Columbiaville Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
Columbiaville Baptist Church
Expositional Preaching and teaching that is sound, biblical, and faithful from Columbiaville Baptist Church of Columbiaville, Michigan. Ryan Martin is the pastor.
This Sunday, Pastor continues his series in John and picks up in John 8:12: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” Jesus said these words not to make some abstract metaphor, but an attestation as to who he is as the one who fulfills Old Testament revelation and the Feast of Tabernacles.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin is preaching on John 7:53-8:11. This is the famous story of the “Woman Caught in Adultery.” The story is in brackets in many modern translations. Pastor explains why and offers reasons for preaching this passage. The story of the Woman Caught in Adultery is a powerful testament to abundance of Jesus’s grace to unworthy sinners.
This Sunday’s sermon will look at the remaining verses of John 7. The text points to divisions among the Jewish people over Jesus. As disciples of Christ, we still see divisions today. We should expect them. They existed when Jesus walked on earth. Pastor's sermon from John 7:40–52 calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus, even when that confession means that we, like our Savior, are divided from others.
This Sunday, we begin the seventh chapter of John. The events in this chapter occur about six months after the events in John 6, before the Feast of Booths. The Jewish hostility to Jesus continues to increase. The various responses to Jesus confront us again with our own response to the Lord.
In the message this Sunday, John directs our attention to the varied responses of the Jews to Christ. Jesus must confront both popular ideas about the coming Messiah and the Jewish leaders' hostile aggression toward him. Each interaction between Jesus and the Jews is loaded with irony. We must weigh for ourselves: is this man the Christ? Amidst this, Jesus speaks a dire warning. If we reject him, we reject the one who sent him. So men reject Christ at their peril.
In the afternoon service, Pastor continues his series through 1 Corinthians and this message looks at verses 20-22 of chapter 14.
Pastor is back in the Gospel of John and his sermon this morning is from Jesus’s explanation of the origin of his teaching during the Feast of Booths. As Jesus speaks of where his teaching comes from, he draws strong contrasts between his own teaching and that of the Jewish leaders. The passage impresses us with the excellence of Jesus’s authority.
This Sunday morning, Pastor’s message is centered on Christ’s sacrifice as the final Priest as we partake of the Lord’s Supper afterwards.
In Pastor's sermon last Sunday, we saw several so-called “disciples” leave Jesus. They objected to the words of Jesus. As John 6 comes to a conclusion, Jesus tests the disciples. If last week was about fake disciples, this week's message is about true disciples.
The message this Sunday considers a great turning point in Jesus’s ministry. Jesus’s words fall on some of those present as too difficult to believe, and they end up turning away from Jesus. This is surprising turn, because the people who turn away were among Jesus’s disciples. Evidently not. This text of Scripture, by exposing the false faith of some so-called “disciples,” demonstrates the positive qualities of true faith and asks us to test our own discipleship under Jesus Christ.
Pastor Martin continues to look at the meaning of Jesus’s words of “true food and true drink” and what benefits come from “feeding on the flesh of the Son of Man.”
Our brother, Chad Childs, preaches in our afternoon service and his message is on giving thanks.
This Sunday morning, our brother from FBC of Lapeer, Pastor Moses fills in for Pastor Martin. His message is from Psalm 19 and on the greatness of God’s glory.
Our guest speaker, Jansen Lorch is a missionary to Chile and we are delighted to have him preach the Word of God. His passage is on Ephesians 4 and what church growth should look like.
Pastor Martin continues his series through 1 Corinthians. This afternoon he is looking at the first 12 verses.
This Sunday, we turn to Jesus’s final words in the “Bread of Life Discourse” in John 6:52–59. This is a greatly debated and misunderstood passage of Scripture. Pastor shows us that Jesus was talking about faith in his sacrifice for sin, not the Lord’s Supper, in these verses. Our Savior’s sacrifice on the cross is what the believer truly does feed upon.
This Sunday, in John 6 Jesus reiterates his offer of salvation to the grumbling Jews. Their grumbling and refusal to come to Christ showed they were not the objects of divine grace they thought they were. Their grumbling and unbelief did not change the mission of what Jesus came to do, which was to give himself as a sacrifice for sin so to provide eternal life to all who believed in him.
This afternoon, Pastor Martin looks at the first few verses of chapter 14 and how the Apostle Paul emphasizes spiritual gifts for the benefit of corporate worship.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin returns to the Gospel of John, which happens to be itself a superb “Christmas” text. Jesus is the one who has come down from heaven. Are we those taught of God, who believe, or are we those who grumble and stumble at the humility of the Christ God has sent?
This Sunday, Pastor Martin’s message will again focus on the incarnation by looking at the Old Testament prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah. We will look at Isaiah 7:14 in the context of Isaiah 7 and 8. This prophecy is explicitly cited by Matthew in his Gospel, and lies behind the assumptions of the Gospels of Luke and John: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The next several Sundays of Christmas Advent, Pastor will focus his sermons on prophecies of the Messiah. This Sunday, he is preaching on Micah 5, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
This mornings message comes from Colossians 2:12–13, where Paul calls the believers to remember the great spiritual reality signified in their baptism. Even as baptism declares that we have put saving faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, it also portrays the great work of Christ in us. Paul wants us to remember our baptism, especially for the significance of that work, such that we live in light of it.
In the afternoon message, Pastor Martin continues to work his way through the chapter of 1 Corinthians 13.
This Sunday, we’re back in John 6. Verses 38 through 40 are the ground of what Jesus taught in v 37. We have in these verses the unfolding of Christ’s wonderful promise, "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out." In Christ our salvation is secure, for it rests not on us, but on him and his grace. Jesus himself will accomplish our salvation. Jesus will bring us all the way through to the resurrection on the last day.
This Sunday, we continue to hear the words of Jesus in the “Bread of Life Discourse.” This Sunday, verses 36 & 37 are before us. The title of the sermon is “John’s Golden Chain,” because these verses (and especially 37) in John bear such a striking similarity to the ideas in Romans 8:29–30, the verses in Paul known by saints “The Golden Chain.”
This Sunday, we are back in John 6 and the “Bread of Life” discourse. This week, in our text Jesus calls himself “the true bread from heaven,” the “bread of God,” and “the bread of life.” The metaphor not only points back to the feeding of the five thousand, but to God’s provision of manna to Israel in the wilderness. The promise is glorious. Those who come to Jesus and believe him never hunger and never thirst.
Former pastor of CBC, Mike Allen preaches the Word from Ephesians 4 in the afternoon service.
This Sunday is our “Reformation Sunday.” Each year, Pastor Martin takes a Sunday around the 31st of October—the day Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg—to focus on the doctrines of church history. This year, his focus is on the Reformation doctrine of Grace Alone. Our text this morning comes from Ephesians 2.
In the afternoon service, Pastor Martin examines how Holy Love bears all things in verse 7 of chapter 13.
In the afternoon service, Pastor Martin continues his series through 1 Corinthians. Todays message comes from chapter 13.
This Sunday, Pastor is preaching from John 5:39–47. Jesus opens up this section with haunting words: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me (Jn. 5:39 ESV). In the words that follow, Jesus indicts the Jews for failing to hear the testimony of Scriptures about him. At the same time, our Lord teaches us several important truths about both the Old Testament and our whole Bible.
Pastor’s sermon this Sunday, will begin the sixth chapter of John. The chapter begins with the story of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand.” In one respect, the miracle leads to our Lord’s discourse on the bread of life that closes chapter 6. This is what we saw with the healing of the invalid in chapter 5. Yet the story has its own lessons about the crowds, the disciples, and our Lord himself.
This Sunday, Pastor is preaching on the remainder of John 5. In this passage, Jesus shows the abundant and clear truth of who he is as evidenced in the several witnesses that testify to the truth of his claims. The passage compels us to receive this Son sent from the Father. It also warns us that, if we reject Christ, it is due to our spiritual blindness and depravity.
This Sunday, we are back in John 5. Pastor’s sermon is “Life in Himself” from John 5:24-30. In this passage, Jesus continues to unfold to the world his self-identity as the eternal Word sent from the Father. With this self-disclosure is a tremendous promise: all who come to him receive life, both now and into eternity itself.
Guest Pastor Ethan Hamilton brings the message in the morning from Philippines chapter 2
The sermon from John 5 this week is on John 5:17 and following. In these verses Jesus uses the healing of the invalid at Bethesda to show men the truth of who he is.
This Sunday, we return to the Gospel of John. Pastor Martin will be preaching on Jesus’s healing of the invalid at Bethesda from John 5. The story reminds us that, while Jesus was well received in Samaria and by the Gentile official (John 4), his own people bent over backwards to reject him and his grace.
This week, we are back in Psalm 16, where David writes on Christ’s behalf (or in Christ’s voice) of the great blessing God had given him in the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in Messiah’s kingdom glory. Psalm 16 is about our hope in God. It looks forward to the joy of eternal life.
In the afternoon service, Pastor Martin preaches on Roman'a 8 before partaking of the Lord's Supper.
This Sunday, I will preach the first of two messages on Psalm 16. We will look at the greater biblical context behind this Psalm. How was the sixteenth Psalm informed by divine revelation given by the prophets up to that point in history? How does the New Testament use Psalm 16? It is my prayer that as God confronts us with his truth in Psalm 16, we become more like the Son of God, the greater son of David.
Missionary Roberto Coelho reminds us how Missions does and should impact lives through the advancement of the Gospel from 1 Thessalonians 1.
The sermon this Sunday comes from Psalm 15. David’s opening questions are most important: O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? Given the stakes, we will pay close attention to the Spirit’s inspired answer. The answer shows God’s exacting and holy standard and the premium he places on the actual life we live. The people who have fellowship with God, by the grace of Christ, put a premium on virtuous fellowship with others.
This Sunday Pastor's message is on Psalm 14. This Psalm begins with a kind of practical atheism, a life lived while denying that God will judge us for our actions. As the Psalm makes clear, “practical atheism” is found in every human being. While Psalm 14 is true and vivid description of the universal plight of humanity, its biblical indictment of our race should drive us to the mercy seat of God and ground our hope in Christ’s kingdom.
Pastor Martin continues to look at the Cessation of gifts from 1 Corinthians in the afternoon service.
Special guest speaker, Matt Hanna brings the Word in the morning service from 1 Samuel 14:1–23.
This Sunday, Pastor pauses in his series on John and picked back up through his series in Psalms. Psalm 13 is a Psalm of lament. Spurgeon called the first four lines a kind of “Howling,” for the expression, “How long” is repeated four times powerfully and poignantly. For all believers who have felt the long burdens of affliction, Psalm 13 is for them.
This Sunday morning, Pastor Martin looks at Jesus’s travels to Galilee and the healing the official’s son in John 4:43-54. This is “The Second Sign” Jesus did in Galilee. We see again the importance of faith in Jesus as the Christ. As we saw with the Samaritans, this faith is borne and cultivated by the word of our Savior.
This Sunday, Pastor especially focuses on the Samaritan’s confession of Christ to be “the Savior of the World.” If we do not understand who Jesus is, we miss his salvation. It is essential that we know who this Jesus is. We need to understand clearly the nature of his salvation.
This Sunday, Pastor concludes, in a two part series, the narrative of Jesus and the Woman at the Well. The focus in our passage is the Samaritans’ faith in Jesus. So far in John, we have several examples of poor responses to Jesus. This passage is a wonderful, positive example of how Christ’s sheep hear his voice.
This Sunday Pastor preaches part 2 from John 4:31–38. At Jacob’s Well near Sychar, Jesus introduced the Samaritan woman to himself and his grace, the “living water” that he offered. He also taught his disciples an important lesson in what it meant to follow Jesus. To be a follower of Jesus, we must not only be interested in Christ’s grace, we must seek to make that grace known to others. That is, a sacrificial call to a life of ministry is not only for Jesus; it is also for us.
This Sunday, Pastor is preaching “Lift Up Your Eyes” from John 4:31-38. Here the Lord Jesus teaches his disciples concerning their work as his ministers. He calls us all to obey his example of selfless service for the sake of his name.
As Pastor continues through the discourse between Jesus and the woman at the well, today's message looks ar when the eyes of the woman are opened to who Jesus is as Messiah and Savior of the world.
In the afternoon service, Pastor Martin continues through 1 Corinthians with a look into Spirit Baptism.
For Easter Sunday, Pastor preaches on the Resurrection hope that we have on this glorious day
For our Good Friday Service, Pastor looks at Jesus' conversation with the two men on the cross.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin wraps up the discourse between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. There is certainly more to the story after the discourse, but we will focus on the final words between the two, which culminates in the Lord telling the woman with profound and gracious clarity just who he is. The story of the Samaritan woman, which began with a deep hopelessness ends with an overflowing hopefulness and joy.
This Sunday, we will return again to John 4:24. Why does God insist that we worship him in truth? That is, how is the truth that is Jesus Christ necessary for worship? I hope this message will give us a great appreciation for the privilege Christ gives us to worship the Triune God.
Last week, Pastor looked at the powerful words at the end of John 4:23: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” The Father seeks worshipers. Worship is his priority. It must be our priority as well. This Sunday Pastor Martin looks at verse 24.
This Sunday afternoon Pastor wraps up verses 4-11 and what it Biblically means to be a charismatic church.
This Sunday, Pastor’s message is from John 4:23, where he looks further at what Jesus teaches about true worship. We want our understanding of worship to conform to God’s. If there is, as this passage intimates, a distinction between true worship and false worship, we should want to give careful heed to this important matter.
This afternoon, Pastor begins to unpack verses 4-11 from 1 Corinthians 12 and what spiritual gifts mean for the Church.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin continues his exposition of John 4 and Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the well. This Sunday, we look more closely at Jesus’s words in v 10 and vv 11–15. Jesus offered the woman living water.
Today’s message is a continuation of Pastor Martin’s series through the Gospel of John. This Sunday we find ourselves in chapter 4 with Jesus explaining how true believers worship in Spirit and Truth and what that means.
This Sunday we have missionary Brad Hoff with us. Brad is a former pastor who is currently the administrative director of Continental Baptist Missions. CBM emphasizes North American church planting, revitalization, and the construction of physical property for churches.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin returns to John 4 and the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. The lesson of these verses is simple: Jesus knows all about us, including our sordid history of sin against God and others. Yet, though he knows about our sin, he seeks sinners to come to him for the living water of restoration and grace
Pastor Martin continues his sermon series through 1 Corinthians in the afternoon service.
The sermon this Sunday introduces the episode of Jesus and the Woman at the Well. The Evangelist draws our attention to several features of the life and ministry of Jesus, features that are especially striking coming on the heels of chapter 3.
This Sunday, the Gospel proclaims the supremacy of Christ and what it means for all of us. As we gather around the Table where we remember the elements that prove our Redeemer’s saving love in history, the Scripture calls us to acknowledge the supremacy of Christ.
This Sunday, we are back in John 3. The story moves from Nicodemus and Jesus’s evening meeting in Jerusalem to a bounty of baptisms happening in the northern country of Judea. John the Baptist is back in focus, but, as we shall see, only to point once again at the Lord Jesus.
This Sunday morning, we were privileged to sit under the preaching of guest speaker, Pastor Mark Burr.
This Sunday’s sermon concludes the discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus. Jesus’s final words with this Jewish religious leader explains why, though the Father did not send his Son to condemn the world, Christ’s coming nevertheless resulted in the condemnation of many. In short, people loved the darkness because of their passion for sin. Yet there is hope for all sinners who come to the Light. Such people recognize that all that they are is by the grace of the Son of God.
This afternoon, Pastor Martin's series through 1st Corinthians is the famous passage on the Lord's Table.
Guest missionary, Alex Boyle, brings the Word this morning from First John 2:1-11 and is a wonderful reminder of the importance of showing love.
Guest missionary, Alex Boyle, brings the Word this morning from First John 2:1-11 and is a wonderful reminder of the importance of showing love.
This Sunday, we return to John 3:17–18 and the mission of the Son to save from divine condemnation a people out of world. These verses have as much to do with Christmas as any passage in Luke 1-2 or Matthew 1. Why did God send his Son? Not condemn the world, but to save it. This is the message of Christmas. It is a message evergreen, always relevant. There is nothing we know better than our sin and guilt before God.
Pastor Martin continues his series through 1 Corinthians this afternoon. His text is in chapter 11 as he once again expounds upon Paul's words concerning head coverings.
This Lord’s Day, our focus shifts to the advent and Christmas season. The sermon this Sunday is on the story of Gabriel’s announcement to the priest Zechariah that God was about to give to him and his barren wife, Elizabeth, a son. May God use this sermon to strengthen our faith in the Word of God and, with that faith, our hope in the second coming of Christ.
This Sunday, Pastor’s sermon is from John 3:16, one of the best loved verses in the Bible. John 3:16 has been rightly loved by millions. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ in miniature. We consider big ideas at the very core of the Bible’s central message: the love of God, the consequences of sin, the atonement, the deity of Christ, the necessity of faith, and the promise of eternal life.
In the afternoon service, Pastor continues preaching through the issue of head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.
Pastor Martin continues his series through the Gospel of John. Today's text is John 3:14–15. In this text, Jesus compares what he will do in his death to the story of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness in Numbers 21. Jesus offers himself and eternal life through his name to Nicodemus and whosoever believes in his name.
In the afternoon service, Chad Childs walks through Colossians 2 and reminds us how Christ is better than anything else this world has to offer.
This Sunday, we return to John 3 and Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. Though Nicodemus lacked the new birth, Jesus does not end the conversation with him. Though Nicodemus struggled to believe what Jesus had told him, Jesus continues to lay before him the way of salvation. Nicodemus is full of doubt. Jesus is patient with him. As the episode unfolds, we see that Jesus himself is the only hope for this very religious, though very lost, man.
This Sunday morning, Pastor Martin's sermon is on Jesus’s words to Nicodemus on the necessity of being “born again” by the Spirit of God. This is such an important topic. Jesus said that without this work of God, a person is in sin, headed for condemnation in hell. We need this gracious work where we are transformed from a state of nature to a state of grace.
This week, we begin John 3, undoubtedly one of the most important chapters in the Bible. In this chapter we find the doctrines of regeneration and salvation and faith taught in a most glorious way.
This Sunday afternoon, Pastor Martin covers the topic of head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11.
This Sunday, we celebrate the biblical truths that were restored during the Protestant Reformation. The sermon this Lord’s Day is “Christ Alone.” We will consider the exclusivity, the sufficiency, and the benefits of Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin's sermon is from the second half of John 2. After Jesus cleansed the temple, the Jewish leaders confronted him, asking him for a sign to prove his authority. The text of John 2:18–25 is instructive first because of Jesus’s response to the Jews’ demand. Second, the text begins to illustrate the different ways people respond to Jesus. How do we respond to Jesus’s authority?
This Sunday, Pastor Martin preaches on Jesus cleansing the temple from John 2:12–17. Jesus cleansed the temple two times, once at the beginning of his earthly ministry, and then a second time during the final week before the crucifixion. John records the first. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record the second. This event tells us much about the mission of Jesus and priorities as the Christ.
This Sunday morning, Pastor Martin preaches on the story of Jesus turning the water into wine. John says that this was Jesus’s first sign. The purpose of Christ’s signs is that people would believe that he is the Son of God, the Christ sent from the Father. May this message increase our faith.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin's sermon comes from the last two verses of John 1. After Nathanael gloriously confesses to Jesus, “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel,” Jesus makes a great promise to Nathanael, and one that all of us can lay hold of: You will see greater things than these. This is the subject of Sunday’s message. Pastor teaches us what Jesus meant in verse 51 and how it applies to us believers.
This Sunday, we see Jesus win the allegiance of more disciples. Last week, we saw Andrew and (possibly) John begin following Jesus. Then Andrew brought his brother Peter to the Lord. My sermon this Sunday looks at Jesus’ victory over the lives of Philip and Nathanael. Once again, the Gospel of John is filled with instruction about the nature of Jesus’s followers and, even more importantly, the amazing truth of who Jesus is.
Pastor Steve Thomas concludes the final session of the six part series on "Why We Hold to Premillennialism" conference.*We greatly apologize for losing the final minutes of the session!
Theologian, Dr. Snoeberger opens the conference with the first session on Premillennialism.
In the Sunday School hour, Guest speaker, Pastor Michael Riley, considers how the wisdom of God impacts sharing the gospel to unbelievers.
The sermon this Sunday is on the remainder of John 1:29–34, entitled “What John Saw.” The passage gives John’s testimony concerning the person of Christ. The baptism of our Lord was especially significant for John the Baptist. As we see who Jesus of Nazareth was, it helps us see the whole world in the right perspective. Hope, salvation, grace, and spiritual renewal are found in him.
Pastor Martin’s message this week is on John 1:29, a verse inspired of God and filled with good news for sinners of all kinds: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Thirteen words (11 in Greek) filled with simple yet profound truth. This is a truth that saves.
The sermon this Sunday is from John 1:15, the next statement in John’s Prologue. In verse 14, we heard John and the other Apostles bear witness to the truth they saw and experienced in Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate Son. Now in verse 15, we hear again the witness of the Baptist. Of particular importance is the testimony from John the Baptist that Jesus ranks before me. This is what all true believers must confess about Jesus. Who is this man Jesus to you? Does he rank before you?
This Sunday, my sermon will be on vv 16 & 17. In v 14, John the Apostle testified to us, And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. In the last three verses of the Prologue of the Gospel of John (vv 16-18), John develops further that last phrase, full of grace and truth. Our focus will be on the grace that the Son of God brought to men in becoming flesh and dwelling among us. God’s grace is one of the things we need most.
Pastor Martin continues his series through 1 Corinthians and today’s message is over 1 Corinthians 10:14-22.
This Sunday, our friend Dr. Mark Snoeberger preaches in the morning service. His sermon is on 1 Corinthians 1:17–2:5 and is entitled, “The Power of the Gospel”: The Ordinary Means of Grace.
Pastor Martin continues his series through the Gospel of John and wraps up his time in verse 14
This Sunday, the sermon is on John 1:14. This is another great verse of the Bible found in the prologue to the Gospel of John. The title of the sermon is “Incarnation,” which refers to the truth that the Son of God took on true humanity.
Guest speaker, Dr. Curt Lamansky reminded us the very important job of praying for our missionaries.
Special guest, Dr. Ryan Meyer ministers in the morning service from the Gospel of Matthew. His text is Matthew 17:24-27 concerning our inheritance as children of the King.
Dr. Meyer returns in the afternoon service with a great reminder on faithfully persevering until the end.
This Sunday Pastor Martin preached on John 1:13 and the new birth that God has granted to us who have believed on his name. There is no question that new birth is necessary. In John 3, Jesus said it plainly: You must be born again. Our passage in John’s prologue anticipates that later important discussion later in John. How is it that a person is spiritually born? Our text answers this question simply and powerfully.
Pastor Martin continues his new series through the Gospel of John this Sunday morning. Today's message comes from one of the most important verses in the Bible, John 1:12. The verses speaks of how God freely offers salvation to all people in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, Pastor will be preaching vv 10 & 11 of John 1. Here John shows how many people respond to Jesus Christ when he came into the world. The world did not know him. The Jews did not receive him. John points at the nature of who was entering the world, showing that any failure to receive the light is tragic.
The sermon this Sunday is again from the great Prologue that begins the first chapter of the Gospel of John. This time, we consider the truth that Christ is the True Light. How will we respond to the Light who has come into the world? We will receive him or turn to the darkness? This question is of paramount importance.
This Sunday, Pastor preached on vv 6–8 of John 1. John’s focus in these verses shifts to the Baptist, the forerunner to the Christ and his ministry on the stage of world history. John was surely a significant figure, but he still is vastly inferior to the Light, our Lord Jesus Christ. His purpose, like ours, is to make the Light known so that all may believe in him.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin continues to look at the prologue to the Gospel of John. The focus this week is on verses 4 & 5, where we learn that Jesus is the Life and Light. These ideas seem to flow out of the truth in verse 3 that the Word created all things, and yet they anticipate the themes that will come up again later in John's Gospel. In a world of death and darkness, the light of God has come, revealed exclusively in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin continues his new series through the Gospel of John. Verse 1 teaches us the eternity, personhood, and full deity of Christ. This week, Pastor looks at vv 2–5 as John continues to teach us about the Lord he knew so well, pointing to his work and attributes as God.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin begins a new sermon series through the Gospel according to John. Pastor introduces the book and looks at the first few verses oh chapter 1.
This Easter Sunday, Pastor preaches from 1 Corinthians 15. Christ’s resurrection, we must understand, is more than a happy ending to the sad life and death of Jesus. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is our own resurrection and the consummation of all God’s plans for this sin-wrecked globe. The promise of a glorious coming kingdom and the exaltation of God over all things is rooted in a historical fact, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead.
One of our own members, Micheal Carlyle, brings the message in the Sunday evening on John's message to the church in Thyatira
Guest Speaker, Pastor Ben Michalek, speaks on the necessity of clear communication within the Church that results in the building up of the body. His text is on Ephesians 4:15-16
In the evening service, Pastor Martin continues is series through 1 Corinthians and tonight concludes a 3 part message over verses 19-23 of chapter 9.
Pastor Martin's sermon this Sunday is on Psalm 10. Last week he covered Psalm 9, which considers the glory of the coming reign of Jehovah in righteousness. Psalm 10 looks candidly at the prosperity of the wicked and the apparent absence of God. In the end, the Psalm calls out in faith to God for help and reaffirms his confession that the Lord will reign on earth.
In the evening service, Pastor Martin studied all the passages in Scripture that speak about the "Book of Life" and what it all means.
This Sunday, Pastor Martin preached on Psalm 9. The Psalm looks into the future reign and judgment of Jehovah on the earth. The day of man and sin will not last forever. God will come, as he has promised, and rule in righteousness.
Guest Speaker, Pastor Ethan Hamilton speaks on the redemptive plan of God for believers found in Colossians 1:9-14.
Part 2 of Pastor Hamilton's message on the redemptive plan God intends all believers to pursue.
This Sunday, Pastor Ryan wraps up his two year series through Ephesians with one last overview of the complete book to give a good understanding of the letter as a whole.
The sermon this Sunday is on the final verse of Ephesians. Like the verse that precedes it, the final verse of Ephesians is a benediction or blessing. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. God’s Word here reminds us of what we are obligated to return to our Savior for his saving love. We also learn the character of the love that God has granted us.
In this Sunday’s sermon, we turn to the remaining bits of Ephesians. To call it “remaining bits” is somewhat unfair, for it is still the inspired Word of God and profitable for our instruction. Both what Paul has to say about Tychicus and his blessing upon the church show his ever-present concern for the welfare of Christ’ churches.
In this Sunday’s sermon, we turn to the remaining bits of Ephesians. To call it “remaining bits” is somewhat unfair, for it is still the inspired Word of God and profitable for our instruction. Both what Paul has to say about Tychicus and his blessing upon the church show his ever-present concern for the welfare of Christ’ churches.
Missionary speaker, Dan Pero, examines the sinful actions of David and how God's mercy and grace interceded.
The sermon for this Sunday is a continued look at the call to prayer in Ephesians 6:18. The importance of prayer in this passage is tied closely to our conflict with the forces of evil, the subject matter of Paul since v 10 of chapter 6. Prayer is essential to our spiritual conflict. Last week, we saw that the kind of prayer that will help us stand in our conflict is constant and spiritual. This week, we will consider that we must approach God with dependent, alert, preserving, and intercessory
This Sunday, we return to the “armor of God” and Ephesians 6. We have reached the end of the section and Paul’s addition of prayer to the panoply of God. While prayer is presented differently from the other parts of our spiritual kit, it is nevertheless very much related to our armor, completing the discourse with an emphasis on prayer in our conflict with spiritual forces.
The exposition of the armor of God continues this Sunday. We will look at Ephesians 6:17b and “The Sword of the Spirit.” The study of the theme of the Messiah’s sword in the Old Testament and then is used in the New Testament is both fascinating and instructive. We see that the great “weapon” of the Christ to come is not a great army, nor sophisticated technology of armaments, but the inspired Word. Let us take up this same sword, brothers, and wield it against our foes.
This week, Pastor's sermon in Ephesians considers the 5th piece of armor we are to wear, namely, “The Helmet of Salvation.” God wants our heads to be directed to our hope in the risen Christ and assurance we have of our salvation. This “helmet” is not only crucial to our spiritual combat, it is essential for us believers to wear this helmet of salvation for us to celebrate rightly the Christmas season.
This Sunday evening, Pastor Martin examines Jonah's prayer while in the belly of the wale to show how salvation only comes through the Lord.
As the Lord commissioned his disciples to reproduce themselves by calling sinners from all nations to join them in confessing and following Christ, he emphasized our duty to baptize these disciples. What does the Great Commission teach us about baptism? Pastor Ryan will be answering that question in his sermon this Sunday.
This Sunday, the sermon is on “The Shield of Faith” from Ephesians 6:16. This is the central piece of armor among the seven. In many ways it stands apart by itself. The Christian’s faith underscores why the whole soldier’s kit is important. The Christian life does not just begin by faith when we trust in Christ and his blood for salvation. The whole of our lives as saints is a walk of faith (Col 2:6-7).
This Lord’s Day, Pastor's message is from Ephesians 6:15 and the “Gospel Shoes” part of the armor of God we are to wear. We as believers have the great privilege of being the spokespeople of the Almighty, and of telling others a “good news” that brings them out of darkness into light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, that delivers them from wrath and hell, and grants to them an incorruptible inheritance with the saints in eternal life.
This Sunday, Pastor’s message is on the breastplate of righteousness, as he continues preaching through the armor of God in Ephesians 6. What is this righteousness we wear in our spiritual conflicts? How does it help us stand against the Devil and his schemes? Paul understood each piece of the panoply of God to be very important. So should we.
The sermon for this Sunday is on the armor of God and especially the first pieces of armor, the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. As Pastor will point out in the message, the armor of God is rooted in Old Testament descriptions of the armor worn by God and Messiah to come.
This Sunday, we continue to consider the great spiritual foes we face as believers. Last week, we especially considered the Devil who is scheming against us. This week, we consider v 12 and the spiritual powers who have conspired with the Devil to attack us. These sinister forces are great, which is why Paul urges a second time the necessary message of v 13: Therefore, take up the whole armor God.
this Sunday, we continue our consideration of our spiritual warfare. Last week, we considered from v 10 that we must be strengthened for the fight with the mighty power of Christ. The strength we receive is a spiritual strength that knows, loves, obeys, and holds to Christ. Our focus this week will especially be on our foe and the nature of our conflict.
This Sunday, we continue our look at Ephesians 6:5-9 and Paul’s instruction to slaves. Our special focus this Sunday is the manner of slave’s obedience to their masters (and Christ) and the reward that Christ gives to all his people. God’s Word calls us to evaluate why we do all we do and whom we are really serving. If indeed we are bondservants of Christ, then shouldn’t that affect your approach to all that you do?
The Spirit puts Christ at the center of our marriages. We have one verse remaining in the paragraph. Before we turn to verse 33, there are two additional points from the bigger structure of the argument of Ephesians that need to be made: (1) The duties of Christian spouses to each other is an extension of their duties to one another within Christ's body. (2) Christ's call to Christian marriages is a restoration of what was lost in the fall. Finally, verse 33 speaks of Marital Oneness Experienced
In this mornings message, there are three important truths about marriage, especially in its oneness: (1) Marital Oneness is Divinely Ordained, (2) Marital Oneness Reveals the Union of Christ and the Church, and (3) Marital Oneness is to be Experienced.
This morning's message holds three important truths about marriage, especially in its oneness: (1) Marital Oneness is Divinely Ordained, (2) Marital Oneness Reveals the Union of Christ and the Church, and (3) Marital Oneness is to be Experienced.
Paul says Husbands should love their wives. The verb should speaks of moral obligation. The King James captures this: So ought men to love their wives. This is a matter of right and wrong. A man to whom God has given a wife must love that wife. This moral obligation extends to the way we love. In our text this morning, Paul supplies four reasons husbands must love their wives.
This is the second sermon to Christian husbands. In v 25, husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loves the church. This is the main imperative of this section (vv 28, 33). The Christian love of a husband for his wife are his selfless acts, arising from committed, exclusive affection, to provide and protect for the wife God has given him as long as she lives. There are three aspects of Christ’s love that husbands are to imitate.
The main point of the whole paragraph that is vv 25-33 is simple, direct, and comes at the very beginning: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. Christian husbands must love their wives in a Christlike manner. Paul repeats the command no less than three times. V 28: husbands should love their wives. Then v 33: Let each one of you love his wife as himself.
Submission is the theme of these verses. The very same word for submit in v 21 is found in vv 22–24. Verse 21 is a hinge from walking wisely and being filled by the Spirit to the table of household duties that Paul lays out beginning with v 22. The imperative of these verses is clear and direct. In fact, it’s repeated twice: Christian wives to submit to their own husbands.
Spirit-filled believers are thankful people. If Christ is before us, we will be thankful people. The Spirit changes us to have a certain kind of thanksgiving. How are we to give thanks?
Spirit-filled believers are thankful people. If Christ is before us, we will be thankful people. The Spirit changes us to have a certain kind of thanksgiving. How are we to give thanks?
If you know Christ, who he is, his love for you, his gracious salvation, the wondrous hope he gives, you will sing. This is what Spirit-filled people do. This doesn’t mean you can carry a tune, or that you are good at singing. It doesn’t mean that you sing solos. But it is what you will do if you have the Spirit. A Spirit filled church sings.
But what does Paul mean, “be filled with the Spirit”? Some Christians say it’s about charismatic gifts. Others say it’s about deliverance from a weak Christian life. Others, it’s about extraordinary gifting or service. A final set of contrasts is in our verse this morning. The central idea of this text and message is that what fills the Christian’s mind is of great spiritual importance.
The main imperative in vv 15-17 is in 15: Look carefully then how you walk. We’re to observe our lives carefully, to contemplate our lives before the Lord. We should think about our choices, about the consequences of our actions. Our lives matter to Christ. Christians think about how they live. How can we do this?
If Christ is not raised, then we might as well pack up our church and go home. That’s exactly what Paul says in 1 Cor 15:14. My question this morning is even more important: What if the resurrection really did happen? What does it mean if the resurrection is true?
Why is this man Nicodemus found at the cross moments after the death of Jesus with these spices?
In our walk, each step matters. The Christian life is a life infused with purpose and direction. We are no longer ignorant of why we exist, why we are here, what the end of our lives are. We know that God has created us and redeemed us for his glory. The idea is this: Christians think about how they live. How can we do this? Once again, Paul gives us a series of contrasts.
For those of us who come to salvation through the knowledge of the Son of God, we are light, and that means we no longer walk in darkness. The light is so powerful we become one with it. So we must walk, not in the darkness of spiritual ignorance and sin, but as children of light. The main point this morning comes straight from our text: Walk as children of light. There are four ways we do this:
God’s Word reasons with us here about the sins of sexual immorality and covetousness. We shouldn’t practice them because we are holy ones, saints. They are out of place in a church, the body of Christ. Now, Paul gives us additional reasons to avoid these sins, and that has to do with God’s own character and our destiny in Christ as saints. The central idea of these verses is that those who walk in love like Christ must live pure thanksgiving-filled lives.
Part of our commitment to the Lord Jesus demands that we bring our own understanding and affection into alignment with his. The big idea of this passage is that those who name the name of Christ must live pure thanksgiving-filled lives.
The moral commands in vv 25-32 flow out of vv 22-24. God’s Word has commanded us to put off several features of the old, sinful man. This new man we have been told to don resembles the character of God. In v 24, the new self is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This feature of the likeness of God in our new man in Christ becomes very much in focus in our text.
Isaiah hears a voice. It is the voice of Jehovah. The voice urges him to cry. What is his message? He is to cry of the frailty of humanity and the surety of God’s Word.
The good news announced by the angel in Luke 2 is good news from the most High God, a powerful proof that he loves his people. The point of the angel’s message is that the birth of Jesus is God’s good news for sinful people. According to the angel’s words, there are three ways the birth of Jesus is God’s good news for sinful people. How is Jesus’ birth good news for sinful people?
Today, we complete this crucial paragraph. Paul reiterates the themes of vv 11-14, yet clarifies and develops them further. We must aspire toward maturity as a church. Paul still has his attention on church maturity. Twice in these two verses Paul speaks of the church growing. Several themes about our maturity are developed in these verses.
The focus of verses 11 to 16 is church maturity. Paul keeps returning to this theme. This maturity is corporate, and it is closely connected to church unity. In a similar way, the Word is at the core of the church’s maturity and unity. The point of these verses is that we must aspire toward maturity as a church. How do we do this?
The middle verses of Isaiah 53 foretell the silent, substitutionary, and sinless submission of the servant of Jehovah.
Ephesians 4:11-16 gives us one of the clearest sustained articulations of the church’s mission and purposes in the whole New Testament. The passage articulates it a couple different ways, in v 13 and then again in v 16. The point of these verses is simple: We must aspire toward maturity as a church. How can we as a church grow in maturity? Paul gives several ways.
The sense of verses 11-16 can be summed up by verse 13, where Paul puts the final purpose of what the ascended Christ is doing in the church: to mature manhood, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is reiterated another way in v 16: so that the body builds itself up in love. The sermons on these verses will then have the following focus: we must aspire toward maturity as a church. This is the primary goal of what we as a church do. Here is how we bring glory to Christ. How
In these verses, Paul speaks of how Christ has gifted each member of the united church. He supports Christ’s gifts in the church from Psa 68:18. Then he draws two important conclusions from Psa 68. All of this supports Paul’s main point, that, while the church of Christ is one, Christ has gifted the particular members of the church for the church’s singular mission between Christ’s first and second coming.
Your walk—your life—matters. Paul says, Walk worthy. Let your life manifest that you belong to the King of kings. Ask yourself, is my life is worthy of our Lord? This morning, see why and how you should walk worthy of your calling.
Your walk—your life—matters. Paul says, Walk worthy. Let your life manifest that you belong to the King of kings. Ask yourself, is my life is worthy of our Lord? This morning, see why and how you should walk worthy of your calling.
Psalm 8 is a hymn of praise to God for creation. The first and last lines say it all: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 6 ended with bold confidence that God indeed will punish all the enemies of the Lord’s Anointed. The theme of Psalm 7 is the necessity of God’s future and final judgment on such wicked. God’s people not only confess the truth of a coming Judgment Day, they also praise God for his judgment of the wicked.
Our text teaches about baptism, and, from right baptism, it teaches about the Christian life. The point this morning is: those baptized in Christ will live differently from those who are not.
The chief end of all creation and of God himself is the glory of God. If God didn’t prize his own glory above all, then he would prize something else above all, and nothing is more to be valued than his glory. To be sure, there is no other being so worthy of glory and praise than the Triune God. To that end, that your own affections would be drawn up to give God the glory due his name, let us consider this doxology.
Christian people should devote themselves to ardent prayer to God for their brothers and sisters in Christ. How are we to do this? Paul explains this in two different ways.
Christian people should devote themselves to ardent prayer to God for their brothers and sisters in Christ. We depend upon God’s common grace for daily bread and provision, for health and life, and we depend upon his saving grace for spiritual health and vitality. How are we to do this? Paul explains this in two different ways.
Christian people should devote themselves to ardent prayer for God for their brothers and sisters in Christ. We depend upon God’s common grace for daily bread and provision, for health and life, and we depend upon his saving grace for spiritual health and vitality. How are we to depend on God in prayer? Paul explains this in two different ways.
Believers must live less under the influence of remaining carnality and more through the influence of the Holy Spirit. May it never be that we are carnal Christians or a carnal church! Such believers may know the glorious things the Spirit has revealed concerning salvation, but do not fully embrace them. So the carnal Christian is out of sync with the amazing grace of Christ. The carnal Christian life is a tragic Christian life. It is imperative that we avoid carnality through spiritual growth.
If we are ever going to comprehend how someone like Paul would so willingly suffer all that he did, including imprisonment and eventual martyrdom, we need to see what makes gospel ministry such an important enterprise. See four characteristics of Christian ministry.
A mystery is something hidden. In this text, it is hidden no longer. Paul calls it a mystery because it used to be hidden. Now it is revealed. At the most basic level, mystery means God’s revealed Word. Yet the word mystery has this special focus: it is the Word of God never before revealed until now. I want you to see three aspects of the mystery Paul received.
We are a church of Jesus Christ. Our charter and authority to be and act as a church comes from Christ himself. We want to be a true church of Jesus Christ, so we need to think in a biblical, true way about the church. This means giving close attention to clear, concrete statements in Scripture about who we are, but we must also give heed to the truth behind the New Testament’s figures for the church. In our passage, Paul gives three key metaphors for the church.
Verse 18 is the capstone of vv 11-18. Through Christ we have access to the Father. The word access speaks of the ability of one person in a lower status to have an introduction to someone of a higher status. We were made for communion. God’s Word teaches us that Christ is the one who has restored this communion. As we return one final time to this section of Ephesians, I want you to see three aspects of our access from v 18.
Christ makes one new man. This is what the church is. Christ died to bring a people to heaven, drawing them all up to God through his cross and his blood. By being the peace that men have with God, he makes a new creation humanity in himself. This morning, we see three additional aspects of what Christ has done to bring us near to God.
Paul laid out the spiritual distance of Gentiles from God in vv 11-12. We were separated, alienated, strangers. We were far off, according to v 13. Now in Christ Jesus we’ve been brought near. This morning, Paul elaborates how Christ has brought both Jew and Gentile near to God as one. Our Lord Jesus is our peace with God and with each other. The Scripture before us this morning teaches us that Christ’s cross made a people. The text suggests two ways he did this.
The central idea in vv 11-18 is that Jesus Christ has brought us, his church, near to God. Our text is about the church’s composition, origin, and privileges. It is densely loaded with biblical doctrines, informing our doctrines of salvation, the church, and the Trinity. Here Paul identifies three additional aspects of Christ’s saving work.
The central idea in our text is that Jesus Christ has brought us near to God. Throughout vv 11-18, Paul has several contrasts he emphasizes: far and near, two and one, and hostility and peace. Christ is the only way both Jews and Gentiles are saved. His bloody cross is gracious and glorious, and it is sufficient.
Verse 10 continues the theme of grace. The big idea for today’s message is, The grace of God that has saved us continues working Christ’s saving power now and for eternity. God’s grace does not stop the moment we come to Christ. God continues pouring out unmerited favor and love to us. How does God continue his gracious work in us?
Salvation by grace alone cuts across our natures as humankind. Though the message of grace alone is counterintuitive, it is the most sublime message of the world, and one, as we’ve already seen, that we will admire for all eternity. Yet it must be that we need to hear this. By my count, Paul emphasizes that we are saved by grace alone seven different ways.
In Matthew’s account, we find two key words: behold (or see) and fear. His account of the resurrection is both genuinely humane and immensely comforting. We are to read this and believe the angel’s message and the risen Christ that appeared to these women. Matthew wants his readers to behold the resurrection in our hearts, and in such a way that Christ might abolish our fears.
The central truth of today’s message is that Christ alone can remedy our helpless state of being dead in sins. If you are already a believer, he wants you to know all that Jesus Christ is for you and continue resting in his salvation by faith. I want you to see four key aspects of God’s saving work in Christ to help you see why you should trust in Christ for salvation.
Christian people must have a thorough memory of their sin and its consequences, for the glory of God. This is essential for us to understand the profundity of God’s grace. In this vital passage of Scripture, Paul teaches us the seven truths about mankind’s sinful state in Adam.
The main idea in these verses is that God’s saving power to us is revealed and assured in his exalting power in Christ. On one level, Paul is teaching us about the truth about our Savior. But from the truth about the exalted Christ we see why God’s power is ours. Why should we believers be assured of Christ’s almighty power to save?
We say that our salvation is by grace alone. We confess that God is Almighty, and that we are helpless. If we believe these things, then we will be people of prayer.
Paul’s prayer functions on a couple levels for us. On the one hand, it teaches us what we should desire for ourselves spiritually. On another level, Paul by his example teaches us how we can pray for other believers. In this sermon, we learn from Paul how we ought to pray for one another.
There were technical difficulties with this sermon. Only a portion of the sermon was recorded properly. We apologize for this error.
The first two words of v 7 are in him. This refers to the Beloved Son of v 6. What follows in vv 7-12 speaks of the glory of God’s grace that we have in the Beloved. All that we read here is intended to evoke praise and worship in us.
Referring to the whole of vv 3-5, Paul says that God has elected us, sanctified us, predestined us, and adopted us to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.