Seize the Moment – Day 317
God as a Refiner’s Fire!
God as a refiner’s fire is a powerful image from Malachi 3:3! I love this image and based on it I often pray for people: Lord Jesus, please refine (insert your name here) with your unquenchable fire of holiness, removing all that is not of You and perfecting all that is of You, so that all that s/he thinks, says, and does brings You glory. Amen.
Together, let’s understand the old saying, “where there is smoke, there is fire” in a new way.
Listen to James 1:2-4 invite us to allow God as a refiner’s fire to work in our lives through difficult circumstances: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
God refines us so that we reflect to the world more and more the presence of the One who is pure light, eternal love, and radiant holiness. From start to finish, this is a journey of love and grace because at the end of it, God promises that you will be “lacking in nothing”.
The Spirit works within you when you dedicate your life to be a living sacrifice for His glory (Romans 12:1-2):
Your desperate grip on life is broken (yet again!) …
Your disillusionments on what life should provide for you are burst like old wine skins (yet again!) …
Your desires for something other than God are pealed back like another thin layer of an onion (and you find yourself crying yet again!) …
If you want your life to be a living sacrifice to God, then never forget: where there is smoke, there is fire!
Seize the moment and let God work in you! This means that you can’t do everything in your power to get out of the fire of His love and grace. Rather, you must submit to His good work and learn to trust Him, yet again.
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Seize the Moment – Day 316
Praying the Benedictions of God’s Word!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 27.
I love the ancient benedictions found in the Bible. They are powerful prayers that we can memorize and pray often. Listen to Hebrews 13:20-21.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
What is a benediction? It is a pronouncement of God’s favor upon God’s people; a blessing. In the Old Testament, it was a formal part of the ritual life of the Jewish people. An example of this is Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’”
Paul and the New Testament authors demonstrated how the benediction continued into the earliest churches as a pastoral practice of blessing the congregations as they gathered.
As your pastor, allow me to now bless you in this ancient priestly way:
From 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
From 2 Thessalonians 3:16, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!”
Seize the moment and pray God’s Word over other people and yourself. The most powerful prayers and blessings to give to others are the ones already given to you through the grace of God’s Word.
Please join us live or in-person tonight for our mid-week prayer service which begins every Wednesday at 6:15 pm every Wednesday night. Please prioritize this time or another time to participate in this community prayer.
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Seize the Moment – Day 315
Faith supplies Faithfulness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 26.
Are you tired of running the race set before you?
Listen 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.
Did you notice the “therefore”? Did you ask yourself, “What is it there for?”
Hebrews 12 is an action call to the “Hall of Faith” found in Hebrews 11. Those in the great cloud of witnesses are real people with real faith in real history—they are forever our living testimonies of how to run the race of faithful living.
A lifetime of fidelity flows from the rich supply of faith that God gives a person. Faith shapes your worldview because the thoughts and actions of a person’s life flow out of what each person believes about God.
Jesus was able to finish the race set before Him with joy even though God’s will came with great pain and suffering. His faith permeated all that He did. He is forever our greatest living testimony of how to run the race of faithful living.
Seize the moment and keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of your faith. Do not grow weary and lose heart because God’s faithfulness will fuel you to the finish line. For the joy set before you—run faithfully!
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Seize the Moment – Day 314
Real Life Stories of Faith!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 25.
According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Verse 6 further explains that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Paul, in Romans 14:23, unapologetically teaches us God’s perspective that “whatever is not from faith is sin.”
Unfortunately, for most of us, knowing this is not enough to convince us to live by faith alone. We each need daily encouragement to do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time. That is why the Bible is full of stories of real people with real faith in real history.
Here are three of those testimonies from Hebrews 11:
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- Noah trusted God and against all evidence and public opinion built an ark to save humanity from God’s judgement (verse 7).
- Abraham trusted God and left behind all that he knew to set out on the journey to claim God’s promised land (verses 8-10).
- Sarah trusted God and after 90 years of not being able to have a child, conceived a son who would inherit the promises of God (verses 11-12).
I encourage you to open up your Bible to the book of Genesis and read these great stories of faith. These testimonies in Hebrews 11 are real stories about real people with real faith in real history. The stories of these real people in these historical accounts are intended to encourage you and motivate you to live the life of faith, no matter the circumstances of your life.
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Live Like a Champion (Week 4)
2021 Series: “Live Like a Champion: Victory Through the Promises of God!”
“The Promise of Eternity!”
2 Peter 1:10-11 (NAS95)
In the first three weeks of this series, we have learned how to live like a champion by learning how to live in the victory of the promises of God. Our guiding image for this series is being a member of an NFL team who wins the Superbowl. As God’s athletes we must do four things to live like champions:
(1) Know God’s playbook—the Bible—by learning the promises of God.
(2) Train ourselves for godliness by learning to live according to the promises of God.
(3) Learn how to listen to the Coach’s voice so that we play the right play at the right time.
(4) Work together as one team—we are members of God’s family—His Church.
Never forget, the Superbowl celebration is in our future and we are invited to play like a championship team.
This truth is our emphasis for today’s foundational teaching on the promises of God: we have the promise of eternity. This is an overarching truth for living a victorious life because this is the foundation of all our hope.
“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
Today, we are going to cultivate our hope in Jesus so that we may live by faith and not by sight, as Paul commands us in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10,
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
In light of this truth, how then shall we live? As we examine 2 Peter 1:10-11, we observe the progression of Peter’s thinking.
First, we, the “brethren”, the members of Christ’s body, are to “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you…” This is in the imperative form meaning it is a command—Be diligent to not forget “[your] purification from [your] former sins” (2 Peter 1:9), by remembering your calling!
In other words, using our metaphor of being a part of a Superbowl winning football team, you need to be diligent in knowing that you have been called to the team by the Coach because He chose you. The original language is saying, “to make this a permanent experience” or to be diligent in “securing” this truth in you.
Jesus has unapologetically told you this truth in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
You have been handpicked to be a part of God’s team! How can you be “all the more diligent” to know this?
Through your effectiveness and fruitfulness “in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). It is through fruit bearing that we are certain of God’s choosing. As Jesus said in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).
As a “partaker of the divine nature” you are sharing in His nature, a partner of God in His purposes and plans. Jesus spoke this to an agricultural community in not only those words of being a fruit-bearing branch abiding in the vine, but also in words of a being fruit-bearing trees in Matthew 12:33-37,
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
You produce (manifest and so prove to be) according to your kind—as Peter states in 2 Peter 1:4, if you are sharing in the divine nature of God, then you have escaped the corruption of this world (cf. Romans 12:1-2).
Earlier in John 8:31-32 Jesus made it very clear what that meant to those who believed in Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Did you hear that, His abiding truth will MAKE you free! You have escaped! Now escape…
There is something very beautiful in the original language of 2 Peter 1:10 here; the verb for “to make” is in the middle voice. Listen to this quote from a Greek Grammar book, “the middle voice signifies that the subject performs the action of the verb and participates somehow in the results.”[1] You both perform the action of making certain and participate in the certainty of God’s action to secure you as His own.
As Peter says in 2 Peter 1:10, “for as long as you practice these things [the virtues of 2 Peter 1:5-7], you will never stumble.” The promises of God come with daily invitations to practice what you believe; to put into practice the faith you have received. You are saved by faith alone, absolutely, but faith never stands alone! You are known by the works of your faith, as James stated in James 1:22-25,
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
The logic of scripture is irrefutable as James’ words harken us back to last week’s sermon when Peter said in 2 Peter 1:8-9, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
So, we are to build our lives on the words of Jesus. We are to practice “these things” so that we will never stumble. This is the promise of Jesus Christ as the benediction of Jude 24-25 proclaims the power of God through Jesus Christ, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
John says something strikingly similar in 1 John 3:1-3, which pulls together this whole sermon:
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Both of these scriptures bring us back to Peter’s logic in 2 Peter 1:11, “for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
I love the visual of this promise regarding eternal life: the entrance into the eternal kingdom will be abundantly supplied to you. How is that possible?
Jesus taught us very clearly about the entrance (or gate) to life in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
How is the entrance abundantly supplied, yet the gate be small and the way be narrow?
These two truths are brought into perfect unity through the exclusive means of Jesus Christ, as He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
The hope of entering the eternal dominion and authority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is abundantly supplied to us through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is in Christ alone! Jesus is the most inclusive exclusive entry point into eternal life. Jesus gives us His abundant life with the Father! Apart from Him, there is no entry way—He is the only mediator of the covenant between God and humanity.
Jesus Christ returned to agricultural imagery to make this point very clear. Listen to John 10:1-10,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
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Seize the Moment – Day 312
“Living Hope”
In 2018, Phil Wickham started writing a song with Bethel Music’s Brian Johnson over text, sharing ideas for lyrics and verses back and forth for over a month. They could sense God was giving them something special. When they had finalized the third verse, again…all through text…there was a pause. Phil said, “I saw the three dots showing he was writing something else and it simply said ‘Dude, this is amazing!”
They both realized that God had rescued them from something they could never rescue themselves from, for their future was death, but Jesus came and brought life…a Living Hope!
“Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free.
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me.
You have broken every chain,
There’s salvation in Your name.
Jesus Christ, my living hope!”
We need to wake up and realize that it is only through Jesus’s death and resurrection that we have new life and the promise of an eternal home. He is our hope, not the things that can rust, burn or rot away. Jesus is our solid rock and our hope is built on Him.
YOUTUBE:
Living Hope
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke your name into the night
Then through the darkness
Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The king of kings calls me His own
Beautiful savior, I’m yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the roaring lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the roaring lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, yours is the victory, whoa!
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Oh God, you are my living hope
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Seize the Moment – Day 311
Living by Faith or in Fear!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 22.
There are two promises found side by side in Hebrews 10. Please understand that God put them side by side on purpose. Each of us has a choice to make.
The first is for a wise person who builds his or her life on the rock. Listen to Hebrews 10:19-25,
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Contrast that with the person who builds his or her life on the sand. Listen to Hebrews 10:26-31,
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Both of these are the promises of God and accordingly, you are either living by faith or in fear.
Seize the moment and respond to the promises of God today. Build your house on the rock of Jesus Christ and find rest for your soul.
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Seize the Moment – Day 310
Once and for All!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 21.
Why is Jesus so important 2,000 years after He died?
According to Hebrews 9:11-12, it is why He died that makes Him relevant today:
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
“Once” means that the atoning sacrifice for sin is done; the repetition of animal sacrifices demanded by the Old Covenant has been fulfilled through the one sacrifice of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ. The New Covenant has been eternally sealed with His shed blood on the Cross.
“For all” means that Jesus has done this for all who shall be saved. This is the good news of a great joy to all the world (Luke 2:10): God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and there is no end to His government (Isaiah 9:6-7)!
Listen to Hebrews 9:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”
An undisputable fact is that every single one of us will die. The Bible further illuminates for our eternal good that each of us will then face judgment. Our eternity—heaven or hell—is 100% dependent on whether or not you call upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Romans 10:13).
Saying that is definitely out of fashion today, but that doesn’t mean it’s not relevant today!
Seize the moment and once and for all call upon the name Jesus.
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Seize the Moment – Day 309
Jesus is Faithful to His Promises!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 20.
Are you concerned that people will not keep their promises? This is a big concern in our culture today for many people.
Hebrews 8:6 teaches us about Jesus’s covenant faithfulness: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.”
God is faithful to His covenant; to His Name! That is why He is faithful to you; not because you deserve it, but because of His Name, His Glory, His reputation!
Never forget that the promises of God are not dependent on your faithfulness, but on Jesus’ faithfulness alone.
In Christ alone! By faith so that no man should boast.
When I think back to all of God’s covenants, I come across this one truth: not a single one of those people was perfect, but God is!
Adam and Eve were not perfect… Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Israel and his twelve sons, King David… Not a single perfect person in that group of people, only a perfect God!
Only Jesus Christ is perfect and only Jesus mediates all of God’s promises for imperfect people, like you and me!
Seize the moment and thank God for His grace available to imperfect people through faith in Jesus Christ! No human being alive can fully keep his or her promises, but God can!
In God we trust! As a people, let’s be honest about that and stop putting all of our hopes or fears in imperfect people!
I hope to see you tonight at our new new mid-week “Prayer Awakening” service that starts online and in-person at 6:15.
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Seize the Moment – Day 308
Jesus is Praying for you!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 19.
Did you know that the most powerful intercessor in the world is praying perfectly for you, right now?
This is true for every believer in Christ Jesus. Listen to Hebrews 7:25-27,
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Jesus is holy, innocent, without sin, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Jesus is the High Priest, above all other priests, and His priesthood will never come to an end.
Jesus is the mediator and guarantor of the covenant of grace. And He is praying for you right now!
Listen to Paul explain this powerful prayer ministry of Jesus in Romans 8:33-35a, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”
Just like the truth of God’s forgiveness through the finished work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary for your eternal life, Jesus’ promise for ongoing intercession at the throne of God’s grace for you day-to-day life is secure.
Seize the moment and join Jesus in His prayer life—partner in the life of Jesus by praying with Him! Never forget that Jesus is already praying for you!
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