Baptist City Blog

Take Off the Leash

Acts 2:14

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:”

The story of Peter and the disciples preaching on the day of Pentecost truly seems to be much different from a few days earlier when they were on the lake fishing. Just a few days prior they had given up on Christianity, and for good reason; they thought that Christ was dead. The verse above shows an obvious difference in the disciples as they boldly proclaimed the Gospel and thousands responded by accepting Christ as Saviour. Something had changed!

The Door of Hesitation

John 18:16

“But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.”

You know the story very well, the story of Peter denying the Saviour. You have heard how Peter declared that he was willing to follow Jesus to the grave just a few hours before he denied knowing the Saviour. You have heard how Peter warmed himself at the heathen’s fire and eventually came to the point where he denied the church, his faith and his God. This is truly a sad chapter in Peter’s life.

Validating Works

John 10:38

“But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

In a world where many voices claim validity in the Christian realm, how do you know which one is real and which one is not? Jesus answered this question by saying, “…though ye believe not me, believe the works…” Jesus encountered many people who questioned whether or not He was the Son of God. They constantly challenged His validity, but He countered their challenges by telling people not only to look at Who He said He was, but also to look at what He had done. I believe in this brief statement you will find the test you can use to validate whether or not a person is real.

Glad the Pope doesn't decide

"The pope says that Donald Trump is not a Christian because Christians do not build walls. Never mind that the Vatican is surrounded by a wall, and we won't even talk about who built that wall. But that's what the pope said. Given the pope's political leanings, I'm surprised he isn't on the campaign trail for Bernie Sanders. Maybe Bernie Sanders is too far to the right for the pope." -Rush

Immorality

We have four wonderful sermons from the week of 02/14/16 up for you now at Baptist City.

How to Choose
Though He May Fall, He Will Not Be Utterly Cast Down
The Fallacy of Immorality
Revelation 2

Enjoy!

Responding to the Cross

Luke 23:33

“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.”

If you are successfully going to serve Christ for your entire life, you are going to have to carry a cross. Luke 9:23 says,“…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” There is no getting around the fact that you are going to have a cross that you must bear. Your cross will bring out a response in you that will either cause you to quit serving the LORD, or it will bring out a response that will magnify Christ through you.

The Ten Percenter

Luke 17:15

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,”

An amazing result happened in the story of the ten lepers. Jesus was going to Jerusalem when He passed through Samaria and Galilee. When He entered one of the villages, there were ten lepers who saw Him at a distance and cried out to Him to have mercy on them. Jesus responded by telling them to show themselves to the priest. When these ten men turned and started to go to the priest, their leprosy was healed.

The Covetousness Test

Luke 12:15

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

When my daughter was younger, she struggled a lot with strep throat. I remember my wife taking her to the doctor to have them swab her throat to see if she actually had strep throat. That test helped us to determine if she had the infection and how to treat it if she did. That test was important because infection could lead to heart damage if she didn't get proper treatment.

Misplacing Your Faith

Luke 8:25

“And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”

When going through the storms of life, we often misplace our faith only to make the storm worse. The disciples did this when Jesus commanded them to go to the other side. While they were in the midst of the storm, they thought they were going to die even though Jesus was in the boat with them. How ridiculous to think the storm was going to overcome them when they had the Master of the storms with them. Jesus revealed their misplaced faith when He asked them where their faith was.

Bible Thoughts by Terry Hedderman

Monday, 2/8/16 Mark 2:17b, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You’ll walk a lot closer to Christ if you’ll be more cognizant of your sinfulness than your “righteousness.” 2 Cor 7:1, ...let us cleanse ourselves form all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Three truths: ¹after salvation, both our flesh and our spirits can be dirty. ²With God’s help, we are primarily the ones tasked to clean ourselves. ³Without the cleansing, our holiness is imperfect (incomplete.)