Central Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

Have you ever been waiting for something and it seems like it’s taking forever? The Israelites had been waiting for Moses to come down the mountain and they were growing impatient. Their impatience led to a whirlwind of sin, but the reality is their story often mirrors our story. Join us on Sunday as we explore the next movement of hope and that is, hope that is lost can be restored.

As we continue through the book of Exodus, we’ve made our way to section that sounds like it’s been ripped straight from the dark ages. This Sunday we’ll read about priests and garments, sacrifices and blood, stones and inscriptions. At first glance it is difficult to relate to, but as we dig a little deeper we’ll discover that all of that anticipated who we are to be today as followers of Jesus. This exciting sermon will draw on the past, look towards the future, and encourage us in the present.

As we continue making our way through the book of Exodus we’ve come to the point where God has rescued his people, he’s provided a set of standards for his people and now the time has come for him to dwell in the midst of his people. To do that God would choose as his dwelling place a tent. God so desperately wants to be with his people that he would reside in a tent. You know he wants that desperately to be with you as well. Come this Sunday and be encouraged.

If you’ve ever tried to climb a mountain you know it can be tough. Maybe one look at it and you’re ready to give up, but if you can make it to the top you know the view would be incredible. Well, this Sunday we will be scaling a difficult mountain of text. It’s a passage that is often skimmed over or skipped entirely. However, in taking the time to do the hard work of navigating this passage we see a fuller picture of the extent of God’s love. Be prepared to think, be challenged, to wrestle through some tough verses, knowing that the view from the top is worth it.

If you were to start listing off the laws in our country about how many do you think you could name? How many laws do you think we have? It’s interesting, humanity’s laws are always burdensome, excessive, so vague you need a mountain of judges and lawyers to determine what they mean. God’s law is simple, precise, and clear. We’re jumping back into the book of Exodus and our study, Hope for the 757, and this week we’ll learn about God’s standards for His people. Standards that when followed hope reigns.

Easter is the ultimate celebration of life and hope! We believe it is the single most important event in human history. On Easter, a Divine Exchange took place. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to exchange our burdens for His power, our sorrow for His joy, our regret for His hope, and our death for His life. Experience the life-giving promises of Easter with us.

At one point or another, in one context or another we’ve all had that defining the relationship experience. Peter thought he was the rock, but he had fallen worse than he ever could have imagined. He had denied his relationship with Jesus. And now that relationship needed to be defined. In fact, it is healthy for all of us to define our relationship with Jesus and what that means. This Sunday will help with that.

This Sunday you will be blessed by Toby Debause. He leads the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in the Hampton Roads area and is a passionate about seeing people live out the truths of the gospel.

This week we will get into John 21 where Jesus appears to his disciples again. This time it’s over a meal. There is something about coming to the family table where you learn who you are. The disciples would need that reminder again and so do we.

Faith can be hard. Jesus’ disciples knew their Messiah was dead and they hid behind closed doors for fear of the Jewish leaders. They had seen Jesus perform miracles, but they weren’t prepared for the greatest miracle of all. Sometimes we hide as well – behind closed doors, behind social pressures, behind our own insecurities and doubt. Once the disciples experienced the reality of the resurrection their fear was replaced with courage. During this next series, we will study from John’s gospel how the miracle of the resurrection ignited Jesus’ disciples. It will be sure to ignite your heart as well with a vision for how you can best share Jesus and impact people.