Christiansburg Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
Christiansburg Baptist Church
We are continuing our look through the book of Galatians this morning, so turn over to Galatians 6:7-10 . As you are turning over there, let me ask you something: Do you ever wonder if following Jesus is really worth it? I mean, after all, you do the good things you are supposed to, and life still seems…
What does it mean for us to be free in Christ? It means we are free to live the life he created us to live.
The family you grow up in has a major impact on your life. When you come to Christ, God draws you into his family as a son, and that bring some incredible benefits with it.
Last week, we began a short series through the letter Paul wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia. Instead of going verse-by-verse, we are going to hit some of the highlights of the book and see if we can draw out what God has to say to us. This morning, that is going to take us to Galatians…
We don’t live in the Deep South, but one of the wonderful things about living in the South is the unique phrases we tend to use. How many of you have ever heard someone say, “And that’s the gospel truth”? What they mean is that they aren’t lying, that this thing really happened like they said it did,…
The way Jacob blesses his sons and grandsons should make us wonder, "What would it look like me to bless the people in my life?"
In spite of all they had put him through, Joseph forgave his brothers. Find out more about biblical forgiveness as we look at both Joseph's example and the rest of Scripture.
If we will let him, God can use time to change us, our circumstances, and the world around us.
Even though he was enslaved and imprisoned, Joseph serves as a model for us of doing the right thing regardless of who is watching. Find out how this applies to our lives as we look at Genesis 39 together.
How can we process feelings of disappointment and deep hurt when our dreams are dashed? As we look at Joseph's life, we find that we can cling to the reality that God is still at work.
How many of you are familiar with the minimalistic and decluttering trends that made headlines in recent years? Marie Kondo was one of the popular proponents of this idea. It’s the idea of finding happiness in life by getting rid of stuff you don’t need and keeping things nice and tidy. Here’s an excerpt…
Go ahead and open to Genesis 34-35 . If you were with us last summer, we spent a lot of time in 1 Peter talking about how God has called us to be his unique people. We won’t think and act and live like those who don’t know Jesus because he has saved us, given us new life, and called us to honor him in…
I was out of town this week for class. I really enjoyed being with friends, and some time away from the usual routine to learn how to get better as a pastor and leader. However, I can assure you that by Friday afternoon, I was ready to come home again. Do you know that feeling? You’ve been away for a…
In God's economy, things don't always work out like we think they will, but God is still faithful.
Abraham and Sarah lived long lives that were full of instances of God's faithfulness. When they died, however, they still only had a piece of the promise God made to them.
As we study Abraham's obedience, we are challenged with this question: Do I care more about what God will do or the God who will do it?
As we see Abraham and Lot's reactions to the wickedness of Sodom, we are cautioned to be careful about what we consider normal.
It can be tempting to try to find a way out of waiting on God. As we see in Genesis 16, our usual methods of getting out of waiting always make it worse.
Throughout the Bible, God calls his people to remember. Remembering what God has done in the past gives us confidence in his faithfulness in the future. The chapter starts a little abruptly. Look at verse 1 . Like other Old Testament prophets, God speaks to Abram in a vision. He assures him of his presence…
As Abram gets back on track in his relationship with God, we see how trust in God's faithfulness translates to action.
As we begin our study of Genesis 12-50, we see God making an incredible promise to a man named Abram. Through the events that follow, we are going to see the faithfulness of God in spite of the failures of people.
Believe it or not, it is 2023! Odds are, your Christmas decorations are put away, your lawn is dark, and the traces of wrapping paper and Christmas treats are in the trash. As we begin this brave new year, I want to spend one more Sunday looking at the idea we talked about before Christmas. Over the…
I caught a clip of Craig Groeschel on Instagram this week. I don’t always agree with everything he says and does, but he made a statement that I am finding to be true. He said that Christmas acts as a magnifier for us. If things are going well, the lights and presents and activities at Christmas fill…
In this summary message, we take a look at all we have learned over the last several months about where God has called us to go as a church.
We are coming to the last of our six purposes we feel like God has given his church. Our hope is that this has been a series that has done more than just inspire and inform; our hope is that you have grown closer to Christ and stronger in your relationship with him through the concepts and tools we have…
We have spent this fall looking at where we believe God has called us to go as a church. We are in our fifth of six purposes we believe express the overall goals the Bible outlines for the church. We began last week looking at the idea of “Encouraging one another through fellowship.” To explain that,…
Last week, we started talking about edifying others through ministry and service. We said that God has uniquely equipped each believer to serve him and his church, and that every person is vitally important. The Bible at times refers to that equipping as “spiritual gifts”. We saw a list of several spiritual…
We are mixing things up about in our study. We were supposed to talk about discipleship this week and next, but we have decided to switch that to the end of our time. The purposes overlap some, plus we are still doing some thinking and planning, so it made sense to switch our talk about discipleship…
How do you go about sharing your story and the story of the gospel? Learn practical tools in this message about sharing your faith.
As we look at the story of Philip sharing the gospel with an Ethiopian official, we learn that we need to be okay with being weird.
This practical lesson gives an overview of two main tools that can strengthen your prayer life.
We are in the middle of a study titled, “Where Are We Going?” where we are taking time to look at where God has called our church to go with him to fulfill the purposes he has set out for us. <> We are tackling this by looking at six different purposes God gives the church and taking two…
We are in our second week of our study, “Where Are We Going?” Last week, we simply gave an overview of what the Bible shows us about where God wants us to go as a church. We are starting this week looking the first of six purposes God gives the church. We are actually beginning with the one we are strongest…
We spent a lot of time this summer looking at how to live well as citizens of God’s kingdom while we are still living on earth. We talked about suffering for Christ, standing up for him, and how to honor him as we do. Part of what we talked about last week was what to do with the anxieties we feel as…
We are approaching the end of our series on 1 Peter. One more week after this one! Throughout the summer, we have been looking at life as exiles. Those who are Christians, who have come into a relationship with Jesus, are a part of his kingdom. While we live on earth, we are exiles. We don’t look at…
We are actually going to look at two different passages this morning, so open your Bibles to both Genesis 6:5-13 and 1 Peter 3:18-4:6 this morning. We are going to start in Genesis for a few minutes and spend most of our time in 1 Peter. As you turn over there, we are tackling the passage that Martin…
Several years ago, I had a friend who started going to a new dentist. You know the drill whenever you go to a new place—there are a million forms to fill out at your first visit. He was in a bit of a mood that day, so there were some questions he was brutally honest about. When the form asked what implements…
In this message, we turn our attention to the home as we continue to see how we are called to live honorably among those who don't know Jesus.
Have you ever known someone who you might just call a “contrarian”? Although this term started in investing, it has the basic idea of doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Whatever the group wants to do, they want to do the other thing. Whatever you think, they think the opposite. They remind…
In these two verses, Peter outlines principles that guide our conduct as we seek to represent Christ while exiles.
As Peter talks about our connection to Christ and the honor he will give, we see that we are being built up to proclaim God's praises to the world around us.
In this passage, Peter continues to outline the responses we should have to the hope found in Christ.
How do we respond to the living hope we have in Jesus? Find out as we look through 1 Peter 1:13-21 together.
As Peter blesses God for the constant hope he has given us, we find that hope to be an anchor for our souls.
As we begin our study of 1 Peter, we find Peter giving a powerful portrait of what it means to be an exile.
Pastor Sean gives a brief update about where we are as a church and where we are heading
As we briefly review some of the key aspects of the book of John, we find that it's all about Jesus.
Peter miserably failed Jesus on the night of Jesus's arrest. How do you come back from something like that? Learn how to handle your own failures in this message from John 21.
Last week, we wrestled with the question, “Who am I seeking?” and saw that we should be seeking the Risen Savior. Today, we are going to see what happens when you have encountered the Risen Savior. As we look at some of the times Jesus appeared to his disciples, we will see that, once we understand who…
As we look at Jesus's trial before Pilate, we find that it is full of ironic moments. These smaller ironies point us to the greatest irony of all: all the injustices and evil that we see in this passage were the means through which God would work to save the world.
John 18 begins with the arrest of Jesus. As we lay a foundation for what we will see through the next several weeks, we will be reminded to submit to and worship the God who is always in control.
As Jesus prepared to leave the disciples, he reminded them that he was offering them a new Counselor and new comfort. Find out what that means for us today in this message from John 15:25-16:33.
God's incredible love for us allows us to love others and to endure the hatred of the world.
When we do what Jesus says out of a heart of love for him, we find some incredible benefits in our own lives.
In John 12:25, Jesus calls his followers to live in an incredibly unusual way as he calls us to hate our lives in this world. Find out what that means as we walk through John 12 together.
It has been an interesting week in the Couch household. Last Saturday, my wife brought our new puppy Charlie home from Florida. I was about 3 or 4 years old when the only dog our family ever had passed away, so I have no idea what to do with a dog. People said, “It’s like having a newborn baby,” and…
As we return to our study of John's Gospel, we jump ahead to an incredibly comforting promise from Jesus given during an incredibly troubling time. Find peace and hope in our study of John 14:1-6.
Go ahead and open your Bibles to 2 Peter 3:3-14 page 1080 in the pew Bible). Over the last month, we have taken the familiar story about Jesus’s birth and tried to remind ourselves just how unusual a king he is. Along the way, we have drawn out unusual ways we should live in light of the unusual king…
Learn what unusual devotion looks like from the lives of Simeon and Anna, two of the earliest people to recognize who Jesus was.
Although they feel familiar, the events we celebrate at Christmas remind us of an unusual arrival of an unusual king. Find out more about the unusual promises God made that set the stage for the king to come.
What does it mean to "remain" in God's Word, and how does that set us free? Find out in this message from John 8:30-36.
See yourself through the perspective of the three different characters in the account of the woman caught in adultery, found in John 8:1-11.
We cannot simply hold on to the message of the Gospel. See our responsibility out of Romans 10.
What would people say if we asked them what flows out of your life, especially when you are not at your best? Find out what Jesus says should flow out of our lives in this message from John 7:37-39.
Jesus says he is the bread of life. We each need to ask ourselves, "Have I ever fed deeply on Jesus?" Find out what this unusual question means as we look through John 6 together.
Tired of trying to find something to satisfy your soul? Find lasting satisfaction through the living water Jesus offers to those who follow him.
What does it mean to be "born again," and how do we get born again? Find out in this week's message from John 3.
As Jesus performs a quiet sign and a public challenge, we are faced with the question: am I following Jesus and finding joy, or am I fighting Jesus and finding judgment?
What would it take for you to follow a stranger? We are naturally suspicious of people we don’t know, right? Think about all the phone scams going around. If someone calls you, and they pretend to be the IRS or the FBI or Amazon, you don’t just give them your bank account number or your Social Security…
John the Baptist gives a great example for us of how to be a voice that points to Christ.
We begin our study of John's gospel with a beautiful overview of who Jesus is and how we should respond to him.
As we look at some of Jesus' final words to his disciples, we find the core commission that drives all that we are called to do.
When the church prays, they may have the privilege of seeing God do the unlikely and even the impossible.
Sometimes we feel like some people are beyond saving. See how God taught Peter that anyone can be saved as we look through Acts 10.
Jesus' ministry didn't stop when he ascended to heaven. See how it continued through Peter and other followers of Christ in this morning's message from Acts 9:31-43.
As we see from the story of Saul, you are never so good you don't need Jesus. You are never so bad he cannot save you.
See four marks of a genuine faith as demonstrated in this story about an Ethiopian official on a desert road.
Is your faith genuine? See what fake faith can look like in this message from Acts 8:8-24.
When life gets hard, we have a tendency to withdraw. The early church fought that tendency and preached Christ through their pain.
Discover the first two marks we observe from the life of Stephen, one of God's faithful servants.
As we add an additional deacon onto our team, we again examine the biblical pattern for this church role.
The unexpected events surrounding Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem cause us to wrestle with the question, "Am I willing to follow a God who works in unexpected ways?"
What does it take to make something or someone“exceptional”? It has to stand out, right? To be better than other things in that category, to be better made or to work better or they have to be able to perform at a higher level than others. As we saw in two weeks ago, the early church was certainly exceptional.…
Our world needs believers who speak boldly about Jesus. We can only be bold for Christ if we have spent time with him. Find out more in this message from Acts 3:1-4:31
Discover some of the key attitudes, actions, and outcomes that characterize a healthy church.
In Jesus' final instructions, he set the stage for what we are doing as believers. Hear what we are called to do as we follow God's plan in God's power as we surrender to his schedule.
Every human life has unique value and significance because we are created in the image of God.
Even in the middle of a pandemic, Jesus calls us to join him in ministering to the spiritually sick around us.
At some point this year, it is likely that you will be faced with the choice to stay where you are or go on with God. Get ready for that time by looking with us at how God can move when his people follow him.
Ever feel like the good news of Christmas is meant for anyone but you? Find out how Jesus' history, family, and welcoming party help us see that there is hope for you!
As Christians, our hope isn't in an emotion, it is in a person. Find out why in this message from John 1:1-18
Paul says that God sent Jesus to the earth "in the fullness of time". Unpack the meaning behind that phrase as we look at several ways God worked to bring Jesus to the world at just the right time.
In our final message on the Sermon on the Mount, we are confronted with the question, "What are we going to do with what we have heard?"
We have access to more teaching, writing, and preaching on God than we have ever had. How do we know who to follow? Find out in this message from Matthew 7:15-23.
In a complex world, Jesus makes it clear that there are only two paths in life to take. Find out which one leads to life in this message from Matthew 7:13-14.
When life gets chaotic and uncertain, it is important to stop and remember who is actually in charge.
Is there ever a time or a way we are supposed to judge others? Find out in this week's message from Matthew 7:1-6.
With everything going on in our world right now, people have found many reasons to be anxious. Find out how Jesus teaches us to address worry in this message from Matthew 6:25-34.
Let this series of questions help you determine where you are storing up treasure as we examine Matthew 6:19-24.
Fasting is a discipline that many of us struggle to understand and cultivate. Find out what it is and is not in this message from Matthew 6:16-18.
This morning, we wrap up our series-in-a-series on prayer. We have been spending most of our year in the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew 5-7 . This is a message Jesus gave where he sat down on a mountain with his disciples and a crowd of other people to talk about who his followers should…
As we continue our look at the model prayer, we learn that godly prayer asks for what I need today.
Before we begin making requests on behalf of our friends and family, Jesus reminds us to focus our prayers on our King and what he wants. Find out more in this message from Matthew 6:10
Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers recognizing to whom we are praying and revering his name. Find out what that means in this week's message from Matthew 6:9.
Prayer can be intimidating. Grow more comfortable with prayer as we see Jesus clear up two misconceptions about what God-honoring prayers look like in this message from Matthew 6:5-8.
Join with us as we look at what God has been doing over the last four months and see that the source of our courage and the solution to our fear is the God who was and is and is to come.
It is easy to get caught up in the desire for people to see how good we are. Is that how kingdom citizens are called to live? Find out what Jesus says about this as we return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount.
It is a wonderful thing to rest, but when a desire for rest turns into slacking off, it becomes sinful. Find four marks of a slacker from Proverbs 26:13-16.
As we aquire and apply wisdom, we begin to see God directing our lives in incredible ways. For us to see that, we must trust God to get us where he knows we need to be.
What is wisdom, why would we want it, and how do we get it? Find out in this message from Proverbs 2:1-11.
It is easy to love those like us, but what about people who hate us? Find out how the Christian should love in this message from Matthew 5:43-48.
How are Christians supposed to respond to personal offenses? Walk through Jesus' teaching on it in Matthew 5:38-42.
God-given desires become a problem when they are directed in ways he didn't intend. See how Jesus teaches us to deal with this issue in this message from Matthew 5:27-30.
Have you ever been on some kind of diet, or been trying to keep up a pattern of working out? Maybe you have tried to learn a new skill that takes a lot of practice, or you have been trying to watch your spending. Usually, we can do okay with things like that for a while until something disrupts our schedule,…
As we celebrate the resurrection this Easter, we seek to answer the question, "Why does the resurrection matter?"
We are faced with the same question the crowd faced on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem: are we willing to accept him as the king he is, and not the king we want him to be?
We often hear Philippians 4:13 quoted by athletes, but what does it really mean to do "all things"? Find out how this powerful passage applies to our particular situation in this week's message.
God promises his peace to us as believers as we seek to display five different attitudes during uncertain days.
Although the world around us seems hectic and uncertain, God is our help who never changes. (Please note: we had several technical issues with our recording this week. Thanks for your patience.)