Lynn Camp Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
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"Taking the Heart of the Cross the the Heart of our community." Located in Corbin, Ky. Service times Wed. 6:30, Sunday 11 A.M., 5 PM. We would love to have you visit our Church.
Of all the tools given to the Christian there is nothing more vital and powerful than prayer. It is our lifeline to the very throne room of God. That is why James reminds us that prayer is effective when used in a righteous way. In today's message we study James 5:16 to understand the Power of Prayer.
In the story of Hosea's marriage we see one of the greatest pictures of God's love story toward not only Israel, but all mankind. He was called to do something no man should be, to love a woman that he knew would ultimately break his heart. In this text God shows us three things: I. We see man's condition. (Vs. 1-2), II. We see God's character. (Vs. 2), III. We see our command. (Vs. 2-3).
Each mile of a journey is marked by a new step, and a new choice. Those choices that we make determine where we end up in life. We may start out well, but if we make bad decisions we will soon find ourselves off track. In this message we're going to look at the life of Lot and how that he started out well, but how the choices he made brought him to devastation and almost destruction. Gen. 19:19-22
As we set out to take new ground as a church, to reach new people and claim them for Jesus Christ it would be foolish to think that Satan wouldn't fight back. He has long claimed these people and their souls as his own and he want's nothing more than to keep it that way and for the church to stay out of his territory. In the Book of Acts 4:1-12 we see what happened when the early church began to claim new ground for the kingdom of God and how that we are to respond. I. The attempt. (Vs. 1-2), II. The attack. (Vs. 3-7). III. The advance. (Vs. 8-12).
The weight of the Christian life is a burden, which leads one to ask, why would someone even bother to pick up that cross? In this sermon we take a look at Paul's explanation in 2: Corinthians 4:8-18 of why the Christian life is worth the weight. I. We will be troubled. (Vs. 8-9), II. We will be tried. (Vs. 10-11), III. We will testify. (Vs. 12-15), IV. We will triumph. (Vs. 16-18).
The Church has one major goal, to reach the world, our communities and our loved ones for Jesus Christ, but if we miss little things along the way we have come up short. Little things such as; living for Christ outside the church, growing closer to Christ in our daily walk, and loving the Lord and each and everyone we meet as we are loved. As we set out to take new ground we like the Nation of Israel can fall short and there are ramification for that. In Judges 2:1-5 we see; I. We will surrender our joy. (Vs. 1), II. We will face God's judgment. (Vs. 1-3), III. We will fall short of our mission. (Vs. 3).
We often hear of say the statement, "God bless America," but can I ask, what have we done lately to deserve the blessings of God? We are a country in the cross-hairs of God's judgement because of the choices that we have made. Malachi 1:1-11 makes it clear that God will deal with us as He did with Israel. I. God loves us. (Vs. 1-2), II. God hates sin. (Vs. 3-5), III. God demands honor. (Vs. 6-10), IV. God delivers hope. (Vs. 11)
Everyone has a dream of one day doing something great, reaching a goal, or being some type of hero. Somewhere along the line we lose sight of that dream or we settle for just a little less. Joshua had been given a promise from God, one that had been passed down through the generations. He had lost it once before, but now he stood just outside the land that he was told was promised to him, if he was going to take it there were three things that would make that task possible. Joshua 1:1-9; I. God's Command. (Vs. 1-2), II. God's Covenant. (Vs. 3-6). III. God's Conditions. (Vs. 7-8). IV. God's Commitment. (Vs. 9).
Pentecost is at the core, or the heart of what the Church is built upon. The principles that were established there made the Church healthy enough to be able to reach out beyond Jerusalem and to spread to the rest of the world. Without those core principles there would be no Church today, that is why we must learn from them, in this sermon, we take a look at what a few of those were. Acts 2:42-47 I. Commitment. (42-43), II. Care. (44-45), III. Community. (46-47).
Everything on earth is powered by something, the Christian is no different. First and foremost, the Christian is powered by the Holy Spirit, He is the fuel that empowers us to walk worthy of the calling of Christ Jesus. During this message we look at three things that Peter (the rock) put forth in his message on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:14-41 I. Christ Credentials. (17-21, 29-35) II. Christ Credibility. (Vs. 22-24, 32-33), III. Christ Calling. (37-41)
The church used to be a place where you could find unlimited promise, but it is quickly becoming a place of untapped potential. People simply don't realize the amount of power that we have in the Holy Spirit to change the world that is around us, instead they have relented to the though that we are incapable of changing or shaping anything or anyone. In Acts 2:1-8 the Bible shows us why the Holy Spirit is so important and how the Disciples were able to change the world through His power, these teaching can help us learn to do the same thing. I. A Fervent Desire. (Vs. 1), II. A Faithful Delivery. (Vs. 2-4), III. A Fiery Display. (Vs. 5-8)
Have you ever met someone that has a nickname that just doesn't fit how they actually look? Well, we don't always see ourselves as God see's us, and that leads to feeling of doubt and fear. What we need today is people that are willing to rise to the occasion and see themselves as God see's them. Judges 6:11-16 teaches us some important things about how God see's man. I. He doesn't see us where our circumstance have taken us. (Vs. 11), II. He doesn't see what we are, but what we can be. (Vs. 12), III. He often calls those who have the least to offer. (Vs. 13-16).
Jesus had been preparing the disciples for the moment that He would leave them and return for heaven for 40 days after the resurrection, but they still were not ready to let go. Things were about to change in a major way. They were about to go from average disciples to the power filled leaders of the New Testament Church. How did this rag-tag group turn into the the greatest movement of God in just a few short days? I. Priorities. (Vs. 4) II. Power. (Vs. 5) III. Purpose. (Vs. 6-8) Text taken from Acts 1:1-8
How often we overlook grace, the unmerited favor of God. Even though it is a free gift to us, it cost God a high price. There are many stories of men and women throughout the Bible that grace found at their lowest points and raised them to be great examples for us to follow. One of those people was the Apostle Peter. In this message we take a look at the life of Peter to learn that; I. Grace will Reach you where you are. (Mt. 26:74), II. Grace will Restore you when you fall. (Mr. 16:7), III. Grace will Rewrite your past. (Acts 4:12).
There are a lot of offers that we are given in life that seem to good to be true, but when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is better than we even realize. There are thing that Christ offered to man that I think most of us don't even realize. On this Resurrection morning we take a look at three things that Paul says the love of God shows us. 1. Our Natural Condition. II. God's Character. III. The Christians Comfort.
Everywhere Jesus went in His ministry crowd followed Him, but as He began to make demands upon their discipleship they devotion started to falter. Many of them that had walked with Him turn away and walked with Him no more. In John 6:66-69 we see the cycle that each true follower of Jesus must make. I. The Dispute. (Vs. 66), II. The Decision. (Vs. 67), III. The Declaration. (Vs. 68-69).
Everyday we make hundreds of decisions that define how our day, week and even month are going to go. Some we give great thought to, others we just dive right in. As Jesus closes out the Sermon on the Mount, He lays out three defining decisions that will mark were we end on the road to the higher level of righteousness that He called His disciples to. I. The Few (Vs. 13-14), II. The Fruit. (Vs. 17-20), III. The Foundation. (Vs. 24-27)
The book of Numbers 21:4-9 holds a story of a sinful and rebellious people that were cursed with snakes that bit them. The only cure was a bronze serpent that God told Moses to make that if they looked upon it they could be healed. Jesus later refers to this when speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, but what relation does this serpent have to Jesus? In this sermon we take a look at why Jesus used the serpent as a foreshadowing of His death and what lessons that can teach us.
If you have had your eyes and ears open that past year or so there has been an onslaught of people claiming to have a message directly from God for you. It is hard to believe that God has so many things to say that turn so many different ways, and that is because He doesn't. The rise of the time that we are seeing in our world has brought about the rise of visible and vocal false prophets, what I would like to call, profiteers. They sell the name of Jesus for a profit. In this message we take a look at how to tell the read thing from the fake, so that we can live our life devoted to Christ. The text of this message comes from the Sermon on the Mount series; Matthew 7:15-20
We live in a world that is constantly judging our actions, but is also constantly moving the goalpost on what is right and wrong. Yet people want to yell, "Don't judge me!" The issue with this is they want to set their own standard of truth, when God has already given us the absolute standard of moral and ethical excellence in His Word. Christians are confused about the Scripture of Matthew 7:1-5 and our role on holding people accountable for their actions in a world turned upside down. As a believer is we are going to call someone on their sin we must remember two things; I. Is our life, right? II. Is our purpose to reconcile?
This morning we take a look back at 2020, and remember all the good things that God has done. Far to often we focus on the troubles that life brings and forget the blessings that God has given us. We fail to give Him praise and honor for how good He is. Like the Nation of Israel in Ex. 19:1-8 we want to grumble and complain even after we have seen Him work countless miracles. We make commitments to Him and then we break them. Let us reflect on how good He truly is, how faithful He has been and give honor where it is due. If we do this our troubles will seem small and our blessings will take their rightful place.
More than anytime I can ever remember we are being overwhelmed with people trying to share their version of reality. The problem with that is with everyone yelling it becomes impossible to know if anyone is telling the truth. Truth is something that is desperate in our world, wisdom is rare and the world is seeking it, but false prophets and profiteers have a mockery of it. So, how do we combat the lack of wisdom in our world, listen to today's podcast to hear what God's word has to say.
There have been many things recently to be discouraged about, and Satan would like to use each of these to his advantage. That is why we need to be reminded that we are more than conquerors through the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. As Romans 8:31-37 tells us if we are a believer in Jesus Christ we have a much to be hopeful about no matter our current conditions. Stand strong, be faithful and keep sharing the hope of Jesus with those you know.
We all go through them; dark, difficult and dreary days, but what this past year has had in common is that we have went through them together. No one could have predicted what was headed for us, well, except for God. He was not surprised, nor did one moment fail to lack His sufficient grace. I was reminded of that this week as God spoke to my heart about Jeremiah 17, and where we put our trust and where our blessings comes from. If in this new season you want to survive those seasons of drought, then there is a way.
For as long as time men have been looking for signs in the heavens for proof of the existence of God. When the wise men seen "his star" in Matthew 2:1-12 they knew that they had found it. This led them to make the journey to Bethlehem to bring their gifts and honor their new King and Messiah. Does that wonder and awe still exist today? Are we still looking for that same Light? In order to do so there are two things we must do; I. We must filter our the artificial. II. We must find the authentic.
How can we as Christians stand between the best of times and the worst of times. The truth is that we live in between two worlds, the physical and the spiritual. We are both living in this world, but we are looking forward to the one to come. Isaiah 61:1-3 reminds us that we can recapture the wonder of Christmas because their is hope in Christmas because our eyes have been opened and we have been set free from the prison that once held us captive through Jesus Christ.
2020 seems to be the year of broken promises. Somewhere along this year everyone of us have either had to break one or we have had one broken toward us. When this happens it makes us unwilling to trust again, hesitant and suspicious, we think that anyone and everything is going to let us down. We can recapture the wonder of Christmas by remembering that on of the greatest promises of Christmas was given in Luke 2:25-35 and that promise was; I. Foreshadowed. (Vs. 25-26), II. Fulfilled. (Vs. 27-32), III. Forthcoming. (Vs. 33-35).
Have we lost the wonder of Christmas? The beginning of recapturing the wonder of Christmas starts with remembering the joy that it brought to the world and our hearts. As the birth of Christ was first proclaimed to the shepherds to bring great joy to all people, it also brings great joy to each of us if we are believers. But were is that joy today, have we lost it? This sermon focuses on how to recapture that joy in the season that we live in. Our scripture for the day comes from Luke 2:8-18.
We have so much to be thankful for as believers here in this world, but yet we sometimes forget to give God the praise. We get overwhelmed with our circumstances or our problems and forget the greatness of our God. This sermon is about bringing our focus back to where it belongs, the praise of God at all times. In Psalms 145:1-9 David proclaims that God is worthy of praise continually and displays an attitude of gratitude.
The Church is often referred to as the bride of Christ, and as we look at what is happening to the Church today it makes you wonder how that make the Groom feel. In Matthew 23:37-39 we see how Jesus heart for the Nation of Israel as they rejected and refused to have a relationship with Him. This gives us a view into the heart of Christ today, and how He must feel as He watches the Church turn from its first love.
In our sermon series "Timeless" we take a look at sermons from the past and how that God's word and the preaching of it are timeless. This morning we take a look at my attempt to honor Evangelist/Pastor Lester Roloff who passed away in 1982 by preaching one of his sermons. This is a sermon that I heard many years ago and it gripped my heart, and I hope it does yours as well.
This morning we opened a new sermon series titled, "Timeless" and the sermon was called, "A Nation in Crisis from Isaiah 59:1-5, 12-15. It deals with the parallels between the nation of Israel and America and how that God stopped listening to the prayers of Israel. How close are we to God closing the doors of heaven to our prayers? The series is called "Timeless" because the sermon comes from Adrian Rogers, preached at an unknown time, but he passed away in 2005, it proves that God's Word and the Preaching of it is timeless.
We often live our lives trying to impress the people around us, but our calling is to live our life in a way that honors God. In the second part of Matthew 6:25-34 we take a look at who we are, who we serve and why we are here. As a Church we need to be reminded that this life should be lived as if we are living for an audience of One.
It is easy to say, "don't worry," when there are many things that we can see going on around us that give us multiple things to be anxious about. So, how do we as believers overcome the message that the world is pressing upon us and stay on mission for the Lord? In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells His disciples not to worry 6 times, giving them reasons that they can trust in His providence and power.
Just like a moth to the flame we are often drawn to doing something that we know is harmful to us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had just warned his disciples and the multitude against praying in ways that brought attention to themselves and was repetitive. Yet, here in this classic Scripture known as "The Lord's Prayer" by many we still use it in that same fashion. In this sermon from Matthew 6:9-13 we look at the distinction that Jesus makes in leading us to use this prayer as a "Model Prayer" for our life.
In Matthew Chapter 6 and the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continues to speak about the higher level of righteousness that He is calling His disciples to live up to. In this sermon we look at three examples of religious practices that were common to the Jews that Jesus pointed out as being used to bring glory to themselves rather than to God. I. Almsgiving (Vs. 1-4). II. Prayer (5-8). III. Fasting (16-18).
In Matthew 5:20 we see that Jesus called His follower to live a lifestyle of higher living, not of just following a set of rules, but of inward righteousness. Throughout the remainder of Matthew 5, He lays out 6 antithesis statements that illustrate that calling. In Matthew 5:21-26 He speaks on the heart issue of murder and how that it isn't just an action that we can create with out hands, but also with our hearts.
If you ask many people today right and wrong can change based upon where you live, what the circumstances are and what a persons background is. We know as Christians this isn't true, because morality is based upon the very nature of God and He doesn't change. As we move forward in the series on the Sermon on the Mount we come to Matthew 5:17-20 where Jesus calls His followers to a higher level of living. Not just following a set of rules, but living a lifestyle of righteousness.
As we continue in our series on the Sermon on the Mount we come to Matthew 5:13-16 where Jesus uses two illustrations to express His disciples salt and light. As we see with the reality of what is happening in our world today are we being those things? Are we standing out in darkness and are we preserving the moral nature to those that need us? We need to do some soul searching and not just go to church, but begin to Be the Church.
In this sermon we take a look at the second part of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:5-12. We start at the 3rd Beatitude and look at each one and what they mean to the believer.
We begin our series on "The Sermon on the Mount" with the Beatitudes. A series of 9 blessings that Jesus taught as He began His earthly ministry. These blessings are a list of God's favor as result to a persons situation or behavior. In this sermon we looked at Matthew 5:1-4, which shows us that Jesus' kingdom is; eternal and spiritual, as well as the first two of the Beatitudes.
It's no secret that when you bring people together you will have differences of opinions and confrontations, but the Church is one place that those issues should be dealt with in a different manner than in other places. Sadly it doesn't always work that way, and we all know of a case or two where division has torn down a church or brought infighting within the body. In this sermon we take a look at Philippians 2:1-8 and answer the question how to bring unity in the midst of all of our diversity.
Our view of what love is has become tainted by the worlds view instead of God's reality. In this sermon we take a look at 1 Corinthians 13 and answer the question of what is the most excellent way of love.
Our view of what love is has become tainted by the worlds view instead of God's reality. In this sermon we take a look at 1 Corinthians 13 and answer the question of what is the most excellent way of love.
As we continue in our sermon series "How we love" we take look at the very important subject of God's love for us. Because God's very essence is love, everything that from His nature is build upon that primary foundation. We don't always feel loved, or for that matter lovable. We need to be reminded that how we feel or what we feel isn't always true, in this sermon the we use multiple Scriptures to show that; I. God's Love is Unchanging. II. God's Love is Unimaginable.
In this life we can reach every physical goal that we have for ourselves and yet we will still find that we spiritually have missed the mark of perfection. This can be a frustrating realization, but it can also be a wonderful reality if we let it sink in. To think that with all of our scars, bruises, and missteps that someone still loves us is an amazing thing to know. What greater knowledge than to know that person is God. In this message we see that Paul is dealing with the Corinthian church and bringing them to the understanding of who they are supposed to be in Christ Jesus. This Scripture should not only have resonated with the reader than, but it should speak to our heart today. I. The Carnal Mind. (2 Cor. 5:16), II. The Christ-like Heart (2 Cor. 5:17), III. The Christian Calling. (2 Cor. 5:18-21).
When we look back at historical events we just trust that they happened based upon very limited eyewitness, archeological, and scientific data. Compared with the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the Church they don't stand a chance of having the same amount of evidence. In the final message of our series on "Eyewitness" we come to a moment of truth, a time when we have to make a decision and that decision will define what our future looks like. As Peter lays out in 2 Peter 1:16-21 his eyewitness account, something has to be done with the reality of Jesus Christ. I. What he seen. (Vs. 16-18), II. What he read. (Vs. 19), III. What he knew. (Vs. 20-21).
What we truly believe will be what we become and in a world that needs the truth there is a calling for Christians to stand and be what we say we are. In this part of the series on "Eyewitnesses" we see Paul's testimony about who Jesus really was. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 the Scripture shows us; I. What he heard. (Vs. 1-7), II. What he seen. (Vs. 8-9), III. What he spoke. (Vs. 10-11).
There are many theories about who Jesus was and why He came to this earth, and few events clear that question up more than the Transfiguration. As we keep looking at the Sermon Series, "Eyewitnesses" this sermon helps us take a deeper look at who Jesus truly was. In Matthew 17:1-8 Jesus shows us that His Transfiguration; I. Wasn't Sacrilegious. (Vs. 1-3), II. Was Satisfying. (Vs. 4-5), III. Was Sufficient. (Vs. 6-8).
In the introduction of this sermon series we looked at how the most important eyewitness to the reality of Jesus' existence is God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We worked through the Scriptures to show that Jesus is eternal, and being so His mark should be all over the Old Testament. In this sermon we take that though and use an Old Testament text to bring out Jesus in one of many places that He is found Genesis 22. Using the formula; Christ Patterned, Christ Promised, Christ Preset, we see that Jesus is all over this text as well as the entire Old Testament as it was all about Him.
As we enter Memorial Day weekend this year will be different for everyone. There will be things that we simply can't do that we have become accustom to, but that isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the freedom that we have and what it took to make that possible. It would be easy to lose sight of what is most important in life, but as we see in the prayer of Jesus there are three aspects that will help us live a faithful life. I. How to live. (John 17:1-5), II. How to love. (John 17:7-9), III. What we leave. (John 17:20-23).
This our first In-Person service back since the Covid-19 began and our church shut down regular services for virtual over 3 months ago. In our church like much of the world it there has been so much change, so much to go through during that time. While we didn't know when we would come back we trusted in the promise of God that we would come back. This sermon is about how to deal with walking into the promises that God has given us. Joshua laid 3 sets of stones early in the book, 3 altars if you will. These altars marked either meetings with God, or moments of great change that were to be remembered by the people. These are three altars that Joshua laid that tell a narrative that our world needs to hear today. I. The Altar of Deliverance. (Jos. 4:4-8), II. The Altar of Difference. (Jos. 4:9-10), III. The Altar of Defiance. (Jos. 7:24-26)
Where did the eyewitness testimony for Jesus begin? Who are the greatest eyewitnesses that Jesus had? You're answers may not match up to the ones that are given in this message. Jesus' eyewitness testimony began before creation, and His greatest eyewitnesses are the other 2 parts of the Trinity. In this message we begin to lay out the groundwork for the this new sermon series.
This Sunday Morning we welcomed Erick Keller to speak at Lynn Camp Baptist Church. Eric retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 at the rank of Major. He has been married to his wife Lisa for 26 years, to which they have been blessed with 8 wonderful children. He is currently working on his Masters in Divinity at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. We hope you enjoy.
With everything that we are facing today it may not feel like Resurrection Sunday, but I'm certain that it didn't feel that way to the disciples when they started to the tomb on that Sunday morning either. More than ever we can empathize with what they were feeling during those days, that is why it is important that we learn as much as we can. In Mark 16:1-8 there are three things that the text teaches us about the resurrection of Jesus. I. The grief that filled their heads. (Vs. 1-3), II. The glory that filled their hearts. (Vs. 4-6), III. The Gospel that filled their hands. (Vs. 7-8).
We are living in a difficult time for everyone, but it isn't the first time that we have faced this as a world or as a Church. We have been called a brand plucked out of the fire, a city set upon a hill, we are the hope of the world. Not because of who we are, but because of Whom we represent. If we are going to be what we are called to be then we have to live by faith and not by fear. That is why Paul wanted to remind the Christians during that day, that faced persecution, imprisonment and even death the same thing that we need to remember today; I. As believers in Christ we will face troubles. (Vs. 17), II. As believers in Christ we will find triumph. (Vs. 18).
Dr. Sartori, joined us during our morning worship hour to share a Doctor and a Christian viewpoint on the current view of the situation of the Corona-virus. Here is Dr. Sartori's bio;
Dr. Steve Sartori is Director of the Center for Well-being at the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. He is a physician coach and consultant who helps doctors and other healthcare professionals align with God, optimize well-being and maximize influence. He is a graduate of The Medical College of Wisconsin and practiced almost thirty years as a family physician in southeast Kentucky. He has participated in short-term mission trips to Romania, Jamaica, Thailand, Kenya and Eswatini. He is married, with two daughters and two grandsons, enjoys traveling and sports, and is an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers.
There are many storms in life and what will often make the difference in how we handle those storms is how deeply rooted we are in our faith. In today's message we look at Jeremiah 17:5-8 as he lays out a metaphor to compare two trees to two men and how their trust in God determines their outcome.
As believers we are to worship in the midst of worry, to have faith in the face of fear and to stand strong in the midst of uncertainty. My hope is that this message reminds someone why we (Christians) have our name or it brings others to want to join with us. There is no other name like Christ and for that I am thankful.
God has tried since creation to give man His heart, but almost every time man has chosen to follow his own. In Exodus 33 we see the accumulation of yet another time that God had led a people only to see them choose sin over Him. They would get the Promised Land, but it would be without the presence of God. Moses makes a plea for the people and offers a sacrifice of himself in order to remain in God's presence. In this text we see how that Moses was able to pull off such a feat and some of attributes that made it possible. I. Moses had humility. (Vs. 12-16), II. Moses had compassion. (Vs. 13-15), III. Moses had faith. (Vs. 17-18).
As we end the series on dangerous prayers we come to perhaps the most dangerous one of them all, save us. Instead of using the singular "me" I chose to use the plural "us," because the work that God does in us is a complete work. It is meant to be in us, to us and through us. It first changes our heart, than our actions, than it should bring us to seek others to join us as part of this family. This prayer that Paul and Silas prayed challenged them and should challenge us seek and see saved as many as possible. Acts 16:23-31; I. We're all Prisoners. (Vs. 23-24), II. We're all Important. (Vs. 25-28), III. We're all Redeemable. (Vs. 29-31).
What do you want to be when you grow up? That was a question we all got asked many times when we were young, and many of us had some crazy answers. When it comes to Christianity there is also a growing up process, its called sanctification. It's a big word that simply means to be set apart. Our goal in growing up as believers is clear, to be like Jesus. In this sermon Paul prays a dangerous prayer and lays a challenge for us to do so also. I. The Person of Prayer. (Vs. 23), II. The Purpose of Prayer. (Vs. 23), III. The Promise of Prayer. (Vs. 24).
Audio is from Live Singing on Sunday February 9th of "The Christian Pilgrims" book them today at www.facebook.com/ChristianPilgrims97
Sincere faith not only believes in what God done through Jesus on the cross, but it believes in what Holy Spirit can do through us as the Church. We want to make up all these reasons why God can't use us, while all He needs is someone willing to be sent. In this sermon we see how God took Isaiah a man who thought he couldn't be used by God and turned him into one of His greatest prophets. It also shows us what it takes to surrender to the will of God. I. You Must Experience His Presence. (Vs. 1-4), You Must Experience Your Powerlessness. (Vs. 5), III. You Must Experience His Purification. (Vs. 6-8).
If we were to survey our prayers most of them wouldn't be considered dangerous. We tend to pray for things that make us happy, successful and content. Dangerous prayers are those that although they may not be so comfortable to us for a season they ultimately bring out the best in us, and bring the most glory to God. It's scary to pray this way because we don't know what God may do with out life, or where God may send us, but we should be willing to trust God if we believe He is who we say He is. In this sermon we look at David's prayer in the Psalm 139:23-24 where he ask God to do three things. I. Search Me. (Vs. 23). II. Try Me. (Vs. 23), III. Lead Me. (Vs. 24). Are you brave enough to pray a dangerous prayer?
Everyone has lost something at one point in their life; we leave things all over the place, accidentally throw things away, walk off and leave our most important things behind. What is so telling about our situation is that we will spend hours trying to find something that we could live without, while we wont spend the time trying to find something that we can't live without. In Luke 15 and the Parable of that is affectionately known as the Prodigal Son we see three things that help us understand that search that God undertook for us. I. The Multitude. (Vs. 1-2), II. The Mistake. (Vs. 11-24, 28,32), The Message. (Vs. 20-24).
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "If a man hasn't discovered something worth dying for, he isn't fit to live." You could feel that passion and urgency in his speeches, and you can feel it in the preaching and writing of Paul. As we look at Philippians 1:12-21 we see that Paul had one main desire, something that defined his life, that was to magnify Christ. The question is what defines you? I. Paul's Circumstances. (Vs. 12-14), II. Paul's Conflict. (Vs. 15-18), III. Paul's Conviction. (Vs. 19-21).
If we have the greatest news possible, why are we no longer compelled to share it with others? What has happened in the heart of the church that we are content with sitting back and allowing people to go to hell without the desire to reach them by whatever means necessary? In this sermon we see the burden that Paul had to reach his fellowman, and how deep that burden ran. By three questions in Romans 9:1-3 we can gauge our heart for the lost; I. Do we really care? (Vs. 1), II. Are we really burdened? (Vs. 2), III. What would you give? (Vs. 3).
Part of this sermon came from Bible Study Material from the Oklahoma Baptist Convention My316 Material.
This is the time of year when many people have begin to try to hold to the resolutions that they made just a few days ago and while those things are not bad things they are not always the best things. They almost always focus on physical improvements and never on the spiritual side of our life. Even if we were able to obtain all the things that we set out in the beginning of the year would we be a "better" person if we didn't spiritually grow? As we continue focus on our "Pray for 100" challenge this sermon is the how of that challenge, the vision for 2020. I. There must be a vision. (Pr 29:18) II. How do we fulfill the law of Christ as given to us in the N.T.? 1. The Great Commandment. (Mt. 22:36-40), 2. The Great Commission. (Mt. 28:19-20).
The Scripture tell us that a small amount of faith can move mountains, but do we believe that, and if we do than why are our churches declining or dying. Many books have been written on how to grow a church or how to increase your attendance, but there is another place to go to find the ultimate place to multiply your evangelism. We have to go straight to the source, Jesus Himself. In Matthew 9:35-38 He seen the need of the people and was limited in His mortal body at that time and choosing to send man to spread the gospel this is how He did it. I. Take the Message. (Vs. 35-36), II. Make it Matter. (Vs. 36-37), III. Seek the Master. (Vs. 38).
Picture taken and modified from "The Creek Church, London Ky."
Love is paramount to ever other aspect of Advent because the Bible tells us that God is love, therefore everything that God does comes from His nature of love. Where our love comes from emotions or actions, God's love is based upon His being. He loves us no matter who we are, no matter what we do and His love doesn't change. In this sermon we take a short look at a couple of the clearest displays of God's love toward mankind. I. Creation. (Romans 8:35-39), II. Crucifixion. (Romans 8:35-39).
Tis' the season of joy, yet if people were asked, "what is joy," the answers would be all over the place. Joy is not happiness, because happiness is tied to an emotion, where joy comes from our eternal God. What the world offers is fleeting, it last for a moment and then it is gone, but what Jesus offers is forever. In this sermon we take a look at what Jesus shares with His disciples about joy and how that they can have it. John 15:9-16: I. In Relationship. (Vs. 9-11, 15-16), II. In Obedience. (Vs. 9-11, 12-14).
The world is filled with hardships and heartache and no matter what someone tells you true peace cannot be found in this world. We see people with everything that we think would make them happy, but they still struggle with the same troubles that we all do. The problem with how that we view peace is that we view it as a place, possessions or purpose, but peace is a Person. In this message we look at John 14:25-27 to see how that we can have peace in Jesus if we decide to accept it. I. He Purchased Our Peace. (Vs. 25-27). II. He Preserves Our Peace. (Vs. 25-27).
As Christmas time approaches and our calendar begins to fill up our stress can begin to overflow as well. When we are younger we get caught up in the excitement of the holiday season, but as we get older if we are not we begin to resent it. Advent is the time of year that as Christians we begin to focus on the coming or appearing of Jesus Christ, both His first coming and His soon return. Each Sunday we focus on one aspect that His coming brought and brings us, this Sunday is "Hope." From 1 Peter 1:3-9 we see that the hope of Jesus is; I. A Lively Hope. (Vs. 3-5), II. A Lasting Hope. (Vs. 6-7) and III. A Loving Hope. (Vs. 8-9).
Its this time of year that we try to be extra careful to count our blessings twice, to be grateful for all that we have and honor all that we have lost. Being thankful is a good thing, but like every good thing if Satan can, he will find a way to use it to destroy us. In this sermon we take a look at Luke 17:11-19 and how our thankfulness sometimes lacks and how to keep from falling into that trap that Satan has set for us. I. In Need. (Vs. 11-13), II. In None. (Vs. 14-15), III. In All. (Vs. 15-19).
We spend out entire lives wishing our entire life away, with only the most blessed of us realize what it means to live before we actually die. Out of all the blessings that God gives us time is perhaps the most precious, because once it is spent you can't get it back. What is so dangerous about the trap of time is that Satan can keep us busy and we think were building the kingdom. That is why as believers we must be most careful of the this snare that Satan has set for us. In the Luke 10:38-42 we see a moment in the ministry of Jesus where even those dedicated to serving Him fell into that trap. I. Accommodate or Adoration. (Vs. 39-40), II. Abundance. (Vs. 39-40), III. Admonition. (Vs. 41-42).
Everyone of us can tell a story from our own life where something was told about us or someone we knew and it became truth even though it was a lie or a joke. One of the fiercest foes that the Christian will ever face is one that we were born with, the tongue. What can be a beautiful gift if used correctly can also be a trap that Satan uses to destroy us if we let him. In this message we look at trap of the tongue and how to keep from falling into it. (James 3:1-12) I. The Piety. (Vs. 1-2), II. The Power. (Vs. 3-7), III. The Poison. (Vs. 8-12).
We all have blind spots in our life, these are area's of sin that we can see in others that we can't see in ourselves. One of Satan's greatest gifts as a Trojan Horse is to have us focus on another persons flaws and overlook the faults in our own life. In Luke 6:39-45 Jesus reminds His disciples of the dangers of this mindset and how that we can keep ourselves from falling into the trap that Satan has set for us. I. There is only one Master. (Vs. 39-40), II. The way we look at others matter. (Vs. 41-42), III. The way we look at ourselves matters. (Vs. 43-46).
The Trojan Horse stands as one of the greatest deceptions of history, a trick that won a great battle for the Greeks over the city of Troy. But what if I told you that it is a trick that Satan has been playing with mankind well before the Greeks, or the Trojans ever existed? It's still a trick that he's playing on us today, and it still works, we keep letting the Trojan Horse inside our walls and we keep getting destroyed by something called sin. In this series I hope to show how to keep Satan from destroying our church and our lives from the inside out. In Joshua 7 we see three things we need to know about sin. I. It usually seems harmless. (Vs. 10-11), II. It attacks from within. (Vs. 20-21), III. It opens our defenses. (Vs. 5,6).
What would happen if we were united in our vision for growing the church, for reaching people, for seeing people saved? Satan's plan is to keep our vision divided, because he knows if he does that then we won't be able to get anything completed, but together there is nothing that is impossible. In Nehemiah 3 we see a list, that is easy to skip over, but if we take our time we see something great take place. We see a group of people come together, united in vision do something great in honor of the glory of God. I. The People. (Vs. 1,5,12) II. The Professions. (Vs. 8,17,19) III. The Purpose. (Vs. 1,32).
How do we worship God when it seems like all hope is lost, when it seems like we are lost in the wilderness and God has forgotten the address to where we are? In Psalm 61:1-4 we find David in a similar situation, separated from the place of worship, Jerusalem, he still find the ability to cry out to God. I. A Time of Danger. (Vs. 1-2), II. A Time of Despair. (Vs. 1-2), III. A Time of Desperation. (Vs. 1-4).
We are so bombarded with everything that tells us how to be successful, rich, better that we have created this world were its unnatural to fail. We hide the real "us" from everyone and only show them the "Facebook Me" or "Instagram Me" in fear that the real person behind the mask wont live up to their expectation. The reality of life is that we all fail, the difference is in those that choose not to give up when they fail. In 2 Corinthians 11:22-28 Paul shows how that he lived a life that wouldn't quit and how that we can do the same. I. He pointed to his past. (Vs. 22). II. He pointed to his purpose. (Vs. 23a). III. He pointed to his persistence. (Vs. 23b-28).
We live in a church culture where worship is manufactured, manipulated and mislabeled, if we don't feel the presence of God we blame the music, the preacher, the kids sitting next to us for being to loud. What would happen if we begin to look internally? Were we ever really prepared to worship a truly holy, sovereign, perfect God? This sermon looks at the relationship that God began to establish with the Hebrew people after the slavery of Egypt. After 430 years of bondage they had grown distant from the true God, and they had never known a religious system that would bring them in contact with Him. Therefore, God established this system to teach them and us how to experience worship. Through the way the priest and people came before God we can learn how true worship happens; I. They came with remembrance. (8:1-6) II. They came with reverence. (8:33-36), III. They came with readiness. (9:22-24)
We often fear the big things in life, but the little things are what we should worry about the most. After a long frustrating day one little thing sets us off, not the big thing that happens during the day. Then Satan when he attacks us, doesn't do it with something major, he will use some small subtle attack to destroy us from the inside. In 1 Kings 17:1-14 we see how that God used the little things as a proving ground for the ministry of Elijah and how that if we are faithful in the little things God will trust us with greater task and bestow on us greater blessings.
Have you ever given any thought to why Jesus still have the nail scars when He met with His disciples after the resurrection? They seemed to be proof marks of who He was an what He had done for them, but they also stand as reminders for the cost of Calvary. One day all mankind will bow before the Lord, when we do we will all have to count the cost, and in that day it won't add up. In this sermon we look at several text including John 20:19-28 and Zech. 12:10, 13:6, Rev. 5:12 to show the reason behind those nail scars.
If you could write a letter to help someone walk closer to the Lord, what would it say? Paul gives us just that in II Timothy, as he speaks to his beloved son in the ministry. In what had been at least a 21 year relationship is coming to a close as Paul is about to lose his life at the hands of Emperor Nero in Rome, Paul wants to encourage and prepare Timothy for what is to come. In II Timothy 1:1-12 we see a pattern that will steady of faith in shaky times; I. The Challenge of Faith. (Vs. 1-5), II. The Commitment of Faith. (Vs. 6-7), III. The Contentment of Faith. (Vs. 8-12).
Anyone that has served the Lord for any amount of time knows that it isn't always easy, and that it can be overwhelming at times, but why is it that we let the fire that we once had for that relationship grow cold? What would our churches look like if everyone that committed to something stayed committed? Far too many people make professions, get baptized, enter ministries and soon quit or give God less than their best. In John 6 we see a group of people that we much like that, they wanted to walk with Jesus, but they didn't want to invest anything. Along the way Jesus confronted them and they turned away from Him. In this message we look at three things that were common then and are still common today that make people stop following Jesus. I. Their Minds are Carnal. (Vs. 52-53), II. Their Intentions are Corrupt. (Vs. 58-60), III. Their Soul's are Compromised. (Vs. 64-67).
If we be honest as believers most of our battles that we face are internal battles, those that come from within ourselves. Each day seems to bring a new spiritual battle, a new challenge and a new lesson to be learned. As we look at the Old Testament and specifically the Hebrew people their lives were given for a historical example for us to follow. In this message we find the people in the wilderness after the Exodus facing their first major battle. What seemed like it would be a battle against an army of men ended up being a battle of God's power. In Exodus 17:8-15 we learn three valuable lessons for facing our spiritual battles; I. There is no peace in this war. (Vs. 8-10). II. Moses n. Joshua n. Hur n. Aaron. (Vs. 11-13), III. The Victory belongs to the Lord. (Vs. 14-15).
When we talk about an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God the next question in that line of thought is usually, "if God is so good then why do bad things happen to good people?" We see injustices almost everywhere we look today, which would have been much like the time when Isaiah prophesied during the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the continual falling away of Judah. We try to understand why these things happen, where God's at while these things unfold and why we have to face these events. In this sermon we look at three things that we need to be reminded of in the face of injustices; I. This isn't God's Perfect Plan. II. This isn't God's Perfect Peace. III. God Paid the Perfect Price.
Is God real? A question that demands an answer from every living person. Did this universe come from chaos, chance or was it a divine Creator? Since the beginning of time the greatest minds have drafted theory after theory, and at best they remain a guess. Each rewritten, built upon, thrown away with evidence of something better. Yet one remains unchanged, “In the beginning God created (Gen. 1:1). If that simple fact be true then everything else changes, as we explore God’s response to Job in Chapter 38:1-12 we will see scientific evidence for God’s existence.
Our culture says that there are three tests for a religion or a belief system, we have already looked at the historical textual reliability of the Bible in the first part of this sermon. In the second part of this sermon we will look at the remaining two tests archeological and intellectual reliability. By doing so we seek to reason together the truthfulness of the Bible and Christianity. What we find is what we as Christians have known for many years, there is only one Truth and His name is Jesus.
The Bible is the centerpiece of Christianity, and for the last 2000+ years it has been the most controversial book written. We are told that the translation that we have today is corrupted, that men have changed the Bible through the years, and that the Bible is simple unreliable. Are we to believe all of this? In this sermon we take a look at what Paul said in 2 Timothy, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God", that means all of it. So what textual evidence is there out there for the historical accounts of the Bible? Does it stand up to the comparison of other writings of its time and can it be considered reliable?
What if God doesn't answer every one of your prayers, what if He doesn't give you everything that you think you deserve, what will you do then? We are sometimes told that our lack of abundance comes from our lack of faith. Cancer happens, divorce happens, death happens, but what happens to those who believed God would "fix" those problems? When Jesus doesn't answer prayers is Jesus still enough? Using Daniel 3:12-18 we see the answer of 3 men that said Jesus was enough, even if they didn't get what they wanted out of life.
When you think of what God looks like what is the image that comes to your mind? Is is someone that you know? Someone that you have looked up to? Someone that was a good person or lived a good life? When we equate God to image of person we distort His image by making Him something much smaller than He was ever meant to be. God has always wanted to reveal Himself to mankind and in this message we see 2 ways that God demonstrated Himself to man through Jesus and how that we can trace those events through the Old Testament.
This week we start a new series birthed in the thought of Pentecost. As Peter stood and gave the first defense of the Christian faith that day he answered the question, Why Jesus? Yet today we find many that are unwilling or unable to answer that same quintessential question. In John 14:6-11 we see the exclusiveness of Jesus' demand for those that wish to follow Him and enter into His kingdom. Still there are people today that think all paths lead to the same "God". We have to be able to answer these questions, to boldly stand and proclaim the love that Jesus has for all mankind, but also the justice that was displayed at the cross.
In this sermon we continue to look at Peter's sermon on Pentecost. Last week we seen how he made a defense of the faith, and a proclamation of the gospel, this week we use Acts 2:25-38 to further prove the fact that Jesus was the Messiah who they had long awaited. He uses the Prophets, the position of Abraham, the promise of David and the power of the Holy Spirit all to prove that Jesus was the one that they waited for, killed, but had now risen to a place of power at the right hand of the father.
Peter's sermon at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 will forever be known as the sermon that propelled the Church into the future. And while we know it wasn't as much the words that he spoke as it was the Holy Spirit power behind them we would be amiss if we didn't study what God inspired into His servants heart. During the next two Sunday's we will break down the sermon into two parts. In this first part we see; I. Peter made a affirmation that the day of the Lord had arrived. (Vs. 16-21). II. Peter made a proclamation of the Gospel. (Vs. 22-24).
"Never Forget" is a slogan that we often put on a event that caused us to pause and reflect on great loss, but also caused us to come together and grow stronger. Far too often we find that as time passes so does the feelings that brought us together and the divide grows back between the very people that once promised that they would stand together. As we worship on Memorial Day weekend we need to be reminded of the main reason why worship is still free. In John 14:25:27 we see; I. We are Reminded of His Service. (Vs. 25). II. We are Reminded of His Sacrifice. (Vs. 26). III. We are Reminded of His Sufficiency. (Vs. 27).
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate weapon of the believer and our closest friend as we walk this earth, but He remains as the most misunderstood person of the God-head. As Jesus was about to be arrested He spoke one again to His disciples about what was going to happen to him, but this time He told them that it was going to happen to them as well. To help the disciples though the times ahead Jesus told them He was sending them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. In this message we look at two thoughts; I.Who is the Holy Spirit?, and II. What does the Holy Spirit do. Our focus text is John 16:7-15.
The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was just as important as the birth of Christ, the crucifixion and the resurrection, because they were all part of God's redemptive plan for mankind. When we think about the Holy Spirit as part of the Trinity of God, He is often the most overlooked one of the three, therefore, this sermon begins a series on the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:1-8 we see how that the coming of the Holy Spirit set the Church on fire and prepared the way for the spread of the gospel to all nations. In this text we point out the; I. Availability of the Holy Spirit. (Vs. 1-4), II. Accountability to the Holy Spirit. (Vs. 5-8, 12-13).
There is one reality that all of us have faced from the moment that we are born, we are going to eventually die. Kings, the rich, poor, unknown people, they all face the same outcome. It would seem like there is no hope in this broken system of life, but for Christians we know that isn't true because of what Jesus done for us through the cross and the grave. We often see those powerful moments in Scripture, and then we skip right to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but if we do we miss something just as powerful. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were just as important as everything else that He had done up to this point. In Acts 1:8-11 we take a look at why those post-resurrection appearances were so important. I. It Prepared a Watch. (Vs. 8). II. It Assured a Warranty. (Vs. 9-11). III. It Removed Worry. (Vs. 11).
After the resurrection, Jesus, showed Himself to the disciples and others for 40 days before He ascended to heaven, and in this time there were many things that happened that helped shape these men and women. The 10 days that followed were some of the most important days in the disciples life, what they done in those days set the tone for the rest of their life. They were on the verge of Pentecost, but they didn't know when that time would come, they just knew that the Holy Spirit was coming, so they were preparing themselves. As we look at Acts 1:12-26 we get a picture of what prepared them to change the world, of what made them such a powerful church, and therefore, what can make us a powerful church. I. They were faithful in worship. (12-14), II. They were fervent in the Word. (Vs. 15-20), They were fruitful in the work. (Vs. 21-26).