Tabernacle Baptist Church

Jesus' atonement on the cross.

He paid the debt from mankind to God. He tore the veil and gave us direct access to the presence of God. That work was finished completely on the cross.

But God is not done yet. You and I live in a world filled with fallenness. Sorrow. Suffering. Loss. Real pain and disappointment.

The good news on this Good Friday is that Jesus finished the work on the cross, but he isn’t done yet. He’s not done with your story. He’s not done with your kids. He’s not done working through your life or in your church. He’s not done with his creation and the complete renewal he promised would one day come. A new heaven and a new earth. All things set right again.

He is not done yet.

Maybe you are not on fire for Christ because you have compromised your faith with things from this world. You need to quit trying to live in both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world. Your happiness will not come from being able to live in both worlds.TRUE joy is found in surrender and submission to Jesus Christ. Live in freedom and not compromise.What next step can you take TODAY as an act of repentance?

Maybe you are not on fire for Christ because you have compromised your faith with things from this world. You need to quit trying to live in both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world. Your happiness will not come from being able to live in both worlds.

TRUE joy is found in surrender and submission to Jesus Christ. Live in freedom and not compromise.

What next step can you take TODAY as an act of repentance?

There is this growing intolerance of the truths of God’s Word, and growing persecution of those who cling to these truths. It was in this type of culture and conflict that Jesus is addressing the church at Smyrna.

The motto of the Marine Corps is “Semper Fi”, short for Semper Fidelis. It’s a Latin phrase for Always Faithful, or Faithful to the End. It signifies the dedication and faithfulness that individual Marines are expected to have to The Corps and to their fellow fighting men and women.

As we see the gathering storm against those who confess Christ, will you be fearless in the midst of persecution, and faithful to the end and be a conqueror because of your living hope in Jesus Christ?

The question “Can anything separate us from God’s love once we are saved?” is answered by Paul in this text to the Romans. 

Nothing can separate us from God’s love, so we are to live a life connected to His love. To live a life connected to God’s love is to learn to walk in intimacy daily with the God of our salvation. 

Romans 8 is a chapter that should make you walk away in awe and star-struck at the love of God. We see the eternal, never-ending, unconditional love of God for those who are in Jesus, us.

Do you live your life to refresh others?

In this sermon, Dennis Swanberg talks about how we can be a refresher to people around us. Watch this sermon and share it with your family and friends!

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He resurrected from the dead? Do you believe He can save you from sin and guilt and shame? Do you believe He can give you eternal life? Do you believe it?

Have you ever heard a married man or woman say something like the following when it comes to their husband or wife: “I don’t love them anymore”, or “I’ve fallen out of love with him or her”? It means that their “affection” has grown cold for them, or that they are just “tired” of them. 

That’s why I’m not sure I like the phrase, “falling in love.” You don’t FALL in love; you GROW in love. 

Just like many marriages are dissolved because of a lack of “unconditional” love, churches can be dissolved and disappear due to a lack of this same type of love, which we will see this morning.

We need to guard against the very issues that Jesus addresses in these churches and be a church on fire: burning brightly and effectively with a love for God, a love for our one another, and a love for our neighbors.

In this series, we will focus on the first three chapters of Revelation. We are going to look at seven real churches that Jesus addressed to either rebuke them for something that was amiss or to encourage them to press on. We will ask ourselves what we might need to change or to continue in order to be healthy and on fire, lest the fire die out and we become ashes.

The title of this series comes from the fact that these churches were, at the time of the writing of these letters, growing and expanding and “on fire”.

Perhaps you, like the recipients of this letter 2000 years ago, need to be reminded of who Jesus is, what He’s done, and what He’s going to do when He comes back.

The best shade trees you'll ever plant are the ones you'll never sit under!

None of us are self-made. We're all sitting under "shade trees" that were planted by our forefathers, by our families, and by our friends. Now, it's your turn to leave a meaningful legacy by planting your own shade trees for others to sit under.

Not everyone can be a legend, but everyone can leave a legacy.