Bethlehem Baptist Church East Dublin, Georgia
Chuck Haywood
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The Bible-Based preaching ministry of Matt Haywood, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, located in East Dublin, Georgia. Thanks for listening in and God bless you!
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Dec 3, 2023
THE MAGNIFICAT
Christmas is a time where we love to sing the carols. They remind us of happy memories and moments of Christmas’s past. My wife and I recently started a devotion leading up to Christmas that examines the message in the Christmas carols.
Did you know that most of our most beloved carols were written to teach theology. That’s true of the hymns, both modern and traditional, as well. That’s actually the purpose of the Book of Psalms; so you could say that singing’s purpose in worship has always been to remind us of the truth of God’s Word.
I encourage you this Christmas as you sing the songs of Christmas to think about the words in those songs and not just sing them for their pretty melodies.
This morning, we are going to begin a series through the songs of Christmas, but we are not going to look at the carols, we are going to look at some songs actually recorded in the Christmas passages that we have in the Bible. We begin by looking at a song called the Magnificat.
Turn with me to Luke 1:39-56
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Nov 26, 2023
RUTH 3-4 OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER
Most of us in here this morning have been to a wedding before. I’ve always though that weddings at this time of year were pretty smart. The church is already decorated and you can save yourself a little bit of money by doing it when the halls are decked.
Weddings are a beautiful picture of commitment and devotion. The Bible celebrates weddings between believers and often uses them as an example of our union with Christ. In fact, one of the reasons that God ordained marriage was to be a picture of Christ and the Church.
In a way, there is a redemption of the bride as the groom takes her to be a part of his family.
Today, we are going to look at a couple of practices that reflect this element of redemption as we look at a wedding proposal and a kinsman redeemer.
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Nov 19, 2023
RUTH 2 THE KINDNESS OF GOD
We are in the middle of our study through the Book of Ruth and we are also approaching Thanksgiving coming up this week. Some of you may have decorated for Thanksgiving and not caved in to the pressure to decorate for Christmas in October. I can’t say much because I listen to Christmas music pretty much any time I want to.
When I think of Thanksgiving decorations, I think of straw and wheat stuffed scarecrows and turkeys and pumpkins everywhere. Maybe you have a little black-hat Pilgrim standing around somewhere with his black buckle shoes. All of these decorations bring up a vibe of celebrating a harvest.
When I think of harvest in the Bible, the Book of Ruth comes to mind because a large portion of the Book takes place in a harvest field.
We began the story last week looking at Naomi and Elimelech who were from Bethlehem and they had taken off to the land of Moab to escape a plague that was sent on the land. This all took place during the period of spiritual apostasy in the time of the judges. God was judging the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness.
Elimelech and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, had died during their 10 year stay in the land of Moab, leaving Naomi behind with Ruth and Orpah, her daughters-in-law. She tried to send them both back and Orpah left, but Ruth stayed with her.
Our story picks up today after they had returned and Naomi and Ruth are in need of some food and care. Let’s see what happens next.
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Nov 12, 2023
RUTH 1: THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
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Nov 12, 2023
JUDE 12-13 ANALOGIES OF DESTRUCTION
Analogies are helpful to let us compare things or explain things. We have all kinds of comparisons and idioms.
It’s getting colder outside and some of you may have pulled out your hoodie and said something like, “I’m as snug as a bug in a rug,” to indicate you were warm and cozy.
You may have seen someone that looked nervous and you said something like, “He’s as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers.”
Another one some of you may have used before to describe someone that is not very helpful is that they are “as useful as a screen door on a submarine.”
One last one for you might be fitting if you’ve done something wrong - “He’s sweating like a sinner in church.”
All of these expressions help paint a mental picture of what we are trying to communicate. Jude did the same when he was referring to these false teachers that the church needed to be warned about. He gives a series of analogies of the destruction these false teachers can cause.
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Nov 5, 2023
THE LUKEWARM CHURCH
I’m an avid coffee drinker. I have a cup in the morning, a cup when I get home in the afternoon, and a cup in the evening. I may even squeeze in a few extra cups throughout the day.
However, one thing I cannot stand is cold coffee. I understand that some of you like this, but I can’t get behind that. At least with cold coffee there is usually some flavoring in there, but I still prefer mine hot.
However, the coffee that is the most disgusting of all is a cup that has started out hot and has sat around too long and gotten lukewarm and starting to go cold. That’s a cup of lost potential.
Well, this morning we are going to take a look at perhaps the most famous church of the seven churches of Revelation - the Laodicean Church. You may not know much about these other churches, but this is one that if you have been in church for any length of time, you have probably heard reference to and you know it is not good.
Let’s take a look at why this morning.
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Oct 29, 2023
JUDE 8-11 WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
There is really nothing new under the sun. There are a lot of false gods and religions out there and a lot of heresies, but they are really the same old heresies that are repackaged over and over again.
When you go fishing, if a bait is working, why change your lure. Satan just keeps deceiving with the same old lies he’s always used.
To make matters worse, we tend to not teach our children these lies and warn them, so the next generation comes along and thinks they have a new way figured out to do things and they end up coming up with the same problems and shortcomings as the previous one, with maybe a little different window dressing on it.
That’s the message that Jude was trying to teach the church. He wanted them to know that “what goes around, comes around.”
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Oct 29, 2023
THE FAITHFUL CHURCH
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Oct 22, 2023
JUDE 5-7 GOD WILL JUDGE
Tonight we have a difficult passage to deal with. It’s not hard because it is hard to apply. Even with some of the difficulties that we will handle tonight, the message is clear.
We are going to look at three examples of warnings that Jude gives to the people regarding the false teachers in the church. All three of these examples remind us that God will one day judge the nations. He will judge these false teachers. He will expose them as the frauds that they are and then punish them.
Let’s take a look a these examples. Now, through the rest of the book, Jude will alternate back and forth between the characteristics of the false teachers and what is going to happen to them.
Tonight, we see three examples that Jude gives of the judgment that will come on these false teachers.
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Oct 22, 2023
THE SLEEPWALKING CHURCH
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Oct 8, 2023
JUDE 3-4 CONTEND FOR THE FAITH
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
"The great business of the saints is to defend, if necessary with their lives, the faith once delivered to them. We are put in trust with the gospel. We are trustees of a divine deposit of invaluable truth, and we must be true to our trust at all costs."
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Oct 8, 2023
STAY FAITHFUL
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Oct 1, 2023
JUDE 1-2 CALLED, BELOVED, AND KEPT
The Book of Jude is probably not a book that is on anyone’s best seller list. Of all of the books of the Bible that you’ve studied, you probably don’t have very many verses memorized out of it and you probably have not heard a ton of messages preached from it.
However, Jude is an incredibly helpful book for us as believers because it was written to a church that was plagued by false teachers and who was called on to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
Tonight, we are only going to get through the greeting, but there are some powerful words shared in that greeting that we need to hear.
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Oct 1, 2023
TROUBLE IS BREWING
Church in Smyrna was in modern day Izmir, Turkey
It was known as a center fo sicence and medicine and was usually victorious in battle. It was like a football team that wins all the time.
They were also known for their medicine and science.
This place that could be a wonderful place to live, could also be hell on earth if you were a Christian.
This morning, we are going to look at a warning that Jesus gave to the church that trouble was brewing.
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Sep 24, 2023
INTRODUCTION: The Seven Churches of Revelation
Introduction to the Series
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Sep 3, 2023
LIVING BY THE GOLDEN RULE
How many of you have ever seen one of these?
There used to be a time where these were handed out in school. You know they can serve as a teaching tool in more than one way. You can learn the rule or you can have the rule used on yourself, if you know what I mean!
The Golden Rule has become a part of our culture and most people can tell you what it is, even if they don’t try to live by it.
Well, this morning we are going to go back to the Golden Rule and look at one simple verse that has such a profound meaning for us as Christians. I hope this morning that you see something about what Jesus tells us to do that you might not have noticed.
Let’s take a look at our verse together in Matthew 7:12.
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Aug 27, 2023
JUST ASK
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Aug 23, 2023
DISCERNING GOD'S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE
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Jul 30, 2023
WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?
PASTOR MATT CONTINUES HIS SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERIES
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Jul 23, 2023
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
What things are you passionate about? Do you love to fish? Do you love golfing? Do you love going to the gym or hanging out with friends?
Maybe you love gaming or hanging out with friends?
Have you noticed that the things we are passionate about will always find time in our schedule and in our budget, no matter what else may be going on around us?
We will even give up our precious sleep in order to do the things we value the most.
Jesus had a few words to say about that in His sermon on the Mount.
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Jul 19, 2023
UNBIBLICAL METHODS OF DISCOVERING GOD'S WILL
People come up with a lot of crazy ways to try to find out the will of God. Tonight we are going to take a survey of several of them listen in the Bible. I want to encourage you to follow along. We are going to mention some big words tonight, so I’ve given them to you on your handouts and you can just fill in what they mean.
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Jul 9, 2023
Sunday AM Service 07/09/2023
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Jul 2, 2023
CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD (PART 1.)
What do other gods all have in common?
They are all made in the image of man or some other created thing with the characteristics of the ones that seek to worship the idol.
What is different between God and the false gods?
God has made man in His own image and we are told how we ought to worship God, not the other way around.
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Jun 25, 2023
GOD'S DESIGN FOR MARRIAGE
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Jun 18, 2023
WHO'S YOUR DADDY?
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May 28, 2023
DOING IT ALL FOR SHOW
We all love a good show! I am particularly fond of theater because I love to see how they come up with creative ways to change scenes and I feel like the characters have to really be good actors and actresses to be able to perform. There aren’t creative camera angles and edits to help them if they mess up a line or don’t come in at the right time.
In fact, some of the actors and actresses of Hollywood will often go on Broadway to help refine their acting skills. Did you know that acting has been around for a long time? I mean, if you’ve ever seen the Flintstones you know what I mean!
Seriously though, the Greeks and the Romans built massive theaters for acting and entertaining the masses. These actors in Greek culture were actually called “hypocrites.” That probably sounds familiar to a word we have heard before, doesn’t it? It sounds like they were being called hypocrites, and in fact they were!
The word means to put on a show and act. Today, when we call someone a hypo…
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May 21, 2023
LOVING THOSE YOU WANT TO HATE
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May 14, 2023
THE WAYS OF A GODLY MOTHER
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May 7, 2023
LOVE LIKE JESUS
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Apr 30, 2023
KEEP YOUR WORD
I don’t know if any of you are looking for a gift idea for someone, but I ran across this little game that is a lie detector game. You put your hand on it and people get to ask you questions. Now, most of you know that a polygraph test, or lie detector test, works by registering your heart rate. Apparently your heart begins to beat a little faster whenever you don’t tell the truth. I have heard some people say that you can also see the pupils dilate or people will look certain directions when they are not telling the truth.
You know that can be a little tricky to figure out, so you can just get this little game for $12.99 and find out all you ever wanted to know about a person, or at least whether or not they are a liar. They simply place their hand on the device and if they are lying, it will shock them. When they scream, you know they are telling a lie!
If we gave one of these bad boys to Congress, we could solve the fuel crisis in this country, couldn’t we?
Well, today we a…
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Apr 23, 2023
MARRIAGE BREAKERS
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Apr 16, 2023
THE HEART OF ANGER
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Apr 9, 2023
DO YOU BELIEVE?
Have you ever been on vacation and seen one of those Ripley’s Believe It or Not places? There are all kinds of oddities and weird things in them. I’ve never personally been in one, but I have the internet to tell me about them!
They were created by a man named Robert Ripley who started with a cartoon entitled “Believe It or Not” in 1918. This led him to start what He called “Odditoriums” where he would display exhibits as “proof” of his tales he told in the cartoons.
Now, the very name, “Believe It or Not,” tells us that these exhibits are of an extraordinary nature and are hard to believe. What type of things are we talking about here?
Well here are a few of the exhibits
-A Mummified Corpse that Attends Meetings
-A Man Who Finds a Message in a Bottle and Inherits Millions
-A Boy Raised By Monkeys
All of these stories are either true or have parts that are true, and you have to decide whether to believe them or not.
The sad thing is that there are people who…
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Apr 2, 2023
PALM SUNDAY AM:
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Mar 26, 2023
DOES THE LAW STILL MATTER?
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Mar 19, 2023
SALT AND LIGHT
Have you ever had a doctor tell you that your blood pressure is too high and you need to go on a low sodium diet? Some of you have not been told you needed to by a doctor, but the cook at the restaurant you ate at must have thought he did, and so you are given food that had very little salt on it. As a side note, I’ve discovered that the more expensive the restaurant may be, the less they give you. They don’t cook your food all the way, they don’t put sugar in your tea, they don’t salt your food. You get the picture.
Well, I’m the type of guy that likes to see the salt on my food. I guess I it’s because it never snow here and that’s the closest I can get.
Anyways, living without salt can be rough.
In a similar way, have you ever had the power go out and you had to light an emergency candle? Isn’t it amazing how that candle can light up the whole room! It may take your eyes a little to adjust but without it, you would be stubbing your toe on every piece of furniture i…
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Mar 12, 2023
BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Mar 8, 2023
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
We’ve heard a lot of people talking about revival lately. I’ve even been talking about it a lot. We need to take advantage of the interest.
It’s like the old sailors used to say, you have to take advantage of the wind. When the wind is against you or is not blowing, you just bob there in the water, but when a favorable wind begins to blow, you have to hoist up the sails and take advantage of it right then.
Well, we want to take advantage of the interest people have in revival and encourage people to seek Jesus. To do that, there are some rules of engagement we must follow.
God has chosen to bless certain means in the bringing of revival. Tonight I want to share with you some of these means and ask you to pray for God to use them in your life. I’m asking you to get to work tonight to help bring about revival in your life and in the life of this church.
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Mar 5, 2023
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
I’m sure you’ve been around a group of kids that were always quarreling with each other. As parents with more than one kid, we live this out all the time. Your kids will get to fighting and arguing with each other. Sometimes you just need a little peace and you are struggling with what sort of punishment you need to give them to make them get along. Parents can get pretty desperate for answers at times, so we do what everyone does these days and we resort to the internet to find a good discipline for arguing children.
Well, if you look online, there is one discipline that is quite creative. Have you ever seen the “getalong shirt?”
I checked it out and you can legitimately buy these shirts online for your kids.
Well, I think this might be a good thing for churches to buy as well, because sometimes as Christians we need a “get-along shirt” to make us work out our problems rather than constantly bickering at one another.
Did you know that as Christians we are all adopted i…
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Feb 19, 2023
BLESSED ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
We say it all the time, but children look like their parents.
There is a lady that has taken social media by storm and has single handedly saved the church potluck dinner, and cooking in general for a whole generation of people who didn’t grow up having HomeEc classes or having parents that taught them how to cook. Her name is Brenda Gantt. Have you heard of her?
Brenda is a down-to-earth, Christian lady that gets in front of her phone and just talks to you as she teaches you how to cook. What’s refreshing about her videos is that she talks to you like you are right there in the room and so many people have started watching her videos because they are longing for relationship with people and this is something that they can connect with.
Well, I too watch her videos and learn some things about cooking from her. One of the episodes I was watching the other day included a cameo appearance of her daughter. She happened to be walking through the house as Brenda was filming and she ma…
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Feb 12, 2023
BLESSED ARE THE HUNGRY
This morning we are on the cusp of something that I hope and pray is to be a big deal. I challenged our group at Prayer Meeting this past Wednesday night to join me in praying for revival in our nation. I am asking specifically for us to pray for a movement of God that is bigger than we can contain and that is the work of the Holy Spirit poured out in abundance on us. We desperately need revival!
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Feb 8, 2023
PASS IT ON
Why do you think God values families so much? Don’t get me wrong. We are not saying that if you do not have a husband or wife or children that you are not a family. Families look different depending on a lot of factors, but God still places a high value on the family.
Why do you think this is the case?
If you are paying attention and you’ve looked up on the screen at the slides, you probably had the thought come to your mind that God wants us to pass on our faith and the family is one of the most influential ways that we can do that.
If you said something similar to this, then you were correct.
I believe that this is the real reason Satan has attacked traditional marriage. It is the reason that he has gone after gender roles and confusion. He has carried an all out assault on the family to destroy the family’s ability to pass on the teaching of God’s Word to the next generation.
Now, the beauty of the gospel is that God transforms lives. Where the Gentiles were called not…
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Feb 5, 2023
KINGDOM ATTITUDES: THE PATTERN WE MUST FOLLOW: PART 2
SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE
When you hear the phrase: “humble, meek, and mild,” what image comes to your mind?
Some of you would say Jesus because you’ve heard that phrase used to describe Him. But what exactly does that mean? We probably know what it means to be humble, but what does it mean to be meek or mild?
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Feb 5, 2023
KINGDOM ATTITUDES: THE PATTERN WE MUST FOLLOW: PART 1
This morning we are going to begin a study through one of Jesus’ most famous sermons called the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon is really probably a collection of longer teachings that Jesus gave over time and we have two similar versions of the sermon recorded in Matthew and Luke. There are some subtle differences and scholars like to call Matthew’s version The Sermon on the Mount and Luke’s version The Sermon on the Plain, based off of where Jesus was when He delivered each of the sermons.
We are going to be looking at Matthew’s version over the next several months, and we are going to see that The Sermon on the Mount begins with blessings, or Beatitudes, to the follower of Christ who possesses these traits. These Beatitudes we are going to call Kingdom Attitudes and we are going to take a look at them over the next couple of weeks.
Look with me this morning in Matthew 5.
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Jan 25, 2023
THE CARE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH
There are a lot of care ministries that the church should be engaged in and we are going to look at some of them tonight as we look at what Paul had to say about them. He was actually even a beneficiary of the care ministries of the church and blasted some people who had neglected them.
Let’s jump in and see what he had to say!
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Jan 18, 2023
SAFE AND SECURE IN THE HANDS OF GOD: PART 2 WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?
Tonight we are going to take a look under the hood of our salvation and what drives our ministry in Christ.
If you have ever gone car shopping, you go to the lot and look at the car and you first notice the body of the car, the color of the paint, the price and all of that. You make a decision based on what you see, but you don’t really pop the hood and trace the wires and ask how does the car move and how does everything work.
What is happening under the hood is often taken for granted. Well, that’s how things can be with salvation too. We look at a person coming down the aisle and praying to receive Christ. We focus on the person and what the person does. We sometimes make the gospel more about what we do as people, as evangelists or pastors and teachers, than on what God is doing in the person’s heart and through our words.
Well, tonight we are going to look under the hood and you might find yourself challenged a little tonight. You are going to see that God has been involv…
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Jan 8, 2023
WORDS FROM THE FATHER
God is speaking through Solomon like a father to his son.
But, God is also speaking through Solomon to you and me. So tonight, let’s listen to our Father as we gain some wisdom for us to live by.
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Jan 4, 2023
NOT ASHAMED
Have you ever had a family member embarrass you in front of your friends or people you really were trying to make an impression with?
Dad’s are notorious for embarrassing their kids and being goofy.
But how many of us act as if we are ashamed of Christ?
The Roman historian Livy who lived around the time that Jesus was born said,
Be assured that when once a woman begins to be ashamed of what she ought not to be ashamed of, she will not be ashamed of what she ought.
-Livy
The same could be true of us when it comes to being embarrassed of the gospel of of Jesus and those who serve him.
The call of Scripture to us is do Not be Ashamed and we are going to look at that call tonight!
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Dec 28, 2022
RESOLVE TO TAKE A STAND
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Nov 30, 2022
IN THIS TOGETHER
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with life? Maybe you feel a little terrified with the assignment God has given you.
Timothy struggled some with feeling inadequate and fearful to do what God had given him to do. He was faithful, but he often got overwhelmed.
Paul wrote to encourage Timothy and remind him that they were in this together. They had a common faith and a common heritage that they shared.
We live in a world where we are always comparing ourselves to each other. We grow competitive as churches or as believers and we start to see each other as enemies rather than blessings. Cancel culture has caused us to cancel each other if we don’t agree 100% with each other.
I heard a pastor at the Georgia Baptist convention recently make the observation that if we cancel everyone that we disagree with, it won’t be long before we cancel ourselves!
We need to look at other believers as fellow family members and realize we are all in this together.
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Nov 16, 2022
CALLED AND SENT OUT
If you are like me, you are probably a little discouraged with the direction that the country is taking. You might be wondering what is wrong with people. The reality of the situation is that people are acting exactly as we might expect them too....if they are lost.
We need to understand as Christians that lost people celebrate their sinfulness. What is frustrating so many people is that they have falsely believed that this country was a Christian nation. That is not to say that it was not founded upon Christian principles, but it means that most of the people in the United States are not Christians. Even many who say they are Christians are only Secular Christians and not true biblical Christ followers.
It is no wonder that we have problems in our country, but we should not lose heart. The same gospel that brought about the revivals of the past is the gospel that can bring a revival in our day and age.
We are going to start a journey through the Book of 2 Timothy on Wednesday night…
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AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW
Who are some of your spiritual role models? Maybe it was a preacher or Sunday school teacher. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent.
One thing that I like to do is read old books by old preachers. The reason I do this is because they are often times more theologically rich in what they have to say and they also can’t fall. The story of their lives has already been written.
That’s not to say that I don’t have any contemporary role models. I think we should have someone living that we look up to in the faith, but we also hold that respect with a sense of incompletion. They have not yet finished their race and kept the faith.
So many times we hear of a prominent faith figure that falls from grace or has some scandal in their lives and often it can cause people to stumble who looked up to them.
Billy Graham was a great example of a man who took it seriously that people were following his example and went so far as to make a rule that is often referred to as the “Billy Graham Rul…
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