Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary

Dr. Doug Brown opens by asking whether anyone has the inner strength to change themselves, then argues that the honest answer is no — and that Ephesians 3:14-21 is precisely a prayer for the kind of strength only God can supply. He frames the passage as a hinge in Ephesians, connecting the theology of chapters 1-3 with the practical walk of chapters 4-6, and walks through Paul's posture, petitions, and closing praise.

Scripture Text

Ephesians 3:14-21

Main Points or Ideas

• The Posture of Paul's Prayer (vv. 14-15) - Paul bows his knees before the Father, and while he doesn't use the word "prayer," the posture communicates humility and absolute submission to absolute authority. God is named as the Father of every family in heaven and on earth — the One with sovereign authority over all. Brown encourages students to try praying on their knees, because the posture of the body shapes the attitude of the heart.

• The Petitions of Paul's Prayer (vv. 16-19) - Paul makes three requests, each a prayer for God-given strength. First, he prays for strength through the Holy Spirit in the inner being so that Christ may dwell fully in their hearts — not compartmentalized into certain rooms while other areas are closed off, but welcomed into every part of life. Second, he prays for strength to comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ — a love that is the believer's positional foundation and yet infinitely surpasses full understanding. Third, he prays that they would be filled with all the fullness of God — characterized by God himself, increasingly reflecting Christ's likeness through the Spirit's ongoing work.

• The Praise of Paul's Prayer (vv. 20-21) - Paul closes with a doxology anchored in God's limitless ability: he can do far more abundantly than anything believers could ask or imagine, according to the power already at work within them. This is the God to whom Paul's three petitions are addressed, and it makes those requests all the more confident and hopeful.

  
  

Conclusion

Dr. Doug closes by inviting students to kneel and pray for a neighbor, applying the very posture and petitions of the text. The main idea he returns to throughout is simple: God wants his people to pray for strength so that they can be changed into Christ's likeness — and the God who receives those prayers is more than able to answer them.

Dr. Dave Doran opens the third and final session in the Walton Lecture Series on difficult sin by reviewing the first two principles — make it difficult to sin (Romans 13:14) and build biblical resistance through the Word (Psalm 119:11) — before turning to the hardest reality: what to do when, despite those preparations, we still fall. He frames the session around two foundational truths and their practical applications.

Scripture Text

Galatians 5:16-25; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1; 2 Corinthians 3:18

Main Points or Ideas

• Foundational truth: the Spirit is already fighting - Galatians 5:17 says the flesh and the Spirit are already at war inside every believer. The believer is not on his own — the Spirit of God dwells within and is actively opposing sin. The practical responsibility that follows is to walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit. Doran traces the four-stage chain from James 1 — encounter, entertain, engage, experience remorse — and urges believers to respond to the Spirit's conviction as early in that chain as possible: flee the temptation when entertaining it (as Joseph did), repent midstream if already engaged, and confess immediately once remorse comes. The deeply ingrained pattern of sin may mean conviction comes late at first, but as believers listen and respond, the Spirit will intervene earlier and earlier in the chain.
• Foundational truth: the Father is ready to forgive - 1 John 1:9 grounds forgiveness not in the quality of confession but in God's own faithfulness and righteousness. The enemy's lie — that God has grown tired of forgiving the same sin again — must be rejected outright. The Father is like the prodigal's father on the porch, watching and ready to receive. The practical responsibility is to confess sin rightly — not to seek catharsis (venting how bad we feel), but to genuinely acknowledge responsibility, agree with God about the nature of the sin, and ask for both forgiveness and cleansing. Confession also humbles the believer before God, and God gives grace to the humble — meaning the very act of confessing positions the believer to receive the grace needed to change.
• A final word: seek help and have hope - Doran closes the series by urging students not to assume a deep sinful struggle will resolve itself over time. He has spent forty-three years in ministry watching people whose unaddressed sin eventually destroyed them. The call is to have the humility to ask for help from the people and resources God has provided — and to do so from a place of genuine hope, not shame. God can transform the deepest patterns of sin, not merely get believers to heaven.

Conclusion

The three principles together — make it difficult to sin, treasure the Word in the heart, and respond quickly and rightly when we fall — are not a silver bullet but a way of life. Doran closes with his own testimony: he is deeply grateful not to be the eighteen-year-old he once was, and attributes that change entirely to a merciful God. There is hope, not because of us, but because of him.

In the second message ofthe Walton Lecture Series, Dr. Dave Doran spoke on the believer’s resource for fighting sin. Dr. Doran turns to Psalm 119:11 and observes that the treasuring of God’s Word helps the believer to not sin. He warns that growing careless about the fight against sin and dismissing the need for holiness is a dangerous territory for believers to live in. It endangers them from fighting sin and prevailing.

Scripture Text

Psalm 119:11; Romans 13:14; Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Timothy 4:7-8; Ephesians 3:16

Main Points or Ideas

• The resource: God's Word - Psalm 119:11 declares that treasuring God's Word in the heart is what guards against sin. Doran argues that when believers struggling with a habitual sin look for help, they too often look away from Scripture — toward books, sermons, or secular frameworks — and that this reveals a heart problem. The Word of God that gave the new birth did not lose its power afterward. It is sufficient for the work of transformation. The first move for anyone in a genuine spiritual battle should be God's Word, not a supplement to it.
• The responsibility: treasure it in the heart - Knowing the Bible casually or hearing it constantly is not the same as treasuring it in the heart. Doran distinguishes between absorbing general biblical truth and doing the focused work of finding what God's Word says specifically about the sin being fought — including both the core sin and the contributing heart issues beneath it. Using anger as an example, he shows how Scripture addresses not only the surface pattern but also pride, lack of self-control, and an unforgiving disposition underneath it. The goal is not information but transformation of the way one thinks, feels, and chooses.
• Why this works: preparation for the fight - Treasuring the Word builds resistance in three ways before the moment of temptation arrives. First, it cultivates humility and dependence on God rather than confidence in oneself. Second, it trains the soul for godliness — just as consistent physical training builds strength used in a crisis, consistent yes to the Word builds the discipline to say no to sin. Third, it places the sword of the Spirit in hand before the battle begins. Doran points to Matthew 4: Jesus did not wave Scripture at Satan like a charm; he used specific texts to articulate why he would not yield. The Word gives believers the reason to stay true to Christ in the moment of temptation.

Conclusion

Doran closes by urging students to stop treating their Bibles as trivia atlases and read them as life itself — treasuring specific truths in the heart so that, when temptation comes, they are ready to give the reason from Scripture why they are going to trust God and follow Christ rather than yield.

In the first of three messages in the Walton Lecture Series, Dr. Dave Doran spoke during chapel about how sin enslaves and deceives the person. He shares ways believers can be equipped to fight this sin. He boldly states that the thing between the temptation and sin itself is the believer’s choice.

He frames the message as the first of three sessions on how to go to battle against difficult, habitual sins — the kind that have burrowed deep and seem impossible to uproot — and lays out the biblical-theological foundation necessary before any practical strategy will work.

Scripture Text

Romans 13:14; James 1:13-15; Hebrews 3:13; Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 2:14

Main Points or Ideas

• Understand how sin operates - Sin comes deceptively and hardens the conscience over time. No one arrives at devastating bondage in a single day; it happens through gradual concessions that dull sensitivity to what is wrong. Sin also exploits a God-given capacity for good: the ability to form habits. Just as athletic training produces second-nature skill, repeated surrender to a temptation can make sin feel involuntary — but it never actually is. Between every temptation and every sinful act there is always a choice. The gap may feel nonexistent when a sin has become deeply grooved, but it never disappears. Calling habitual sin a disease or pathology robs believers of genuine gospel hope.
• Pursue the right goal - The goal of fighting sinful enslavement is not personal freedom or relief from misery; it is Christ-likeness. Pursuing victory over sin for selfish reasons is a dangerous loop. Romans 13:14 calls believers to put on the Lord Jesus Christ — to cultivate Christ-likeness as the active expression of being made new in him. The relationship with Christ comes first; the pursuit of holiness flows from it. Until the heart shifts from "I want relief" to "I want to love and honor Christ," the real problem has not been addressed.
• Make no provision for the flesh - The second half of Romans 13:14 is the practical command: make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. This means cutting sin off at the cue — before temptation fully forms — rather than trying to fight it mid-battle. Every habitual sin has a pattern: predictable times, places, feelings, and circumstances that precede it. The wisdom of Scripture is to trace that trail and then build obstacles. Remove opportunities. Make it environmentally difficult to sin. And make it emotionally costly: see every sinful choice not as "sin versus no sin" but as a personal choice between the sin and loyalty to Christ. The more the battle is framed in personal love for the Savior who died for you, the more the heart will turn toward him and hate what dishonors him.

Conclusion

Doran closes by calling students to stop looking for a silver bullet in sanctification and instead pursue the long, active work of replacing grooved sinful habits with grooved habits of godliness — because the power of God is greater even than the deepest patterns of sin, and he can make us like Christ.

Clare Jewell spoke during chapel about the importance of being intentional in being examples to the world. He looks at Matthew 5:13-16 and the call of Christ for believers to be “salt and light” to the world.

Drawing from seven years of teaching a Missional Living course and twenty-two years of pastoral ministry, he builds a practical case from Matthew 5:13-16 and Matthew 4:18-22 for what it looks like to stop living randomly and start living on purpose for the gospel.

Scripture Text

Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 4:18-22; Ephesians 1

Main Points or Ideas

• Own your identity as salt and light - Jesus's "you" in Matthew 5:13-16 is emphatic in the Greek — his followers and no one else. God has no Plan B. Salt must make contact with the food to work, which means believers must be present and involved in people's lives. Light is not hidden but visible by nature — it is the direct communication of the gospel, not just a good impression. Jewell warns against the mistake of simply living well in front of unbelievers without ever speaking the gospel clearly.
• Be intentional with your time and relationships - Jewell offers practical handles: pray for at least one unbeliever every day, spend sixty minutes a week with a lost person, and share your story or the gospel at least once a month. Surveys of hundreds of churches show the average is only 1.66 times per year — and likely an overestimate. Simple habits like taking one meal a month with an unbeliever, or studying with your door open, require no additional programs — just greater intentionality with what you are already doing.
• Move along the discipleship path — and bring others with you - Jewell presents a five-stage discipleship path: spiritually dead (unbelief) → spiritual infant (ignorant) → spiritual child (selfish/consumer) → spiritual young adult (contributor/pitcher) → spiritual parent (intentional disciple-maker). He challenges students to identify where they are on the path and take the next step, and to recognize that they could already be spiritual parents — not someday, but now. The greatest weakness in North American Christianity is the failure to make disciple-making disciples, which is precisely the primary command of Christ.

Conclusion

Clare Jewell closes by looking around the room and speaking directly to the students: you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world, and you are not here by accident. Don't settle for a random life or a consumer faith — be intentional about loving your neighbors, sharing the gospel, and investing in people so that many can enter a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Steve Anderson shares that believers can be examples to others by being bold about the gospel, gentle in sharing it, and thankful for the effectiveness and power of God in it. He also implies that gentleness can be strong and careful, not soft and unwilling.

The Thessalonian church became a disciple-making church because Paul and his partners practiced faithful relational evangelism, and Anderson traces that pattern through three movements in the text.

Scripture Text

1 Thessalonians 2:1-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

Main Points or Ideas

• The prerequisites for relational evangelism (vv. 1-5) - Two prerequisites must be in place before any gospel ministry will bear fruit. First, boldness: Paul came to Thessalonica directly from being spitefully treated in Philippi, and he proclaimed the gospel anyway — in much conflict. Living like a Christian in front of unbelievers is good but utterly insufficient; the gospel must be spoken. Second, a sense of stewardship: the gospel has been entrusted to us, and we are accountable for how we deliver it. That accountability — knowing we will one day give an account — sustains boldness when the message is unwelcome.
• The practice of relational evangelism (vv. 6-12) - Paul describes his approach with two family images: a nursing mother and a loving father. Like a mother, he was gentle — not because he softened the message, but because he understood that blaming the spiritually blind for not seeing is a fool's endeavor. Like a father, he invested not just the gospel but his very life. Anderson illustrates this with a decade-long friendship with an unbeliever named Matt — an unlikely, reputation-shadowed man who eventually came to faith — as evidence that the groundwork laid in relationship determines the depth of discipleship possible later.
• The product and reward (vv. 13-20) - The product of faithful relational evangelism is strong believers who have received the Word not as the word of men but as the Word of God, and who are immediately willing to endure the same afflictions for it that Paul endured. Strong churches are built on strong disciples; strong disciples come from this kind of investment. The reward is described in verse 19: the converts themselves are Paul's hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing at the coming of Christ. Anderson closes by asking students directly — who is your crown of rejoicing? Who will stand with you in the presence of Christ as a consequence of your faithfulness with the gospel you have been entrusted with?

Conclusion

Anderson calls students to stop treating gospel ministry as a future responsibility and to begin now — building real relationships, proclaiming the gospel with boldness and gentleness, and investing their lives in people. The world is desperately in need of a generation willing to step into that calling, and the students in the room may be exactly that generation.

Dr. Richard Bargas preached on the topic of prayer from 1 Thessalonians 1. He talks about Paul’s thanksgiving prayer and how it was united, Godward, without ceasing, and inclusive and personal. Dr. Bargas shows that God can hear, answer, and show the power of His Word through prayer.

Scripture Texts1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Main Points or Ideas

• Their thanks was united - Paul does not say "I have been praying for you." He says "we give thanks." Ministry is never a solo effort, and neither is prayer for ministry. Bargas notes that the church at Antioch modeled the same thing in Acts 13 — fasting and praying corporately as Paul and Barnabas were sent out, making themselves participants in the work rather than spectators. Christians can easily gather to criticize or compare notes; Paul and his partners gathered to give thanks and pray.
• Their thanks was Godward - Paul thanks God for what God is doing. Bargas warns that ministry can easily become man-centered — crediting the pastor's preaching style, the music ministry, or the spiritual receptivity of the people. Paul's thanksgiving cuts through all of that: God elected them, God empowered the church, God gave joy through persecution, God provides the eschatological hope that keeps the church moving. Soli Deo Gloria was a Reformation motto, but Paul practiced it long before. Prayer is John Piper's "wartime walkie-talkie" — a call to the Lord of armies in the heat of battle.
• Their thanks was continual - Paul gives thanks "always." This was not a platitude — he told the Thessalonians elsewhere that he prayed for them without ceasing, and told them to do the same. Bargas challenges listeners to examine whether they actually have things to pray for at the front of their minds — because if prayer requests don't come naturally, it may reveal that private prayer isn't happening. He encourages use of prayer cards, prayer journals, and other tools to keep people and ministries consistently before God.
• Their thanks was inclusive and personal - Paul prays for "all of you," making mention of each one. The church was not perfect — Paul knew that and said so in chapter three — but that imperfection drove him to pray more, not less. Bargas challenges the tendency to pray only for people we like or find easy to be around, and calls for prayer that covers the struggling, the silent, the weak, and the overlooked — all the saints, not just the prominent ones.

ConclusionBargas closes by calling students from mere admiration of Paul's prayer life to participation in it. Prayer is not a polite intention or a secondary ministry — it is stepping onto the battlefield and joining the work of God going on across the street and across the world. Pray united, pray Godward, pray continually, and pray for all the saints.

Dr. Jim Tillotson spoke about Jesus caring for those who suffer. He shares a series of gut-wrenching stories from his years as a college president — a mother dying on a son's wedding day, a student drowning on his honeymoon, students losing their father in a coma, a student raped at a rest stop — and names the lie Satan whispers into every deep wound: God doesn't care. Using the miracle at Nain in Luke 7, he answers that lie from Scripture.

Scripture Texts

Luke 7:11-17; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Hebrews 4:14-16; Lamentations 3:22-23

Main Points or Ideas

• Jesus is full of compassion - Walking through Matthew 9, 14, Mark 1, 6, and 8, Tillotson shows that "moved with compassion" is not a one-time description of Jesus — it is a recurring pattern. Compassion is part of who God is. And because Jesus does not change (Hebrews 13:8), the same compassion he showed the widow of Nain is still his posture toward every hurting person today. Circumstances do not change God's care. 1 Peter 5:7 declares it plainly: he cares for you. The hairs of your head are numbered. He thinks about you more than the sand on the shore.
• Jesus has the power to act on his compassion - At Nain, Jesus did not simply feel for the widow — he stopped the funeral procession, touched the coffin, and commanded a dead man to rise. His compassion moved him to do something. Tillotson points out that Jesus touched the coffin despite the ceremonial uncleanness it involved, because the law required mercy above sacrifice. He acted. And while he does not always act the way we ask, he always acts with wisdom toward our well-being and his glory.
• We are called to show compassion as Christ did - God uses believers as his instruments of compassion in the world. Tillotson calls students to walk slowly through the crowd, notice the hurting people around them, and resist the temptation to be so self-absorbed that others' pain goes unseen. He closes with the story of Anna's baby shower — where a student body's spontaneous outpouring of compassion moved her broken parents to tears in his office — as a picture of what Christ-like compassion looks like in community.

Conclusion

Two takeaways: have compassion on others as Christ has had compassion on you, and go tell others about a God who cares. The world you work and live in is full of hurting people for whom you may be the only beacon of hope they encounter. Be compassionate, make a difference, and rejoice in what God has done.

The administrative leadership leads the school in a Good Friday service with Scripture reading and singing.

Dr. Rob Boyd spoke during chapel about the Holy Week and Good Friday. He walks through the Holy Week, starting at Palm Sunday and ending with Resurrection Sunday.

Scripture Texts

Romans 12:2; John 3:16; Luke 19:28-44; John 19

Main Points or Ideas

• Passion Week: the events that lead to the cross - Boyd walks through each day of Holy Week in sequence. Sunday: the triumphal entry, with crowds spreading cloaks and palm branches and shouting "Hosanna." Monday: Jesus cleanses the temple, overturning the money-changers' tables and driving out merchants. Tuesday: the fig tree has withered; Jesus debates the chief priests and Pharisees in the temple, and Judas — furious over the costly perfume poured on Jesus — slips away to make his deal with the Jewish leaders. Wednesday: a day of silence and solitude. Thursday: the upper room Passover meal, where Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper, washes the disciples' feet, and then prays in Gethsemane while the disciples sleep.
• Good Friday: the arrest, trials, and crucifixion - In the early hours of Friday, Judas arrives at the garden with the authorities and identifies Jesus with a kiss. Peter denies the Lord three times as the rooster crows. Jesus is taken to the high priest, then to Pilate, then to Herod, then back to Pilate. The crowd chooses Barabbas. Jesus is flogged, crowned with thorns, forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, and crucified between two thieves. His final words: "It is finished."
• Why it is called good - Boyd answers his own question directly: it is Good Friday because God loved sinners so much that he sent his Son to pay a debt they could not pay. The wages of sin is death — and Jesus died in their place. It is good because those who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It is good because the story does not end at the cross. On Sunday morning, the stone was rolled away and the angel's message was clear: He is not here. He is risen, just as he said.

Conclusion

Good Friday is good because we are forgiven, because eternal life is freely offered, and because the gospel — the good news that Christ died so that we could live — is now ours to share with a world that desperately needs to hear it.