The blog contains daily devotions and notes from the weekly messages.  We encourage you to review the notes during the sermon or through the week!  Most of the posts will have an audio and/or video link at the end of the notes.  From time to time the pastors will share other insights and devotions here.
 
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Seize the Moment – Day 1472

Rejected and Despised!

Jeremiah 11

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 28.

 

Jesus was rejected and despised by the people of Nazareth, the hometown in which He grew up. In Matthew 13:57, Jesus said to those who took offense at His ministry, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” They could not believe that the man who had grown up amongst them was called to be a prophet, nevertheless, was the Son of God. Because of their unbelief, His hometown missed the blessing of God’s visitation (58).

 

Jesus’ response to Nazareth harkened back to the ancient prophets, illustrated by Jeremiah’s experience with his hometown of Anathoth, described in Jeremiah 11:20-23:

 

But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I committed my cause. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”; therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth – the year of their punishment.”

 

The people of Jeremiah’s hometown sought to kill him. It is one thing to be attacked by outsiders; it’s a completely different experience to be rejected and despised by the very people you were called to rescue from the coming wrath. His response to such betrayal foreshadowed that of Jesus Christ: Jeremiah committed Himself and the cause to which He was called to God, the righteous Judge of humanity.

 

Seize the moment and pray with Jesus in the moments you feel rejected and despised, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
 
 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 

 


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Seize the Moment – Day 1471

Relent of Anger!

Jeremiah 10

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 27.

 

How do you respond to people when you are upset? Are you unjust and ungraceful in how you express your feelings? In marital counseling, I’ve heard people say vicious things to their spouse, far exceeding what needed to be said. Why do we character assassinate the people we love when we are upset? When people are hijacked by their anger, they more easily make bad decisions without regard for the long-term consequences of their words or actions. We must relent of our anger, inviting the Holy Spirit to govern our hearts and minds so that we do not sin in it and give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:26-27).

 

In Jeremiah 10:24, the prophet offered a profound prayer, in solidarity with the nation, petitioning God for their impending judgment, “Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.” David had made a similar petition to God in Psalm 6:1-4, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord – how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness.”

 

Loving parents discipline their children in love, refraining from doing it while they are still angry. Anger perverts justice and distorts love! Righteous justice is sober-minded, unintoxicated by anger, seeking the good for all while accurately disciplining the one in need of correction. As Hebrews 12:11 promises, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” It was for this result Jeremiah petitioned God.

 

Seize the moment and relent of your anger before you discipline someone you love.

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1470

The Weeping Prophet!

Jeremiah 9

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 26.

 

Have you ever sat under a pastor who cried when proclaiming the goodness of God? I am profoundly touched by such a display of emotion when I discern it to be real, but I cringe if I believe it to be showmanship. Truly, only the Lord knows a person’s heart! Jeremiah was the real deal, giving him the reputation as the “weeping prophet.” We catch a glimpse of this in Jeremiah 9:1, “Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” His depth of concern for the well-being of God’s people reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s compassionate concern for the Jewish people, from whom he experienced rejection and ridicule. He said in Romans 9:1-3, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren.” Wow: that’s love!

 

The heartache of Jeremiah and Paul has another similarity, their proclamation of what it means to be Israel. Paul says in Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” The prophet explained that being a child of Israel was not about a nationality; it’s a condition of one’s heart, foreshadowing the necessity of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 9:25-26, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised – … for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

 

Seize the moment and ask the Lord to reveal the truth of your heart (Romans 2:28-29; Colossians 2:11). Does your heart break for the things that break God’s heart?

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1469

Sorrow for Sin!

Jeremiah 8

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 25.

 

Sin destroys relationships and brings pain into your life, and into the lives of those you love. Jeremiah 8 is a heartbreaking chapter from a devastating time in Israel’s history. Honestly, it’s a tough chapter to meditate upon as it demonstrates to us the sorrow of sin. In Jeremiah 8:18, the prophet expresses his heartache over Judah’s sin, “My sorrow is beyond healing, my heart is faint within me!” A century prior, in Isaiah 22:4, the prophet expressed the same kind of godly sorrow over the impending judgment of Israel, “Turn your eyes away from me, let me weep bitterly, do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

 

Lament is the right response to the pain and suffering caused by sin. We cannot whitewash the damaging effects sin has on our lives. Furthermore, we should not avoid lamenting over it, because godly sorrow leads to repentance. We even see Jesus, in Luke 19:41-44, respond with the same sorrow for sin as that of the prophets who came before Him:

 

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

 

While there is forgiveness for sin through the victory of Jesus Christ, there are still consequences for sin in our everyday lives. Have you experienced godly sorrow for your sin?

 

Seize the moment and lament the pain and suffering caused by sin. May godly sorrow lead you to “repentance without regret, leading to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 


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Seize the Moment – Day 1467

Today’s worship song focus :

Hosanna (Praise is Rising)

Mark 11:8-10 (NASB95)

 

 

“And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which
they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front and those who followed were
shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Blessed is
the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”

 

Inspired by a desire to write a song that expresses adoration and a surrender to God, Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown teamed up to create this powerful and impactful song. It encourages believers to be like those who proclaimed Jesus’s entry into the city, lifting up their voices in recognition and declaring who the Messiah is as the one who came to save us, our Lord and Savior!

 

Hosanna hosanna
You are the God who saves us
Worthy of all our praises
Hosanna hosanna.
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here Lord Jesus
 

We need to wake up and make this song one that we sing all week long as we prepare for Holy Week with the start of Palm Sunday tomorrow. Use this powerful song as part of your personal worship and express your love and adoration to God for sending us the Blessed Messiah! Let your praise rise up!

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 

Hosanna (Praising Rising)

 
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You, we turn to YouHope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You, we long for You‘Cause when we see You we find strength to face the dayIn Your presence all our fears are washed away, washed away
 
Hosanna, HosannaYou are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praisesHosanna, HosannaCome have Your way among usWe welcome You here, Lord Jesus
 
Hear the sound of hearts returning to You, we turn to YouIn Your Kingdom broken lives are made new, You make us new‘Cause when we see You we find strength to face the dayIn Your presence all our fears are washed away, washed away
 
Hosanna, HosannaYou are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praisesHosanna, HosannaCome have Your way among us We welcome You here, Lord Jesus
 
‘Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the dayIn Your Presence all our fears are washed away‘Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the dayIn Your Presence all our fears are washed away, washed away
 
Hosanna, HosannaYou are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praisesHosanna, HosannaCome have Your way among us We welcome You here, Lord Jesus
 
Hosanna, HosannaYou are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praisesHosanna, HosannaCome have Your way among us We welcome You here, Lord Jesus
 
Hosanna, HosannaHosanna, Hosanna
Source: LyricFind
 
Songwriters: Brenton Brown / Paul Baloche
Hosanna lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Integrity Music
 

 


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Seize the Moment – Day 1466

Incantations vs. Prayers!

Jeremiah 7

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 22.

 

People frequently allow superstition to infiltrate their faith, treating the name of Jesus like an incantation, repeating it, and tacking it on to the end of their requests. But there is a significant difference between praying to God and performing an incantation. Jesus taught about prayer in Matthew 6:7, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” This is the exact practice God was rebuking through His prophet in Jeremiah 7:3-7:

 

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”

 

Prayer is not a magical means of compelling God to do your bidding. Instead, prayer is a divine gift by which you can know and walk with God, as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:8, “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the authorized way to have intimacy with the Father (John 3:16; 14:6, 13-15; 16:23-28); He is not an incantation to be invoked.

 

Seize the moment and pray the Lord’s Prayer, taught by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13, as a means of grace to walk in covenant faithfulness to God in your daily life.

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1465

Find Rest for Your Soul!

Jeremiah 6

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, March 21.

 

Jesus intentionally created a clear connection between Himself and the Old Covenant prophet Jeremiah, as well as to the larger prophetic tradition of Israel. One of the clearest examples of this is found in Jeremiah 6:13-16:

 

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord. Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

 

Through Jeremiah, God was calling people to return to Him and His Covenant, which included the ancient promise of rest. Leaving no room for misunderstanding, Jesus focused the ancient paths of God from Jeremiah 6:16 on Himself by quoting this promise in Matthew 11:28-30. In coming to Jesus, a person is graciously invited to enter the rest of God and avoid the wrath of God that is upon all who do not walk in the ancient paths, as Jesus proclaimed over the apostate Jewish cities in Matthew 11:20-24. Jesus declared that the New Covenant was to be found in Him and that the rest of God was His to give to those who come to Him.

 

Seize the moment and “be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11).

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1464

The Transforming Power of Devotion!

Jeremiah 5

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 20.

 

Are there consequences for worshipping the creation rather than the Creator? In Jeremiah 5:21-24, God gave the prophet a timely word for His people who were facing repercussions for rejecting Him:

 

“Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see; who have ears but do not hear. Do you not fear Me?” declares the Lord. “Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed. They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its season, both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’”

 

We become like that which we worship. We become foolish and senseless when we reject God for any created thing, as God reminded His people about the danger of idols in Psalm 115:5-9, “They have eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but they cannot hear; … Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.” Jeremiah warned God’s people, reminding them that God is the Creator who sets all things in their prescribed place, bringing order to the chaos with His presence. When we allow anything else to be first in our lives, then we become unduly influenced by it. Whatever we are devoted to has the power to transform us into its image.

 

Seize the moment and worship “the glory of the incorruptible God” and not His creation (Romans 1:18-32).

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
 
 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1463

Formless and Void!

Jeremiah 4

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 19.

 

What happens when you don’t cultivate and care for your garden? Very quickly, it returns to its wild state with no hope for it to produce a crop. Imagine what a lifetime of not tending to your garden would do to it. In Jeremiah 4:23, the prophet intentionally connects the coming judgment of Judah with the creation story, “I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.” The word pair of “formless and void” is a direct reference to Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

 

In the people’s rebellion against God, He would allow the land to return to its natural state apart from His intervention – a non-functional, uncultivated state, filled with evil and calamity. Because God judged them and found them guilty, He would remove the light of His presence from the land. This was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of God’s people to Babylonian exile. The imagery of “formless and void” is so stark that one might think that God was going to annihilate His chosen people, but He qualifies His judgment in verse 27, “The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not execute a complete destruction.” The land would go to wild for seventy years, but God promised to allow the people to return after the time of judgment was fulfilled (Jeremiah 29:10-14).

 

Seize the moment and steward the garden of your life, cultivating the soil of your heart and mind, planting the good seed of His Word, caring for the growth, and reaping a harvest of praise to the glory of God (Isaiah 55:6-13).

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 1462

Wisdom through Observation!

Jeremiah 3

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 18.

 

There are many ways we learn to be wise: by reading the Bible, through formal education, and from personal experience. We also learn by observing others, watching what happens to those around us, and what happened to those who came before us. Judah had an opportunity to learn from the experiences of their northern neighbor’s rebellion. Nearly a century after Israel’s judgment, Jeremiah gave this scathing rebuke against Judah in Jeremiah 3:6-10:

 

Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.

 

Judah did not learn from the mistakes of their northern cousins. Instead, they repeated their folly, playing the harlot. But God, rich in mercy, continued to pursue His people with the same call to repentance through a prophet to a new generation – repent of your adultery; come home to Me, and I will forgive you. Return to Me, and I will be faithful to you.

 

Seize the moment and learn wisdom through observation. Pay attention to how God has designed His creation – “whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7-8).

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.


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