First General Baptist

Message: Grace, leading to resurrection

Text: Philippians 2:1-11

~9-11 Jesus will be the ultimate Judge

~1-5 Humble yourselves, like…

~6-8 Jesus humbled Himself…God limited Himself.

Notice: the trial before the Sanhedrin court; the judgment and sentencing before Pilate and Herod; the Roman soldiers as they beat and tortured Jesus, as they and the Jews mocked Him as He hung on the cross, slapped Him, pulled out His beard; His closest friends as most of them deserted Him and denied Him

C.S. Lewis, “For the real question is not what are we to make of Christ, but what is He to make of us?  The picture of a fly sitting deciding what it is going to make of an elephant has comic elements about it."

~A covenant with God was broken when Adam and Eve sinned, and when we sinned, and separation from God is the result. Jesus paid the price required to bridge the separation and make us right with God again. We must humbly accept…grace.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:40-56 (48-56)

 The Bible gives us only hints as to what happens at the death of our physical body: The trichotomy of man, Hebrews 4:12,  Genesis 2:7.

Paul, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

To Jesus, this girl is not dead, not missing or lost. He knows exactly where she is, and she is not far.

 Jesus sees what we cannot see.

Jesus, “Do not be afraid…

Only believe…

She will be made well…”

Part of faith and obedience is believing that Jesus sees what we cannot see and knows what we cannot know, and with that He is always doing what is best for us.

Ruth Bell Graham, "God has not always answered my prayers.  If He had, I would have married the wrong man- several times."

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:40-56 (43-48)

~The Jews added oral tradition to Moses’ law to make this woman’s life miserable. She was segregated from society in every way because of her health. To make matters worse, the Jewish nation also believed her physical condition was due to her specific sin, as they would view a leper.

~Jesus knows the differences in touch. He knows the difference between curiosity, faith, desperation, hope.

~When you touch Jesus and He touches you, the flow of power is always one way—from Him to you. There is nothing you can do to hurt or help Him. It’s always from Him to you.

~  ”Daughter”

If you can hear, “child of God,” that’s all you really need to hear.

Jesus loves me just as I am and loves me enough to not leave me as I am.

Psalm 27:10, Proverbs 18:24

Message: The church, a family, a body

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-33

"Wait for one another.”

The strong for the weak. The fast for the slow. The rich for the poor. The blessed for the struggling.

John 3:7, “You must be born again.”

You did not get to choose your first family. This family, you get to choose.

Being born again into the family of God is not about a process, a prayer, but a person…Jesus Christ!

Romans 10:9

Message: The Gospel according to Luke Text: Luke 8:40-56

The year Jairus’ daughter was born this woman fell sick. Their paths cross 12 years later.

Why is her healing not enough? After all that Jesus had done for you, why won’t He just leave it at that?

In this crowd, who was the most interested in this scene between Jesus and the woman?

Like actors in a heavenly play our ministry is to deliver the lines the Holy Spirit gives us, on cue. God is the playwright, knowing the play, “the end from the beginning.” We don’t know the scenes to follow, but God does.

The circle of life, Psalm 50:15

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:26-39

The work of Jesus in your life depends on your attitude toward yourself and Jesus. How do you see yourself? That will determine how you see Jesus.

~The people of the town:                

A holy  moment lost on unholy people. They had gotten used to demon possession and raising hogs.

Luke 5:17-18

Not seeing your need and forgetting your need

~The man:

There aren’t enough words to  describe how this formerly demon possessed man felt about Jesus  after what Jesus had done for him. He went to “tell” because he has something to tell.

This may be the area of your spiritual life that needs to be addressed next.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:26-39

Satanic possession and oppression

John 10:10 the devil can’t create life so he wants to blight/destroy what God has created

Demoniac: 1) Isolated himself from society and society isolated  itself from him. Refused any human control or limits. 2) Now under satanic control, no longer in control of himself. 3) Fascinated with death, not life. Has given up on life. 4) Continually restless, never happy or content. 5) Wants to harm himself. Hates himself and everyone else. 6) Feels like he’s losing his mind...and he is.

If Satan is not allowed to physically kill you, he wants you to live as though you are dead. Satan loves death, Jesus creates life. Satan loves tombs, Jesus leaves them ASAP!

The demoniac met Jesus, MK 5:6

Message: The gospel  according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:22-25

~The storm did not wake Jesus, the storm did not disturb Him. But the disciple’s lack of faith did. 

The storm is not the issue

...your faith is!

~The problem is not the size of the problem, but how you see Jesus.

We are not minimizing the problem, we are magnifying  Jesus.

We’re not here to worship      problems, we’re here to worship      Jesus.

A.W Tozer,  "The simple truth is that worship is elementary until it begins to take on the quality of admiration.  Just as long as the worshiper is engrossed with himself and his good fortune, he is a babe.  We begin to grow up when our worship passes from thanksgiving to admiration."

Message: The gospel             according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:19-21

“I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God…”

~Beware, the people who love you the most want the best for you.

Beware, be sure you do the best for them!

~To be a part of the family of God you must choose to be born into it—”You must be born again!”— then you must keep choosing it!

For those who are committed and involved in our church, it could be that most of the people who love you most are in this room

Be kind--everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:16-18

~Let them see you

Matthew 5:14, 16

You are specially created by God for a purpose...His purpose

~Let yourself see them.

(John Maxwell and Diet Coke)

Be kind--everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Mr. Kimball, evangelist D.L. Moody's Sunday school teacher,  "I can truly say that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker when he came into my Sabbath-school class, or one who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear, decided views of gospel truth, sill less to fill any sphere of extended public usefulness."