Sunday School
Sunday School
Eternal Glory
Eternal Glory
3-22-20
3-22-20
I Peter 5:10-14, Last message in the study of I Peter.
3-29-20
3-29-20
In I Peter, the apostle is concerned with the suffering of the saints, but here in II Peter he is concerned with the seduction of the saints.
Sunday School
Sunday School
Peace Through Knowledge
Peace Through Knowledge
4-5-20
4-5-20
II Peter 1:1-4. This message is about the peace that a Christian can have in troubled times. This peace comes through knowledge of God and knowledge of God comes through study of the word of God.
4-19-20
4-19-20
II Peter 1:5-11, speaks of the Seven Virtues of a Christian, and the lives of both, those who strive for these virtues, and those who do not live for Jesus Christ.
Sunday School
Sunday School
4-26-20
4-26-20
In II Peter 1:12-21 we see Peter saying remember 3 times. What he is about to say is evidently of incredible importance, as it is rare to see something repeated three times. What is it that is so important? As we read the remainder of the chapter we find that even when we hear God speaking from heaven, it is not as sure and trustworthy as what we find written on the pages of God's word.
5-3-20
5-3-20
In II Peter chapter 2 Peter warns us of false teacher who shall be among us. These people will do what they can to overthrow belief in sound doctrine and draw members away from Biblical churches to establish apostate churches in their own image. Several of the other New Testament letters make it clear that at the end of the age, the number of false and apostate teachers would multiply dramatically. We are in those days today.
Sunday School
Sunday School
5-10-20
5-10-20
In II Peter 2:4-7 we find that the angels that rebelled in Heaven were punished for the sins, the world that preceded the flood was judged for their sin, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha were wiped out by fire from Heaven, because of their sin. As we consider all of this, it makes it quite clear that we shall all be judged in one way or another. No sin will go unpunished. But along with punishment, this passage also speaks of them who were protected and will some day be rewarded for their faithfulness.
5-17-20
5-17-20
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
Psalm 147:3 says "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."
There is a way to find help with the burdens that we bear. It is apparent that every person living in this world has, or will have something about which they are broken hearted. This life inflicts wounds. Saved or lost, every person will experience some type of severe suffering at some point in their lives.
Come along with us to find out how God can heal your spiritual and emotional hurts.
3-29-20
3-29-20
What part does repentance have in the salvation of a soul. The answer to this question is the difference between heaven and hell.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
This is a message about the heart attitude and response a person should have when confronted with the glory of who God is. The text of the message is Isaiah 6:1-8.
3-29-20
3-29-20
What part does repentance have in the salvation of a soul. The answer to this question is the difference between heaven and hell.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
Matthew 21:1-11, Zechariah 9:9-11. Zechariah prophesies of a lowly King sitting upon an ass, and riding into Jerusalem. Matthew 21 is the fulfillment of that prophecy as Jesus rides into Jerusalem. As these things are going on, Jesus is trying to explain to His disciples that He must die. The disciples cannot imagine that their Messiah would die, and they refused to wrap their minds around it. The cross was very heavy for the disciples to bear.
4-10-20
4-10-20
The Old Testament prophets told of a person who would come into the world. live a miraculous life and then suffer a Martyr's death. They predicted many things about this person's life, including that He would pay the sin debt for the entire world.
In the New Testament we find that this man is Jesus Christ. Jesus became the perfect and complete fulfillment of all of the prophecies related to his first coming. This is literally a statistical impossibility, unless God is in control, and directing the fulfillment of all prophecy.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
Through the resurrection and ascension of Christ there are several benefits that are applied to every believer in Christ.
We should have great confidence and joy in our hearts because of the ascension. Jesus Christ has now put on his full glory and is beyond our imagination today. Jesus is now the High Priest around the ark of the covenant in heaven. He is our eternal mediator at the throne of God. His sacrifice was accepted by God in heaven. We will all give an account to Jesus Christ. Jesus is now preparing a place for us in heaven. Jesus will also provide for every need we will ever have. All we need to do is remain faithful to him.
4-19-20
4-19-20
As we consider the nation of China, we find a nation with a tendency toward pure evil. The rulers seem to have no concern for human life. The way in which they have handled this corona virus outbreak, proves an absolute disdain for all other nations. Was this nation always this way? No it was not. In fact, their written language gives clues of a time when they believed in God and the Bible. The vast majority of Chinese people probably have no idea of the story that their ancient language tells.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
Current Events at First Baptist Church
Needed, A Virtuous Woman
Needed, A Virtuous Woman
In Titus 2:1-5 we find a list of the character and responsibilities of aged men, aged women, and young women. This message focuses on the role of women. An older Christian lady has been through many or most of the circumstances awaiting a younger woman who is a wife and a mother. An older woman has a responsibility to teach a younger woman, in the church, how to exist as a wife and mother, and how to avoid the pitfalls of life. The responsibility of a younger Christian lady is to learn from one who has already traveled the road she is embarking on.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
This is the first part of a two part massage titled: "Obeying God." In Acts chapter 4 we find Peter and the other apostles preaching to what can only be described as a hostile crowd. The priest and the Sadducees were there listening and, in reality, placing the apostles on trial for breaking their arbitrary laws. They were not breaking the Law of Moses. Because they were gathering large crowds and drawing people away from the controlling power of the Sanhedrin, these religious rulers of the people were very upset. As we look at our current situation in America, and especially in Michigan, we see similar circumstances.
However, if there is a choice to obey men or to obey God, the wise choice is obviously to obey God.
Memorial Day Message The Unfinished Work
Memorial Day Message The Unfinished Work
5-24-20
In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, while reflecting upon the Declaration of Independence, said that America was conceived in liberty. In every generation there is a responsibility to carry that liberty forward to the next generation. Just as in the Civil War, we have come to a crossroads. Our freedom is being severely threatened.
In Isaiah 61 we see a prophecy of Jesus and how he would be and what he would do when He came into the world. Along with the idea of comforting those who are mourning, an appropriate message for Memorial Day, Jesus also says, "...he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
America was founded upon the Bible, and, as well, it has been established in freedom and liberty, because of Jesus Christ.
As generations go, we will be the greatest failure if we allow that freedom to be taken away.
Sunday Morning Messages
Sunday Morning Messages
This is a message about the rule of law, the godly, Christian founding of the United States of America, and the godless and wicked condition of America as it is found today. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but I fear that America is about to be judged for its wickedness and unrepentant heart. Psalm 82 and the Romans 13 are lights that can lead America out of its present darkness if America will listen.
What Is Faith Promise Missions Giving
What Is Faith Promise Missions Giving
6-7-20
This is a message about a type of missionary support that is known as Faith Promise Missions Giving. This message explains how Faith Promise works, and considers its benefits as compared to other forms of missionary support. There is a great deal of scriptural support for this type of missionary support, and the great benefit of Faith Promise is that it places the responsibility for supporting missionaries squarely in the hands of individual Christians in a local New Testament church body.
Sunday Night Messages
Sunday Night Messages
10-11-20
10-11-20
Today Christians and non-Christians alike are being subjected to governments and other authorities who are going beyond their normal limitations of what they should be allowed to force upon society in general. It is also clear that the Wuhan, China virus can be quite deadly, especially to certain targeted groups. So, now there is a tendency to fear for our health, as well as fearing what the government may do to us, if we do not act in a certain prescribed fashion. Interestingly, the Bible tells us that in the last days, men's hearts will be failing them for fear of those things coming upon the world.
There is something of great importance that all Christians should understand. We should walk in faith rather than in fear of what man can do to us. We should exhibit, "Faith Over Fear."
The Nobleman and the King
The Nobleman and the King
3-29-20
3-29-20
In the last several verses of John 4 we find the encounter of the nobleman and Jesus Christ. The nobleman has a son who is near death down in Capernaum, so he has traveled the 20 miles to Cana of Galilee to meet Jesus and ask him to come and heal his son. What the nobleman gains by his encounter is far beyond anything he could have imagined.
Sunday Night Messages
Sunday Night Messages
3-22-20
3-22-20
Jesus preparing the disciples to witness to the people of Sychar. The fields are white already to harvest. Some plant, some water, and some reap.
The Nobleman and the King
The Nobleman and the King
3-29-20
3-29-20
In the last several verses of John 4 we find the encounter of the nobleman and Jesus Christ. The nobleman has a son who is near death down in Capernaum, so he has traveled the 20 miles to Cana of Galilee to meet Jesus and ask him to come and heal his son. What the nobleman gains by his encounter is far beyond anything he could have imagined.
Sunday Night Messages
Sunday Night Messages
4-12-20
4-12-20
In John 5 we see Jesus confronting a man who had an infirmity for 38 years, laying by the pool of Bethesda. He had been waiting for years to be healed, but when the waters were stirred by an angel of God another person would always beat him into the water. Jesus offered to make him whole, but the impotent man did not understand at first that Jesus was speaking mostly of his soul.
It Was Jesus
It Was Jesus
5-3-20
5-3-20
In John 5 we see the account of the impotent man who was healed by Jesus. In the first part of the chapter we see that he was healed by the power of Jesus without any faith on the part of this man. When the Jews complained about him carrying his bed on the sabbath day, and asked who it was that healed him, he didn't know.
God is always in the business of finding lost sinners, and Jesus found this lost sinner in the temple and told him to "sin no more." Now, knowing who Jesus was, and evidently having placed his faith in the Saviour, this man now becomes an outspoken witness for Jesus.
All Christians should have this kind of a response.
Sunday Night Messages
Sunday Night Messages
5-17-20
5-17-20
This message is the continuation of the morning message, which is taken from Acts chapters 4 and 5. In these chapters of the Bible we see the rulers of the people trying to force Christians not to meet or speak in the name of Jesus Christ. This is very much like what we are going through in America, and more specifically Michigan, right now.
In Acts 4 and 5 we see that the rulers of the people are experiencing a great loss of power and because of this they become incensed.
In these chapters we see an obvious conflict developing. The governing authority is saying that you cannot open the church and preach Jesus Christ to the people, but God says you must open the church and preach Jesus to the people.
On the one hand you have a tin-pot dictator, and on the other hand you have the Creator of the universe. Which one do you obey?
This is a very easy question to answer.
Jesus For Me
Jesus For Me
5-31-20
5-31-20
In John 5:17-23 we see the work of Jesus as well as the work of God the Father. If we are to understand the work of Jesus in the proper sense, we must understand that the things that Jesus did were done for you and for me.
Jesus has not done this work in isolation, but rather in unison with His Father. God's plan of redemption has been settled from long before the world was created, and it was carried out by the faithfulness and obedience of His Son, Jesus Christ. Now the Holy Spirit of God uses the word of God to convict people across this world of their sin guiltiness and the need for redemption. The Spirit of God teaches us that the only hope of redemption, for any man, is the work of Jesus Christ, in obedience to God's plan of redemption.
John 5:17 ¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Sunday Night Messages
Sunday Night Messages
3-7-21
3-7-21
In John chapter 6, after teaching the importance of seeking eternal and spiritual food, rather than earthly temporal food, Jesus sees many of his followers turn back, and cease to follow him. They are rejecting eternal life, as they draw back unto perdition.
Jesus asks the apostles if they will also leave, and Peter, once again utters perfect and amazing words back to Jesus.
Wednesday Night Messages
Wednesday Night Messages
Congregational Church Government, week 1
3-18-20
Congregational Church Government, week 1
3-18-20
Acts 1:13-20, First Business Meeting of New Testament Church in Jerusalem.
Congregational Church Government, week 2
Congregational Church Government, week 2
3-25-20
3-25-20
This message is taken from Acts chapter 1, and is a continuation of the message from last Wednesday night. It is about the first official business meeting in church history.
What Meaneth This
What Meaneth This
4-2-20
4-2-20
This message is about the day of Pentecost and the events in the upper room. The church is baptized with the Holy Spirit and the church is being empowered by this event to carry out the great commission that Jesus left with the church.
What Meaneth This, continued
What Meaneth This, continued
4-8-20
4-8-20
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples and they began to speak in other tongues, people from all around Jerusalem came to see this amazing and miraculous event. How was it that people from 17 different nations from around the world could hear these fishermen speaking in their own languages from where they were born?
Beyond that, the more important question to be asked was found in Acts 2:12; "What meaneth this?"
The Prophecy of Joel, Acts 2
The Prophecy of Joel, Acts 2
4-15-20
4-15-20
In Acts 2:16-21 we see the Apostle Peter quoting Joel 2:28-32. Joel prophesied about the last days, including the Holy Spirit baptizing the church and that, unlike Old Testament days, the Spirit would be poured out upon all who are saved. Joel's prophecy speaks of the Church Age, the Great Tribulation Period, and the Millennial Reign of Christ.
In the Church Age, and through the Millennium; whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.
Responses To The Gospel
Responses To The Gospel
4-22-20
4-22-20
On the day of Pentecost when Peter and the other disciples were preaching, the response they received was mixed. Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. While some mocked them, others received the word and were saved. This message is about responses to the gospel.
Fun Facts For the Future
Fun Facts For the Future
5-6-20
5-6-20
There are many instances of prophecy being fulfilled in our world today, and with the circumstances surrounding the corona virus outbreak we are beginning to see several other aspects coming more clearly into view. With the Bible open to the book of Revelation, we can see many things that were predicted by the Apostle John, some 2,000 years ago, coming true before our very eyes. It is at this time that Christians need to exhibit more faith in our Saviour than ever before.
The Gospel According to Peter
The Gospel According to Peter
4-29-20
4-29-20
Peter is preaching the gospel to Jews from 17 different nations and regions around the world, and as he is doing it, he reminds them of the prophecy of David in Psalm 16:8-11. In this Psalm, David was prophesying about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this prophecy, Peter is saying that David knew that Jesus would not be left in Hell, and that he would be resurrected from the grave. This is the gospel according to David. In Acts 2 as Peter is quoting David, he also is preaching the gospel according to Peter. There is no difference between the gospel of Peter and David. It is all the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When Reality Hits
When Reality Hits
5-13-20
5-13-20
In Acts 2, the Holy Ghost falls upon the church, the disciples begin to preach the gospel in other tongues, people from 17 different nations are present there and hear them in their own tongues, and miraculous things are occurring on all sides.
Peter is preaching that this power comes directly from the One that the Jews had crucified, and that some day He would be revenged upon His enemies. As the reality starts to sink in, many of these Jews become very afraid about their futures. When they cry out for help, Peter and the other apostles inform them that the only one that can help them is the One they crucified.
Being Steadfast
Being Steadfast
5-20-20
5-20-20
In Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 41 we see people who gave their voices to crucify Jesus Christ, hearing the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, and fell under deep conviction, by the power of the preaching of God's word and the Holy Spirit. When the reality of their situation hit them, they cried out, "What must we do?"
The answer Peter gave them was the same answer that the Holy Spirit would give to us today.
Once these people had repented and "gladly received his word," their lives were completely transformed.
This message speaks of that transformation.
Comparative Riches
Comparative Riches
5-27-20
5-27-20
In Acts 3 we find a man who was lame from his mother's womb, and was laid daily at the Beautiful gate of the temple. When Peter and John meet him on their way into the temple, they give him something that he could never have imagined. After 40 years of being hopelessly lame, he is healed in the name and by the power of Jesus Christ. The outflow of this healing is seen all the way through the third and fourth chapters of Acts. The impact of the events that follow result in the salvation of unnumbered thousands of souls.
In The Name of Jesus
In The Name of Jesus
6-3-20
6-3-20
When Peter and John are confronted by a lame man laying at the Beautiful gate of the temple, asking for a handout, they give him the greatest gift this man could imagine.
Peter said, "such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
The thing that we need to understand is that, everything we have as Christians, we have because of Jesus Christ. We need to teach our children, from the youngest age, to pray in the name of Jesus. This idea must be reinforced, throughout our society.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
By His Power
By His Power
6-10-20
6-10-20
In Acts 3:11-19 we find the lame man who was healed, holding on to Peter and John as they are there outside the temple. The multitudes are amazed that this man, whom they had known for many years, was now miraculously healed. Peter realizes that the crowd gathered there thinks that they had healed the man by their own powers. Because of this he immediately makes it clear that it was by the power and name of Jesus that he was healed. He goes on to preach to this group that their only hope of making it into Heaven, is to change their minds about the One they had crucified, and accept Him as their personal Saviour.
Acts 3:19 ¶ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...
In Whose Name?
In Whose Name?
6-24-20
6-24-20
A few weeks ago we had a message that was preached on Sunday morning, and completed on Sunday night. The message was titled "Obeying God" and was taken from Acts chapters 4 and 5.
The heart of the message was about whether Christians should obey the rules of sinful men when they come into conflict with God's clear commandments in His word.
From the Scriptures, it is obvious that God expects us to obey Him when there is a discrepancy between man's laws and God's commandments.
The Wisdom of Soul-Winning, part 1
The Wisdom of Soul-Winning, part 1
7-22-20
7-22-20
As we think about soul-winning, a couple of the very key verses are Proverbs 11:30 and Daniel 12:3. The first verse says that a person who strives to win souls is a wise person, and the second verse says that the person who turns people to the righteous of Christ shall shine like a star for eternity.
If we want to have the power and wisdom to be a soul winner we need to be more like Jesus Christ.
It is also true that if we want to have the wisdom to be a soul-winner, we need to pray and ask God for His wisdom, and in James 1:5 we are told that if we ask God for wisdom, He "giveth to all men liberally..."
In Whose Name?
In Whose Name?
6-24-20
6-24-20
A few weeks ago we had a message that was preached on Sunday morning, and completed on Sunday night. The message was titled "Obeying God" and was taken from Acts chapters 4 and 5.
The heart of the message was about whether Christians should obey the rules of sinful men when they come into conflict with God's clear commandments in His word.
From the Scriptures, it is obvious that God expects us to obey Him when there is a discrepancy between man's laws and God's commandments.