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I certainly realize how very busy everyone is and how many demands there already are on your time. So here is what I am praying that the Lord will allows us to accomplish:

1) Involve more of our members and guests in Bible study. It is my hope that having studies two Sunday evenings per month will encourage those who are not currently attending to set aside these times to facilitate their personal discipleship process. These classes will be spiritual formation type of classes which will deepen your walk with the Lord and equip you to enhance your personal worship of Christ and your service for Him.

As the Lord provides, we hope to offer more than one Bible Study at these times so that more people may be attracted by multiple opportunities and multiple topics as they are offered.

Also, as the Lord leads us to start Off-Campus Bible Study Fellowships most of them will likely choose to meet on these two Sunday evenings each month.

2) By having Team Meetings on the Second Sunday evening of each month, I hope to make it easier and more convenient to serve on these Teams as well as making it easier for Teams to meet regularly.

3) By having Ministry Training on the fourth Sunday of each month, I want to get back to regular and systematic ministry training and make it more convenient for Ministry Team members to attend.

4) We will continue to take 5th Sunday and “Holiday” Sunday evenings off to spend with our family.

Remember the New Schedule:

1^st and 3^rd Sundays at 6:00pm – Discipleship Bible Study

2^nd Sundays at 6:00pm – Ministry Teams (Elders, Deacons, etc. who need to meet may meet at this time.) Of course, these Teams may meet whenever they choose, but I believe that setting aside a Sunday evening each month will protect our weeknights from more and more meetings.

4^th Sundays at 6:00pm – Ministry Training such as, “Understanding the Bible” “Teaching the Bible” “How to Share Your Faith” “Praying Effectively” etc.

5th Sundays and “Holidays” – There will normally be no events scheduled at Church. 

FYI: Our Bible Studies on the 1^st and 3^rd Sunday evenings in both January and February will be The 2013 Southern Baptist January Bible Study “The Last Week in Jesus’ Life from The Gospel of Luke”.

It is my sincere prayer and hope that you will take full advantage of these times to enrich your personal walk with the Lord and your service for Him!

This coming Lord’s day will mark the 94^th Anniversary of the end of WW1 which was ended by an armistice that went into effect on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918.

Since June 1^st, 1954, the day has been called “Veterans’ Day” to honor all veterans of US Military Service.

As Citizens of God’s Kingdom, we must understand that military service is an honorable thing in the service of a Nation that is striving to uphold Biblical Principles. No Christian should serve a Nation that is attempting to destroy another Nation or Nations who are attempting to uphold Biblical principles!

One of the clearest illustrations of this principle is seen in our passage for today where we see that the people of God are being attacked by the Philistines.

As you think through these verses, please take time to think over the following questions…

Why do you think ungodly people so often attack godly people?

When such attacks occur, how should godly people respond? Is it ever right to make war on other people?

Many times – such as our present text – we see that God’s enemies often have military advantage over God’s people. Is that a cause for despair?

What are the greatest resources that godly people have when they are under attack from their enemies?

Is it always wise to do nothing and wait on God to act? Are God’s people ever His means for victory over evil?

Why do you think that leaders often face criticism from the very people they lead when they take a stand for God and His people?

David looked back to many smaller victories as he faced this great trial of his faith. What victories has the Lord given you that you can look back upon as you face your own fears and foes?

I am thankful every day for the joy of being your Pastor and friend. I am thankful for being provided the time and tools to study God’s Word to share with you. I hope to see you Sunday as we will take time to honor our veterans and their families!

As we worship together this coming Lord’s Day, we will be two days away from the next National election. I am thankful to God that I was born in and that I live in a Nation where the people still have the right to vote for our leaders. I am sick of all of the electioneering – as are most of you; but, I am still thankful for being an American and for the right to participate in our elections.

It is not my intention to try to tell you for whom you should vote. I do not want anyone telling me for whom I ought to vote, so I do not want to tell anyone else. If the American people would allow me to pick our leaders, I would be happy to do so, but – so far at least – they have not offered me that privilege.

I want to go much deeper into the Scriptures and talk about being a Citizen of two Kingdoms: first of all, a heavenly Kingdom; and, secondly, an earthly Nation. The reason we turn to Scripture is simple. With all that is said and said and said about politics and our role as Citizens of our Nation, Jesus always has the final word! No passage could be more clear on this subject than our passage for Sunday morning:

In these verses, we hear people saying nice things to and about Jesus, but the truth that is revealed here tells another story! Their true purpose is to trap Jesus into saying or doing something against the Scripture so they can use that as a reason to deny Him!

Jesus, knowing their real purpose, cuts to the chase… He goes directly to the relationship of His people as Citizens both of heaven and of Rome. And – as He always does – Jesus gives them (and us) the perfect answer:

We are to, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” and “Render unto God the things that are God’s!”

Simple? Yes and no. (I always love that answer… it is the least helpful ever given.)

While I will have lots to say about this on Sunday, there are three key principles here:

1. We are to be good Citizens of our Nation!

2. We are to be good Citizens of our King and His Kingdom!

3. If and when being a good Citizen of our Nation conflicts with being a good Citizen of our King and His Kingdom, our King and His Kingdom must always take precedence over any and all other allegiances!

As Citizens or our Nation, we have certain rights and responsibilities. As Citizens of our King and His Kingdom, we have certain rights and responsibilities. We can never, never, never allow our responsibilities to our Nation cause us to neglect our responsibilities to our King and His Kingdom!

Since there are no perfect humans, we will never have the opportunity to vote for a perfect candidate in any election; local, State, or National. But, as Citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, we can and must always vote for the candidate who more closely follows the teachings of Jesus!

Sadly, many times there is no follower of Christ for whom to vote in an election. Therefore, there is no really good choice. When we are faced with that situation, the best thing to do is to vote for the candidate who most closely follows the teachings of Jesus.

Next Tuesday is Election Day. The best thing that could happen to our Nation is to be led by people who closely follow the teachings of Jesus, or, at least by people who follow the teachings of Jesus more closely than those who oppose them.

As we go forth to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”, we ought to make our choices on the basis of being Citizens of our King and His Kingdom! Thereby, we can be good Citizens of our Nation and our King and His Kingdom.

God bless you! I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

This coming Lord’s Day commemorates the 495^th Anniversary of the day that Martin Luther, an Augustinian Monk, nailed a list of 95 complaints, or “thesis” on the door of the Wittenburg Church in Germany! Most evangelical Christians join our Lutheran friends in celebrating this life-changing event each year.

While I, like all Baptists, have serious doctrinal differences with Luther and his successor Philip Melanchthon, we recognize and rejoice in Luther’s faithfulness, fearlessness, and his great accomplishments. Certainly, his reformation did not go far enough, but it birthed a general awakening among the peoples of Europe that eventually spread around the world.

His greatest accomplishment was the translation of the New Testament into the German language. Following his lead, other brave men translated the Bible into the languages of the common people. Many of them lost their lives to do so!

It is likely true that the most universally useful doctrines that came out of the Protestant Reformation are those that are known as, “The Five Solas.”

– Sola Scriptura: Salvation is from the Scriptures alone!

– Sola Gratia: Salvation is by grace alone!

– Sola Fide: Salvation is by faith alone!

– Solus Christus: Salvation is through Christ alone!

– Sola Deo Gloria: Salvation is to the glory of God alone!

As the Lord allows, I will complete my five-part introduction to my series on “Christian Doctrines” with a message on these “Five Solas” entitled, “Doctrines Worth Dying For!”

Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of our brothers and sisters did in fact die for their unwavering faith in these doctrines. Any understanding of salvation that runs contrary to these five is not true “Christian” doctrine!

Please take time to think through and pray over these doctrinal statements as you prepare your heart to receive God’s Word this coming Sunday Morning. I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

We will kickoff our Fall 2012 “Spiritual Renewal Weekend” this coming Saturday, (10/20) with Roger Ellsworth of Jackson, Tennessee. Roger’s wife, Sylvia, will be with him for these meetings!

On Saturday, we will begin with a fellowship meal at 6pm and a message from our speaker at 7pm. On Sunday, (10/21) Brother Roger will speak to us at both the 10am and 6pm services.

I hope you will prayerfully attend all three of these special services and ask the Lord to speak to you through this great Bible teacher! Brother Roger has pastored churches for about 50 years and has been blessed of the Lord to lead most the churches he has served to outstanding spiritual and physical growth. He is the Author of over 40 published books and is a widely used conference and revival speaker.

I have asked Roger to lead this weekend for us because I deeply love this church and I want you to hear and be transformed by great Bible teaching… but, no one can bless you if you do not hear what is taught!

Don’t miss the great meal and sweet fellowship on Saturday! Don’t miss the great teaching on Saturday evening and at both services on Sunday!

I hope to see you at all of these three sessions with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side…

As the Lord allows, this coming Sunday, 10/7, Lin and I will be in Wears Valley Tennessee at the First Baptist Church where I be leading their fall revival. We know that you are praying for us and we deeply appreciate you and your prayers!

I believe you will have a great day AT THE WOODS!

Our guest speaker will be Tom Marsh who retired after serving for 25 years as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist of Casey, Illinois. Soon after his retirement, Tom preached a revival for us! Hopefully, Tom’s wife Linda will be able to be with him.

Lord willing, when I return for services on 10/14, I will bring you the next Sermon in my current series, “Understanding Doctrine” with a sermon on those doctrines that are NOT vital enough to your life to fight over!

There are, of course, lots and lots of such doctrines, but I will take time to go over seven of the most often discussed of them. Hopefully, you can have some fun thinking about what doctrines fall into this category, and which 7 am I going to discuss!

Beloved Ones, I hope you will be faithful to attend next Sunday and thereby obeying God and encouraging your church and Pastor Marsh. Lin and I will miss you and be thinking of and praying for you during this time away. Of course, I will have my BlackBerry with me so you can call, email, or message me if you need anything. Blessings!

Over the past three weeks, I have been teaching on, “Theological Triage” and how this applies to our life as Christ-followers. In the first sermon I pointed out that there are seven things one must believe to truly be saved…

– The Existence of God! Hebrews 11:6

– The Deity of Jesus Christ! John 8:24

– The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead! Romans 10:9

– The Necessity of Repentance! Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30

– An Active and Present Belief in Jesus! John 3:18, 36

– The Atonement of Jesus Christ as the only possible grounds of salvation! John 14:6; Acts 4:12

– Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone! Ephesians 2:8-10

Last week, I covered the things one must believe to be a member of a local Baptist Church…

– All of the seven things you must believe to be saved, and…

– The eight BAPTIST Distinctives:

Biblical inspiration and authority!

Autonomy of the Local Church!

Priesthood of all believers!

Two Ordinances; baptism by immersion and a memorial view of the Lord’s Supper!

Individual soul liberty!

Saved, baptized membership!

Two Officers; elders and deacons!

Separation of Church and State!

– And, in the case of our particular church, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which is our Confession of Faith.

This coming Lord’s Day, as the Lord allows, I want to add three specific areas I believe one must believe to be a leader or teacher in a local Baptist Church… including ours…

– Premillennialism!

– Cessationism!

– Complementarianism!

Come and be with us Sunday morning as I try to define these terms clearly and answer why these seemingly obscure things matter so very much to the life and health of a church!

I hope to see you Sunday morning with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

Last week we looked at the seven things a person must believe to be saved. This coming Lord’s Day, as the Lord allows, I will preach on the “Second Tier” of doctrinal triage on what a person must believe to be a member of a local church.

1. Of course, to be a member of a local church a person must be saved – therefore, they must believe the seven things you have to believe to be saved:

– The existence of God! Cf. Hebrews 11:6

– The deity of Jesus Christ! Cf. John 8:24

– The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Cf. Romans 10:9

– The necessity of repentance! Cf. Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30

– The necessity of a present and active faith in Jesus Christ! Cf. John 3:18, 36

– Jesus Christ as the only possible source of salvation! Cf. John 14:6; Acts 4:12

– Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone Cf. Ephesians 2:8-10

2. I am speaking, of course, as the Pastor of a Local Baptist Church; so, the things I believe one must believe to be a member of a local church means “a local Baptist Church!” So, think about these questions and how they apply to the requirements for local church membership:

– What should a member of a Baptist Church believe about the nature and authority of the Holy Scriptures?

– Why is it important that we agree on who “runs” the local church and how we relate to other churches?

– How should members see their role within the life and work of the Church? Who is primarily tasked with doing the work of the church?

– Christians differ over what some call “sacraments” and others call “ordinances.” What is your view on these subjects? What are they and how many of them are there?

– Who has the right to tell church members what to believe? How much conformity should the church impose, if any?

– What is the basic, bottom line, number one requirement for a church member? What would be number two?

– Who are the God-appointed leaders of a local church?

– How should the local church relate to government?

3. Why do you think (if you do) that a person who wants to be a member of a Baptist Church should agree with the doctrinal statements in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000?

– Do you think it is OK for members of a Baptist Church to believe more than the things listed in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000?

– Do you think it is OK for members of a Baptist Church to believe less than the things listed in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000?

I truly think that this will be a very profitable study for you and your family. I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

This coming Lord’s Day morning, as the Lord allows, I will begin a series of twenty-seven sermons on the subject of, “Understanding Bible Doctrines.” Our first sermon will be the first of four messages on “Theological Triage!”

“Triage” is the word for sorting things out according to a preset qualification. In medicine, it is used to check out multiples of injured people to see who is in need of the most urgent care. In the financial world, it is used to determine which vendor or debt to pay first, second, third, etc.

In the world of Bible teaching, it is used to determine which doctrines are of greater importance than others. Now, every Word of God and every doctrine (teaching) found in the Bible is important, (Matthew 4:4) but the simple fact is that some are more important than others.

For example, the doctrine of repentance (which is necessary for salvation) is more important than the doctrine of spiritual gifts (which is not necessary for salvation). So, some doctrines are more important than others!

While many theologians whom I respect divide the importance of doctrines into three categories, I whole-heartedly believe that it is wise to divide them into four categories.

Category One, or “First Tier” doctrines are those doctrines that believing is absolutely necessary for salvation! In other words, if you do not believe these things you are not saved. Period.

This coming Lord’s Day, as the Lord allows, after I give you the list of four categories of doctrines, I will list the seven things that I believe the bible requires a person to believe to be saved.

In preparation for this study, let me encourage you to read over and think through the following verses: Psalm 14:1; Hebrews 11:6; John 8:24; Romans 10:9; Luke 13:3, 5; John 3:17, 36; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; and Ephesians 2:8-10.

I hope this series will be a blessing and help to you. There are doctrines worth dying for, but, most of them are not. It is very important that we know which ones are which!

BTW, this week’s Sermon on what one must believe to be saved is exactly what unsaved people need to hear; so, I hope you will invite your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to hear this particular sermon.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

This coming Sunday, September 9th, as the Lord allows, I will complete my series on “Understanding Acts –Body #2 Takes Over!” with my 68^th sermon in the series entitled, “What have we learned?”

When I began planning the series in the Spring of 2010, I was – and I still am – convinced that a lot about the nature and purpose of the Church could be learned from a verse-by-verse exposition of Acts. I hope I was right, but I will leave you and, ultimately, the Lord to make that judgment.

During the 27 months that this study has taken, I spoke on something else almost 45% of the time. So, it has not just been “Acts, Acts, and nothing but Acts.” Nonetheless, I do hope that the series has been a blessing to you and your family.

Let me attempt to stir your thinking between now and Sunday with eight questions for you to consider as you prepare to hear this final summary sermon:

What does it mean to be “Body of Christ #2” and how should that shape what we believe to be the primary purpose of the New Testament Church?

What is the single most necessary thing that we must have if we are going to accomplish that primary purpose?

As some would say, “The Secret of our Success” is within us. How does that statement apply to what we have learned?

In what several ways does the word, “together” describe the nature of a truly bible-believing Church?

What does it mean to people living in the twenty-first Century that over 1,900 years ago a very angry man was radically changed on the road to Damascus, Syria?

I believe that we have seen over and over and over again the best way – by far – to reach unsaved people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. What would you say that method is?

Observing the treatment of believers in the first Century, and all around the world since then; what lesson do we take about how we should expect to be treated by a world that hated and still hates Jesus and those who follow Him?

D.L. Moody often quoted a famous statement by Henry Varley who said, “The world has yet to see what God can do through a person who is totally committed to Him.” How has our study of Acts shaped your view of that statement?

What’s Next?

As the Lord allows, over the next 12 months I am going to focus on a series of 27 messages on Major Bible Doctrines. Hopefully, this series will be used of the Lord to both equip and edify you and to help you share with others what you believe, and why you believe it!

Again, this series will take up about 50% of the Sundays during that period of time. I will also do sermons on Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I am planning a New Year’s Sermon, a “State of the Church” address on the first Sunday in 2013, and a few others on various subjects.

I will also do a Sunday through Tuesday “January Bible Study” about the last week in the life of Christ taken from The Gospel of Luke.” And I plan to take breaks for the holidays such as Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Independence Day.

As of now, I believe that I will follow this series on Major Bible Doctrines with an exposition of the First Eleven Chapters of Genesis, dealing in particular with the issues of Creation, the Fall, the Flood, the origin of Nations, the Tower of Babel, and the call of Abraham.

In addition, we have planned a Fall Revival with Roger Ellsworth and a Spring Revival with John Smith. (Who knows, I may even take a revival or two and an occasional vacation day when we can hear a guest speaker!)

Thanks for your prayers and faithful support!