Pastor Johnny Scroggins

Hi, everyone, smile first. Everybody looks better with a smile on your face. Besides Brian, anybody tired right now? This is what they tell me, it takes more muscles to frown, than it does to smile. And so, everybody looks better with a smile on your face. Amen?
I have a lovely wife here, 54 years, and we met when we were, hmmm. Clara, come say hello please.

Clara Scroggins – Greetings

It’s really, really a privilege for us to get to be here and this is like, we’ve been trying to get here for a few years, Covid hit and we were not able to. Sorry to the translator. Thank God, I’m not preaching. But I always when we travel somewhere and I come into a place where I don’t know anyone, I always love to connect with my family, with God’s family. And it’s lovely to meet you guys, those that we have been able to talk with, and it doesn’t matter that we cannot talk fluently to each other, but we have been able to worship, and engage with our Father. So, that makes us family. It’s wonderful. God bless you. It’s wonderful to be here.

Pastor Johnny Scroggins – Main Message

Before I preach, I normally say 3 things:

Number 1: I want you to know that you are loved. There’s a lot of people that don’t understand love, and they don’t know what it is to be loved. But I tell you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you are loved. I’ve had people say at times, ‘You’re just a bunch of rubbish,’ but not in God’s eyes. You are loved.
Number Two: You are valuable. You may not feel like you’re valuable, maybe in your family, you were always put down. Maybe people at your school looked down on you. But in God’s eyes you are valuable.
Number three: You have a purpose in life. And your purpose is not just to get old, to get an education, to get married, to have children, to have grandchildren, and then to die. Your life is more important than that. The Bible says, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14). And God does have a plan for your life. And if God has a plan for you, the devil has another plan for you, and the devil’s plan is for you to never find the plan of God. He’ll want you to get away from the ways of God. The Bible says, that the Lord Jesus Christ, has come to give us the abundant life (John 10:10). The devil has come to kill to steal and destroy. So, you need to listen to what voice is being spoken to you. You can hear that still small voice from God, or you can listen to all the people around you. But you have a plan from God. And the greatest pleasure is in life, is to know what you’re doing, is what God has called you to do. Amen, amen, amen.

I’m a preacher, OK. I want us to go to Hebrews 1:1-4, and I’m going to read the first 4 verses. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So, he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”
In the first verse God says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets”. Sometimes He spoke through dreams. Sometimes He spoke through visions. Sometimes He spoke through angels. Sometimes, He even used the burning bush. But now in the last days, He spoke through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that’s what I’m going to preaching about today. I’m here, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible says that, “When two or three people are gathered together in His name,” not in the name of a denomination, but in His name, and were gathered together in His name, He has promised us, “I will be in the very midst of them. I will be in the middle of them.” And if you’re gathered right now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, He’s here with us. He’s here in us. I said He’s with us and He is in us. Can I hear an Amen?
What I have learned through my years, I learned to focus upon Jesus. I read a story the other day. There was a lady who came to church, and she saw all different people inside the church. Some were on their iPhones, and some were talking, some were like dreaming, and she told the pastor, ‘I’m not coming to this church anymore, because everybody here is not listening to the Lord.’ The pastor said, ‘Oh, I want to give you a challenge right now. I want you to take this glass and fill it up with water, and I want you to walk through the church right now and don’t spill a drop of water.’ So, she took off and she went around the church building twice. She came back to the pastor and said, ‘Pastor, I did it.’ The pastor said, ‘Well how many people were on their iPhones? How many people were talking? How many people were sleeping?’ She said, ‘I didn’t notice any of them. I was watching my glass of water.’
That if we come to look at the Lord Jesus Christ, I don’t care what your neighbor’s doing, I don’t care what somebody’s thinking, but if we have come to focus upon Jesus. Oh, I’m shaking, excuse me. I tell people everywhere I go, Jesus had 12 disciples, if you go looking for a Judas, you always find one. Because, Jesus had 12, and 1 was a Judas and if you can come to church, I found the Judas. But as long as you’re looking for Judas, you don’t have your eyes upon Jesus. But if you put your eye upon Jesus, you’re not worried about the Judas. Do you understand? What is our focus? We are gathered here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ah, Oh God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God.” (John 1:1) Jesus is the Word. Tell me Amen. He is the living Word. He spoke to us, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and then He spoke to us the way that He lived. ‘But pastor Johnny, what about this hypocrite over here?’ I’m not worried about that hypocrite. Jesus knows His children. God knows His children. We keep our eyes upon Jesus. I say, we keep our eyes upon Jesus. Jesus is the author and the finisher, of our faith. Tell me Amen.
Jesus was born of the Spirit of God. Can I that Amen. The Holy spirit came upon the virgin Mary. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Are we in agreement with that? Thirty years later, after His birth, He goes out to be baptized in water. He was submerged in water by John the Baptist. He comes up out of the water; the Spirit of God came down upon Him, and landed upon Him, and stayed upon Him, and He was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Everyone of us, we need to be born of the Spirit. We need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, Amen, Amen, Amen. There is the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. The Holy Spirit moves upon the individual; the Holy Spirit knocks on their hearts, who says, ‘Jesus wants to come into you through the Holy Spirit.’ We say, ‘Lord, forgive me of all of my sins. I receive Jesus into my heart. I receive Him into my life.’ And we’re born again; tell me Amen. And at that moment in time, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Are you thankful that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? “Let everything that has breath, praise ye the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6) Can I have an Amen? Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
There has to be more. At the age of ministry, at the age of 30, the baptizement by immersion, tell me Amen. Was Jesus sprinkled? No, He came up out of the water. Tell me Amen. Then the Holy Spirit came down upon Him. After you’re born again, you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Can I hear an Amen?
We do not deny, that’s there’s not a work of the Holy Spirit in salvation, but we do proclaim, there is more of the Holy Spirit in every individual. Amen, Amen, Amen. And we do proclaim, that Christ in us, (where is He?) Christ in us, He was with the disciples, but now we have Christ in us. You’re not alone; I said you’re not alone, you have Christ in you. But you say, ‘Pastor Johnny, at times I feel all by myself.’ But you’re not by yourself. You have the Lord with you. ‘But, sometimes, pastor Johnny, the people leave me.’ But you’re not alone.
During the greatest trial of Jesus, He asked 3 of His disciples to go and pray with Him. This is right before Gethsemane. He said, ‘Come and pray with Me, I’m about to have the biggest battle I’ve ever had. And I’m asking you to come and pray for Me.’ And the Bible says, He left them, said, “Watch and pray.’ Then He went a little bit further, and He begin praying with all of His heart. He was going to go to the trial, He was going to go to be crucified, and He wanted some prayer partners. And He went back to them. What was happening? They’re sleeping.
And sometimes we’re asking people, I need some help, and what do we find? We find, people sleeping. And sometimes we find Churches that are sleeping. They know what to do, but they’re not doing it. They have a commandment from Jesus to, ‘watch and pray,’ but they’re not watching and they’re not praying. He goes off and prays a second time. He comes back again and they’re still sleeping. Then He goes back the 3rd time to pray. And so, they haven’t prayed, but He is not alone. And in that great trial, the Bible says, the angels of God came to minister to Him.
I’m telling you, you’re not alone. You’ve got greater than an angel, you’ve got the Holy Spirit inside of you. And when you worship God and honor Him, the Holy Spirit will encourage you, strengthen you and energize you. We are not alone.
We’re living in the last of the last days, and Christians are beginning to get a spirit of fear. About what is going to happen in the last days. But I want to tell you something, you’re not alone. Greater is He that is in us than he that’s in the world. (1 John 4:4). And God knows how to provide for us. God provided for the children of Israel. He gave them manna; He gave them quail. We don’t have to worry. The Lord knows how to multiply the fish, He knows how to multiply everything else.
They got some people who are trying to hoard up food right now. And they’ve got their guns to protect that nobody can get their food. But my God is a greater God than that. I said my God is a greater God than that. Oh, Hallelujah, He’s with us. And Jesus Christ has not changed. He’s the same yesterday; He’s the same today; and He’s the same forever. Can I hear an Amen there.
And the Lord will not allow any temptation too great for you. I’m not telling you that you’re not going to be tempted, because all of us will be tempted. But with the temptation, the Lord will give you a way of escape. The Lord says, do this, there’s a way, come out of it. Why? Your relationship, you hear. God does not want us to have the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind, sound judgement. (2 Timothy 1:7). Are we OK, are we alright so far?
Did the devil ever defeat Jesus? Was there ever a storm that defeated Jesus? Every storm He came across, He rebuked the storm and the storm would leave. Oh, what’s going to happen to me, ohhhh. It’s getting dangerous out here, there’s a lot of fear going on. You’re not speaking to your storm. You’re encouraging the storm.
Somebody listen, to what I’m about to say. There’s power in your tongue for life or death. And when you start confessing negativity; when you start confessing death in your life. It’s one thing for somebody else to say it towards you. But when you start confessing that, out of your mouth, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45) and you’ve concentrated on that storm so much, that you have believed the lies of the enemy. Now, when you begin confessing that, it’s like you’re surrendering. I’m not here to surrender. You’re not here to surrender. We are more than overcomers. We are more than overcomers. We’ll overcome every drought. We’ll overcome every temptation. We’ll overcome every battle. Why? Because the undefeated One, lives inside of me and lives inside of you.
I want you to open your Bibles to Mark 11:22-24. “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Have faith where? In God. But pastor, there are a lot of pastors failing. My faith is not in a man. My faith is in God. My faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Do you have a problem in your life? Do you have a mountain in your life? It could be a healing problem. It could be a relationship problem. It could be a marriage problem. Whatever it is, listen to verse 23-24 once again, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Would you look at this. Three times it talks about what we’re saying. One time it says, ‘to believe’. One time it says, ‘not to doubt in your heart’. Three times it says, ‘what we are saying’. And I’m telling you, some of us right now, our prayers are being destroyed, we’re praying the right prayers, but after the prayer is over, we start saying the wrong things. Lord, I’m praying about this mountain. I’m praying about this relationship problem. I’m praying about this financial problem. Lord, I’m praying for a spouse. Whatever it is that I’m praying for right now, and I’m asking You Lord, to do what Your Word says. Lord, I’m praying for my lost loved ones. Lord, I’m praying for a healing. Lord, I need a miracle in my life. And Lord, in the name of Jesus, I’m praying Your Word. Lord, You hear Your Word. And Lord, I believe. And then there is a period of time, and we’re waiting, and we’re waiting. Well, I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not. My son is getting worse. My spouse is getting worse.
And we have just destroyed our prayer. Because we are confessing just the opposite of what we prayed. There’s power in your words. Especially when they come from your own mouth. And when you speak it out your ears hear it. And you start, ‘Oh, it’s getting worse, and you feel it. That’s why the Bible says, “Let us not grow weary, while doing good.” (Galatians 6:9). We keep praying; we keep confessing. ‘Lord, You heard my prayer, I prayed Your Word, You heard my prayer. I’m just waiting Lord, for Your timetable. I’m waiting for Your timetable. Because God, You’re not a man that You can lie. What You said, You would do. What You said, You would do. And Lord, You put it in my heart. I believe Your Word, I confess Your Word, and I have faith in God.’ Amen?
So, let us not grow weary, while doing good, because, in due season, everyone say, ‘Due Season’. The word is ‘kairos’, in God’s timing, not my timing; not your timing, in God’s timing. Well pastor, I want my children to be saved right now. I want my husband to be saved right now; I want my mother to be saved right now. People came to Jesus, because there was a problem in their lives.
No one came to Jesus, when He was upon the earth, when they were healthy, wealthy, great marriage, no problems. They came to Jesus when there was a bad problem. And if we say, ‘God, we want them born again right now.’ Are we asking for our loved ones that have a major problem in their lives? You know, people come to Jesus when there’s a need, in the Bible. That’s true? I’ve learned to pray, believe and let God choose the season.
I’m not trying to say, ‘Lord, I want it to happen now’, why, because this would be easier for me. I will have less problems; I will have less difficulties. This would just be easier for me. Oh Lord, I love them more than that. Let us not grow weary while doing good. For, in due season, we will reap, we will reap, we will reap if we don’t lose heart. I’m not losing heart. You’re not going to lose heart. The Word of God doesn’t change, Amen? Therefore, we keep believing, and we’ll keep doing what is right and when they do come home, they come home at the right time.
Some of you need to listen very carefully. At God’s right time. David had to wait 13 years. I don’t like waiting! Moses had to wait, how long? Eighty, forty years in Egypt; forty years over there in the desert. Then he led the children of Israel for forty years. What I’m trying to say is that there is a waiting time. But God hasn’t changed. I said that God hasn’t changed. God’s love for you hasn’t changed. God’s love for your loved ones hasn’t changed. We keep on holding on, hanging on, until it happens.
I’m going to close out with this. My family has heard this many times. The greatest prayer request that I had and my mother had was the salvation of my father. I’m third generation Pentecostal. I’m thankful, that I can close my eyes, and have memories in my head about grandparents being in Church, with my aunts and my uncles and my cousins. In Columbia Tennessee, half of the Church was from Scroggins. My grandfather and grandmother had 11 children. And most of them went to that church.
My father got hurt when he was young, and he left. He eventually married my mother. My mother was, excuse the age, but she wasn’t quite 15, she was 14 when she got married. Where did we hear the other day that the Jewish girls were 12 at the time when they got married. Twelve, I think it was. My grandmother got married at thirteen,
My Godly grandmother had an influence upon my mother. And your lifestyle is so important. I said, your lifestyle is so important. And eventually, my mother became born again. I think I was about 8 years of age at the time, and my mother then dragged us to Church, she dragged us to Church. Her and 4 little ones, my dad didn’t come. My dad didn’t come. Was my mother perfect and all? But she loved the Lord and she took us to Church.
Clara and I got married. My father was an alcoholic. He was a drunk. I was ashamed of him when he was drinking. When he was young, he said, ‘I can drink and nobody can tell it.’ But then there was a day when he could no longer control it. And he’d be all over the floor at times. So, God help us. His parents died; my grandparents died. And my dad was not born again. My mother and I, prayed for years and years and years and nothing happened.
I got a phone call. My brother called and said, ‘Johnny, dad has got the big “C”, he’s got cancer. So, I went back home to see him, we were living in Australia. By the time I got home, I could see that he was more mellow, more gentle. And this is what he told me, ‘He said, son, I know why you’re here, and I want to make sure that I get right with the Lord too. But I don’t want you to pray for my healing.’ And now, I’m confused, ‘What did you say dad? You don’t want me to pray for your healing?’ I hadn’t seen my mother in 29 years. When I die with Jesus, I want to be able to go in tears and say, ‘Mum, I made it.’
What was amazing. We went to a Church. I preached there and dad stood up. It was nothing major at the time. And he went to Columbia Tennessee to see his family, to them that he was having cancer. And there was a Church service going on that night, and we went to Church. I can’t tell you that it was the most powerful church service I’d ever been in, but what I can tell you is this. When they gave the alter call, he looked at me and he says, ‘Son, will you walk me down the altar, I want to give my life to Jesus.’ It was the same building. The building was bigger, the same property where his parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles all had been there. He gave his life to Jesus. Therefore, let us not grow weary, while doing good. Because in due season, we will reap, we will reap, we will reap if we don’t lose heart.
I want you to close your eyes. Father we’re in Your presence, You’re here right now. Lord, there may be some right here, they’ve been praying over things and it hasn’t happened yet, and the devil is trying to discourage them. And even the devil is trying to make Your children Lord, to begin confessing the negative. But Lord, we proclaim right now, You’re not a man that You can lie. What Your Word says, You will perform it my Lord. You will do it; You will do it, Lord.
I’d like right now, no one looking around, if you’ve been praying and you’ve become discouraged over. Or if you’ve been kind of in a battle and you’re kind of discouraged in certain areas, I’m just going to ask you to stand and come to the front and we’re just going to pray together; we’re going to pray together. How many this morning here, you need a special touch from the Lord. Maybe you’ve battling over this prayer request, whatever it is, I just want you to stand and come to the front, and all we’re going to do is pray together. Come on, just come on. That’s it, come on, we’re family. Oh, Hallelujah. Just line up right here. Look this way. Maybe I’m doing something we don’t do a lot here. Brian, are we OK with this?