Quentin Road Baptist Church

The book of Acts ends with no farewell, no trial verdict, and no dramatic last scene. Just two verses covering two years, and then it stops. Why would the Holy Spirit close the greatest church history ever written like that? After 1,337 days, Pastor Jim Scudder crosses the finish line of the series on the book of Acts at Quentin Road Baptist Church. He starts with Acts 28:30-31, then does a little detective work across the prison epistles to piece together what happened in those hidden years: the Praetorian Guard hearing the gospel one chained soldier at a time, the saints in Caesar's own household, rivals who preached out of envy, and friends who stood beside him, including a young man named John Mark who had once walked out on Paul and was now useful to him. It's never too late. Along the way, Pastor Scudder traces the likely path from house arrest to Spain to a second, harsher imprisonment, to a crown of righteousness. He closes with seven lessons from Acts and the reason the book may end the way it does. The story isn't over. Will you finish strong? Scripture referenced: 2 Timothy 4:6-7; Acts 28:30-31; Ephesians 6:20; Philippians 1:12-14; Philippians 4:22; Philippians 1:15-17; Philippians 4:4; Colossians 4:10-14; Romans 15:28; 2 Timothy 1:16-18; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Acts 1:8

Frogs in the bedroom, frogs in the ovens, frogs in the kneading bowls. Lice that no magician could copy. Swarms of biting flies, dying cattle, boils, hail with fire inside, locusts, and three days of darkness. It all sounds random, until you learn that every one of these plagues was aimed at a different god of Egypt. In this message from the series Is The Old Testament Obsolete?, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Exodus 8 through 10 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and walks through plagues two through nine, showing how each one took on an idol Egypt trusted, from the frog-headed god of fertility to the sun god himself. He explains why only God can make life from dust, why Pharaoh kept saying I have sinned and kept going right back to it, and why being sorry about the consequences is not repentance. Pride destroys. Humility blesses. Pharaoh would not bow, but Pastor Scudder warns that the human heart is a perpetual idol factory, and that if you will not humble yourself, God will do it for you. The shepherd king defeats the serpent king, and the same Lord who brought darkness on Egypt rose on the third day as the Light of the world. Scripture referenced: Psalm 119:89; Acts 7:36; Exodus 8:1-3; Exodus 8:13-15; Exodus 8:17-19; Exodus 8:24; Psalm 78:45; Exodus 8:31-32; Exodus 9:3-4; Exodus 9:10-12; Matthew 23:12; Exodus 9:18; Exodus 9:23-24; Exodus 9:27; Exodus 10:3-5; Exodus 10:22-23; Exodus 10:27-29

Waist-deep snow, shorts, two granola bars, and a wife on his back. Jace Herriman freely admits his sixth sense was broken the day he and his wife kept climbing a mountain trail long after every sign said turn around. But he is not the only one who has trusted his senses and gotten it badly wrong. In this Wednesday night message at Quentin Road Baptist Church, Jace opens Genesis 27 and follows old, blind Isaac as he tries to work out which of his sons is standing in front of him. He sees, he touches, he hears, he tastes, he smells, and all along something in his gut says this does not add up. Isaac uses every sense he has and still gets it wrong. Why? And what should you do when the news is full of spin, people have an angle, and the truth is hard to find? There is a seventh sense that Isaac never once used, and it is available to every believer tonight. It costs nothing, and God promises to give it liberally. Come hear what it is, and why it could save you from your next bad call. Scripture referenced: Genesis 27:1-5; Genesis 27:8-35; James 1:5

After a shipwreck, a snakebite, and more than a hundred miles on foot, Paul finally reaches the capital of the world in chains. And the very first thing he does is call together the leaders of the Jews in Rome and tell them why he is wearing that chain: for the hope of Israel. What, or who, is the hope of Israel? In this Wednesday night message from the series on the book of Acts, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Acts 28 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and traces the final leg of Paul's journey from Malta to Sicily, from Puteoli to the Appian Way. Brethren walk miles to meet him on the road, a Roman centurion lets him live under house arrest with a single soldier, and Paul turns every hardship into a pulpit. Pastor Scudder shows why whatever God sends your way can be used for his glory, and why the church owes the Jewish people its love and its gospel. Then comes the day-long meeting in Paul's lodging, from the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening. Some believed and some did not, and Paul closes with Isaiah's warning about hardened hearts. How far will you walk to bring the hope of Israel to the world? Scripture referenced: Acts 28:11; Acts 28:12-14; Acts 28:15; Acts 28:16; Acts 23:11; Acts 28:17-29

Every parent has heard the words, Watch this! And every parent knows how that usually ends. But when Moses and Aaron walked into Pharaoh's palace and Aaron threw down his rod, it was the one time in history that Watch this was exactly the right thing to say. The serpent king was about to meet the shepherd king. In this message from the series Is the Old Testament Obsolete?, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Exodus 6 and 7 at Quentin Road Baptist Church. The Israelites have been beaten down, Moses has lost his nerve, and Pharaoh has refused to listen. Yet God answers with a string of I wills. Pastor Scudder explains the divine names Elohim, El Shaddai, and Yahweh, why the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob rests on a promise rather than the law, and why he believes that promise still stands. Then the contest begins. Why Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' rods was no parlor trick, why the Nile was sacred to Egypt, and what really happens when a hard heart is left alone like Play-Doh in the sun. And when death itself was swallowed up at the cross, what looked like weakness was the strongest moment in history. It was not the nails that held Jesus there. It was his love for you. Scripture referenced: Luke 21:33; John 1:17; Exodus 6:1-8; Galatians 3:17-18; Exodus 6:9-13; Exodus 6:28-30; Romans 3:10-13; Exodus 7:1; Exodus 7:10-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:54; Exodus 7:20-25

Mountains on both sides, a sea in front of you, and Pharaoh's chariots closing in from behind. Ever felt like that? Pastor Neal Dearyan says God allows things to chase you, not to kill you, but to kill what is chasing you. In this Wednesday night message, Pastor Dearyan opens Exodus 14 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and stands on the shore of the Red Sea with Israel. Be still. Go forward. Raise your rod. God gave one instruction at a time, and the way opened only as they obeyed. Pastor Dearyan draws on his own scuba dive at Nuweiba Beach, a baby chick that has to fight its way out of the shell, and a mechanic who finished a job early, to show why the struggle makes us stronger and why demanding our miracle on our own schedule can cost us more than we bargain for. Two pictures of Pharaoh, one alive and one a mummy, make the point that what terrifies you will end, and God will not. Then comes the challenge: the Red Sea was never the destination. God saved Israel to march to the Jordan and take on giants, and he saved you for the same. Scripture referenced: Exodus 14:21-22; Hebrews 10:36; Exodus 14:23-24; Psalm 106:13-15; Exodus 14:25-31; 1 Corinthians 10:11-12

Moses is on his way to demand freedom for God's firstborn son when the Lord meets him at an inn and seeks to kill him. Why? Because the man sent to consecrate a nation had never consecrated his own son. It took his wife to do what he refused to do. In this message from the series Is the Old Testament Obsolete?, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Exodus 4 and 5 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and shows why this ancient book still speaks to how we live and how we parent. He explains what it really means that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, traces the striking parallels between Israel as God's firstborn son and Christ the firstborn among many brethren, and then turns to fathers with four plain charges: dedicate your children to the Lord, have compassion on them, earn their trust, and discipline them in love. There is a harder truth here too. Moses obeys, and the people's burdens only get heavier. The blessing so often waits on the other side of the suffering. But Joshua's words are still the strongest sentence a man can speak over his household: as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Scripture referenced: Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 17:1-3; Exodus 4:18-22; Joshua 24:14-15; Psalm 103:13; Ephesians 6:4; Exodus 4:23-31; Exodus 5:1-9; Exodus 5:22-23

Paul has just saved 276 people from a shipwreck, and the first thing he does on the beach is go looking for firewood. Then a viper comes out of the heat and fastens onto his hand. Murderer one minute, god the next. How does a man go from zero to hero at the drop of a stick? In this Wednesday night message from the series on the book of Acts, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Acts 28 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and walks through the last leg of Paul's journey to Rome, including the map, the four storm anchors found off Malta, and why the traditional landing site may be wrong. Along the way he shows why real leadership looks like a servant gathering sticks, why the serpent who beguiled Eve is still subtle and still hunting, and why the people around you are watching your testimony when the storms come. Then comes the turn. The hero of this story is not Paul at all. Pastor Scudder closes with a courtroom illustration of the accuser making his case and an advocate who says simply, paid in full. If you feel like a zero, you are exactly where God can use you. Scripture referenced: Acts 28:1-3a; Philippians 2:3-5; Acts 28:3b-6; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter 5:8; Acts 28:7-10; Matthew 5:16

Pharaoh wore a serpent on his crown, and God sent Moses, a man with nothing but a shepherd's staff, to stand in front of him and say, Let my people go. What kind of confrontation is that, and what does it have to do with the enemy who is after you today? In this message from the series Is the Old Testament Obsolete?, Pastor Jim Scudder opens Exodus 3 and 4 at Quentin Road Baptist Church and shows why Moses is one of the clearest pictures of Jesus in all of Scripture, from the silence before each of their births to the faces that shone after speaking with the Father. He shows why Egypt and its serpent stand for Satan's realm, and then gives four plain things to remember whenever the devil comes at you: answer him with God's Word, prepare for battle every day, never let your guard down, and submit to God so you can resist the devil. Then watch what God does with a staff, a leprous hand, and river water poured on dry ground. Each sign is a picture of the gospel, pointing to the serpent's curse broken, sin's disease healed, and death swallowed up in resurrection. The Prophet greater than Moses has already picked up the serpent by the tail. Scripture referenced: Psalm 119:89; Acts 3:22, 26; Exodus 3:15; Exodus 3:16-18; Matthew 4:3-4; Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8; James 4:7; Exodus 3:19-22; Exodus 4:1-12

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them six things that belong in prayer every day. Dr. Phil Stringer walks through the Lord's model prayer piece by piece: praise, submission, daily bread, forgiveness asked for and given, and being kept from sin. Then Jesus tells of a friend pounding on a door at midnight, because God is looking for prayer that is fervent and persistent, not polite and occasional. A practical look at what your prayer life could be starting tomorrow morning. Scripture referenced: Luke 11:2-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17