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28
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship Wk 4

Posted on Jan 28, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in Everyday Discipleship, General, Sermon Notes |

28
Jan '24
Everyday Discipleship with Real People
 

Teaching #4: “The Third of the Big Three:

The Importance of Spiritual Friendship!”

 
 
 

(If you are just beginning your journey, please click HERE to read the introduction

 
Loving accountability from the first 3 weeks:
 
1) Bible intake of Matthew 1 to Luke 17: Y or N
[Note: if this pace of Bible intake is too much for you, please know that grace abounds! Don’t quit; keep going! Find a pace that works for you.]
2) Use the S.O.A.P. Bible journaling technique: Y or N
3) Pray every day and during Bible time: Y or N
4) Read and reflect on the Tyranny of the Urgent: Y or N
5) Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:17 & Lord’s Prayer: Y or N
 
This is about who you are in Christ! A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus.
Discipleship is the intentional journey to Christlikeness; it’s a life-long commitment to learn and manifest who you are as a disciple through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
The third of the “Big Three” is spiritual friendship! The first is Bible intake and the second is prayer intimacy. This is the cord of three strands of your discipleship – “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). This is the way you experience spiritual vitality in the custom-made yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30).
 
 
 
Jesus sets the example of having spiritual friends!
 
1) Let’s start by reading Luke 22:39-46:
+ “as was His custom” (39)
+ How did Judas know where to find Jesus? (Luke 22:47)
+ “And He took with Him…” (Matthew 26:37) This event was Jesus’ point of greatest need for spiritual friends. 
     What kind of friend are you being? What are your next steps?
 
2) Reflect on the implications of Jesus’ example of spiritual friendship in the foot washing of John 13:5-20.
+ Memorize Jesus’ new command in John 13:34-35:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
+ How do Mark 2:2-5 & Galatians 6:1-2 teach us about how to fulfill the law of Christ as a spiritual friend?
 
3) Internalize (head to heart) Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23:
+ “they may be one, just as We are one” (22)
+ “that they may be perfected in unity, so that…” (23)
 
4) As you think about Jesus’ intentionality with His disciples, meditate on John 15:14 & Matthew 12:50:
+ “You are My friends if _________________________.”
+ “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
 
5) Read 1 Corinthians 16:17-18. Spiritual friendships refresh you and help you keep a right perspective on life.
 
 
 
Action Items for this week:
 
1) Bible intake for this week: Luke 18-24 & John 1-12.
2) Write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day. Bring your notebook. Are you willing to share?
3) Review this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).
4) Memorize John 13:34-35 and be intentional by setting up a weekly time to invest in your spiritual friendships.
 
 
MATERIALS TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT:
 
Tyranny of the Urgent (part of your learning tools for last week)
 
 

If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE. (This link will be live shortly)

 

If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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21
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship Wk 3

Posted on Jan 21, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in Everyday Discipleship, General, Sermon Notes |

21
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship with Real People

Teaching #3: The Second of the Big Three:

The Gift of Intimacy with God and How to Pray God’s Word!

 
 

 

(If you are just beginning your journey, please read the introduction…)
 
Introduction:
 
I invite you to participate in the First Baptist Church’s 90-Day New Testament Reading Challenge

 

Purpose: To train in godliness according to 1 Timothy 4:7b-8, every day for 90 days by reading God’s Word and meditating upon it day and night. To take the next step in your journey of following Jesus and becoming like Him. A 90-day New Testament reading plan is available to you at the church and will be emailed out to you.

 

Method: I invite you to read three (3) chapters of the New Testament every day over 90 days, starting on Monday, January 8. That’s 21 chapters a week. Before every chapter, I invite you to pray – to reflect upon what you have just read and to invite the Holy Spirit to give you insights and wisdom into what you are about to read. The Bible is God’s Word, and it must be discerned with spiritual eyes; therefore, you must pray and read, read and pray, praying at all times as you read. An example prayer is this: Sovereign God, I ask that You open the eyes of my heart to accurately read and spiritually discern Your inspired Word. Holy Spirit, please lead me in greater understanding and right application of all that I read and meditate. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. I will also be inviting you how to write a S.O.A.P. journal entry on your daily readings so it will also benefit you to grab a pen and some paper and keep it with your Bible through this 90-day New Testament Reading Challenge.
 
Accountability: While we will meet every Sunday morning for a discipleship training during our weekly worship service, and I will ask you if you are keeping up with the reaching challenge, it will be easy to hide in the pews. Therefore, I invite you to have a spiritual friend that you can meet with each week to sit down together, or talk with on the phone. You will pray together, review the week’s discipleship training from Sunday morning, discuss your readings from the week, share your journal entries with one another as you feel led, and talk about how you are experiencing growth in your Christian life through this experience. This is a time of encouragement and sharing the journey of following Jesus, to become like Him as you learn to walk in His easy yoke. This is best done in a rhythm of personal time with Jesus and community with friends and family. You are invited!
 
 
Today’s Lesson Outline:

 

The Second of the Big Three:

The Gift of Intimacy with God and How to Pray God’s Word!

 
Loving accountability from the first 2 weeks:
 

1) Bible intake of Matthew 1-28 & Mark 1-12: Y or N

2) Study the handout on the Five Finger Method: Y or N

3) Use the S.O.A.P. Bible journaling technique: Y or N

4) Pray before and after my Bible time: Y or N

5) Memorize Mark 1:17 & Galatians 5:22-23: Y or N

 

A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ. Last week, you were taught the importance of Bible intake through the five-finger method of getting a grip on God’s Word. Today, you are going to learn how to follow Jesus’ example of Bible intake and prayer, twined together as Jesus prayed the Word.

 

The ways of Jesus that you will encounter in Luke this week. Read Luke 4:1-13, 16, 42; 5:16; 6:12; and 22:39-46.

+ Jesus defeated Satan by praying the Word all three times (4:4, 8 & 12).

+ “as was His custom” (4:16)

+ “went to a secluded place” (4:42)

+ “often slip away to the wilderness and pray” (5:16)

+ “He went off to the mountain to pray” & “He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (6:12)

+ “as was His custom” (22:39)

+ “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (22:40).

+ “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (22:42).

 

The Three Obstacles to Intimacy with God

  1. Superficiality! (Luke 6:46-49)
  2. Failure to Prioritize! (Mark 8:35-37)
  3. Wrong Focus: Information vs. Intimacy! (2 Tim. 3:1-7)

 

When am I to pray?

+ Find Jesus praying in the Gospels and take note of it.

+ Read and reflect on Jesus’ prayer in John 17.

+ Read and reflect on Jesus’ prayer in Luke 10:21.

+ Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It’s only 3 words!

 

Tips to Praying Scripture

+ S.O.A.P. moves you to pray the Word.

+ Move God’s Word from your head to your heart.

+ Pray God’s Word when you don’t have words or when you are not sure if your words are “in His name.” A great first step is the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13):

 

“Pray then in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”

 

Action Items for this week:

 

1) Bible intake for this week: Mark 13-16 & Luke 1-17.

2) Write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day. Bring your notebook each week.

3) Review this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

4) Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and practice praying the Lord’s Prayer each day, found in Matthew 6:9-13

5) Read and reflect on the Tyranny of the Urgent handout.

 
 
MATERIALS TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT:
 
Tyranny of the Urgent (part of your learning tools for this week)
 
 

If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.

 

If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.

 
 
 

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14
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship Wk 2

Posted on Jan 14, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in Everyday Discipleship, General, Sermon Notes |

14
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship with Real People

Teaching #2:  The First of the Big Three:  

The Importance of Bible Intake & Reflection!

 

 

(If you are just beginning your journey, please read the introduction…)
 
Introduction:
 
I invite you to participate in the First Baptist Church’s 90-Day New Testament Reading Challenge

 

Purpose: To train in godliness according to 1 Timothy 4:7b-8, every day for 90 days by reading God’s Word and meditating upon it day and night. To take the next step in your journey of following Jesus and becoming like Him. A 90-day New Testament reading plan is available to you at the church and will be emailed out to you.

 

Method: I invite you to read three (3) chapters of the New Testament every day over 90 days, starting on Monday, January 8. That’s 21 chapters a week. Before every chapter, I invite you to pray – to reflect upon what you have just read and to invite the Holy Spirit to give you insights and wisdom into what you are about to read. The Bible is God’s Word, and it must be discerned with spiritual eyes; therefore, you must pray and read, read and pray, praying at all times as you read. An example prayer is this: Sovereign God, I ask that You open the eyes of my heart to accurately read and spiritually discern Your inspired Word. Holy Spirit, please lead me in greater understanding and right application of all that I read and meditate. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. I will also be inviting you how to write a S.O.A.P. journal entry on your daily readings so it will also benefit you to grab a pen and some paper and keep it with your Bible through this 90-day New Testament Reading Challenge.
 
Accountability: While we will meet every Sunday morning for a discipleship training during our weekly worship service, and I will ask you if you are keeping up with the reaching challenge, it will be easy to hide in the pews. Therefore, I invite you to have a spiritual friend that you can meet with each week to sit down together, or talk with on the phone. You will pray together, review the week’s discipleship training from Sunday morning, discuss your readings from the week, share your journal entries with one another as you feel led, and talk about how you are experiencing growth in your Christian life through this experience. This is a time of encouragement and sharing the journey of following Jesus, to become like Him as you learn to walk in His easy yoke. This is best done in a rhythm of personal time with Jesus and community with friends and family. You are invited!
 
 
Today’s Lesson Outline:

 

The First of the Big Three:  

The Importance of Bible Intake & Reflection!

 
Loving accountability from last week:
 
1) Did you listen to or read Matthew 1-21? YES or NO
2) Have you started a journal? Did you bring it with you?
3) Are you praying daily? Do you know the Lord’s Prayer?
4) Are you experiencing the good fruit of the Holy Spirit?

A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ. Last week, you were asked to memorize Mark 1:17. Did you memorize God’s Word?
+ The Call = “Follow Me”
+ The Promise = “I will make you become…”
 
Discipleship is the life-long journey of learning and manifesting who you are as a disciple of Jesus through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This is done by learning how to daily take on yourself the “easy” (custom made) yoke of Jesus and become like Him.
+ Read Matthew 11:28-30.
+ Read 1 John 5:3-4.
 
Are you in the easy yoke of Jesus? YES or NO
Are you experiencing His commands as burdensome?
Do you have a Bible you can understand? YES or NO
Are you willing to listen and obey? YES or NO
IF SO, what do you do with your Bible? GET A GRIP ON GOD’S WORD!
 
Five Finger Method of Getting a Grip on the Bible
1. Hear (pinky finger)– Romans 10:17 & Galatians 1:3-5
2. Read (ring finger) – Revelation 1:3 & 2 Timothy 3:16-17
3. Study (middle finger) – Acts 17:11 & 2 Timothy 2:15
4. Memorize (pointer finger) – Psalm 119:9-11, 105-106
5. Meditate (thumb) – Psalm 1:2-3 & Joshua 1:8
 
S.O.A.P. Method of Journaling the Bible
Scripture – Write down a verse that you want to highlight. It is meaningful to slow down and write out God’s Word. Observation – Record your reflections. What connections and insights are you finding? Questions for future study? Application – What’s your next step to apply it to your life, today and in the future? Confession? Repentance?
Prayer – Write down a personal prayer. Be honest, authentic, and vulnerable with God.
 

Seize the Moment

This is an intentional mindset to strengthen your spiritual vitality and live on mission. Living in this mindset involves viewing every circumstance as a providential opportunity to grow closer to Jesus, as His yokefellow, and being aware of the Holy Spirit’s promptings for faithful living.
+ Read Luke 11:27-28.
+ Meditate on James 1:18-26 & Matthew 7:24-27. Memorize Galatians 5:22-23.
 
This is what Christlikeness looks like. Are you seeing good fruit in your circumstances?
 

Action Items for this week:

 
1) Readings for this week: Matthew 22-28 & Mark 1-12.
2) Write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day. Bring your notebook each week.
3) Pray through this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
 
 
MATERIALS TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT:
 
 
 
 

If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.

 

If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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07
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship Wk 1

Posted on Jan 7, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in Everyday Discipleship, General, Sermon Notes |

07
Jan '24

Everyday Discipleship with Real People

Teaching #1: “The Journey to Christlikeness!”

 

 
 
Introduction:

 

I invite you to participate in the First Baptist Church’s 90-Day New Testament Reading Challenge

 

Purpose: To train in godliness according to 1 Timothy 4:7b-8, every day for 90 days by reading God’s Word and meditating upon it day and night. To take the next step in your journey of following Jesus and becoming like Him. A 90-day New Testament reading plan is available to you at the church and will be emailed out to you.

 

Method: I invite you to read three (3) chapters of the New Testament every day over 90 days, starting on Monday, January 8. That’s 21 chapters a week. Before every chapter, I invite you to pray – to reflect upon what you have just read and to invite the Holy Spirit to give you insights and wisdom into what you are about to read. The Bible is God’s Word, and it must be discerned with spiritual eyes; therefore, you must pray and read, read and pray, praying at all times as you read. An example prayer is this: Sovereign God, I ask that You open the eyes of my heart to accurately read and spiritually discern Your inspired Word. Holy Spirit, please lead me in greater understanding and right application of all that I read and meditate. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. I will also be inviting you how to write a S.O.A.P. journal entry on your daily readings so it will also benefit you to grab a pen and some paper and keep it with your Bible through this 90-day New Testament Reading Challenge.
 
Accountability: While we will meet every Sunday morning for a discipleship training during our weekly worship service, and I will ask you if you are keeping up with the reaching challenge, it will be easy to hide in the pews. Therefore, I invite you to have a spiritual friend that you can meet with each week to sit down together, or talk with on the phone. You will pray together, review the week’s discipleship training from Sunday morning, discuss your readings from the week, share your journal entries with one another as you feel led, and talk about how you are experiencing growth in your Christian life through this experience. This is a time of encouragement and sharing the journey of following Jesus, to become like Him as you learn to walk in His easy yoke. This is best done in a rhythm of personal time with Jesus and community with friends and family. You are invited!
 
 
Today’s Lesson Outline:

 

Teaching #1: “The Journey to Christlikeness!”

 

Christian Discipleship is the intentional journey to Christlikeness!

 

Read Romans 8:29:

+ “predestined to become”

+ “conformed to the image of His Son”

 

God chose you to look like Jesus!

 

Look at the context. Read Romans 8:26-28:

+ “according to the will of God” (27)

+ “to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (28).

 

What is that purpose? “To become conformed to the image of His Son – to be God’s “image bearer” (Genesis 1:26-28).

 

Read Colossians 1:15.

+ “the image of the invisible God”

 

When we look like Jesus – Christlikeness – we do that which Christ came to do (Luke 19:10 & Matthew 28:18-20)!

 

Memorize Mark 1:17:
 

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

 

+ The Call = “Follow Me”

+ The Promise = “I will make you become…”
 
 

Discipleship is the life-long journey of learning and manifesting who you are as a “disciple” through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. A disciple is a person who intentionally follows the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ.

 

FOCUS: The call of discipleship requires you to “follow” Jesus. The promise of discipleship requires you to trust the work of the Holy Spirit to “make you become.”

 

Read Philippians 2:12-13.

+ “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”

+ “it is God at work in you … for His good pleasure”

 

Christian Discipleship is a BOTH-AND: Hard work + a lot of trusting God! This journey is a long obedience in the same direction of Christlikeness (Matthew 11:28-30)! 

 

Read 1 Timothy 4:7b-8.

+ “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness”

+ “godliness is profitable for all things”

We are to train ourselves according to godliness – the pattern of Jesus’ life (“godliness” = “Christlikeness”).

 

Action Items for this week:

 

1) Start the 90-Day New Testament Reading Challenge, reading Matthew 1-21 this week. Pick up a reading plan.

2) Start a notebook or journal about your reading plan. Bring it next week as I will teach you how to write a SOAP journal entry for either each chapter or each day.

3) Pray through this handout as you prepare to read your Bible every day. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you “become” conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

 
 
 
 
MATERIALS TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT:
 
 
 

If you would like to watch this lesson on YouTube, click HERE.

 

If you would like to view the entire service including music, etc. click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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31
Dec '23

Advent 2023 (Wk 5)

Posted on Dec 31, 2023 by Jerry Ingalls in Advent, General, Sermon Notes |

31
Dec '23

Back to the Future

 
27 For just as the lightning comes
from the east and flashes even to the west,
so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
 

Cyndi Johansen & Bree King share with the children.

 
 
Luke 1:31-33
 
Matthew 13   Jesus compares things to the Kingdom of God
 
Luke 4:11
 
Matthew 25
 
 
Mark 4:11
 
 
Matthew 24:27, 30-31
 
Jeremiah 23:5-6a   The Lord is righteous, perfect, never broke God’s rules
 
We’ve all done wrong things… (example of sticky notes = our sins)
 
Jesus covers our sins (example:  Blanket)
 
Matthew 24:31-34
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When is Jesus coming back?
 
Matthew 24:36 
 
What if you were getting ready for company but you didn’t know when they were coming? 
When would you get ready?
 
 
 
 

Conclusion: Pastor Jerry shares

 
Philippians 2  So then my beloved…
 
God gave us the Holy Spirit… to secure us, to empower us…
 
1 Corinthians 15  We will all be changed!
 
If you believe this — act like it!
 
How do we do this?  That will be our focus in 2024!  Get ready for some challenges…
 
 
 
 
 
 

If you would like to watch just the lesson, click HERE.

 
 

If you would like to watch the entire service, click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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24
Dec '23

Advent 2023 (Wk 4)

Posted on Dec 24, 2023 by Jerry Ingalls in Advent, General, Sermon Notes, Special Message |

24
Dec '23
Back to Jerusalem
Job 19:25-27
 
25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
26 “Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
27 Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My heart faints within me!
 
 
 
What is Peace?
 
calm, no war, relaxing, — all of these things come to an end.
 
Let’s talk about a Peace that never ends.
 
What scares most people?    Death!
 
God wants us to know that there is something wonderful after death!
 
Redeemer – A person that pays for, trades for something.
 
Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins so that we could someday live in Heaven with Him!
 
Scriptures:
 
Matthew 18:1-7  The empty tomb
John 5:28-29    The dead will rise
John 5:24          If we believe in Jesus, we will be in Heaven one day
 
Jesus is with us.  He wants to be with us.
 
 

If you would like to see only the Time Machine lesson, click HERE.

 

If you would like to see the entire service, click HERE.

 
 

If you would like to see the evening Candlelight service, click HERE.

 

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10
Dec '23

Advent 2023 (Wk 2)

Posted on Dec 10, 2023 by Jerry Ingalls in Advent, General, Sermon Notes |

10
Dec '23
Setting Our Hope Anew on God

God So Loved the World

 
 
 
 
We can find out how much God loves us by reading in the Bible.

Jerry explaining the Cross & Manger

 
 
 
John 3:14-17
 

14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever a]believes will in Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His b]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
 
 
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness…
 
 
Cyndi shares the story of God’s people wandering in the wilderness.  They were disobedient.  He sent serpents to punish them.
 
Numbers 21:9
 
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
 
John 3:14
 
14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
 
John 8:28a
 
28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He…
 
John 3:15
 
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
 
John 3:16
 
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His a]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
 
Do you know that God loves YOU this much?  Emmanuel means “God with us”!
 
Like the Grinch, our hearts can grow at Christmas.  We normally think of gifts at Christmas.  Every time you look at your Christmas tree, think about how God came to earth and was born a baby.
 
Jesus is the greatest gift ever given!
 
Pastor Jerry shared about this free gift.
 
 
 
 

If you would like to watch just the presentation on YouTube, click HERE.

 
 

If you would like to watch the entire service including the music worship, click HERE.

 

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03
Dec '23

Advent 2023 (Wk 1)

Posted on Dec 3, 2023 by Jerry Ingalls in Advent, General, Sermon Notes |

03
Dec '23
Setting Our Hope Anew on God

A Return to Bethlehem

 

The Kidz Zone Time Machine with Cyndi

 
 
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
 
Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will a]rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
 
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son,
and she will call His name Immanuel.
 
 
Song:  Away in a Manger
Quotes from a version by Casting Crowns (verse 4)
 
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus, lay down His sweet head
Lord of all creation, lay down His sweet head
The Savior of the nation, lay down His sweet head
 
 
Luke 2:11
…for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
 
Romans 5:6-9
For while we were still helpless,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man;
though perhaps for the good man
someone would dare even to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
 

Cyndi & Jody sit with the children and share about the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth.

 
Come back next week to find out what happened next!
 
 

If you would like to watch this presentation on YouTube, click HERE.

 

If you prefer the entire service with music and announcements, etc., click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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26
Nov '23

Table of Blessings 2023

Posted on Nov 26, 2023 by Ken Durham in General, Sermon Notes, Special Message, Table of Blessings |

26
Nov '23
We gathered together on Sunday, November 26, 2023 to thank God for His many blessings.  Seven of our brothers and sisters shared some very specific events in their lives for which they were exceedingly grateful.  Watch as they share how God has seen them through times of hardship and sorrow, triumph and rejoicing.  God is unpredictable as to how He does it, but indeed He works all things for the good of those who love Him and whom He calls to His purpose! (Romans 8:28).
 
Below is a general outline and description of those who shared with us.  The time references are from the first video with just the sharing…
 

Host: Pastor Ken Durham

 

Matt and Emily Hurst (2:08)

Sometimes God brings into our lives things that are difficult to bare.  Change can be challenging, but God is good – and He means ALL FOR GOOD!  Our daughter has cystic fibrosis, we have gone through job changes, substance abuse in the family, and the death of a parent.  We are learning to forgive as we walk with Him.  Matt shared a meaningful quote from a book that he recently read:
 
They say of some temporal suffering,
“No future bliss can make up for it,”
not knowing that Heaven, once attained,
will work backwards and turn even that agony
into a glory.
– a quote from The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)
 

Deb Winters (15:36)

Deb shared about transitions in life such as retirement.  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  We must remember God’s faithfulness.  He is with us through it all!  Prayer is so important in life.  When I truly trust God, He brings peace.  I often wondered how I could ever cope with retirement when I am a people-person.  Actually, transitions are nothing new – we experience them throughout life.  (Proverbs 3:5-6) We learn to trust as we keep turning to Him.  I find in retirement that there is more freedom with more time for relationships and for prayer!  I highly recommend retirement!
 

Tina Durham (26:08)

I, too, have gone through a big job change.  I have learned that God is in control.  It may take time, but He knows what we need.
 

Misty Watkins (27:57)

Losing a spouse is very difficult.  It takes time to learn how to live without them.  There are many changes that happen along the way, like changing jobs.  I have learned that God wants to be in the job with us.  Trust Him and share Him with others.  Pray!
 

John and Soozi Davisson (35:15)

(John 2:1-11, Psalm 76)  We are servants.  God chose us.  We want to be available. (2 Corinthians 6:1)  Yes, we too have experienced job change.  We have been considering adoption.  We have also been considering Samaritan’s Purse.  As we read in the book of John, we  learned that the servant’s job was to say, “Yes.”  They were to bring the water.  Jesus is the one who transforms our efforts. (2 Samuel 22:30)  When we are available and say, “Yes” – He provides what is needed!  “With my God, I can!”  We must remember that this is God’s story, not ours.  Consider the power of God’s word in our community.  (Psalm 23:3; Isaiah 55:10-11; Hebrews 10:20-25).  Lastly we would like to share a “pour-over” of God’s word with you… (Psalm 103).
 

Ken closes with song and prayer  (50:56)

Take the time to be thankful.  For your home, your family and for what God is doing in your life. 
 
 
 

If you would like to watch just the sharing portion of our service, Click HERE.

 

If you would like to watch the entire service including music, click HERE.

 
 
 
 

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19
Nov '23

Grow Strong in God’s Grace – Wk 29

Posted on Nov 19, 2023 by Jerry Ingalls in General, Grow Strong in God's Grace, Sermon Notes |

19
Nov '23

Learning How to be a Faithful Farmer for God’s Harvest!

Reap a Harvest of Praise!

(Part 2 of 2 of Series Conclusion)

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB)

 

The full title of today’s sermon is, “Reap a harvest through the faithful strategy of a hardworking farmer.” Today, I am finishing our 2023 sermon series called, “Grow Strong in God’s Grace: Learning How to be a Faithful Famer for God’s Harvest!” Allow me to continue the conclusion of this sermon series, which I began on October 22. Listen to the poem, “How Great the Yield from a Fertile Field”:[1]

 

The farmer ploughs through the fields of green

And the blade of the plough is sharp and keen,

But the seed must be sown to bring forth grain.

For nothing is born without suffering and pain.

And God never ploughs in the soul of man

Without intention and purpose and plan,

So whenever you feel the plough’s sharp blade

Let not your heart be sorely afraid.

For, like the farmer, God chooses a field

From which He expects an excellent yield –

So rejoice though your heart is broken in two.

God seeks to bring forth a rich harvest in you.

 

How true this poem is, in each of our lives – “God never ploughs in the soul of man without intention and purpose and plan, so whenever you feel the plough’s sharp blade let not your heart be sorely afraid.” God’s intent for your life is that you would reap a harvest of praise to His glory. To participate with God’s work in us, we must follow the faithful strategy of the hardworking farmer. Paul taught in Philippians 2:12-13, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” God is at work in us through His Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence. Hope in God’s work for us, and in us, is the key ingredient when following the four steps that every hard-working farmer must follow to experience a large crop yield:

 

  1. Cultivate the soil.
  2. Sow the good seed.
  3. Care for the maturing plant.
  4. Reap a harvest.

 

To be a fruit-bearing branch, we must maintain our focus on Jesus Christ, the vine through which all the life-giving nourishment of the Holy Spirit flows, as Jesus testified in John 15:1-5:

 

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 

As hardworking farmers, abide in Jesus and He will bear much fruit upon your branch! As C. H. Spurgeon preached in 1871, “Preaching is sowing, prayer is watering, but praise is the harvest.”[2] It is my desire to see First Baptist Church of New Castle, Indiana witness a large crop yield of praise to the glory of God. That we will be an epicenter of revival. Until all worship, let us continue to be faithful to the Lord of the Harvest and respond to His call upon our lives to be hard-working farmers!

 

As we learned in part 1 of the conclusion, the faith stories of God’s people summarized in Hebrews 11 inform our lives and our lifestyles by calling us to live according to Hebrews 12:1-3:

 

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

Let’s take a couple of minutes to review Hebrew 11, and the lessons from the transforming stories of faith we have learned this year. Learn from these men and women of faith how you can be a witness to the transforming power of faith in your life. This is the faith we get to live when we are set free from sin to live with our eyes on Jesus:

 

  • a faith, which pleases God.
  • a faith, which gives substance to your life.
  • a faith, which trusts God’s promises.
  • a faith, which bears fruit.
  • a faith, which passes the test.
  • a faith, which blesses the next generation.
  • a faith, which gives us a limp.
  • a faith, which lifts us out of the pits.
  • a faith, which makes us humble.
  • a faith, which toots God’s horn.
  • a faith, which saves the day.
  • a faith, which takes God at His Word.
  • a faith, which invites partnership.
  • a faith, which invites us to be weak.
  • a faith, which overcomes obstacles.
  • a faith, which demonstrates God’s own heart.
  • a faith, which listens and obeys.
  • a faith, which calls people home.

 

If you minimize the Bible to a moralistic rule book filled with one-dimensional people, then you miss God’s extravagant love and scandalous grace. If you miss love and grace, then you miss Jesus, who is the only way to know the Father (John 14:6). Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that you can make a good human effort at living according to the Ten Commandments, doing and saying all the right things by your own strength. Jesus did not die on the cross so that you can go around living a good moralistic life and be filled with pride and self-righteousness. Jesus died on the cross so that you could be free from sin to love others as God first loved you; not to earn anything, but from the fertile field of a transformed heart.

 

Working hard, like a faithful farmer, we are to strive to be like Him and like those who have come before us to show us the way of faith – the great cloud of witnesses. Jesus gives us our right standing by grace – a relationship with God that comes with the responsibilities of righteousness. As Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” This is our calling; we have been made new by His love to join with Jesus in His ministry of love to reconcile all people to Him. Listen to Paul explain this in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20:

 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

 

Does your life tell the story of Jesus Christ and how He is seeking to transform stories through His gospel of love and grace? You are being invited into the next class of the great cloud of witnesses. Until the Day you are inducted into the great cloud of witnesses and join with the saints that we have learned about in this sermon series, you are called to “not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:3). No matter the struggle, and the fight is real, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, just as He told a better story with His life and death – “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

 

When all our stories point to Jesus Christ as the main character of each of our stories, then we will find unity in the body of Christ, and each of us will mature so that the entire body will be built up on love (Ephesians 4:11-16). Jesus is the only Hero of this story! Paul testified to this in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, and I conclude with this appeal:

 

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field….

 

Today, God is calling to you, choosing you, extending His love to you. Trust Him today and experience the joy of why Christ endured the cross and despised the shame. For the joy set before you, live strong in God’s grace and reap a harvest of praise to the glory of God. Never forget, that what we do in this life is a witness to what Christ did to give us the life we live, once for all.

 

What does your transforming story of faith look like? Jesus is interceding for you at the right hand of the Father, so do not grow weary and do not lose heart. Go from this place telling a better story, His Story, the transforming story of God’s grace, and together we will see our communities thriving to the glory of God!

 

 
 

If you would like to watch Pastor Jerry present this message, Click HERE.

 

If you would like to watch the entire service including music, click HERE.

 
 
 
 

FOOTNOTES:

 

[1] Written by Helen Stiner Rice. This poem was reproduced from the memorial folder for Avon Dwight “Scotty” Scott, an Indiana dairy farmer (February 5, 1929 – October 28, 2023). His daughter, Delora Hartsock, found this poem in his hymnal along with instructions for his funeral. I had the honor of doing his services on Saturday, November 4; he was a faithful follower of Jesus and a Korean War veteran.

 

[2] C. H. Spurgeon, “The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of His People,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 17 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1871), 717.
 
 
 

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