FBC Tampa: Recent Episodes
First Baptist Church Tampa
Our Mission is to be a thriving people in a thriving church in a thriving city. Join us for worship every Sunday morning at 10:45AM in downtown Tampa, FL.
Genesis 1:1-2:3 - The manner in which the Holy Bible opens is high and lofty and worthy of our Divine Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. The beginning chapter of the Bible is authoritative and sufficient to answer man’s greatest questions - Where did life come from and what meaning does life have?
Psalm 19:7-14 - As we discussed last Sunday, the Bible is authoritative in our lives but we must also embrace the truth that the Bible is also sufficient. The Bible is sufficient for all we need for life and godliness. The Bible will transform us, make us wise, give us joy, open our eyes. It will never change, and it is all we need for righteousness.
Peter 1:16-21 - A true Biblical worldview begins with the conviction that God Himself has spoken to us in and through the Bible – the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. Because the Bible is the Word of God we believe it to be true and reliable. The Bible is therefore the standard by which we must test all truth claims. It is the lens through which we must filter all of life. The Bible, rightly understood, is the foundation and final authority for everything we hold to be true.
Now a legitimate question should be raised and answered at this point. That question is, with all the sacred texts of all the religions in the world making some claim on truth how can we be certain that the Bible is the actual Word of God and therefore true in all it teaches?
Psalms 8:1 - Is the question of God’s existence and nature merely a philosophical debate with no real consequence upon human life? Or, as the Bible suggests is it futile to attempt to understand who man is apart from first understanding Who God is? Biblically, the two truths are inseparably linked together.
Colossians 2:8 - Do all professing Christians live with a Biblical worldview? Do they all filter everything through the lens of the Bible? Unfortunately, and tragically the answer is “no”. In fact, the vast majority of professing believers do not live life through a Biblical worldview. They certainly don’t do so consistently or intentionally.
1 Corinthians 11:23-32 - If someone asks you who you are and nowhere in the conversation does the name of Jesus come up, you are having an identity crisis. As a Christ follower and a child of God your identity is tied to Christ. You cannot talk about you without talking about Him.
Acts 11:26; Romans 6:1-7 - If someone asks you who you are and nowhere in the conversation does the name of Jesus come up, you are having an identity crisis. As a Christ follower and a child of God your identity is tied to Christ. You cannot talk about you without talking about Him.
Ruth 4:1-22 - What if we truly understood that as Christ followers and as those who are seeking to thrive in our walk with the Lord that the biggest thing in our lives ought to be God’s glory? God has indeed created us and saved us to be part of something infinity bigger than ourselves. God has created us and saved us to be part of His church and part of His redemptive plan for the world.
Ruth 3:1-18 - One of the great problems with the church today is a tendency to be satisfied with seeking the things of God rather than seeking God Himself. People are clamoring after the hand of God instead of the face of God.
Ruth 2:14-23 - As Boaz put into practice the part of God's law that provided for the care of widows and the fatherless, Ruth began to discover something of the heart of God. Boaz is a human manifestation of God's grace
If we desire for God to give us a new beginning and to work in our life then there are two things that must work together: our faith and God's providence. We must put feet to our faith and we must trust that He is in control and His plans will not fail. These truths are illustrated in the story of Ruth.
Ruth 1:6-22 -What do you do when you come to the realization that you have made some bad choices and are now facing the consequences of those choices? What do you do when you realize God has not left you but it was you who wandered away from God? What do you do when you are sitting in the pig pen of life and you come to your senses and realize that things are so much better back in your Father's house? Answer - you turn around and you go back home.
Ruth 1:1-5 - Perhaps you have heard the expression - "sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.” The first five verses of the book of Ruth present a real life example of this expression and serve as a warning to Christ followers not to fall into the same traps of sin.
John 21:1-25 -The final chapter of John's Gospel reminds us that while Jesus is divine and the good news of the Gospel is from the very mind and heart of God, God uses frail human instruments to share His Good News with the world. God uses people to tell His redemptive story. Just as He called the disciples to take the Gospel to the whole world, so He has called us to take the Gospel to the nations. And just as the disciples had their fears and faults and frailties, we too are weak and fearful at times.
John 20:19-31 - The resurrection of Jesus is the single most important truth to know, believe and embrace. The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin to hope and without the resurrection there is no hope. John 20 teaches us to bring our sincere doubts to Jesus and He will prove His love for us.
1 Timothy 3:8-13 - Today as we ordain two men to the office of deacon in the church we turn to 1 Timothy 3:8-13 for instruction. Pastors and deacons are to work side by side in leading and serving the church. Deacons are to be an extension of the heart and the hand of the pastor. It is not incidental therefore that the character requirements to serve as a pastor in the church and to serve as a deacon in the church are virtually identical.
John 19:14-30 - God's justice is righteous and fair, but his punishment for sin is complete. Scripture tells us that the payment for sin is death and that an acceptable sacrifice of blood is required. In John 19, we see Jesus pay the ultimate sacrifice - taking on the sins of the world in our place so that we may be forgiven. Join us as we dive into God's word to grasp the significance of Christ's sacrifice, the greatest gift ever given to mankind.
John 18 - Mother Teresa once said that man should “give until it hurts.” She meant that we should give sacrificially in benevolence to help others. In John 18, there are five individuals who gave until it hurt. Jesus gave Himself away to help us gain what we could not earn, but four others gave away priceless treasures and opportunities in vain attempts to hold onto what they could not keep. All gave until it hurt.
John 17:1-26 - The depth and breadth and heights of John 17 cannot be overstated. Some have referred to this particular passage of the Bible as “the Holy of Holies of Scripture.” God provides us with we get a glimpse behind the curtain as we are allowed to listen in as God the Son speaks intimately with God the Father.
John 16:16-24 - We all suffer in this life. We all experience times of disappointment, stress, and grief. Not a single one of us can expect to go through life with everything we hoped for working out just perfectly and without feeling the sting of pain or loss. At times, life can become so difficult that the challenges we face appear to be insurmountable. As we come to the middle of John 16 this morning we are going to find hope for those who are grieving and joy for those who are sorrowful. In the midst of what they thought was the worst night of their life, Jesus promised hope and joy to His disciples.
John 15:18-16:15 - Around the world the church of Jesus Christ is being persecuted at an alarming rate. From the inception of the church during the time of the apostles through to our modern day society, the church has always faced the hostility of the world. But Jesus did not tell us to expect clear skies and smooth sailing; in fact, he taught his disciples to expect the exact opposite of the world. Join us as we unpack Jesus' words together in John 15:18-16:15 so that we may understand the proper expectations and duties of Christians as we follow Christ in a fallen world.
1 Peter 1:3-5 -Every day people are being crushed under a sense of hopelessness. People are overwhelmed with fear, doubt, despair, and sadness while seeing no sign of light in their darkness. But is life truly hopeless? Is there no hope? The enemy desires for you to feel hopeless in this world, but we serve the God of Hope who desires for you to find true hope. And where can we find true hope? We find it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who came to bring us a living hope! If you need hope in your life examine the story of Easter for in it we discover hope.
John 15:12-17 -Friendship, love, and connection are vital to the thriving Christian life. Believers need other believers to help them fulfill their potential in Christ. In John 15:12-17 Jesus gives His followers two basic principles for Godly relationships. These two principles apply to all relationships in Christ and should govern every aspect of our relationships from their purpose to their maintenance.
John 15:1-11 - Genuine disciples of Jesus Christ will bear fruit; to do so is a part of their transformed nature. You cannot be a genuine disciple of Jesus and not find the fruit of that relationship in your life. Join us as we unpack Jesus' words in John 15 to understand the analogy and its importance to our relationship with Him.
John 14:15-26 - A fundamental truth we all need to embrace is that God does in fact love us. We know He loves us because He demonstrated His love by sending Jesus to die for us. The truth of God's love for you can and will transform your life. We know God loves us, but how do we know if we love Him? How can we tell if we truly love God and are not just paying Him some sort of religious lip service? In John 14:15-26 Jesus gives us two distinct characteristics of those who genuinely love Him: They obey Him and they are indwelled by Him.
John 14:1-6 -As Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time when He would no longer be with them He told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” How can we learn to not let our hearts be troubled? How is it possible to face this world without fear? From John 14:1-6 we will consider three keys to living with peace in troubling times.
There is a great danger in placing too much confidence in our own talents and abilities. Far too often we see this truth played out in our spiritual lives. As we continually struggle to remain faithful to Christ and His call we can see the dangers of being too confident in ourselves and in our own abilities. Perhaps no greater example of the dangers of overconfidence can be found than in the early spiritual walk of Simon Peter. From John 13 we will discuss how God will move us from confidence in ourselves to confidence in Him.
We all probably are familiar with and understand the Golden Rule - “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is a great rule, but Jesus takes that rule a considerable step further and challenges His followers to go deeper in our walk with Him. The rule Jesus calls upon His followers to live by is “Love others with the radical love of Christ.” Love others not as you would have them love you but as Jesus would love them. Love others as Jesus has loved you! Let's wrap our minds and hearts and lives around that thought for a few moments as we consider John 13:18-35.
John 13:1-17 Jesus knew who He was, where He was going and what love was. Jesus exemplified service. In life, we can often experience confusion over service and miss our call to serve as Christ served.
John 12:27-50 - The impact of the cross cannot be overstated. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance and the impact of the cross. The cross has split human history and literally impacted all of humanity. Consider the impact of the cross on your life as we consider John 12 together.
John 12:12-26 Just as our physical vision can become impaired, so too our spiritual vision, our ability to see God and the things of God, can become impaired. As we view the events during the Passion Week during Christ's earthly ministry, we ask two questions. How do we see God? Second, how do we see ourselves in the light of God's Word?
John 12:1-11 - "Odorous Offerings” is the title of today's message because in John 12, the Apostle retells a story of someone who worshipped Jesus in an extravagant manner and how someone else responded to that act of worship. In this chapter we see the aroma of a Thankful, Devoted Life and we see the stench of a Hypocritical, Self-serving Life. The question is - Does our worship pass the smell test?
John 11:47-53 - As we have already seen in John's Gospel, as Jesus presented the truths of Who He was, some believed and some rejected. Now, in chapter 11, Jesus has presented undeniable evidence of His power by raising a dead man back to life, a fact that no one, not even His harshest critics denied. Surely everyone would believe in Him now! What else could someone possibly need to believe. And yet, in the face of overwhelming evidence, not everyone believed. Some still chose to harden their hearts and minds to the truth and reject Christ.
John 11:38-46 - God has called ordinary people to represent Him and His love to the lost world. He has changed us and charged us to take the Gospel to the nations. Just as He did with the 12 disciples, Jesus will use the circumstances of life to challenge and grow our faith. The story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is filled with lessons to grow our faith.
John 20:30-31 - Are my facts based on my beliefs? Do I believe the things I believe about God because I want them to be true? Or, is my faith based on facts? Do I believe what I do about God because He has presented me with enough evidence and facts to know that I can trust Him and place my faith in Him?
Luke 13:6-9 - It has been said that if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time. As a church, we are aiming for a lofty and God-given goal. The goal of FBC Tampa is to be followers of Christ who are ever growing in our faith and ever helping to expand the kingdom of God.
Philippians 3:1-15 - We will never be right with God because of our own works; righteousness it is found only through faith in Christ. And only by faith, are we able to forsake all things that we would know Christ and press on toward the goal of spiritual maturity, keeping in view the goal of our eternal home in heaven.
Matthew 2:1-12 - Now that we have celebrated the birth of the Jesus what will we do with Him the rest of the year? Will we ignore Him, oppose Him or worship Him?
1 Peter 1:3-5 - Giving and receiving gifts is a Christmas tradition. Waiting to unwrap gifts helps to build the excitement and anticipation of the day because with each present there is promise of receiving something truly great. Some of you are really good gift givers, but God is the best Gift giver of them all. “Praise be to God for His indescribable gift.” - 2 Corinthians 9:15 Join us as we unwrap the gifts of hope and peace this Christmas season.
Philemon 1-25 - As Christ followers we may understand that God is forgiving and has forgiven us and that we are to reflect His nature and character to the world by forgiving others; however, finding the freedom to actually forgive is difficult for many. In our weakness and pride many are more prone to harbor bitterness and resentment than to offer forgiveness. From the story of Philemon we lear that God has given us everything we need to become forgiving people.
Matthew 18:21-35 - Someone has said that the six hardest words to say are “I am sorry” and “I forgive you.” In fact, the words may be easier to say than the actual act of forgiving someone. Saying “I forgive you” is one thing; actually forgiving is something all together different. Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18 helps us to understand the standard of forgiveness He expects from those who have received His forgiveness.
1 Chronicles 16:1-36 Before we can give God thanks, it is essential for us to take time to praise and worship Almighty God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - Some people hold to the belief that it is possible for people who have believed in Christ to sin so grievously that God would take their salvation away. Millions of people live with this fear daily! The Bible however teaches that salvation is a free gift of God and that I can do nothing to merit or earn. Therefore, if there was nothing I could do to earn it, there is nothing I can do to lose it. God is the Author and Perfector of our faith. It is not dependent on me.
Ephesians 1:4-6 - When people struggle with their identity they tend to ask questions such as “Who am I?” “What makes me unique?”. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to believers in Ephesus to help them understand their true identity in Christ. The good news is that once we understand how God sees us and what He thinks of us it will change our identity and change the trajectory of our lives!
Ephesians 1:1-3 -Could you use some Good News today? Do you know anyone who could use some Good News in their life? The Apostle Paul shares with us some incredibly good news in his letter to the church in Ephesus. The good news is that we can be blessed by God! Sounds pretty good, but what does it mean to be blessed by God?
1 Samuel 15:1-31 - When Saul, the King of Israel, had been disobedient to the clear commands of God, God's prophet, Samuel, confronted the king. Saul made excuses and then claimed that he had only been disobedient in order to offer sacrifices to God. The prophet's response was to ask the soul-searching question, “In what does the Lord delight, our rituals or our obedience?” His clear answer to his own question was that God delights in the obedience of His children. Saul learned the hard way that there are blessings when God's people obey His Word and there may be tragic consequences when God's people disobey His Word.
John 9:13-41 - In John’s gospel we have seen that some will examine the claims of Jesus and the evidence to support His claims and believe while others, no matter how much evidence is provided to support the claims of Christ, will not believe. Some are conscious that they are blinded by sin and need God to help them see. Some believe they can see and do not need God therefore they have actually become blind. To be confronted with the claims and evidence of Jesus is to bring each of us to a crossroads, or to a point of decision. We must decide if we will believe or if we will refuse to believe.
John 9:1-12 - When we look into the eye of the storm or stare at the pain and suffering so many endure, the natural and normal question is “Where is God?”. Is He powerless to change things? Is He calloused and uncaring? We are taught in Scripture that God is good, He is trustworthy, and He is a loving and compassionate Creator. How can we reconcile God's goodness and perfection with the fact that so much of His creation in broken and wounded?
John 8:21-32 - In John 8, the Pharisees mock Jesus' testimony, rejecting the truth that he lays before them. They did not understand that their own self righteousness and refusal to believe would lead to death in their own sins. But Jesus paints a different picture, one where understanding who He is and believing in him grants us eternal life with Him!
John 8:12-20 - Jesus is the Light of the world. He came to overcome the darkness of sin, despair, lostness, and hate that has fallen on His good creation. Let his light shine on your life and punch holes in the darkness!
Matthew 9:35-38 - Workers typically describe their job as ”just what they have to do to get by”. Statistics even tell us that most Americans hate their jobs and therefore do the bare minimum required of them. But how should Christ followers feel about work? Is it possible that our jobs have a higher purpose than simply providing for our material needs? Yes! God has a plan that can turn our work into a Labor of Love for His glory!
John 8:1-11 - In John 8 Jesus was put to the test by the religious leaders of His day when they brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They were hoping to trap Jesus into either contradicting the Law of God our disenfranchising the sinners He had befriended. Jesus was not stumped because the dilemma was settled before God ever created the world. How would God reconcile His Justice with His grace, mercy and love? The answer – Jesus, the friend of sinners, would be condemned so that we would not have to be. “Greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.”
John 7:37-52 - Our souls thirst to be satisfied. Every human has a deep need and a deep thirst that we long to quench. Too often we draw water from the wrong wells that cannot satisfy our thirst. In John 7 Jesus makes an offer to anyone who will come to Him and trust in Him – Rivers of living water flowing from within. Do you long for a satisfied and overflowing soul? Jesus has an incredible offer for you!