bpchurch Sermons

I'm excited to announce our bpChurch Spring Retreat! No, it's not cancelled. In fact, we plan on having it. Are you wondering how we can have a Spring Retreat when all other retreat venues are closed and large groups can't gather together? Good question. What if this retreat isn't about getting together in a group, but rather getting away from other things in order to spend some focused time on getting closer to the Lord?

This Easter Sunday, we are going to do some things a little different. Certainly, this will be different from the previous Easters we are accustomed to, but we are going to try something out of the box compared to our other online services. This service will have some of our church members in the video, declaring Jesus and reading passages from God's Word as well as having a virtual tour of Jesus' Tomb. Let's see for ourselves that He isn't there, but actually here. I look forward to sharing this reality with you.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. In Matthew 21 and Luke 19, we will be talking about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and what it meant. While we cannot meet in person, I have found some fun ways for us to interact with one another during our Sunday Worship service and Easter Week.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

Lately, changes seem to be happening frequently and suddenly. Even now, as I am making plans and trying to figure out a way to move forward, things suddenly change. We can do this--No, we can't do that--We, could do it this other way then--No, that won't work--Wait, now we can do it that other way after all...This current pandemic isn't the only example of plans changing swiftly and unexpectedly. It happens in life, in big and small ways. But God tells us there is something that will occur suddenly.

Perhaps these sudden changes that have been thrown to us are actually an opportunity of preparing ourselves and others for this event that God told us about. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and let's discuss it together this Sunday during our online worship service. The service will be posted on our website or facebook page for easy access to join us live at 9:15am or to view it later.

If you did not see the "Sunday evening message" in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, that passage leads right into this one, so you may want to watch that here beforehand.

“We are powerless against this great threat against us…we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great threat, the battle is not yours but God’s.’” (2 Chronicles 20:12, 15)

We are certainly not the first to face an unprecedented threat that we ourselves are not able to stop. Still, this is the first time we have been in a place quite like this. Is there a place where the Bible describes a time of isolation and social distance? Is there a text that describes a time when we remember what it was like to gather and sing praises together and remember our faith in God in worship, because we no longer can gather and we feel the loss of it, the social distance?

I think that text is Psalm 42-43, and I want to tell you about a way that we can worship and celebrate together our hope in God this text calls us to.

“These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with everyone and lead them in worship at the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude celebrating our faith in God’s covenant together.” (Psalm 42:4, Bob’s expanded version)

A Sunday Evening message from March 22nd

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? Most of us have an answer to that… or several. But is your answer related to following Jesus? We often think of being a Christian as a mental decision that we make at one point in our life, but it is so much more than that. Following Jesus involves change, or transformation. In 1 Thessalonians 4, we see how our transformation to become more like Jesus is something that pleases God, and it's actually pretty great for us as well. Join us this Sunday to find out more about how following Jesus leads to transformation.

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

What is it that would really make your day, or even your year? What is it that you long for, that if only it came true nothing else would matter quite as much? For kids, it's close to Christmas or might be something at Toys R’ Us; for a young man, it might have something to do with a young lady…what would it be for you?

This Sunday, we talk about something in 1 Thessalonians 3 that could make you break out your happy dance, and we discuss what you should do after that.

1 Thessalonians 3:1-5

In 1 Thessalonians 1, we saw the wonderful results when the gospel of Jesus is planted and cultivated in the lives of others. In 1 Thessalonians 2, we have seen some of the personal qualities which enable that to happen. This week, as we move into chapter three, we are going to look at the three key essentials in being used by God in the lives of others.