Author: First Baptist Church

Love Is… February 2024

A quote I saw recently made me stop and think. “Love is an ocean of emotion in a sea of expense.” I got to thinking about how this is kind of true in a fun- ny way. The love we feel for our marriage partner and even for our kids is an ocean of emotion. It’s a huge swelling of emotions, ups and downs. We have intense feelings about the people that we love. Falling in romantic love with someone brings high emotions. We feel strongly about the person, their qualities, their needs and wants, and about their futures. We often put their own needs above our own and think about the other person, as the common phrase says, as “My Better Half.”

Love for our kids is also intense. Our love compels us to do for them what we would do for no other. We love them intensely, more than any child understands until they have a child of their own. Our concern for them can come across as protective or corrective, but should never hollow.

But love is also a sea of expense. Marriage is hardly a cheap endeavor. And the average cost to bring a child to adulthood has a lot of zeros at the end. Love is definitely not cheap.

But this all brings me back to thinking about God’s love for us. We often forget that God has strong emotions for us. He loves us immensely. His emotions are real and they move him to do incredible things for us.

But God’s love is also a sea of expense. Loving us was not cheap. The cost of his love was the life of his one and only son. Love, in its most pure and excellent form, is truly an ocean of emotion in a sea of expense.

Which brings me to another quote. The philosopher Nietzsche said this about love: Love is a state in which a man sees things most decidedly as they are not. His point is that love distorts our vision, in some ways it makes it so that the object of our love does not appear to us as it does in reality. Love makes the object of our love more beautiful, without flaws, and more attractive than others might see them. And so every husband may say honestly of his wife: she is the most beautiful creature ever to exist. And every husband would be telling the honest truth. Every mother can say of her baby… it is the most wonderful thing she has ever seen.

God‘s love for us also distorts, because his love sees us as objects worthy of salvation, capable of redemption. He does not see us with our flaws, our sin, our weaknesses, but sees us as perfect, therefore he has lavished his love upon us.

“For God so loved the world…”
My sermon series for February will be from 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “Love Chapter” of the Bible.
Additionally, I would like to emphasize missions this month. I am looking for a way to share about missions, missionar- ies, and ministries we support throughout the year. I hope you will join us in person or online for worship this month.

God bless you and yours,

Pastor Dave

Happy New Year, January 2024

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is 2 Peter 1:5-7. It says, “Make every effort to supplement your faith with praise, praise with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with kind- ness, kindness with love.” (I have used the word praise instead of goodness in the translation and the why will need to wait for another day.) These verses indicate that we have some meas- ure of control in the development of our own spiritual lives. The verse begins with the words – make every effort. It means that we should be striving for spiritual growth. It means, at least in some measure, spiritual growth lies within our own hands. (See notes below.)

As we begin 2024, we should take a moment and think about what sort of spiritual growth the Lord would like for us this com- ing year. Billy Graham is quoted as saying, “This new year affords us an opportunity to take spiritual inventory of our lives to see if our spiritual resources are sufficient for the needs and demands of the coming days.” Have you developed the spiritual resources that you need for 2024? Are you prepared for the parenting and marriage hurdles that you will need to face? Do you have the resources for the physical and health challenges that lie ahead? Will the expectations of your work and finances be met with the spiritual abilities at your disposal?

The time for developing these resources is now, and not in the midst of the difficulty. And this is one reason why New Year’s resolutions are important. They give us the opportunity, as Billy Graham says, to make spiritual progress and increase our spiritual resources.

As you think about your spiritual resolutions, here are five wise things that would be SMART to keep in mind…

Specific. A general goal of just being a better person is usually too vague. Like Peter suggests, you may want to set a specific goal about your worship, or your knowledge of God, or in some way develop self control or kindness.

Measurable. You probably should include a way of keeping track of your goal. How many times a year or a month or a week you will do something. How many books of the Bible will you read. What dollar amount or percentage will you contribute to the needs of others?

Achievable. Sometimes our goals can be too high. So it is usually better to start modestly and if we are successful to increase that goal.

Results. Doing extra work, just for the sake of doing extra work is a poor motivator. We will often do much better if we can see and feel results from the work we do. So if you pick a topic to learn it should be something that will make a difference in your life. If you choose an area of self-control, it should be something that has social, emotional or physical benefits.

Timely. Maybe your New Year’s resolution should only last until May. And definitely don’t go on a diet at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Choosing the right time to make good on a resolution, can make all the difference.

These SMART ways of setting goals can help us make spiritual progress. So which area of Peter’s list seems like a good step… praise/ worship, knowledge, self control, endurance, godliness, kindness, love? Ball is in your court…

God Bless and Happy New Year,

Pastor Dave

NOTE – Transformation of our hearts and minds and souls is progress that only God can bring about. Spiritual change in our lives is the result of God’s work, or more accurately, God’s work in a willing person. Just as it takes two people to move a large table or desk. In the same way, we each must work in coordination with God for transformation to happen. Hard hearted and stubborn people are a common obstacle to God’s will and work. Therefore, it takes two. You and He together.

Merry Christmas First Baptist Church, December 2023

Christmas is one of the best times of the year. People are usually filled with joy and generosity and even people who aren’t regulars at church tend to be thinking about Jesus. Images of the nativity are visible at stores and in peoples front yards. Carols about Jesus’s birth fill the air and are entertainment at shopping venues.

People often think of Jesus as a good man or a prophet, but many people do not understand him to be the incarnate Son of God. The apostle John makes the incarnation a centerpiece in his writings.

1 John 4:1-3 says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flash is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, as not from God.”

The apostle John was combating the idea in his day, that Jesus was a spirit and not a real human being. They had the idea that Jesus had shown up but not in the flesh, thus they were denying the incarnation. There was a concept, which we call Gnosticism, and they believed flesh (being bad) and spirit (being good) were so divided and different that they could not coexist. In order to make Jesus deity, they had to deny his humanity.

This is the reason why John includes the words “every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” The most common error in John’s day about Jesus was a denial of his humanity. By denying Jesus’ humanity, they also denied his birth, death, and resurrection.

Today, the most common error about Jesus is the denial of his divinity. Of course, if they accepted his divinity, they would be accepting him as Lord and Savior as well. Some are willing to accept his miracles and even his resurrection, but the biggest barrier to their acceptance of him is the question of his divinity, his divine nature. The spirit of this age rejects the divine nature of Jesus Christ.

Christmas season is a great time to invite friends and neighbors to worship. They are already familiar with the carols, images, and stories. But it is also a great moment for them to come into contact with the real Jesus. The Jesus, the Son of God, who took on flesh, who took on a human nature.

Consider who among your friends and neighbors you would like to be your guests this Christmas. Pick a Sunday when you think they would feel comfortable. Invite them to be your guest at worship. Meet them in the parking lot. Then make sure to sit together during the worship service. Let’s use this wonderful opportunity, when people are already thinking about Jesus Christ, to introduce them to our Lord and Savior, The Son of God.

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Dave

Baptism, November 2023

As we look forward to baptisms this month, it seems good for our souls to remember our own baptisms. Who was present at yours? Were you nervous? What time of day did yours take place and was it inside or outside? Did you understand what you were doing?

Let’s go over the basics again. Baptism means immerse, dip, plunge, to be overcome with transformative results. It is not used often outside of Christian communities, but the one instance that comes to mind is the description of a sunken boat as baptized. The boat was fully submerged and transformed by the process. Jesus describes his death as a baptism to undergo – it would overcome him and transform him, particularly the resurrection part would transform him. Frequently in The New Testament, receiving the Holy Spirit is called a baptism. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives it should be transformative – changing us in very important ways – and in a spiritually real way we become immersed in Him. Christian baptism by water is a symbol of the internal and spiritual reality of faith in Christ Jesus. It shows externally the things that have and are already happening within the believer.

Baptism is an essential part of what believers do. The Great Commission…

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

makes clear that baptism is an essential part of the purpose and work of God’s people. It is equal in importance to mis- sions and teaching. Without baptism, the church is not ful- filling the most important mandate of God. Additionally, the First Church recorded their process of evangelism and growth and as it was overseen by all the apostles it has been the model throughout history…

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. – Acts 2:41

The Early Church baptized those who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. First came preaching/teaching, then acceptance, and then baptism. And we also see that the church numbered its members. They had a count of believers who had turned to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Having a church membership list is very biblical.

Baptism’s symbolism is also discussed in scripture. Baptism shows externally through descending into water and reemerging above the surface that the believer is united with Christ. United in his death – his descent into the grave – and resurrection – his return to life, up from the grave, nevermore to die. Romans 6:4 picks up on this connection…

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Lastly, by administering baptism to a new believer we recognize the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s work. Faith in Jesus and proclaiming Him as Lord is evidence that the Holy Spirit is already at work in a person’s life. The Holy Spirit is a seal of ownership and promise which points to God’s ultimate purpose for our lives, eternity.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. – Ephesians 1:13-14

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. – 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

In baptism, the church recognizes and bear’s witness (to the best of our ability) the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s work in a new believer’s life. The reality of the Spirit’s presence works itself out over time. As the new believer grows over years and decades becoming more like Christ, the Holy Spirit will be more and more evident. So by baptism, we say to the person, “We see the Spirit of God has begun to work in you.”

What has baptism meant for you over the years? Your own baptism. The baptism of a child or a spouse. The baptism of friends. Let’s be in prayer for those getting baptized this month.

God Bless, Pastor Dave