Fork of The Broad/Sermons from Carlton Baptist Church

Paul spends the first 11 chapters of The Book of Romans explaining the Gospel, how men might be saved, and the theological implications of this. He closes that portion of his letter by bursting into an explosion of praise. In the text, doctrine blooms into devotion; theology (what we teach) gives birth to doxology (an expression of worship); and Paul’s passion for truth is laid bare for us all to see – Paul is passionate for one thing and one thing alone – the glory of God, as expressed in the person of Jesus Christ. In these lines, Paul gives us distinct reasons why God is of inherent value, full of glory, and worthy to be worshiped.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus asked His disciples a poignant question - "Who do you say that I am?"  In this episode of Fort of the Broad, we let Scripture speak for Scripture to answer the most important question we could ever answer - a question that not only impacts how we live, but our eternal disposition, as well.

John 21 is the epilogue to The Book of John, sort of a post-credits scene that gives the viewer insight into what's next for Christ's followers both corporately, and as individuals.  The text gives us a portrait of what the church will look like, and what disciples are called to do - "Feed Jesus' sheep." Frederick Bruner wrote , “Jesus entrusts very human people with his mission, people just like Peter; namely, problematic human beings: errant, sin-marred, but sincerely repentant human beings who confess their sins and want to be real Christians. Our Gospel is teaching us on its final page that Jesus takes people who qualify exactly as much as Peter does; people who have failed; sometimes, quite awfully.” The thing that qualifies Peter and people like us to feed Jesus’ lambs, to be a part of Jesus’ mission to the world to transform the lives of other problematic, errant, sin-marred human beings is looking inside yourself and understanding you have nothing to offer – but what you have, you’ll give.

In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we look at the resurrected Jesus' encounter with His disciples at Galilee - The disciples have toiled all night and failed miserably in their efforts, but when they encounter Christ, everything changes.  We've all experienced these "misty moments" in life, when we've experienced failure, and we aren't sure what we should do next.  In breaking down the text, we see instructions on what we should do when we don't know what we should do.

In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we discuss John 20:19-29 - The story of Jesus' meeting with the disciples and "Doubting Thomas" after His resurrection from the dead.  In this encounter, Jesus offers proof of the peace with God He came to deliver - the scars in His hands; a purpose in life - a story to tell about Him; and He offered them a place we can take our doubts, anxieties, and fears - We can bring them all to Jesus. Jesus' death and resurrection offers us deep meaning and security in life! Enjoy listening!

John MacArthur wrote of the resurrection, “You need to understand that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a feature of Christianity, it is the main event." As Christians, we hear lots of sermons on the cross, but outside of Easter Sunday, we tend to place much more emphasis on the cross than we do the resurrection.   As we prepare to delve into John 19-20, the burial and resurrection of Jesus, we dive deep and let Scripture speak for Scripture to explain the eternal and temporal ramifications of the resurrection of Christ.

In this episode of "Fork of The Broad", we explore one of the cornerstones of our faith - The crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  The cross not only represents the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy, but also the finished work of atonement through the blood of Christ.  In ways that God only can, He takes something tragic and evil (the death of Christ), and uses it for good (the salvation of multitudes).  Moses begged to see the glory of God in his time, but in Christ, we see what Hebrews 1:3 describes as "the radiance of the glory of God" - the brightest shining example of the goodness, mercy, and grace of our Lord.

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and  “Father, hold them forever…”  In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we discuss Jesus saying that He is going to be consecrated – set apart for a special purpose - so that we might be sanctified – made holy, and set apart for our own divine purpose – given a new life and a new reason to live. So Jesus is set apart to die on the cross, and in doing so, takes the weight of sin off of those who might believe, and bears the punishment that we deserve for our sins, and in faith, we are made holy – we get a clean slate through our faith in Christ – and once Jesus vindicates us from all of our past, present, and future sins, we begin a process of being sanctified with truth – We are washed in the truth of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross – that’s salvation; and then we spend a lifetime marinating in the truth of God’s Word, the truth of God, being made into something brand new and different than we were before – that’s sanctification.

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and  “Father, hold them forever…”  In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we discuss how Christ invites us into joy - a state of internal gladness that persists no matter what your circumstances are; contentment no matter what is going on in the world around you; enduring hope, even in the darkest times; Joy is a gift from God delivered to believers by the Holy Spirit that enables us to experience the beauty of Christ in Heaven and on Earth.

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and  “Father, hold them forever…”  The love of man is fickle and depends on smooth circumstances and whether we are attracted to someone.  In this episode of "Fork of the Broad, we discuss how the love of Jesus is an "agapao" love, a perfect love that is anchored in eternity; extended by God to man as demonstrated by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross; a love that, once received, is intended to be reflected by men back to God and to each other.  Christ, in dying on the cross, invites us into this perfect, unending love.