In this part of the story of the woman at the well, we see that Jesus has to identify himself even after all that He has done. You might think that a person would recognize God in the flesh if they met Him. But this woman did not. Why?
Rob Mastry
May 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Rob Mastery gives us a great message Saturday night. Learned some great things about taking sin seriously and believing God.
Read Genesis 4.
Message given on May 20th 2017.
The beginning of a sermon
May 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment
A couple years ago Pastor Kyle McDannel led a discussion about what we go through to make a sermon. I shared with the group that the first thing I do is I read and outline the passage. Just the act of outlining what the passage says helps us be clear what is being communicated. It also lets us see if we have taken too large or too small of a passage to really understand in a sitting.
This is my initial outline of this weekends passage. I would encourage you to read the passage and try this yourself.
The Bride and The Groom of John 3:28-30
May 2, 2017 by 1 Comment
The marriage relationship is often used in the New Testament as an image of the relationship between Christ and His Church. In this lesson we look at what John the Baptist said to his followers leading up to the work of Christ on the Cross.
Why FBC?
March 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Why FBC?
Why do we do what we do?
- Because we really believe God is good and loving. Because we really believe sin is in each one of us and we all need God. Because if we just believe and follow Jesus Christ, we can really know peace even in hard times.
- Because we want others to have real and lasting peace as well. That’s why we do church.
Why Friendship Baptist Church?
- Because just like God is loving, we want to love one another too. We are not perfect at it. But we are better at it now than we used to be. And we are going to keep getting better at it every day going forward.
How will we do church?
- Because God is good and loving and we seek to do the same to each other and those around us, we strive to:
- Teach others about God’s love through Jesus Christ.
- Show love to one another by patience, encouragement, acceptance of personalities and holding sin accountable when it is clear.
- Recognizing these things are driven by heart attitudes and asking ourselves, what is the attitude of my heart today? (Need a guide? Look at the beatitudes in Matthew 5.)
What will we do?
- What we do changes based on the needs of the day. Everything we do is intended to reflect the answers to why we do what we do at FBC.
- But some whats are consistent.
- We will pray for the spiritual strength of one another and the well being of all people.
- We will study the Bible as the inerrant word of God. To both know God’s character, commands and provisions, as well as to follow and apply the doctrines of the bible to our everyday lives.
- We will celebrate together. Sometimes in worship service, others in small group class settings or times just spent sharing our lives together.
- We will sacrifice. Because we value what is described in our whys, we give of our time, money, and abilities. Intentionally and sometimes to the point of discomfort, as we want our sacrifice for the faith to truly impact our lives, as well as others.
- All because we believe Jesus is just that good!
How to listen to a Sermon
January 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
As I remember back to being a young man attending church for no other reason than I thought I needed to, I realize that I rarely if ever understood or even recalled a sermon. I’m sure the pastor was competent and organized in his thoughts. I just didn’t know how to organize in my own brain what I was learning. I think a structure would have helped me. Here are some thoughts that can serve as a very practical way to help those who find themselves struggling with the very same thing.
The lessons of faith are no more than academic until they become personal. (See Matthew 16:15-16) So you must examine them in a personal way. The following will will help us see the sermon or lesson as being applicable to each of us.
- We pray for our hearts desires; so make it a desire to understand and pray to that end. (Even if its just 2 minuets ahead of time.)
- Bring your own Bible and open it to the passage the pastor is speaking on and read along with him.
- Actually write down the main point of the sermon, what it is calling you to do, and what part of the sermon caught your attention.
- Do this even if you don’t know why. If you write it down and think on it later in the week, you may gain understanding with time.
- Follow a plan. Maybe use the Bible study outline we have talked about before:
- What does this passage/sermon say about me (humanity)?
- What does this passage/sermon say about God?
- What does this passage/sermon call me to do in response? (Trust more, believe, believe deeper, pray, repent, give, go, love, etc…?)
When we make a plan and effort to understand, the results will become clear.
Why Grace is a matter of freedom.
January 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I remember seeing her wrestling with the ideas in her head. Believing in Christ was supposed to set her free. But she had been told so much that when she became a Christian she had to follow certain rules. (The fact that the rules she was trying to uphold were arbitrarily selected from the whole Law of God never entered her mind as something to question.) She was in a crisis of faith.
Most of us who believe in Christ face this. Many of us would never say it, but most of us hold to some version of Christianity that says, “I came to Jesus and was saved by grace through faith and he forgave me of everything I did wrong in the past. Now, I have to work hard to stay in good standing with Him.” The problem with that view is this: It’s not Christian or Biblical.
If He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, how do we determine that we are going to be able to add to that accomplishment? Our sin is paid for. It is gone. Maybe we should say, “It is finished.”
Romans 8:1-2 says:
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. (NASB)
We live life as though Jesus gave us a great gift in our Salvation but now that it is in our hands it is like a priceless fabergé egg. It is not. It is the single most solid truth of all the universe. It cannot be shaken or broken or lost. You live free in Jesus because nothing can change who you are in Him.
Same chapter, Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that 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, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)
Don’t be bound by what you were told to keep you in line as a kid. The Gospel is rebellious and freeing. Your standing with God is not based on your performance, but on Christ’s performance. He has earned your place at the table. Trust in Him and love Him. Know that you belong to Him. Because as a follower of Christ, you do.
The Law and Grace.
December 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
An excerpt from Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan:
“Now when I had climbed about halfway up, I looked behind and saw someone coming after me, swift as the wind. Soon he overtook me just about the place where the arbor stands.”
“… as soon as the man overtook me, without saying a word, he struck me and knocked me down unconscious. When I came to, I asked him why he had thus assaulted me. He said it was because of my secret inclination to follow Adam the First, and with that he struck me with another deadly blow on the chest and beet me down backward, and I lay at his feed as if I were dead. So when I came to, I cried to him for mercy. But he said, ‘I do not know how to show mercy’ and with that knocked me down again. He would have beaten me to death, except One came by and told him to stop.”“Who was it that told him to stop?”
Faithful went on, “I did not recognize Him at first, but as He went by I saw the wounds in His hands and in HIs side. Then I concluded that He was our Lord. So I continued….”
Christian then explained, “The man who overtook you was Moses. He spares no one, and he does not know how to show mercy to anyone who transgresses his law.”
This passage of this old book is something we struggle with to this day. Christian and non-Christian… so many of us believe our judgement will be based on how good we are or were. But not the case. We are dependent upon the mercy of Christ.
