Teaching at First Baptist

We can all agree that things aren't the way we wish they were. Anger, distrust, fear, and hopelessness seem to rule this day. It is easy to wish we were somewhere else or in some other time. But what it God placed you in this dark and broken time intentionally? What if God put you in this moment so that through you this world might see love, peace, faith, and the light of Jesus? You see, the choices you make in this moment can change the world.

Our lives are often filled with one more thing. If we achieve this one more thing, we will be content. If we can get this one more thing, life will be complete. If we can just finish this one stage of life, we will find freedom and calm. The problem is that every time we check one thing off the list, there seem to be a dozen other one more things we must conquer. Jesus never made us to find success or contentment in one more thing; we were made us to find purpose and contentment only in him..

We look forward to Christmas with such expectation. We anticipate the decorations, the music, the food, the time with family, and the joy in the eyes of children as the open gifts. As wonderful all these things are, there was a different kind of expectation that first Christmas. The people were waiting with joyful expectation for a savior. They were waiting for the burden of their disobedience and the weight of the law to be lifted. They were waiting, but they were waiting with joyful expectation.

Our lives are meant to be a demonstration of our love for him - a love that encompasses all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength - and this great love for him overflows into a sacrificial love for our neighbor as well..

Christian history is filled with men and women who chose the unsafe path of following Jesus rather than fitting in with the world. They were willing to accept pain and persecution, poverty and rejection because they knew that Jesus was worth whatever the cost.

We often worry about how we will respond in the "big" moments of life. While the big moments are important, our witness is determined more by the small, seemingly insignificant moments of everyday life. That is why we are called to be like Jeuss in everyday life.

We worry. We are afraid. We complain. We feel powerless and confused. Fortunately, we were never called to figure anything out on our own. We have been given a sacred invitation into the presence of God himself. We must simply pray first.

Christmas is filled with so many special things to do, traditions to enjoy, people to see, gifts to give, music to play, and food to eat. If we are not careful, we can easily become so wrapped up in celebrating the Christmas season that we no longer focus on why we celebrate.

The things in our lives rarely are exactly the way we wish they were. However, in the mids of all that isn't the way we wish it was, we are called to be grateful for all that God has done for us. We are called to demonstrate our gratefulness by the way that we live and follow Jesus.

God created us for relationship with him and for relationship with one another. God weaves us together as we belong to him and to one another, as we believe in him and in one another more deeply, and as we help one another become all God has made us to be.

Faith begins when we reach the end of our abilities. Often, when we have no where else to go, we turn to God more completely. The God we serve has parted the sea and walked on water. We simply must seek him, trust him, and follow wherever he leads.

The Kingdom of God does not just await us in heaven. The Kingdom of God dawns in our lives when we live out our relationship with Jesus in community with other believers. But the values of the Kingdom are much different than the world.

No matter how hard we try we are not very good at changing ourselves. Fortunately, we were never really called to change or fix ourselves. That is why Jesus came. Jesus came and died for us so we could be forgiven and be changed from the inside out.

The Christmas season can be really, really busy. In fact, if we are not careful we can easily get so wrapped up in the stuff of Christmas that we simply miss the meaning of Christmas. Perhaps we just need slow down and rediscover Christmas.

The circumstances of the past few years seem to have really taken the joy of so many believers. As followers of Jesus our joy is based on who God is and what he has done for us. We won’t rediscover joy with a change of circumstances, but we can rediscover joy through worship.

We have only a brief time for our lives to make an eternal impact. We aren’t going to stumble into making a positive eternal impact. We must be intentional about our faith and the way we live. The key to making an eternal impact with your life is simply to be intentional. 

We have been given only a brief time for our lives to make an eternal impact, but God has given us everything we need to make an impact during the time we have. That’s why we are all accountable to God for what we do with the life he has entrusted to us.

Jesus promised us a life that is overflowing and full. Far too often, the life we experience seems so much less than what Jesus promised. Unless our lives revolve around Jesus, we will never find satisfaction and fulfillment.We will never find living water in empty wells.

Everything changed when the Holy Spirit arrived. Fear and closed doors were replaced by power and community. Diversity was overwhelmed by unity in Jesus. When the church lives in unity and purpose, the Spirit's power can be unleashed today.

Being a follower of Jesus is about more than a decision made long ago or even what we do on Sunday mornings. You see, the power of God's presence in our lives will produce a quality and quantity of evidence that the world cannot explain or ignore.

Before Bethlehem. Before the manger and the shepherds. Before the cries of the newborn Jesus, we see the heart of Christmas in the obedience, trust, worship, and compassion of Mary and Joseph. 

It is easy to become distracted and chase after things that are not bad but never really satisfy. In truth, there is nothing in this world that can truly satisfy our deepest needs. Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can make us truly satisfied. He is enough.

Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life away for our benefit. We are called to the same kind of service and humility. We are called to intentionally seek opportunities to serve Jesus by serving others.

There has never been anyone in the world just like you. God has entrusted you with a unique combination of gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences so that you can make an impact in this world that no one else can make.

When we look around us, it can be hard to see God's image in us. Jesus came to pay the price of our disobedience and to restore the image of God in you. Even now the Spirit is working in your life to help you embrace the character of God.

What does it mean to love God with all your mind? If we are going to grow in spiritual maturity, we must embrace loving God with all of our mind by allowing the Word of God to transform our minds.

Let's talk about Jesus. Let's set aside the debates, discussions, and divisions. Let's set aside the complexity and return to a child-like faith. Let's return to the gospel of John and focus on simply Jesus. Available on podcast and YouTube.

God made us for relationship with Him, but He also made us for relationship with other people. To connect with the heart of God, we must also connect with the people of God. People are the tools God uses to lead us closer to Him.

For many of us the greatest danger is that we will settle for a mediocre version of Christianity that is far less than Jesus came to give us. Moving beyond mediocre requires devotion; it requires us to connect with the heart of God.

So much has changed over the past year that the world scarcely looks like the one we knew. God has called us, though, to focus on a different kind of change - the change He desires to make in us. We were made for Christlikeness.

This Christmas season seems so imperfect, but the first Christmas seemed imperfect too. The imperfect circumstances of that first Christmas brought us our perfect Savior so we can celebrate even an imperfect Christmas.

This year has not been what we expected. It is right to grieve, and fear is understandable. God has called us to something more. He has called us to thankfulness. Finding purpose in the pain begins by pursuing thankfulness.

The reason we don't often experience abundant life Jesus came to bring us is because we often try to live life on our terms rather than on God's terms. The key to abundant life is found in simply being obedient to God.

We live in a time of incredible fear, and this incredible fear can easily paralyze us. While these are frightening times, as believers we are called to live differently. Fear is not the final word for us. So what would you do if you weren't afraid?

There are many good things in the world, but we have been reminded evil is alive and well today. Hope and healing are only found in Jesus, but the world will never encounter Him unless the church becomes the difference.

Our lives may have been turned upside down, but our faith was never built upon anything this world can take away. As we prepare to return to in-person worship, let's reimagine worship as a lifestyle rather than simply an event.

Perhaps God is using these times to remind us that there are things this virus can never take away, and there is peace that can never be shaken. Such peace is only available in Jesus Christ, and we can only experience it by dying to self.

The events of that first Easter still reverberate and are still changing everything. When we look again at Jesus' sacrifice, we are changed. All we need to do is to look again, and we will remember His sacrifice brought us life.

Our mission to make disciples of all peoples everywhere includes going to the other side of the world, but it doesn't begin there. Our mission to make disciples begins much closer. It begins on the other side of the living room.

We were created and called to something so much greater than the mundane, day-to-day living we so often experience. We were called to something more. We were made for mission.

On the night Jesus was born, there were a small group of shepherds quietly keeping their flocks of sheep in a nearby field. Little did they know that everything would change on that simple night because it was Christmas Time.

God created us to live in relationship with Him, but He also created us to live in relationship with other people. We were created to do life together. We were never meant to go through life on our own. We were called to community.

It is easy to be overwhelmed and forget that the One who is in us is so much greater than the one who is in the world. When God does something miraculous, He always begins in one life. One life - your life - really can change the world.

When we remember that God knows everything about us and has chosen to love us, we can find the courage to take the mask off and experience the power of God’s love, forgiveness, and healing. God loves you more than the mask.

We all can sense there is something more, but how do we get there? The key to unlocking spiritual growth is found in a return to the spiritual disciplines of centuries ago and their ability simply to bring you into the presence of God.

The world is watching us and evaluating Jesus based on what they see. Our choices have an eternal impact because our choices are surrounded by watching eyes. The impact of your choices will be determined by what you choose.

One life. One heart. One name. One eternity. Right where you are, there is one person who needs to know Jesus. We are called to reach the world, but reaching the world begins by reaching one. So who’s your one?

Our battle is a spiritual one against the thief who has only come to steal, kill, and destroy. We can no longer ignore or avoid this truth. It is time for us to face our spiritual battles, but we cannot do so if we are unprepared.

It is not hard to see the faithfulness and power of God. Honestly, we can just as easily see our weakness and failure. The people of Zechariah's time were no different. They knew their failure and needed hope for the hopeless.

Christmas began in a manger as a young woman gave birth to her first son Jesus who would be called Emmanuel - God with us. Christmas began when God gave us the greatest gift of all. He gave us His presence

God always intended our faith to be centered more around a living room than a worship center. We definitely need to hear the truth taught when we are at church, but we desperately need to see that truth lived out in our daily lives among those closest to us.

Many of us have heard angry conversations and heated sermons about money. This conversation is not focused on your checkbook; it is focused on your heart. Once we give our hearts away, making change comes naturally.

Every day God provides opportunities to impact people with the life-changing power of the gospel, but you only make an impact when you act. You only make an impact when you engage your world with the power of the gospel.

Jesus told the disciples He needed to leave them so the Holy Spirit could come—and they would be better off because of it. If this was true of the disciples, how much more do we need the Holy Spirit actively involved in our lives today?

Hebrews offers the encouragement that Jesus is greater than the pressures and pain. Jesus is greater than our traditions and experience. Jesus is greater than our very lives. Jesus is greater than…well…everything.

God works through ordinary people just like us. It may seem a bit overwhelming, but our God has a funny way of doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people so the whole world would know He is an extraordinary God.

Easter was meant to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. It was to remind us of the grace has been poured out upon us and new life we have been given. Easter reminds us to live every day in light of the resurrection.

Jesus was anything but predictable, and following Him was anything but safe. When compared to the world around Him, Jesus’ absolute faith and obedience was nothing short of scandalous.

We are what we habitually do so if we want to change who we are we must change what we do. We are creatures of habit, but we can develop habits to help us move beyond idle worship toward becoming who God has called us to be.

The world is a dark place in need of light. God has given us the privilege of sharing the light of Jesus that burns within us with the world around us. The world may be a dark place, but light always overcomes darkness.

 Our words are incredibly powerful. Our words will always impact those around us. Our words will always lead someone closer to Jesus or farther from Him. Small things really do make a big difference.

The building blocks of a strong faith really are not complicated. They are simple elements that can transform our lives and our faith, but we will never be transformed until we choose to focus on these building blocks of a strong faith.

Life is made up of a series of moments., and a single moment can shape your life. How we respond to those moments become the hinges on which your life moves and changes direction. One moment really can change everything.

What does it mean for a person to be a deacon? Traditions, preferences, and personal experience vary widely.  When we examine Scripture, we quickly discover that at the center of a Biblical deacon is a servant’s heart.

The great lessons we learn Nehemiah are that truly depending on God is the only way our lives can be put back together again. No matter how far you may have fallen, you can never fall so far God cannot bring you restoration.

In the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed the character of the Kingdom. The eight Beatitudes reveal to us the characteristics of those who are approved by God - the character of those who are blessed.

Join us for a very special journey through the final week of Jesus’ life on earth. The Easter season is a time of joy and reflection, a time of mourning and celebration. This week revealed Jesus perfectly, and this changes everything!.

We hope for many good things; unfortunately, far too often our hopes do not lead us to any kind of action. But what if this time was different? What if this time we actually took steps to turn our hopes into reality? What if?

Celebrate the Advent season with messages of hope, peace, love, and joy with special stories and opportunities to help you remember your stories of hope, peace, love, and joy. Join us as we celebrate simply Christmas.

Journey into the book of Titus to better understand the power of the gospel to transform the way we live every aspect of our lives. This is how we become tools through which God can touch others with the power of Jesus’ love.

What is the church? The Bible never describes the church as a place for us to go, but rather as a people who live in relationship with God and with one another. We can’t simply go to church. We are called to be the church.