📖 John 10:11-13 — A hireling runs when danger comes. The Good Shepherd never does. Here's how to teach your children who they can trust. 📚 Lesson 1 of 5 in our Good Shepherd's Care children's safety series This child safety lesson for Christian families uses the picture of the Good Shepherd from John 10 to teach children how to recognize a safe grown-up, why telling a trusted adult is never tattling, and why it is never their fault when something scares or confuses them. If you've been looking for how to talk to your kids about body safety and abuse prevention from a biblical perspective, this lesson was built for that conversation. Every parent wants to protect their children, but many don't know where to start. This lesson gives you a simple, repeatable model — four things every child should know — that you can put in your own words and repeat at home this week. It is not a substitute for you as the parent; it is the launching pad for that conversation. Preached from John 10:11-13, with 1 Samuel 17:34-35 (David rescuing the lamb from the lion and bear) and Mark 10:14-16 (Jesus welcoming the children), this lesson contrasts the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep with the hireling who flees when danger comes — and applies that picture directly to how children can recognize the adults God has given them to protect them. This child safety lesson walks through Scripture to teach: - Difference between a Good Shepherd and a hireling (John 10:11-13) - Four things every child should know to stay safe - "My body belongs to me and it's a gift from God" - Difference between a fun surprise and a secret that should always be told - The difference between a fun

1 John 5:6-8 — In 484 AD, 400 bishops faced a king with an army at his back. They reached for this verse anyway — and some paid for it with their tongues. This KJV sermon puts the Johannine Comma — 1 John 5:7, "the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" — on trial. If you've ever been told this verse is a forgery that doesn't belong in your Bible, this KJV defense walks the actual evidence: Old Latin manuscripts, the Council of Carthage, Priscillian, Isaac Newton's objection, and a Greek grammar argument most modern critics never mention. This isn't a sermon that hides from the hard question. It admits up front what the critics are right about — no early Greek manuscript has verse 7 — and then calls the witnesses that still make the case: three centuries of Old Latin copies, a 5th-century martyr who quoted it as he went to his death, 400 bishops who signed their names to it in front of a Trinity-denying king, and a Greek grammar rule that the passage can't work without it. Using a courtroom framework, this verse-by-verse exposition of 1 John 5:6-8 argues that heaven and earth both testify to who Jesus Christ is — and that the case for the Johannine Comma, and for Christ's own deity, was closed long before anyone alive today started arguing about it. This KJV sermon on 1 John 5:6-8 covers: - Why "water and blood" appears both at Christ's birth and at the cross - The three sets of three witnesses in verses 6, 7, and 8 - Isaac Newton's Arian objection to verse 7 - The Old Latin manuscript trail: the Freisinger fragment, the Leon manuscript, the Speculum - The 484 AD Council of Carthage and King Huneric's persecution of the bishops

John 9:24-34 — They surrounded him with pressure, a snare, and an insult. He had no argument. He had one thing — a testimony — and he wouldn't trade it away. This expository preaching message walks through John 9:24-34, where the healed beggar stands alone before the full council of Israel's religious establishment. Pastor Fortunato traces the legal "confession formula" back to Joshua 7 to show that the council has no transgression and no transgressor — only a man's unbending testimony they cannot dismantle. This verse-by-verse exposition through John's gospel is for anyone who has ever felt pressured to soften, qualify, or bury their own testimony to keep the peace. Have you ever been offered the trade — just stay quiet, and none of this will be brought up again? This sermon speaks directly to that moment. The beggar in John 9 was offered his old life back in exchange for one sentence. He wouldn't take the trade. If you've been holding back your own testimony to avoid conflict, this message will confront that silence. This is expository preaching through John 9:24-34 in its fullest sense — Pastor Fortunato connects the council's demand ("Give God the praise") to Achan's confession in Joshua 7, then contrasts the beggar's public boldness at noon with Nicodemus's private confession by night in John 3. The text builds toward one conclusion: pressure failed, a snare failed, insult failed, and the only thing left standing in the room was a testimony — "whereas I was blind, now I see."

Acts 13:48 — Every doctrine gets built like a Jenga tower — stack enough man-made pieces on a good foundation and eventually the whole thing topples. Time to check Irresistible Grace against the foundation itself: God's Word. This topical Bible message examines "Irresistible Grace" — the "I" in the Calvinist TULIP doctrine — and asks whether Scripture actually teaches an inward, effectual call that cannot be resisted, or whether God offers grace to all mankind and gives every person a real choice to respond by faith. This study on Calvinism and free will walks through Isaiah 46 and 55, Jeremiah 32, and five chapters of Acts to see the actual pattern of salvation in the early church. If you've ever been told you have no free will in salvation — or told that you do — this message won't ask you to trust a theological system. It asks you to trust the text. This verse-by-verse look at conversion in Acts traces the pattern from Pentecost (Acts 2) through the healing at the temple gate (Acts 3-4), Saul's conversion on the Damascus road (Acts 9), the Philippian jailer (Acts 16), and finally Acts 13:48 itself — including a look at how the NIV's "appointed" differs from the KJV's "ordained," and why that distinction matters. This message walks through Isaiah 46, Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 32, and Acts 2-16, explaining: - Why theological systems are dangerous to build on top of each other like a Jenga tower - What Isaiah 55:8-11 teaches about God's word never returning void - Jeremiah 32:35 and what it means that something "never came into God's mind" - The pattern of salvation at Pentecost (Acts 2) - The healing of the lame man and its evangelistic purpose (Acts 3-4)

Proverbs 6:20-24 — There's a woman coming down the road ahead of your son. Solomon won't say her name yet. First, he arms him. This family integrated church sermon walks through Proverbs 6:20-24, where Solomon — writing as a father to his son — builds a case for arming a young man with the word before ever naming the danger waiting for him. Pastor Fortunato traces how a father's commandment and a mother's law bind, lead, keep, and light a son's path — all before the "evil woman" of verse 24 is even identified. If you're raising sons and want to know how to prepare them before temptation arrives, not after, this verse-by-verse message through Proverbs 6 is for you. Have you been keeping your faith private — believed in the back room, but quiet in public? This message confronts that directly: "the secret Christian is the vulnerable Christian." If you've let your walk with God become something hidden rather than worn, this sermon speaks straight to that. This is expository preaching in its fullest sense — Solomon's structure in Proverbs 6:20-24 unpacked triad by triad: the word leads you when you walk, keeps you when you sleep, and talks with you when you wake, all before the "evil woman" of verse 24 is even named. Pastor Fortunato ties this straight back to family discipleship — a father's commandment and a mother's law working together to arm a son long before the test comes. This sermon walks through Proverbs 6:20-24, explaining: - Why unobeyed instruction is only information, not instruction - The two-parent voice of Proverbs — why both father and mother are named - "Bind them continually" — why private conviction can't stay private

1 John 5:1-5 — You cannot defeat what God has begotten. You can't extinguish what God has lit. You can't bury what God has raised from the dead. This expository preaching message through 1 John 5:1-5 traces John's doctrinal chain from belief to new birth to love to obedience to overcoming the world — showing that every born-again believer is already an overcomer, not because of willpower, but because of who their Father is. If you've been fighting to feel like a winner in the Christian life instead of standing on the victory you already have, this verse-by-verse teaching through 1 John is for you. Too many Christians are exhausted because they're fighting toward victory instead of from it. This message walks through the doctrine of the new birth — what it means to overcome the world, why the commandments of God are not grievous to a transformed nature, and why the same faith that saved you is the same faith that conquers for you every day. This sermon unpacks 1 John 5:1-5 verse by verse, connecting it to 1 John 2:4, 1 John 4:4, John 16:33, and Psalm 119:97 to show the full shape of what it means to be born of God. This expository preaching walks through 1 John 5:1-5, explaining: - Why belief, not behavior, is the doorway of the new birth - The difference between modified behavior and a transformed nature - Why loving the brethren is evidence, not achievement - Why God's commandments are not grievous to those born of God - What "the world" actually is — and why it's not a location - Why the born-again believer fights from victory, not toward it - How Christ declared "I have overcome the world" before the cross - Why the birth "holds" under every kind of pressure

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • Kids Takeover Service This is our Kids Takeover Service, where Pilgrim youth conduct our entire afternoon church service. The entire service as based off the memory verses and lessons that they learned during our Family Sunday School lesson series on the 7 Judgments of God: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY4JkL_xiDq57ghN7N9Zz8ZsFXXtnIY6c&si=k4eYJUFmAi7YJs_4 ⛪ About Pilgrim Baptist Church: We're a family integrated church in Cookeville, Tennessee where families worship together under verse-by-verse expository preaching from the King James Bible. At Pilgrim, we believe in serious teaching for strong families built on biblical authority. Families worship together. No entertainment. No shortcuts. Just faithful Bible teaching that transforms families — including the next generation stepping up to teach it themselves. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly expository preaching through books of the Bible 📍 Visit Pilgrim Baptist Church: 170 4th Ave, Cookeville, TN 38506 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM — Family Integrated Sunday School 11:00 AM — Morning Worship 2:00 PM — Afternoon Service & Prayer Meeting Thursday Service: 6:00 PM — Midweek Bible Study 🌐 Learn More: pilgrimbaptist.church ✉️ Contact Pastor Fortunato: [email protected] 📞 Call: 931-219-2224 Plan your visit: pilgrimbaptist.church/plan-your-visit #FamilyIntegratedChurch #YouthPreaching #YouthMinistry #YouthWorship #KidsMinistry #ChurchFamily #Cookeville TN

📖 John 9:18-23 — They threatened him with the same thing they threatened his parents with. The parents went home. He stayed and testified anyway. This message confronts the fear of man head-on through the story of the man born blind in John 9:18-38. When the Pharisees threaten his parents with being put out of the synagogue, his parents answer two questions and go silent on the third. Their son — with no family standing behind him, no advocate, no congregation — keeps testifying anyway. This is a sermon about the courage to confess Christ publicly when it costs you something real. If you've ever sat at a table, in a meeting, or in a room where saying the name of Jesus would cost you standing, comfort, or approval — and you went quiet instead — this message names exactly what that is. It's not denial. It's the fear of man dressed up as discretion. This expository preaching message through John 9 traces the parents' fear of the Jews (v. 22), the blind man's escalating testimony (a man called Jesus → a prophet), his expulsion from the synagogue, and Jesus seeking him out on the outside. The text shows what it costs to confess Christ — and what's waiting on the other side of that cost. This sermon walks through John 9:18-38, explaining: - Why the Pharisees' question ("is this your son whom you SAY was born blind") reveals they'd already decided not to believe - Why the parents answer two of three questions and go silent on the one that costs them something - What "put out of the synagogue" actually meant — and why it functioned as spiritual blackmail, not just social exclusion - How fear of man operates the same way today in families, churches, and workplaces

📖 1 John 4:20-21 — You can praise God in the sanctuary and give the cold shoulder in the parking lot. John says only one of those things tells the truth about you. If you've ever struggled to love a difficult person in your church — someone who hurt you, disappointed you, or just costs you too much — this sermon from 1 John 4:20-21 goes straight at it. John doesn't call that man a weak Christian. He calls him a liar. And he means it. This message tackles the hardest command in the Christian life: loving people you don't feel like loving, inside the church, after they've already cost you something. This expository preaching message through 1 John 4:20-21 walks through one of the most uncomfortable tests in the New Testament. John has been building a case about love all through chapter 4 — God is love, we love because He first loved us — and now he applies the test. If you claim to love God but hate your brother, you're not confused. You're not a young believer who needs time. God calls you a liar. The same word John used in chapter 1 for the man who denied his sin. The same word for the man who says he knows God but doesn't keep His commandments. That's the word on the table in verse 20. This sermon also addresses what loving difficult people actually looks like in practice — including the Matthew 18 process, when biblical separation is the loving thing, and how to know when you've done as much as lies in you. This is not a sermon telling you to absorb abuse. It's a sermon telling you that the distance can't be hate. This message walks through: - Why John calls the man who claims to love God but hates his brother a liar — not mistaken, not weak, a liar

📖 Revelation 20 — Not every lost soul receives the same punishment. God judges with perfect justice, and the sentence is going to fit the soul. This expository preaching series through the Seven Judgments of God concludes with the Great White Throne — the final judgment of every unsaved soul. This message from Revelation 20 answers one of the most searched and least preached doctrines in the Bible: are there degrees of punishment in hell? The answer is yes. And the implications are sobering for false teachers, works-religion leaders, and every father passing something down to his children. The sentence is going to fit the soul. God doesn't weigh every sin on the same scale, and every man will stand alone — not blamed on the crowd, not covered by sincerity, not shielded by religious works. This message on the Great White Throne judgment walks through what the books contain, who stands before them, and why grace plus works is not grace. Preached on Father's Day, this message closes with a direct word to fathers: you are a master teacher, not just a provider of information. What you pass down, your children will carry. The backpack illustration makes the weight of that responsibility impossible to ignore. This sermon walks through Revelation 20 and key cross-references, explaining: • What the doctrine of degrees of punishment in hell actually teaches • The two containers — death (body) and hell (soul) — and what happens to both at the Great White Throne • Why "according to their works" removes every excuse — the crowd, the culture, the sincerity • Why Matthew 11 and Matthew 23 establish lesser and greater judgment • Why false gospel teachers receive the greatest degree