First Baptist Church Bethalto - Sermons: Recent Episodes
First Baptist Church Bethalto
Jesus' miraculous birth is a fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy as part of God's plan to make our salvation possible.
Before you consider yourself unusable, listen to how God uses the least expected to reveal His Good News. God is calling you, and He qualifies those whom He calls.
God used Mary, a non-descript young woman of no social prominence, to bring the Savior into the world. God used shepherds, the outcasts of their society, to get among people to share the Good News with them. We have good news. Let's share it!
The believers at Laodicea perceived themselves as having all they neefed. But they lacked spiritual zeal.
Jesus reveals to the church at Philadelpbia important things about Himself and His promises.
A phony god can only be recognized by becoming thoroughly familiar with the one and only true God. This happens by spending time with Him.
Repentance is the recurring theme in this series. No church has greater need for repentance than one that is dead.
Having offered the church at Thyatira multiple opportunitoes to turn away from their sin, Jesus basically warns them to repent or else.
As we experience challenging times, Pastor Gary resumes the application of Jesus' words to today's congregations, including the individual members..
Pastor Gary introduces us to the church at Pergamum in preparation for a deeper examination of this first century assembly of believers.
Description: Newly elected pastor Josh Crisp articulates the path forward that God has placed before us.
The church in Smyrna remained obedient during great trials. Are we doing the same through our mild challenges?
Listen, as Pastor Gary teaches on why what you believe makes a difference and why we must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.
If you are saved, you are chosen of God and you are special. He did not choose you because you are special. You are special before He chose you.
The Gospel, or Good News of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection will benefit you personally, only if you believe on Him, allowing him to become the core of who you are.
Your redemption from sin has been paid in full by Jesus alone. Have you claimed it through faith in Him alone?
When we consider David's sins of murder and adultery, it's hard to understand how he could be referred to as a man after God's own heart, until we see that when confronted, he readily confessed and repented.
We may think of repentance as a one-time requirement for salvation. But since sin takes no holiday, repentance is constantly necessary for our re-alignment to God. Real repentance is initiated by a broken spirit and prepares the believer for God to...
It defies human thinking, but for us to be victorious, we must first be vanquished. Listen, as Pastor Gary explains.
We may be a minority, even a remnant, but our humble repentance in corporate prayer can lead to the healing of our land in ways beyond our imagination.
Listen as Pastor Gary notes the foundations of our nation, how they have been compromised, and why it is important to depend on God.
Listen as Pastor Gary notes the foundations of our nation, how they have been compromised, and how they may be mended.
Believers are not perfect, but obeying God in confessional repentance in faith makes us truly forgiven, based on Jesus' obedient sacrifice on the cross & his resurrection.
Repentance and faith on our part are together as important for our salvation as the crucifixion and resurrection on Christ's part. We must turn to Christ in faith and turn away from the sin that made our salvation necessary.
Some words have nearly disappeared from usage, not only from American culture, but from American churches. The absence of these words from our vocabulary makes them no less important in their application to the relationship between man and God.
Just as structural integrity requires a strong foundation, a secure relationship with the Father requires, exclusively, the strong foundation He has provided: His only Son, Jesus.
While repentance is necessary for salvation and fellowship with God, repeated repentance is required in the life of a believer to maintain that fellowship, due to sin committed in the constant war between the Spirit and the flesh.
David found that God can forgive anyone for anything. But it requires confessing and turning away from our sin and depending on God as the only one who can forgive.
Listen, as Pastor Gary explains how fearing God has nothing to do with terror. Women who serve God don't run from Him, but toward and with Him.
How would you like to have a hope that is more than just wishful thinking? David's hope was an absolute assurance of God's promises he knew to be certain.
Many of us, all too often plead to God for help as a last resort, when He should have been the first resource, "a very present help in time of trouble."
Our culture places more emphasis on Christmas. But Jesus' birth, even His death, would hold no eternal value for us, if not for His resurrection.
Departing from God's design for us causes us grief, but He offers the only way to restoration.
No word dominates Jesus' speech like the word, Repentance. Real repentance is a change of heart, mind and life.
Are the instruments of your life authorized by God, or of your own choosing? Is it time to "lay down" an instrument for a season, or even permanently? Listen, as Pastor Gary Robnett speaks on Moses and the "Rod of God."
Jesus, Value, Priority, Blessings, Peace Description: If you are not close to Christ today, will you repent and put Him absolutely first, to remove any obstacles of fellowship with Him?
Thanksgiving is the gateway to peace and blessing, allowing us to better understand God, escape worry, deepen relationships, and point others toward Him.
While eternal life comes through repentance rather than entitlement, actions are the only evidence of repentance.
Jesus, even as a child, was our example of obedience to parents who were submissive to God.
To allow fear to cause us to cower in a corner and stifle our very freedom is a lack of trust in the power and authority of God Almighty.
It has been said that we live in a post-truth era. Foundational truth is absolutely necessary for spiritual maturity and the production of good fruit.
Mario Mendez, Pastor of Mount Sinai Church in Magdalena, Guatemala, brings God’s Word to us in Spanish, translated through his daughter-in-law Kara. We have God’s Word. But do we have His Word in our hearts? Does His living Word permeate our...
A wolf may look, walk & talk like a sheep, but will never seek or point toward the Shepherd.
Someone has said, "Life is like a coin; you can spend it any way you want, but you can only spend it once." Jesus calls us to choose one of two ways. While one way is narrow, less traveled, and requires discipline, the other is wide, oft-chosen,...
Listen, as Pastor Chip speaks directly to our children about the men chosen as deacons, and the charge given to one such man as he is ordained.
To love others means to want the best for them, as you want for yourself, blessing them unconditionally, the way you wish to be blessed.
Personal relationship, persistence and tenacity are impetative in seeking God and His promises.
Setting life's priorities is more than putting God first; it's keeping everything under the umbrella of love and service to Him.
Congregation members offered prayers for students returning to school, as well as for their families, teachers and other school employees who interact with them throughout the school year. Pastor Chip speaks briefly on the importance of prayer.
The Father neither tempts us nor totally isolates us from temptation. Victory over temptation requires dependence on Him through a close relationship. Humble submission can thus strengthen that relationship and our resolve.
Everything we believe is based on forgiveness, starting with the forgiveness of our debt by a Holy God, who then expects us to readily and joyfully forgive others.
Perhaps when we think of how pleased we are to provide good things for our children, we get an idea of how it pleases the Father for us to thankfully approach Him for our daily needs.
Good works do not bring about salvation, but are the result of salvation. And like salvation, good works are what God does in us. Thus, we can take no credit for them, since it is He who does the work.
Jesus expects His followers to display a family trait of compassion for enemies and intercession for tormentors. This kind of love is possible only through the grace of the Lord and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Listen, as Pastor Chip teaches on the difference between seeking revenge and letting God repay in a way that offers the maximum benefit.
Before folks will believe us about the eternal, we must first demonstrate integrity in the everyday things of life, both in word and deed.
At a time when there is so much confusion about marriage, Pastor Chip teaches on God's plan for this foundational institution established by Him.
Maintaining relationships with each other is important, for they are a reflection of our relationship with God. To deny forgiveness to, or fail to seek it from another, is to jeopardize that relationship.
God's many blessings promised in the beatitudes make our identity as influencers on a global scale possible. As recipients of His divine favor, we become salt and light in the pushing back of perversion and darkness.
Jesus' death would have been for nothing, were it not for His resurrection. His resurrection makes our resurrection possible. And He is the only way to the Father.
: Persecution for righteousness (doing what is right) is something in which we can rejoice, unlike ill-treatment for our own wrong-doing. As time progresses, faithful believers who speak the truth in love should expect persecution.
The only barometer we have of each other's motives is our behavior, a quality by which we may deceive and be deceived. But the Father needs no such barometer, having full knowledge and understanding of the motives directly, as He looks beyond...
The Father offers undeserved mercy through His Son. One who denies mercy to another may have not received it. The Father expects recipients of His mercy to be extenders of mercy.
Just as we can feed our natural appetite with junk food, we may attempt to feed our spiritual appetite with that which has no spiritual value. While we may temporarily make us feel good, over time, we are weakened, robbed of the true spiritual...
In the church, those who lead do so in powerlessness and humility. Meekness is "other" centered.
Mourning does not have to be hopelessness; it can be an opportunity to depend on God - for salvation and for sanctification.
Before one can be blessed by (or approved of) God, one must understand he has no spiritual capital or the means to attain it. It requires complete humility to totally rely on God's grace and mercy.