Luke 2:1-20 December 24, 2022 PM.

For this years Christmas Eve service, we celebrate our Lord's birth through worship by song and readings in Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 1:18-23, and John 1:14. Jansen Lorch leads our study, focused on the prophet Isaiah 7:14, on thoughts surrounding this prophetic passage about Jesus Christs birth.

Genesis 17:1-27 December 18, 2022 AM.

At least three of the Biblical covenants have “signs” associated with

them. These signs serve as reminders of God’s faithfulness and

covenant requirements on His people.

The Covenant with Noah has the sign of the rainbow (Gen. 9:16-17).

The Covenant with Abraham has as a sign male circumcision (Gen.

17:11, Rom. 4:11). We will see this as we study Genesis 17.

The Covenant with Moses is signified by the Sabbath (Exodus 31:13,

Ezek. 20:12, 20).

Of these three signs, the rainbow is still operational and relevant;

male circumcision is not required; Sabbath observation is not

required either. Jewish people are free to maintain the latter two

signs if they wish. But neither Jews nor Gentiles are under the Law

of Moses today, because it has been fulfilled in Christ and replaced

by the Law of Christ.

Stop and think if there are any similar “signs” that we have in the

church era of God’s program. What does all this mean for us? Obviously, we can anticipate that God

keeps His promises. Remember that the Abrahamic Covenant

impacts us in Christ. God can do things that seem impossible. God

even blesses those outside the boundaries of the covenant—not

with all the provisions of the covenant, but with some blessings

nonetheless.

Various December 18, 2022 SS.

Pastor Matt answers a question from Matthew chapter 1:23 about the word "the" when referencing the virgin Mary. It specifies "the virgin", who did not know a man. This is the well-known virgin. Not all verses referencing the virgin begin with "the" virgin. Additionally, Pastor Matt leads our study today. Do you have friends in high places?

I ran into a verse in John 15 recently that fascinated me, so I studied a

little bit about it to see if I could understand it better. Here it is:

John 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not

know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all

things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to

you.

My thoughts started out with the idea of being a friend with God as

contrasted with being a slave or servant of God. But that led to

other passages which speak of someone as a friend of God. And

that then led to what it means to be a slave of God. What is the

Lord saying in John 15:15? It seems unarguable from other

passages that a Christian is a bondservant, or more simply, a

servant, of God.

The apostles were Christ’s servants (Rom. 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, Jude 1:1,

Revelation 1:1). We are “unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10).

But the Lord Jesus makes it plain that His disciples are not slaves, or

better, not merely slaves. I am going to lay down the assumption

that this applies to us as well, not just the apostles because they

have a super-privileged place. Somehow, both slave and friend are

true descriptions of our relationship to God.

The partial conclusion that I’ve drawn from thinking about this

question of friend versus servant is that we need to be careful not

to make our relationship with Jesus be too “slavish” to the

detriment of other facets of our relationship. Indeed, we do have a

relationship with the Master. He considers us his friends, and we

can consider Him our friend as well, without being flippant about

it. We should not be indifferent to this idea because it is precious,

important, powerful. We need to see ourselves in the full light of

what God has told us our relationship with Him is, not just part of

that light.

It is a huge privilege to be able to rightly think of ourselves as friends

of Christ—very close friends, not merely acquaintances. We are

“in” on His plans. We know what He is doing because He has told

us. We are not in the dark on things.

Various December 11, 2022 PM.

We are delighted to celebrate Christ's birthday today, through Fellowship Bible Church's Christmas Program! We had a wonderful time of special music, Scripture, and studying of God's Word!

Isaiah 9:6 December 11, 2022 AM.

We conclude with a reminder of Romans 1:1-5. The good news from

God is all about His Son, to Whom we owe the obedience of our

allegiance. He is the wisest counselor, the prince of peace, the

Father of eternity, and the mighty God. He is worthy.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 December 11, 2022 SS.

What is the significance of our prayers for the Lost? It reflects the

fundamental truth that there is only one way of salvation. It points to the

exclusivity of the only one true Living God. Our requests for people to

believe in Jesus Christ reflect the fundamental truth that there is only one

Mediator—someone to bring about reconciliation between God and

man—Jesus Christ, a man Himself. Whether you thought about it or not

when you are praying, these fundamental truths are what drives us to

pray for the Lost and to expect that God will answer these prayers.

Matthew 26:69-75 December 7, 2022 PM.

The world will throw at us some things to trip us up. It will

keep coming, as Peter experienced three times. With

God’s strength, we can endure. But when failure comes—

for which of us does not fail?—we can be assured God

will be gracious to us like He was toward Peter.

I am saying these things so that you may not sin. But if

anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father,

Jesus Christ the righteous one who paid for all our sins (1

John 2:1-2).

1 Timothy 2:1-4 December 4, 2022 PM.

In obedience to God’s Word, our prayer life should consistently

include praying for the Lost to be saved. Such prayers should especially

be on behalf of those in authority, because their salvation has practical

implications for Christians’ ability to lead quiet and peaceable lives in all

godliness and reverence. We ought to pray for the Lost because we know

that it is pleasing in the Savior’s sight because He desires that all people

to be saved. We ought to pray indiscriminately because we do not know

whom God’s elect are. When we look at the world around us, we ought

to think in only one category: Lost. And when we pray for all men in this

way, we can have confidence that God will answer these prayers

according to His perfect will by sending someone to give them the

Gospel. But be ready, His answer to your prayer may me be you going

and telling them the Good News.

Genesis 16:1-16 December 4, 2022 AM.

Starting a family was not going as planned, so Sarai suggested that they

have a child by a surrogate mother, Hagar. Bad idea! Sarai is in the wrong

to suggest the idea even though it was a common cultural practice.

Culture is often wrong. Furthermore, Abram caved to her plan when he

should have stood up to her and said “no.” Just because his wife nagged

him to sin was no valid excuse to follow her idea. But Abram went ahead

and took Hagar as a second wife and fathered Ishmael.

The problem of polygamy is raised here. God records it in His Word to

show the consequences of it and by contrast the beauty of a wellordered marriage. Obviously, the Bible does not smile upon their

perversion of the marriage relationship, as evidenced by the

consequences that follow in the family structure (16:4ff). Two-becoming one in the marriage relationship makes it impossible for polygamy to be

morally upright or workable.

James 1:1-14 December 4, 2022 SS.

We were honored to take communion this morning as the Lord instructed His church to do, until he returns. In this message speaker James Widgeon leads our new study in the book of James. In the book of James we see evidence of various kinds of trials or situations among the believers. Churches today can expect similar trials. If we understand the various trials mentioned in the book of James, believes will be equipped, knowing how to respond to these when they do occur in our present lives.