First Baptist Church of Arlington - FBCA Podcast

Dennis R. Wiles

May 26, 2019

Hope for Our Families

Spring 2019

April 28 – June 1, 2019

There Are No Perfect Families!

Genesis 35:27-29

There Are No Perfect Families!

Genesis 35:27-29

Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron),where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The Obvious: There are no perfect families!

"There is no perfect family. We have no perfect parents, we are not perfect, do not get married to a perfect person, neither do we have perfect children. ... Therefore, there is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. Forgiveness is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival.

-Pope Francis

Reality: Family Life can be challenging!

The Hope: God can bring redemption, healing, and restoration to you!

Romans 8:14-17

14) For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

15) The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

16) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

17) Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We are the children of God.

As God’s children, we are free.

As God’s children, we are led by the Spirit.

As God’s children, we have an inheritance with Jesus.

As God’s children, we share in the suffering of Jesus.

Dennis R. Wiles

May 12, 2019

Hope for Our Families

Spring 2019

April 28 – June 1, 2019

The Gift of a Godly Mother

Proverbs 31:10-31

The Gift of a Godly Mother

Proverbs 31:10-31

A wife of noble character who can find?

    She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her

    and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,

    all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax

    and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,

    bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night;

    she provides food for her family

    and portions for her female servants.

She considers a field and buys it;

    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously;

    her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable,

    and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff

    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor

    and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed;

    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate,

    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,

    and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

    she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,

    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household

    and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;

    her husband also, and he praises her:

“Many women do noble things,

    but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done,

    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

A Godly Mother is well-dressed.

A Godly Mother is well-spoken.

A Godly Mother is well-spoken of.

A Godly Mother is well-off.

A Godly Mother is well . . . Godly!

Dennis R. Wiles

May 5, 2019

Hope for Our Families

Spring 2019

April 28 – June 1, 2019

One Plus One Equals One!

Ephesians 5:15-33

One Plus One Equals One!

Ephesians 5:15-33

God has called us to exemplary living!

Marriage is a sacred expression of God’s will for families.

Christian husbands and wives are careful, spirit-filled, submissive, and sacrificial people.

Dennis R. Wiles

April 28, 2019

Hope for Our Families

Spring 2019

April 28 – June 1, 2019

God’s Plan for Humanity

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:18-25

God’s Plan for Humanity

Genesis 1:6-31; 2:18-25

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

    and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

    for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Imago Dei – Human Beings are created in the Image of God.

Human Beings are designed for community.

Human Beings are designed for intimacy.

Human Beings are designed for purposefulness.

Dennis R. Wiles

Easter Sunday, 2019

40 Days of Hope

Easter 2019

March 6 – April 21, 2019

The True Vine

John 15:1-17

He is Risen!

The Seven “I Am” Statements

The True Vine

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

Imagery from the Old Testament and the Temple

Position

Process

Principle

Purpose

Power

Develop Fruitful Believers to Influence Their World for Christ!

Dennis R. Wiles

Palm Sunday, 2019

40 Days of Hope

Easter 2019

March 6 – April 21, 2019

The Way, The Truth, The Life

John 14:1-14

The Seven “I Am” Statements

Maundy Thursday – Final Discourse

The Way, The Truth, The Life

John 14:1-14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Departure and Return

Claim of Divinity

Exclusive Claim of Jesus --- Theological Particularity

Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way!

Dennis R. Wiles

March 31, 2019

40 Days of Hope

Easter 2019

March 6 – April 21, 2019

The Good Shepherd

John 10:11-21

Hope: discover it, experience it, proclaim it

The Seven “I Am” Statements

Hanukkah – The Festival of Dedication

The Good Shepherd

John 10:11-21

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Jesus Christ is The Good Shepherd!

Jesus is The Lamb of God!

The Universal Claims of the Gospel

The Victory of the Resurrection