Seize the Moment – Day 657
The Closeness of the Word!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, January 3, 2022.
Ignorance is not an excuse! This was drilled into me as a cadet at West Point and as an officer in the US Army.
God, in His mercy and grace, according to Deuteronomy 30:11-14, has come close to us so that we may know Him and live to please Him:
For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?” But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
Jesus came from Heaven to Earth to come close and invite us to follow Him. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. God made Himself and His salvation visible and accessible so that people would come to Him. It is not for a lack of access that people are not saved, but people’s refusal to accept Jesus Christ as the Savior.
Seize the moment and draw near to God by putting your faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Living Word, who has come close to you.
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The Victorious Life
THE VICTORIOUS LIFE FOR TODAY!
My prayer for you in 2022 is that you will live the victorious life today. It is the living out of your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ in your everyday activities, in your comings and goings, your personal and professional life! Today, we start the new year with a proclamation of our faith through the reading of God’s Word and the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
The Word of God for the Church of Jesus Christ from Paul’s 1 Corinthians 15:50-58:
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Beloved Church of Jesus Christ, my brethren, we come to the Lord’s Table on this first Sunday of 2022 to declare that God has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. The victory of God is the defeat over the evil forces of hell, of sin, and of the final enemy, death. Paul declared in Colossians 3:12-15 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-26:
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
- Do you believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, who took your death on the Cross of Calvary, which every person deserves as the wages for sin, so that you may experience forgiveness for sin through the sufficiency of God’s grace?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ, defeated death, experiencing the resurrection from the dead after three days in the grave, revealed himself in His resurrected body to His followers for forty days, and is now ascended to the right hand of God where He intercedes for you today?
- Do you believe that God loves you and has chosen to make His dwelling place in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has sealed you for the day of redemption?
- Do you believe that even now you have eternal life through the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ will come again, soon, to bring His people to Himself and restore justice to the nations through His iron rod of judgment?
- Do you believe that on the Day of the Lord, Jesus Christ will make all things new and restore on the earth the dwelling place of God with humanity, in the New Heaven and New Earth?
This is our faith, and this is our victory, bestowed upon us through the love of God in Jesus Christ! The answer to Jesus’ question about belief is the key to your partaking in the victory that God graciously given you through faith in Jesus Christ. As 1 John 5:4 states, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is our faith in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return of Jesus Christ that is our victory because it is through faith that we take on the life of God through the forgiveness of our sins and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
As a regular practice of our faith and as a proclamation of our unity as the people of God, we declare the victory of God through the partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper—the bread represents His body and the juice His blood. Our participation in this supper causes us to yearn for the abundance of the great wedding feast we will enjoy together in the very presence of Jesus Christ in Heaven—our union with Him and reunion with those who are in Him throughout all time.
After a moment of silence, I will read the words of institution over the elements of this ancient ordinance of the Church, as given to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-33:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Prayer of preparation
Let us, the one body of Christ, in concert with the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world and throughout time, partake of the elements together:
- His body broken for you… Partake of the bread
- His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sin… Partake of the cup.
This is the eternal covenant of God with humanity, which is for the forgiveness of your sin and the eternal union of your soul with God. May God have mercy on His people and may you find rest for your soul. Let this service today and this partaking of the Lord’s Supper remind you of your baptismal vows to God and your forsaking of the devil and of the world. The Cross before you, the world behind you, no turning back!
We now dedicate ourselves to Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and our days left upon this earth to the service of the King of kings and His eternal kingdom. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I now declare over you the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 4:1-6 & 1 Corinthians 15:58:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. … Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
You can listen to Pastor Jerry’s message here:
You can watch the video by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 655
Good Fruit in the New Year!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, January 1, 2022. Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you in 2022!
It is my deepest prayer for you in 2022 that you will manifest the good fruit of your relationship with Jesus Christ! This has always been God’s hope for His people. We are His image bearers! Deuteronomy 29:14-18 taught His people about the importance of staying rooted in God’s covenant:
Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today …; so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.
The evidence of your relationship with God is found in either the peaceful fruit of righteousness or the poisonous fruit of a bitter root. As Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:20, “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Seize the moment and bear the good fruit of abiding in the vine of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (John 15:1-16). May your life make evidence the fruit of the Holy Spirit in 2022: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)!
Happy New Year and God bless you!
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Seize the Moment – Day 654
The Curse of an Iron Yoke!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, December 31.
Happy New Year’s Eve! May the Lord bless you in 2022!
The Lord has given each of us a choice—blessings or curses! Moses gave us the promises of the covenant in Deuteronomy 27-28 as He closed out his second giving of the Law. After a litany of covenant curses in Deuteronomy 27:15-26 and 28:15-68, you can feel the heavy burden of disobedience to the covenant of God. To capture the consequences of disobedience, God gave His people the image of an iron yoke in Deuteronomy 28:47-48:
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
The yoke is an agricultural image that depicts a choice: God’s people are either in the easy yoke of covenant blessings where they have peace and find rest for their soul through a faithful relationship with God (Matthew 11:28-30) or they are in the hard yoke of covenant curses where they find weariness and despair because of their rebellion against God (Jeremiah 28:13-14). The choice comes down to submission to God and His ways.
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Seize the Moment – Day 653
Take Responsibility!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, December 30.
I was recently in a meeting, when someone suggested that we put a name next to each action item. If you want something to get done, then someone must take responsibility to bring the good idea to fulfillment.
Moses completed the second giving of the Law (12-26) and was about to lay out the blessings and curses of the Law (27-28). But first, a command was given by Moses and the elders, in Deuteronomy 27:1-3, that the people must publicly commit themselves to obeying the Law in a covenant renewal ceremony upon their entrance to the Promised land:
Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.”
It is important that “the elders of Israel” were included in the giving of this charge with Moses, whereas, it had been only Moses speaking prior to this. The answer for this addition was simple, Moses would not be with them when they entered the Promised Land so, just like with the pronouncement of Joshua as the next leader (Deuteronomy 3:28), the elders were put in a position of responsibility to ensure the covenant renewal ceremony happened upon their entrance.
Seize the moment and take responsibility for what needs to get done around your home, church, and community. Don’t expect others to do what God lays on your heart to be done. Jesus is calling you to do great things for Him (Ephesians 2:10)!
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Seize the Moment – Day 652
A Farmer’s Liturgy!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, December 29.
What are your rhythms of giving thanks to God? To demonstrate your dependency upon God as the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17), what words do you say and what practical gestures of gratitude do you make?
My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord have given me (5-10).
God required rhythms of formal worship (liturgies) to remind them of His mighty deeds and to call them to a shared life of faith and purpose as His “treasured possession” (16-19).
Seize the moment and build rhythms of formal worship into your life! You are shaped by your life of devotion!
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Seize the Moment – Day 651
Good Stewardship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, December 28.
Some people treat their animals better than they treat people. Not so with the people of God! We are to treat our animals well and people even better!
This was not only a stewardship practice, but part of a larger stewardship principle that God’s people were supposed to live as His partners in caring for the creation. As image bearers of God, we are fellow stewards of creation (Genesis 1:27-29; 9:1-3). We read in Proverbs 12:10a, “A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal.” Loving care of animals is an important part of being a good steward of God’s creation!
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Seize the Moment – Day 650
Protecting Priorities!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, December 27.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Happy wife, happy life”?
While such a statement does not allow for an idolatrous view of marriage and family, it does call you to realize that right priorities make for a holy and healthy life. If you make the decision to get married, then you must protect and prioritize that relationship. If you and your spouse decide to have children, then you need to work together to figure out how to partner to prioritize the raising of those children. Neither marriage nor having children are required of you to live a holy life, but if you decide to follow either path, then you must accept the consequences of your decision by protecting and prioritizing the responsibilities those decisions require of you!
This is an amazing teaching that demonstrates the power of shared priorities. But it also reveals how difficult it can be to protect your priorities when you live in a culture that doesn’t share them, and even works against them!
What decisions do you need to make to protect your priorities in your daily life?
Seize the moment and prioritize time and energy to the priorities of your life today!
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The Day After Christmas
“The Sacred of the Ordinary!”
Luke 2:21-40 (NAS95)
The Day after Christmas (1st Sunday of Christmastide)
These are the events a week after the Christmas miracle of Immanuel, God with us! Then, the story goes silent for twelve years with these two verses, Luke 2:39-40: “When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”
Then, after a short snapshot of Jesus at twelve (41-50), the story goes quiet again, this time for even longer (approximately 18 years) with these two verses, Luke 2:51-52: “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
So, with the exceptions of his miraculous birth story, dedication at eight days, and pilgrimage at twelve years old, the epic story of Jesus Christ, is silent on the first thirty years of His life. The next time we see Jesus is at His baptism, ready to fulfill the purpose of His life.
What happened in each of those ordinary days, along the way, in thirty years of preparation for the epic journey of Jesus Christ to the Cross—the gospel story, which is the recording of the most sacred life ever lived! There are some hints in our two passages:
- Verse 40, “The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”
- Verse 52, “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
While we normally celebrate the high points of Jesus’ epic life: His conception, birth, dedication, baptism, and ministry for three years that culminated with His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. And while we exhaustively discuss and debate His second coming and His promises for the future, we don’t discuss those first thirty years of preparation—the ordinary humdrum days of Jesus’ humanity in a small community as the son of Joseph and Mary, and then as a carpenter. Those ordinary years that daily shaped and prepared Jesus for his extraordinary ministry that has become the greatest Story ever told—the gospel—were just as sacred as the high days we call Christmas and Easter. Because, without each of those ordinary days, Jesus would not have grown up, increased in wisdom and stature, and in God’s grace (favor). Every day is sacred in the epic story called the gospel of Jesus Christ—the greatest Story!
I love epic stories! Whether it is a classic tale such as C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, or J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, or a contemporary epic story such as Ted Dekker’s The Circle Trilogy, or Andrew Peterson’s The Wingfeather Saga, I am all in and can’t get enough of an epic story well told! My heart comes alive and my soul years for something better as I join the characters in their story!
Epics spin tales of different worlds while, simultaneously, giving us glimpses into the very best and worst of what lies in each of our hearts. Epics tell us the truth in a way that gets beyond our normal defense mechanisms so that we may hear truths that are otherwise veiled from our eyes or caught in the shadows of our own choices. Epics are stories of biblical proportion and, whether the author knows it, point to the greatest Story ever told, because everything that is good and true and right comes from our Heavenly Father! Epics draw us in and rescue us from living in the humdrum of the ordinary by showing to us the sacred of the ordinary!
I want my life to point to the greatest Story ever told! I want my life to be fully alive—a life that causes other people to yearn for something more for their life. I believe, with every ounce of my being, that we can live this life today! Our stories are intended to point to His Story—the gospel of Jesus Christ! The gospel is the truest story ever told and it pierces the darkness of our souls and calms the storms of our hearts. We come alive when we find ourselves inside His Story! Jesus rescues us through His epic life, so that we may live the epic life today (John 10:10). Jesus calls us to join with Him in the great rescue of all human history—the epic story, called the gospel, to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Our story points to His Story!
The Apostle Paul was radically rescued by Jesus Christ, and he devoted the rest of his life to telling others God’s epic story come alive in Him through a personal encounter with the resurrected Lord (Acts 9). It was not enough for Paul to experience the grace of God for Himself, it was His deepest desire for God’s people to be strong in the grace of God that comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul believed that the epic life of Jesus Christ was available to every person, not just for an eternity, but, also, for today!
The key is to learn how to grow strong in grace like Jesus Christ did, as recorded in our two theme passages of Luke 2:40 & 52, and like Paul did after His encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul teaches us what it looks like for us to grow in God’s grace in 2 Timothy 2:1-7:
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
It is from this passage that we are going to launch our 2022 sermon series next Sunday and learn how to grow strong in God’s grace by remembering our sacred call within the ordinary details of our everyday lives. With the same discipline and intentionality of a soldier, athlete, and farmer, we are to grow strong in the grace of Jesus Christ and live the epic life today. In 2011, we learned the life of a champion athlete and, in 2022, we will learn the life of a soldier on mission!
You can listen to Pastor Jerry’s message here:
You can watch the video by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 648
Merry Christmas to all who may dwell here.
Merry Christmas, if even just one
May the joy of the season surround you.
Merry Christmas, with love!
Today’s hymn focus will be
“The First Noel”
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel! Born is the King of Israel
YOUTUBE:
The First Noel
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.
shining in the east, beyond them far;
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night. [Refrain]
three Wise Men came from country far;
to seek for a king was their intent,
and to follow the star wherever it went. [Refrain]
o’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
and there it did both stop and stay,
right over the place where Jesus lay. [Refrain]
full reverently upon the knee,
and offered there, in his presence,
their gold and myrrh and frankincense. [Refrain]
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