Quentin Road Baptist Church

Salvation is a free gift, but service is what we do with it. In this midweek message, guest speaker Dr. Yankee Arnold at Quentin Road Baptist Church explains the clear difference between getting to heaven and the rewards God promises His children when they get there. Why does it matter how we live after we are saved? Dr. Arnold walks through the judgment seat of Christ, the crowns Scripture describes, and the promise that faithful service for the Lord is never in vain. Rewards are not earned salvation, they are God's recognition of faithfulness, and once earned they cannot be lost. Scripture referenced: 1 Peter 1:3-7 2 Corinthians 4:17 1 Corinthians 15:58 2 Corinthians 5:10 Philippians 3 2 Timothy 4:7-8 James 1:12 1 Peter 5:2-4 Matthew 6:19-20 Matthew 10:41-42

America is in its 250th year, and we have more freedom than almost any nation on earth. But is political freedom the only kind we need? Roosevelt named four freedoms in 1941. Jesus pointed to one more that no government can give. In this message from the series Celebration Sunday, Pastor Jim Scudder at Quentin Road Baptist Church looks at the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and why they are worth protecting with our votes, our prayers, and our thanks to those who paid for them. Then he turns to John 8, where Jesus tells people who had never been enslaved, as they saw it, that sin was their real master. Pastor Jim shows what Christ offers every believer: freedom from the consequences of sin, freedom from the guilt of sin, and freedom to live the way God designed us to live. He closes with the simple gospel invitation, that salvation is a gift received by faith and not earned by works. Scripture referenced: John 8:32-36; John 10:10; Romans 6:23; Galatians 5:1; Romans 8:1; John 14:6; Titus 2:11; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16

There is a word in the Bible so big that the King James translators needed eight different English words just to carry its meaning. Mercy. Kindness. Goodness. Favour. Which one captures what God feels toward you? In this message, Dr. Phil Stringer at Quentin Road Baptist Church opens Jeremiah 31 and unpacks the Hebrew word chesed, God's loving kindness. It is not a random word. It speaks of mercy inside a covenant relationship, a love that is not earned, not limited, and never ending. He shows how God poured out that love on Israel even while they were being judged in the wilderness, and how the same love reaches every believer today. Because God's love rests on His eternal nature and not on our character, it never runs out. Dr. Stringer closes with a call to love one another as we have been loved, and to glory in this above all: that we know the Lord who exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness. Scripture referenced: Jeremiah 31:1-3; Psalm 136; 1 John 4:7-11; 1 John 4:16-20; Psalm 100:5; Jeremiah 9:23-24

If someone looked at your life the way a crowd looks at a football jersey, what would they conclude about you? A Bears jersey says one thing, a Packers jersey says another, and everyone in the room knows it before a word is spoken. In this message from Thrive @ 5, Pastor CJ Armstrong at Quentin Road Baptist Church uses an illustrated Bible challenge, two carpenters, and a stage full of jerseys to show why good works can never earn heaven, and yet still matter. God looks on the heart and sees our faith, but people can only see the outside. Our testimony is the jersey we wear in front of a watching world, and when what we say matches how we live, people have a reason to believe, and God is glorified. So what's on your jersey? Does your life point people to the Lord, or distract from what He is doing? Scripture referenced: John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Samuel 16:7; James 2:18; Matthew 5:16

Seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus said, "I am." Each one is a clear declaration of His deity, and each one points to a different way He gives us life. What if the abundant life He promised isn't found in what we get, but in Who we follow? In this message from the series First Fruits, Pastor Jim Scudder at Quentin Road Baptist Church continues from John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," and walks through seven ways to seek Christ: for nourishment, guidance, protection, provision, life, direction, and fruitfulness. Along the way he shows how every "I am" statement leads back to the heart of the gospel, salvation by faith in Jesus alone, and how that salvation opens the door to a life of real satisfaction here and now. The message is dedicated to the memory of a church member who lived the abundant life and finished well. Whether you have never trusted Christ or have walked with Him for decades, this message will encourage you to stay close to the vine. Scripture referenced: John 10:10; John 6:35; John 8:12; John 10:9; John 10:11; John 11:25; Psalms 16:10-11; John 14:6; John 15:1-5

You prayed for the breakthrough. So why does the answer feel so hard? Pastor Ryan Haifley says the very thing we begged God for can become the thing we complain about. In this message, Pastor Ryan Haifley, head of school at Maranatha Christian Academy in Mattoon, Illinois, speaks at Quentin Road Baptist Church on being blinded by the process. Starting from Philippians 1:6, he follows Israel from the groaning in Egypt to the doorstep of Canaan and shows four blind spots that kept them from seeing what God was doing: they were frustrated with their freedom, forgetful of God's faithfulness, fatigued in their faith, and fearful of the fight ahead. Along the way he shares what God has taught him through five years of leading a Christian school, and he points us back to the God who will finish the good work He began in us. Don't let the wilderness blind you to the promise. Scripture referenced: Philippians 1:6; Exodus 2:23-25; Exodus 14:10-12; Exodus 16:1-3; Exodus 17:1-3; Matthew 6:25-26; Exodus 32:1-6; Isaiah 40:31; Hebrews 11:1; Numbers 14:2-4

What if the abundant life Jesus promised has less to do with what you can get and more to do with what you plant? Every fall, Quentin Road Baptist Church begins a two-part First Fruits series about trusting God with the first and the best of what He gives us, and it starts with the story of a man who believed in a seed. In this message from the series First Fruits, Pastor Jim Scudder at Quentin Road Baptist Church opens with Johnny Appleseed, then walks through Paul's thank-you to the church at Philippi. Step by step in Philippians 4:10-19, he shows how mindfulness brings opportunity, opportunity brings flourishment, flourishment brings strength, strength brings action, and action brings sweetness and satisfaction, all the way to the promise that "my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This is not the prosperity gospel. It is a call to see God at work in a real way and to learn, at any age, to live by faith with open hands. Scripture referenced: Philippians 4:10; Matthew 10:8; John 15:8; Philippians 4:11-12; Philippians 4:13; Amos 9:13; Philippians 4:14-16; Psalms 1:3; Philippians 4:17-18; Song of Songs 2:3; Philippians 4:19; Psalms 126:5-6; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Romans 5:15

On October 7, 2023, 1,200 people were killed, 251 were taken hostage, and within a day a multi-billion-dollar worldwide propaganda campaign was already accusing the victims of genocide. Where does that kind of hatred come from? Dr. Phil Stringer says it is more than human. In this message on the third anniversary of October 7th, Dr. Stringer at Quentin Road Baptist Church traces the hatred of the Jewish people back to its source. He starts in Genesis, with the rebel Lucifer who hates mankind because man bears the image of the Creator, and shows why Satan especially hates Israel, the nation designed to remind the world of the true God and His laws. From there he walks through the Bible and history: Pharaoh, Haman, the sobering words of Martin Luther, and Hitler's "Final Solution," each an attempt to make Israel a vanishing kingdom. But every one of them failed, and the Bible tells us why. God keeps His promises, and the Messiah came through the Jews to bring salvation to all who believe. Scripture referenced: Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:1-5; Exodus 1:8-11; Esther 3:8-11; Luke 1:54-55; John 4:22; Romans 1:16

What will heaven actually be like? Is it a faraway place floating somewhere in the clouds, or is there more to the story? Pastor Jim Scudder opens a new mini-series on heaven by answering the questions people really ask, and answering them from Scripture rather than guesswork. In this message from the series Heaven and Hell, Pastor Scudder at Quentin Road Baptist Church begins with where heaven is, then walks through John's glimpse of the throne room in Revelation 4: the rainbow circle, the twenty-four elders, the lightning and thunder. He then turns to the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven in Revelation 21 and 22, with its twelve gates, twelve foundations, and a river of life. Along the way he asks whether we will miss our old lives and what we will actually do in eternity. It is a taste of heaven for anyone who is hurting, missing someone who knew Jesus, or needs hope for the road ahead. And it ends with the question that matters most: how do you get there? Scripture referenced: Isaiah 57:15; Revelation 4:2-6; Revelation 21:1-3, 10-23; Revelation 22:1-4a; 1 Corinthians 2:9; John 4:34; John 5:17; Revelation 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:12a; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Matthew 25:21; Psalm 16:11; 2 Corinthians 5:8

Midnight in Egypt. A cry no one had ever heard before, and none like it would be heard again. The tenth plague was the worst of them all, and yet in the middle of the judgment, God wrote out a way of escape that anyone could take: a spotless lamb, a doorway, and blood. In this message from the series Is The Old Testament Obsolete?, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Exodus 11 and 12 at Quentin Road Baptist Church on the Feast of Tabernacles weekend and walks through the night of the first Passover. He shows why the lamb lived in the house for four days before it was killed, why no bone could be broken, and how the hyssop, the roasting, and the unleavened bread all point forward to Jesus. Along the way he traces the seven festivals of Israel from Passover to Tabernacles, and explains the Passover Seder traditions of the three matzahs, the four cups, and the empty seat for Elijah. He also takes up a sharp question: if every firstborn died, why didn't Pharaoh? Pastor Scudder lays out the biblical dating of the Exodus and the Pharaoh who fits the evidence. Then he brings it home. Jesus was examined for four days in Jerusalem and no fault was found in Him, and He died at sunset as the Passover lambs were being killed. When the blood is applied by faith, the second death passes over you. Scripture referenced: Isaiah 40:8; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Exodus 11:4-6; Exodus 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Isaiah 12:3; John 7:37-38; Exodus 12:3; Exodus 12:5-15; Exodus 12:21-23; Exodus 12:46; Exodus 6:6-7; Mark 14:24-25; John 1:29