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.
 
Note:
We realize it isn’t easy to always find what you are looking for, so we are in the process of organizing these blogs.  Click HERE to go to an index of blogs that reference our YouTube channel in order to get you where you need to go…

Search the Blog

Seize the Moment – Day 630

 

From the Inside Out!

Deuteronomy 10

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, December 7.

 

A way to rebel against a leader is to do exactly what they tell you to do. There is a significant difference between following the letter of the law and walking in the heart and intent of the commandments of God. A great rebellion is already happening if we are following with our actions but aren’t trusting in our hearts!

 

God desires to have your whole heart—the transformation of your life through the renewal of your mind. God wants His people to follow Him with all their heart, mind, body, and soul. Moses began the conclusion of his first sermon in the “second giving” of the Law with these words in Deuteronomy 10:12-16:

 

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? … So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer.

 

Circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant, as commanded to Abraham in Genesis 17:9-14. Moses’ words “circumcise your heart” is a call for inward conformity to God’s ways and not just outward obedience! Paul prays this for us in Ephesians 3:16, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” The circumcision of your heart is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! It is God’s work in you, from the inside-out!

 

Seize the moment and walk in a daily intimate relationship with Jesus that conforms you to His character and submits you to His will.

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 629

Faithful in Rebellion!

Deuteronomy 9

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, December 6.

 

As a parent of three children, I care deeply that my children develop the character quality of faithfulness. I model faithfulness to my children by the way I love Jesus and serve His Church, as well as by the way I love and serve my wife and family. When I see rebellion in my children, I don’t reject them for it; rather, in love, I discipline them! Rebellion will fester in their hearts and destroy their lives if I don’t address it directly.

 

Moses’ greatest fear for Israel was that they would rebel against God after His death, and this motivated his “second giving” of the Law as given to us in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:26-27). For over forty years, Moses had to deal constantly with the people’s rebellion against God. He used the Hebrew word for rebelling eight times in Deuteronomy, with three of those times in this chapter. Listen to Deuteronomy 9:23-24 as Moses addresses the people’s rebellion directly:

 

When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; you neither believed Him nor listened to His voice. You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you (cf. 9:7-8).

 

God is faithful, even when we are not! His desire is for His children to reflect His faithfulness to the nations! Our faith is the only way to please God and John teaches of our faith in 1 John 5:4:
 
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

 

Seize the moment and be faithful to God in the face of rebellion. It can feel very lonely to be faithful, but have faith, you are never alone—God is with you! Your faithfulness is the evidence of Jesus’ victory!

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 

Read more...

Advent 2021 Love – Week 2

The Birth of Love!

Luke 2:1-20 (NAS95)

 

Jesus should have been born to an important family in an important location. There should have been no scandal around his parentage or birth location, and the first witnesses should have at least been a class of people who could testify in court.

 

But instead, Jesus was born into the womb of an unwed teenage girl who had found great favor in the sight of God for her life of devotion and willingness to be used as the bondservant of the Lord, just as the Lord foretold in 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.”

 

Jesus was born in a backcountry village named Bethlehem because it was long foretold in Micah 5:2,
 
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

 

Jesus’ birth was witnessed by animals, angels, and shepherds as recorded in our Luke 2 reading this morning.

 

The miracle of Jesus’ birth is not only found in the incarnation and virgin birth, but also in its scandal to the power structures of those God came to save and redeem. The fact that it happened in a way that no powerful person would want the story of his or her birth to be told is evidence of the authenticity of the greatest story ever told!

 

We’ve talked about this before; Christmas is a scandal of epic proportions to the powers and principalities of this world! Christmas was very different on purpose because it was on Christmas that love was born!

 

That’s because Christmas was not a power play, like Caesar’s census. Caesar wanted to show the world how powerful he was by counting how many people were under his authority. Instead, Christmas is the birth of love where God entered His creation, compelled by love, to become one of His people to save and redeem His people back to Himself.

 

Paul explains this in Galatians 4:4-7,

 

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

 

This birth of love was later broadcasted by Jesus in John 3:16-17,
 
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

 

Christmas is the birth of love and the spreading of that love to all nations. The Father sent His Son into the world so that we can share with Jesus in having God as our “Abba! Father!”.

 

Love compelled God that first Christmas! John declares in 1 John 3:1-3,

 

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.

 

God’s love compels us to live according to the promise of Christmas, the promise of Immanuel, God with us—the love of God has been birthed into us, full of grace and truth! Listen to John 1:12-14,

 

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

Now we compelled by the Holy Spirit to pass on the love that was birthed in us; we are the evidence of God’s love manifesting in the world! This is commanded to us by the Beloved of Jesus in 1 John 4:7-21:

 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

 

This is the command of God for each of us this Christmas season: Give to others what God first birthed into your heart, mind, body, and soul! You are the evidence of God’s love! You are blessed to be a blessing!

 

To fulfill this call, let us pray in agreement with Mary in Luke 1:46-55:

 

My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

 

You are called to fulfill the promise of Abraham, given to you as your inheritance in Christ Jesus—may you and your family go forth from this place in love to bless all the families of the earth.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

You can listen to this message of Love below:

 

You can watch the video on this page HERE.

 

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 627

Today’s Advent hymn focus will be

“What Child is This?”

Luke 2:17 (NLT)
 
“After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.”

 

This beloved Christmas hymn was written by William Chatterton Dix. He was the son of a surgeon, born in Bristol England and spent most of his life working in Glasgow, Scotland, as an insurance company manager. In 1865, while recovering from a near fatal battle with sickness and depression, he experienced a spiritual awakening as he read through the scriptures. He loved the folk song “Greensleeves” and subsequently wrote the lyrics to this hymn.

 

His poetic writings combined with this soulful melody gives the feeling that God demonstrated His love for us in the fact that He sent His son in the form of a human baby to rescue humanity. And mankind went on to declare with awe and wonder, that this act of love was a clear sign, evoking wonder and amazement…What child is this?

 

This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring Him laud, the Babe, the Son of Mary.

 

 
As we continue to worship Him during this Advent season, may we wake up and realize that we, too, need to spread the news that Jesus is the Son of God, and the true source of hope, love, joy and peace.
 
 
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 Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 
If you would like to hear this song, click on the link below:
 
 

What Child is This?

 
1
What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
 
Chorus:
This, this is Christ, the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
 
2
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
 
3
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
 
 

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 626

The Importance of the Wilderness!

Deuteronomy 8

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, December 3.

 

Do you believe that wilderness times are an important part of your spiritual formation? The key is how we walk through such times and if we walk alone.

 

Deuteronomy 8:3 was quoted by Jesus at a time of temptation during His forty days in the wilderness. Its original context was God’s gracious warning to the new generation to obey all His commandments in light of how He dealt with the previous generation during their forty years of wilderness wanderings:
 
“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

 

In the three temptations, found in Matthew 4, Jesus quoted from the second giving of the Law each time. He started with this one, then referenced Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test,” and concluded with verse 13, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only”

 

God’s motivation in both wilderness experiences was to prepare His people for their greater purpose—to teach them humility and absolute dependence on God. Moses declared God’s love for Israel when He shared this purpose in Deuteronomy 8:16-17,
 
“In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’”

 

Seize the moment and walk faithfully with Jesus through your wilderness wanderings remembering that God is using this time to prepare you to do even greater works (John 14:12).

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 625

Covenant Promises!

Deuteronomy 7

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, December 2.

 

Have you ever been metaphorically stabbed in the back, in word or deed? I don’t know about you, but I prefer to be told to my face if there is an issue so that I can either repent, seek clarification, or agree to disagree on an issue.

 

God told His covenant people that He would let them know quickly, and to their face, if He had an issue with them. So often we think of the promises of God as only blessings, but the promises also come with warnings, as Moses explained in Deuteronomy 7:9-10:

 

Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.

 

Did you hear the promises of God?

 

Every promise of God is right and true and in accordance with God’s covenant character!  God is faithful to those who keep His covenant, which, as we have previously learned, includes people who repent by returning to God after they have been disobedient. And for those who reject God and prove disloyal to His covenant, God will repay them to their faces (Psalm 31:23; 94:2).

 

God won’t stab you in the back! You will stand before Him as Paul promised in 2 Corinthians 5:10,
 
“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.”

 

Seize the moment and respond to all the covenant promises of God today: “draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8)!

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 624

Treasure the Shema in your Heart!

Deuteronomy 6

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, December 1.

 

What do you treasure in your heart?

 

The Shema is the central confession of Judaism. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, at the beginning of the “second giving” of the Law:
 
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

 

In Mark 12:29-30, Jesus gives the Shema as the greatest commandment of the Law:
 
“The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one Lord; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’” (cf. Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27).

 

Did you know that Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6? We must frame our understanding of Jesus’ teaching with a thorough reading of the Old Testament, which is why I am committing three years of my early mornings, day in and day out, to study and write these devotionals. So that you will treasure in your heart the Word of Truth, that you may not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). Moses commanded this of the Shema in verses 6-9:

 

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

Seize the moment and make prominent in your life the Word of Truth so that you may know it, apply it, and pray it throughout your day. This is the way of victory!

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 623

God’s Word is for our Good!

Deuteronomy 5

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, November 30.

 

Do you believe that the Bible is God’s Word and given to us through trustworthy men for our good?

 

In Deuteronomy 5:1-5, Moses legitimized and authorized the “second giving” of the Law by establishing it as a divine revelation from God and not something he wrote:

 

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.

 

This chapter lays the foundation for the next twenty-one chapters so that the new generation would know and remember that it was God who rescued them from slavery, gathered them at Sinai, and brought them through these last forty years to prepare them for this moment in time.

 

Interestingly, in verse 15, Moses added a phrase that was not found in the first giving of the Ten Commandments:
 
“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.”

 

Moses was helping the new generation to remember that the God who gave these commandments is the One who rescued and delivered them from slavery—God’s intentions are trustworthy, and His Law is good!

 

Seize the moment and trust God and that all His ways are for your good!

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 

Read more...

Seize the Moment – Day 622

Wholehearted Obedience!

Deuteronomy 4

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, November 29.

 

Have you ever had to repeat yourself to ensure effective communication?

 

Deuteronomy 4 summarizes the purpose of Moses’ historical recap in the first chapters and provides a transition to the second giving of the Ten Commandments in chapter 5 and the Law in chapters 6-26. Deuteronomy 4:39-40 calls the people to a wholehearted obedience to God and His Law:

 

Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

 

Moses warned the people in verse 24: “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Furthermore, he laid out the dangers of false worship and explained the consequences of idolatry in verses 25-28.

 

But there is hope for those who faithfully return to God with a whole heart! God’s mercy was promised in verses 29-31:

 

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

 

The key to experiencing the promises of God is wholehearted obedience—a return to God “with all of your heart and all of your soul.”

 

Seize the moment and be faithful to God!

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.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 

Read more...

Advent 2021 Hope – Week 1

A Message of Hope

John 14:12-14

 

Missionary Jim White

 

Hope is not thinking that something might happen, it is the assurance that something will happen!  As I look around me, it seems that people are living in “survival mode.”  Many of us seem to be just barely making it.  I suggest that sometimes it is because we get distracted from what God wants us to be doing.

 

It’s unhealthy to live like this for an extended period of time.  It causes fatigue, ulcers, headaches – a general feeling of being overwhelmed.

 

I am convinced that God can set us free from bondage to drinking, drugs, etc.  You don’t have to just get by.

 

When surviving becomes your daily focus, you forget about your goals, about your dreams for the future.  You only think about how you will get through today.

 

There are three questions we ask ourselves:

  1. How did I get here?
  2. Did I cause at least some of it?
  3. How do I get out of this place I find myself?

 

We must first be able to discern whether God has put these “things” into my life or whether it is from Satan.  That makes a big difference on how we approach it.

 

Many times we bring it on ourselves, because we turn from the Lord:

 

1 Kings 11:3-6    Solomon turned from the Lord and went after other gods.

 

Numbers 12        Miriam complained against Moses’ leadership.

 

But God wants us to experience the Abundant Life!

 

John 10:10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

 

Ephesians 3:19  …and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

He wants us to overcome all obstacles through faith in Him!  We have authority over all evil forces in this world.  When people lose hope, they act out of desperation & that leads to chaos.  We believers are to live with hope as an example to those in the world without hope!

 

John 14:12-14   12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I yam going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

You can listen to Jim’s message here:

 

You can watch the video HERE.

 


Read more...