Hymn: Blest Be the Ties That Bind
Today’s worship song focus :
Blest Be the Tie that Binds
Galatians 3:28 (NASB95)
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
We need to wake up to the realization that it is the love of God that binds our hearts to one another. We need to have the determination to love people through every circumstance, even those that try to pull us apart. We will find that it will make us stronger and that we are truly loving as God loves us.
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.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.
our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives
and waits to see the day.
and sin, we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.
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Jeremiah 27
Take the Yoke upon You!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 19.
Jesus compassionately invited all who are weary and heavy-laden, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Just like Jesus transformed the Roman cross into a redemptive image of life, so He converted the oxen yoke into a prophetic sign of faith. Six hundred years prior, in Jeremiah 27, God commanded His prophet to take up his yoke. In Jeremiah 27:8-12, the prophet explained the image of the yoke:
“‘It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,’ declares the Lord, ‘until I have destroyed it by his hand. … But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’” I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!”
Jeremiah’s message was unpopular because he commanded the people to choose between political subjugation or destruction. The way of the yoke was to trust God by putting oneself under the rule of Babylon, the instrument of God’s judgment, who was also the only means of survival. What happens when the way of life feels like death to self?
Seize the moment and take up your cross daily! Follow Jesus, who promised in Luke 9:24, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
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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Jeremiah 26
Respond Tenderly to the Truth!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 18.
God’s tender mercies are often delivered in hard messages. In the beginning of the rule of King Jehoiakim, Jeremiah was sent on a mercy mission to speak to all the people who had gathered in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 26:3, God explained to the prophet His reasoning for such a difficult message, which he was not allowed to soften for the people’s easier consumption, “Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.” Because He is rich in mercy, God was giving His chosen people a final opportunity to repent prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people to Babylon. Unfortunately, as we see in Jeremiah 26:7-9, they would not listen:
When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?”
God gives hard words because He loves His children and only wants the best for them. Unfortunately, not much has changed since the time of Jeremiah. People still want the message preached by God’s messenger to agree with their own sensibilities and loyalties, and if they don’t hear what they want to hear they will often punish the messenger. Back in the day that meant seeking his death, now it usually means criticizing the preacher or leaving the church.
Seize the moment and respond tenderly to the truth! May God’s faithful messengers soften your heart, so that you may live a faithful life to the God who loves you enough to tell you the truth.
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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Jeremiah 25
Be Thankful for Mercy!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, April 17.
There can be no good news without first hearing the bad news. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of the kingdom of God because there is a domain of darkness from which we must be saved (Colossians 1:13). There can’t be a chalice of grace for the forgiveness of sin if there isn’t first the cup of wrath that must be satisfied. This important prophetic image was described by the prophet in Jeremiah 25:27-29:
You shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.’” And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘You shall surely drink! For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”
God’s righteous judgment for sin is not only against His chosen people, but against all people, as Paul made clear in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (cf. Ephesians 2:1-3). The cup of wrath is what we all deserve to drink from for our sin, but God, rich in mercy, extended the chalice of grace to us through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). As you read Jeremiah, and learn about God’s wrath for sin, may you find yourself in awe of what Jesus Christ has done for you on the Cross, where He drank the cup of wrath down to its dregs!
Seize the moment and be thankful for God’s mercy (Ephesians 2:4-10)!
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.
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Jeremiah 24
Bear Good Fruit!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, April 16.
What happens when you are confused about right and wrong, unable to discern what is good and what is bad? You can sincerely strive to do the right thing, only to find out that you were misled in the goals you were pursuing. That is the situation in Jerusalem as the Babylonians brought the king and his entourage out of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:10-20). Shouldn’t the people resist the occupying force and fight against Babylon, defending their city unto death? As contrary to common sense as it sounds, God’s will for them was to surrender to the enemy and be taken into Babylonian captivity. The prophet illustrated God’s plan for His people with a prophetic sign in Jeremiah 24:1-2, 5, and 8:
The Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord! One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. … “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.’ … ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness – indeed, thus says the Lord – so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.’”
It can be difficult to discern right from wrong, good from evil in today’s world. Ultimately, you must act upon what you believe to be true, as Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20).
Seize the moment and bear good fruit by abiding in Jesus (John 15:1-16). Surrender to God first in every circumstance, and He will help you know the right next step (Romans 12:1-2).
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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Jeremiah 23
When all is Forlorn!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, April 15.
In The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.” What happens to people when despair sets in? After the oracles of judgment against the final kings of Judah, the hope of the Davidic lineage was seemingly lost. The kings had forsaken God, yet, during the devastating consequences of their failures, God renewed the people’s hope, reminding them to trust in Him alone. In Jeremiah 23:5-8, God gave His people an oracle of restoration, promising the Coming Messiah:
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’ Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘as the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”
Hope is a necessary ingredient to life. Without hope, it’s easy to become sad and lonely, with no positive expectation for the future. It’s nearly impossible to be resilient apart from hope; we need a little light to take the right next step. While it is common to derive hope from your personal well-being and healthy relationships, what happens if you don’t have those things?
Seize the moment and hope in the Lord when all is forlorn, anchor your life in Jesus, the Messiah who has come and will return soon (Hebrews 6:19-20).
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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The Call to the Great Community 1
Lesson #1:
The Church is God’s Idea!
+ INTRO: “The Call to the Great Community” is a series of messages about the body of Christ and our call to be fellow members of the body of Christ and why that is an important call to answer for us individually and corporately for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ (why He came!) and the glory of God.
+ BODY: The BIG IDEA for today is THE CHURCH IS GOD’S IDEA; NOT MINE OR YOURS!
1) THE CHURCH is the BODY OF CHRIST!
2) BECAUSE THE CHURCH EXISTS FOR THE MISSION OF JESUS TO THE GLORY OF GOD
+ We are redeemed to fulfill the Genesis Commission (Genesis 1:26-27) as the heirs of the Abrahamic Promise (Genesis 12:1-3). To bless all things as Ephesians 1:19b-21 proclaims.
3) THIS IS GOD’S PLAN A!
RESOURCES:
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Hymn: Speak to the Mountains
Today’s worship song focus :
Speak to the Mountains
I John 4:4 (NASB95)
Why would I worry when giants come calling my name?
My God is so much bigger than troubles I face
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.
If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:
Speak to the Mountains
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Jeremiah 22
The Heart of Leadership!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, April 12.
To be a good leader, you first need to be a great follower. Any person who is incapable of being submissive to authority should never be put into a position of leadership. Jesus modeled servant leadership for His disciples, commanding them to follow His example in Matthew 20:25-28:
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
In Jeremiah 22:13-16, six hundred years prior to Jesus saying this to His disciples, God rebuked the final kings of Judah for their failure of leadership:
“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness and his upper rooms without justice, who uses his neighbor’s services without pay and does not give him his wages, who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house with spacious upper rooms, and cut out its windows, paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares the Lord.
Jerusalem could not be saved simply by having a king of David’s lineage on the throne; God desired, and still desires today, to work through people who have David’s heart – “who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).
Seize the moment and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
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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Jeremiah 21
Day 1486
Surrender or Die!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, April 11.
There are two things a military commander never wants to do – retreat or surrender. Strategically, both can be the right decision when it is the only way to save your people, so that you can fight another day. That was the exact situation facing the people of Jerusalem, as declared by the prophet in Jeremiah 21:8-10:
“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.” ’ ”
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was sieging Jerusalem, and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, was hoping God would rescue them. That was why he sent messengers to Jeremiah, just like King Hezekiah sent messengers to Isaiah when the Assyrians were besieging Jerusalem, over a century prior in Isaiah 36-37. Unfortunately, the destruction of Jerusalem was imminent as a righteous judgment against them for not seizing the moment of God’s former clemency to repent and walk in His ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16). God’s direct response to Zedekiah, in Jeremiah 21:5, was clear, “I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation.” There is only one right response to God’s wrath against sin, “I surrender all.”
Seize the moment and repent by walking in the ancient paths of God by taking on the easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30).
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.
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