that he was working for in California closed their doors. They had offices all over and we were offered four different places to move. We could move to Sacramento, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or glorious Denver. Praise be to God, my parents chose wisely!! I grew up in California and that was all I knew. My whole family was really involved there, so leaving that place was like tearing up roots that had been dr...

ALL I AM: Filling the Void Genesis 29 & 30

ALL I AM: Filling the Void Genesis 29 & 30 I have quite the challenge in front of me -- I am preaching on Mother's Day out of a passage that has to do with polygamy! Pray for me. In fact, it's even a little bit deeper than that....not only is it about polygamy, it's sorta of a sister-wives meets "Desperate Housewives" meets intervention. That's where we're going this morning. If you've been with us over the last few weeks, you know we've been studying the life of Jacob, one of the great patr...

ALL I AM: Stairway to Heaven Genesis 28: 10-22

ALL I AM: Stairway to Heaven I grew up in a family that went to church every single Sunday. While I wouldn't say I was a begrudging participant, I definitely didn't have a faith in Jesus in the way the Scriptures describe that. My parents were very involved (in the church), but my interest in church, for the first number of years in my life, up to the age of 10, revolved around a man by the name of Randy. Randy had a mental disability. He took the bus to church and sat in the very front row. He ...

ALL I AM: Crazy Uncle Laban Genesis 28-30

ALL I AM: Crazy Uncle Laban Genesis 28-30 Pastor Josh Billings One of the things I do is read through my passage as many times as I can when I prepare for a sermon. I read through this one a couple times and was asking God what kind of analogy I should use, what kind of story to bring up and something hit me. Benedict Arnold came to mind! One of the greatest deceivers and traitors in American history. The interesting thing about Arnold....I thought I knew the story pretty well, but as it turns o...

ALL I AM - Jake The Snake - Genesis 27

ALL I AM: Trinkets and Treasures – Genesis 25:29-34

December 26, 1919, a decision was made that definitively shaped two organizations for the next 85 years. Harry Frazee sold one of his best players. His name was George Herman Ruth---you might know him as "The Babe." For $125,000, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, sold the rights of George Herman Ruth (the Babe) to the dreaded New York Yankees. For the next 85 years, the Boston Red Sox lived under "The Curse of the Bambino." Babe Ruth, at the time, was a pitcher, but he started dabbling in hitting...

ALL I AM: Family of Promise Genesis 25:19-28

ALL I AM: Family of Promise Genesis 25:19-28 As a kid I used to love to hear my grandparents tell stories. The grandparents on my mom's side of the family (my grandfather specifically) had some stories to tell. I don't how many of them were true, but they were all intriguing, at least the first time around. He used to share about his time in war in the South Pacific where his boots would have been wet for months on end. He loved to share about meeting my grandmother in his parents' flower shop. ...

Easter - WALKING IN GLORY Romans 6:4-5

WALKING IN GLORY Romans 6:4-5 January 30, 2009, at 11:37, a nurse at Palomar Hospital handed me a baby. My baby! Ethan--6 pounds, 10 ounces, little tiny guy, but as she handed him to me, I had this overwhelming feeling that my life would never be the same. I'd fallen in love in a way I never knew I could and I also sensed that although he weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, he actually weighed a little bit more than that on my heart and my life. We put him in the car seat a few days later, after those ...

THE LORD'S PRAYER: Kneeling for Battle Matthew 6:13

THE LORD'S PRAYER: Kneeling for Battle Matthew 6:13 The year was 1720, the date June 21st. The pirate, Bartholomew Roberts, was just about to sail in to the Trepassey Bay in Newfoundland, the easternmost part of the United States of America. As he got ready to enter that bay, he noticed that there were twenty-two merchant ships lined up around the coast of the bay. In that day, merchant ships often carried artillery because there were others, like Black Bart, sailing the open seas, ready to take...

The Lord's Prayer: Releasing the Records - Matthew 6:12

THE LORD'S PRAYER: Releasing the Records Matthew 6:12 Have you ever tried to think back and figure out what your earliest memory is? Not one that you've seen in pictures or stories that you've heard, but genuinely the thing from your past that's the very first thing that you can remember. For me, I was five years old. It was my birthday and I had been given a Big Wheel for my birthday. Huge wheel in the front, two mini wheels on the back ---- I was in love! I begged my parents to let me take it ...

THE LORD'S PRAYER: All I Need Every Day - Matthew 6:11

If you've been with us over the past few weeks, you know we've been walking through a series on the Lord's prayer. If you're new with us, welcome, we're really glad you're here. We're going to be diving into one of the stanzas in this prayer and trying to ask God God, what do you want us to hear from this portion of this model prayer that you gave your disciples to pray -- a way for them to interact with you. I grew up in a church that was sorta "high church." It was a Presbyterian church and th...

The Lord's Prayer - Kingdom Invasion - Matthew 6:10

“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:9–13 ESV)

BREATH OF HEAVEN: The One Thing that Changes Everything - John 8:31-32 & Romans 13:8-9

BREATH OF HEAVEN: The One Thing that Changes Everything - John 8:31-32 & Romans 13:8-9 A number of years ago, I got into road biking and I never thought I'd be a road biker, but my wife got me a bike for Christmas. I was looking for another way to get out and enjoy beautiful Colorado and, indeed, over the last few years, I've really grown to love the sport of road biking. I had a friend who invited me to go on a bike ride with him, sort of spontaneously. He called me and at the time my wife ...

BREATH OF HEAVEN:The Point is a Person John 5:39-40 & Hebrews 1:1-3

BREATH OF HEAVEN:The Point is a Person John 5:39-40 & Hebrews 1:1-3 BREATH OF HEAVEN:The Point is a Person John 5:39-40 & Hebrews 1:1-3 My wife, Kelly, and I met on a backpacking trail a number of years ago. I felt like I made quite the impression on her. Things had gone well on that trail. I was convinced, if I could talk her into it, that I was going to marry her. I wasn’t sure she was as committed as I was, nonetheless, she had thrown out on the trail…if you ever want to come to Duran...

BREATH OF HEAVEN:Pragmatic Wind 2 Tim. 3:16-17 & Luke 4:1-13

BREATH OF HEAVEN:Pragmatic Wind 2 Tim. 3:16-17 & Luke 4:1-13 We're in a series, started last week and over the next two weeks, and we're exploring both the power and prominence of the Scriptures. For millennia, this book....really, it's a collection of writings....I think you should view it more as a library than a book.....it's 66 different books, written by 40 different authors over the course of 1500 years....three different continents with one central message...whose name is Jesus. We wa...

OH HOLY NIGHT: CHAINS SHALL HE BREAK Isaiah 61 & Luke 4:16-21

OH HOLY NIGHT: CHAINS SHALL HE BREAK Isaiah 61 & Luke 4:16-21 Anybody have one of these (paper chain) things going on in their house right now? I used to think this was a nice, cute art project that we allowed kids to do during Christmas time. This is a Christmas chain. Everyday you wake up and you rip one link of the chain off and you get closer and closer to Christmas and there's one for every day, until you get up to Christmas morning. I used to think it was a nice, cute art project, but ...

EXILES: EXALTED EXILES 1 Peter 5:5-14

EXILES: EXALTED EXILES 1 Peter 5:5-14 When I was in college, I worked with an organization called Young Life. I mentored a number of students and the only time that I had free and the time they were willing to meet was real early in the morning. One morning, I got out of bed, my feet hit the ground at about 5:45 am. The meeting started at 6:00 am. This was not uncommon. It was about a 13-minute drive to where we were meeting. I had two minutes to get dressed...more than enough time. My feet hit ...

EXILES: LIFEBOATS, LISTS & LEADERSHIP 1 Peter 5:1-5

EXILES: LIFEBOATS, LISTS & LEADERSHIP 1 Peter 5:1-5