Service Times
Worship Service
Sun. 9:30am – 10:30am
Sunday School
Sun. 10:45am – 11:20am
Prayer Meeting & Bible Study
Wed. 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Crusaders Club (Seasonal)
Thurs. 3:00pm – 5:30pm
Crusaders Teens (Seasonal)
Thurs. 6:00pm – 8:00pm
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:42 — 46.0MB) Subscribe: Mark 1:14-20
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. There are only 256 shopping days until Christmas. Someone says, “Wait, I’m still recovering from this Christmas, let alone think about next Christmas!” Why do we put off getting ready for Christmas when we know its coming? We wait until the last possible moment to shop, when we could watch for bargains all year. The point is this; did you put as much effort into properly representing Christ in 2012 as you did getting ready for the holidays? The better question is; how are you preparing or what is you plan to succeed as a proper representative for Christ in 2013? Do you even have a plan? Watch as Jesus helps us with a plan to succeed!
- JESUS GATHERED COMPANIONS! Read Prov. 13:20, then follow your chain references and do a study on companionship. Nowhere does God ever teach us that our Christian walk is solitary. From the beginning God said, “it is not good for man to be alone.” In Num. 10 Moses invites his father-in-law to guide him as a councilor; Solomon emphasizes companionship in Eccl. 4:12; Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs; even when He went to pray in Gethsemane He asked Peter, James, and John to go with Him, a little further; Paul was always accompanied. We have become a “church” of loners today. We think it is nobody’s business how we are doing in our personal life. Even so-called Christians don’t think it necessary to be faithful in attendance, and worse yet, in being an active part of the ministry, and eventually those people just dry up. How sad! Notice also
- JESUS WAS COMPELLED TO OBEY GOD! Read Lu. 2:47; 15:32; 18:1. The common thought is that Jesus and His followers must, or are compelled, to obey God. Paul teaches in 1Cor. 10:31-33 to obey God so others might be saved. The idea here is in daily living a Christian is compelled to obey God repeatedly thinks “is what I am doing right now drawing others to Christ or driving them away?” They are never concerned about their reputation, because they are more concerned about God’s! Jesus also
- ACCEPTED THE COST! Read Matt. 8:18ff. One of the biggest deterrents to following Christ is “first let me…” We can never follow God’s plan by doing it our way! Almost everything we do in life has a designated plan, pattern, procedure, or process that must be followed to end the right way. Discipleship is certainly no exception! How would Christ say your life conforms to His plan of discipleship? You know don’t you!
- JESUS WAS A MAN OF PRAYER! Read Mark 1:35ff. Trying to be a person of God without constant and consistent prayer is like trying to life without breathing! Scripture teaches us to pray without ceasing, and to always give thanks in everything. Notice Jesus went to a solitary place to pray. It is okay to pray constantly throughout your day, not matter what you are doing. However, it is equally important to spend some time each day alone with God in a quiet place. The thing is, when it’s all said and done God is not going to pick a few choice days out of your life and say, you did your best. He is going to review your entire life then make the call. Will He tell you He is pleased with your plan to succeed? You know don’t you!
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:39 — 49.8MB) Subscribe: Matt. 24:1-13
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. The Mayans were wrong and we are still here. Now we are just a few hours away from the fiscal cliff! Will falling off the cliff cause the US financial system to collapse on itself, thereby destroying our economy? Is America to become another Greece? Will there be a decision at the 11th hour to save us from fiscal failure? Or will what is America today, wake up tomorrow as China’s eastern annex? Is America really under God’s judgment for all her sin? Let’s consider that question from something King David said. Read Psalm 1:1. One could consider us to be in the mocker’s seat!
- THE DEFINITION OF MOCKING! In Prov. 21:24 God uses four words to define mocking: “proud and arrogant” meaning profoundly arrogant; and “arrogant pride” meaning pride without bounds.” What does God think of such profoundly arrogant pride? Read Prov. 24:9, then 19:25, 29. Those who mock God are ultimately destined for hell because they will ignore God one second too long! Those who call themselves Christians and mock God, will suffer great loss at the BEMA! II Now consider
- THE DISTRACTION CAUSED BY MOCKING! Read 1 Kings. 3:1-15, then 4:29-34. For about the first 435 years Joshua, Saul (to some extent) and David obeyed God and His Laws. As a result God established Israel as an uncontested world power. King Solomon started right, but after reading 1Kings 10:23-25 and 11:1-10 we see He became distracted by all God did for him. His success went to his head and lead to
- THE DISTORTION CAUSED BY MOCKING. Read Romans 1. Like so many great leaders Solomon believed himself to be untouchable by God judgment because of his success. In spite of all he did, his sinful pursuits distorted his spiritual purity. The evil that was to be avoided became acceptable and allowable! The only conclusion can be
- THE DESTRUCTION RESULTING FROM MOCKING! Read 1Kings 11:11-13. It took only 5-20 years after Solomon for the mightiest nation on earth to split! Since then Israel has never been a world power. Leap forward 3,000 years and America is following Israel’s example(?) We started out as a nation established on Biblical principles and God blessed America. But, although her people knew God, they did not glorify Him, nor thank Him, so He gave us up to the sinful desires of our heart. Sexual impurity, immorality, adultery, and degrading of our bodies became a way of life. Since we exchanged the truth of God for a lie and are now worshipping the creature more than the Creator, God has given us up to a reprobate mind, which is a mind that thinks it is okay to live in sin. So is all this the end? Perhaps it is the end of “a-once-great-America” an uncontested world power, world leader; but it is nowhere near the end of the world. The woes that warn of the end of the world haven’t even started. What we are seeing are the effects of sin and sinfulness on a dying and decaying universe. Read Rev. 3:11-13. As Christians we must continue to fight our dreadful enemy Satan, until the day we die or Christ comes to take us out of this world. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at(574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:12 — 42.6MB) Subscribe: Luke 2:1-7 and Rev. 5:1-10
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. When Jesus came to earth the first time all the celebration and joy was overshadowed by the truth Jesus came to redeem us which meant He had to die! His first advent really prepared humanity so He could come again someday! The time from His birth to His death was just the first chapter; we are living in the second chapter, and we don’t know how long that will be; the third chapter will be 1,007 years long; and the fourth and final chapter will be eternal. Let’s consider briefly some contrasts between our Lord’s first and second coming.
- JESUS CAME AS THE GOD/MAN! See Luke 2:1-7 We’ve spent most of this month learning why Jesus had to be both God and Man to redeem us. For the most part no one knew Who the Babe in the manger really was! All those who should have known and immediately recognized Him as the Divine Covenant, as Deity Creator ridiculed and reduced Him to nothing more than a deranged carpenter. Two thousand years later it’s no different. However, there is that promise in John 14:3, and the next time He comes
- JESUS WILL COME AS GOD IN MAJESTY! Read Matt. 16: 24-28 and others like it. His second coming will be a universal event every human will notice. The whole thing will only take a nanosecond, but have eternal consequences. Two thousand years ago,
- JESUS CAME AS THE LAMB! Read Gen. 22:8; Isa. 53:7; John 1:29, 36. In Jewish (Christian) history the lamb is an animal of sacrifice. It was an offering of the common people for guilt and sin. When Jesus was attacked He simply remained “silent…before His accusers.” He really did nothing to defend Himself, because He was on a mission from His Father. Next time,
- JESUS WILL COME AS A LION! In Rev. 5:1-12 John verifies that fact. One writer says, “Jesus is the Lamb in His death and the Lion in His resurrection.” His suffering is over, He is now Sovereign Ruler of all creation everywhere. Just as any lion has great power and strength so Christ now has and will forever possess to the glory of God. The first time He came,
- JESUS CAME ALONE! There is no other instance in human history when a single person has ever been sent into battle to face an enemy alone. In case David and Goliath come to mind, remember David said it was God fighting for him. God could not fight for Christ because Christ came to deliver us from sin and all its penalty. God was pouring out all His wrath and anger toward sin upon His Son. Jesus told us God did not help Him when He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Those 12 legions of angels and all the other hosts of heaven could only watch as their Lord suffered alone. But there is that statement from the angel to the disciples. “You men of Galilee, why are you standing here gazing into heaven? This same Jesus…will return again, just as you have seen Him go.” At His first coming angels sang, but at His second coming everywhere all over the earth and throughout heaven all the angels will be worshipping, serving, and even fighting for Him. Then we get to join Him forever. Amen! If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:46 — 47.5MB) Subscribe: John 10:22-30
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. Just as it was necessary for God’s Christ to be fully human, it was equally necessary for Him to be fully God! Scripture teaches with crystal clarity that Jesus was God! To deny that truth is to eliminate all possibility for salvation. Let’s consider some of the reasons Jesus had to be fully God.
- TO COMPLETELY PAY FOR SIN! To be fully forgiven for all our sins at least three conditions had to be met: (1) The full penalty for sin had to be paid. When Adam and Eve sinned, they did so eternally and infinitely. When we experience anything for the first time, our lives are never again without that experience. In other words we are affected by the experience forever. Sin forever broke the perfect union and relationship between man and God. Only and infinite and eternal God could repair the relationship so it was viable again. Christ fully repaired it, but the scar remains forever! (2) All sin(s) had to be paid for in full. From God’s perspective that means all sins, no matter how many times they are committed, must be paid for in full every time! Only an infinite, eternal God could pay the full price forever- one time! All sin had to be paid (3) for all people. No one could ever be left out, or salvation is flawed. Contemplate just those thoughts for a while! Jesus had to be fully God
- TO CONCEIVE THE PLAN FOR SALVATION! Read Isa. 45:9-12 then 29:16, then 64:8. The creature can never be more than the Creator. Sin makes Man think he can be at least on the same level with God therefore, able to bargain for salvation. The problem is once man’s view of holiness was distorted by sin, he had no hope of conceiving any plan that would fix the brokenness! Only God could conceive and carry out the perfect plan. Jesus had to be fully God
- TO COMPLETELY PACIFY FOR OUR SIN! We discussed Jesus as a Mediator last week, but from God’s perspective as God, Jesus fully understands (1) the full impact of sin against God and its eternal and infinite consequences; (2) All God requires of Man so Jesus can offer Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice to be fully accepted. All this makes for good theology, but it is really hard to comprehend from a finite view point. Thankfully our full understanding is not required for it to work. What we can understand is that we must allow God all the freedom He deserves for saving us so we can receive all He has for us. Where we are still rebellious in our daily lives, we are still causing our Heavenly Father pain and heartache that has already been paid for through infinite suffering. Why? Why don’t we just realize that our suffering and needless rebellion can be a thing of the past because of the present power in the indwelling Holy Spirit? What more could we want God to do than He has already done? It is to our infinite benefit to stop our selfish sinfulness and fully turn to God through Christ. Let our gift to Him be the gift of our total self and then give Him the freedom to do the work in us He has planned from eternity past.
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:17 — 47.8MB) Subscribe: Hebrews 2: 1-9
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. Last week we learned Jesus had to be fully human to represent us before God, to be a Substitute sacrifice, and to be a Mediator for us to God. Today we are going to consider four more reasons Jesus had to be fully human.
- TO FULFILL MAN’S ORIGINAL PURPOSE. Read Gen. 1:26 and you will see God intended Man to be His representative on earth. Our sin caused us to fail in that endeavor. Heb. 2:5-8 which quotes David in Ps. 8:4-6. The point is we don’t see all of creation subject to Man yet. Because Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, He had/has all authority of creation, not only because He created it in the first place, but because as a man He obeyed God perfectly. We must learn to see ourselves as God’s stewards of earth, and earth as one of God’s gifts to us. Jesus had to be human
- TO BE OUR PATTERN AND EXAMPLE IN LIFE. Read 1 John 2:6 then 3:1-3. We learn that anyone claiming to be redeemed must walk as Christ walked. One sure way to know what is really in a person’s heart is to watch how they follow Christ’s example in their daily living. If a person claims to be a Christian, the proof of that claim is found in daily living activities of the person’s life. Eph. 4-6 details how a Christian’s life must look. Jesus had to be human
- TO BE THE PATTERN FOR OUR REDEEMED BODIES. Read 1 Cor. 15:42-44. There are four truths given in this passage concerning a Christian’s body. First, our new bodies will be imperishable. No one will dispute that as we age our bodies deteriorate. One day God’s going to stop that with an eternal body that won’t get old or decay. Second, our bodies will one day be raised in glory. The word glory is used to picture the Shekinah glory of God that people saw when He “filled the temple with His presence.” It declares honor, riches, position, and power. In the NT is denotes the majesty of God that causes men to revere Him. We read in Heb. 12:1 Christ was an exact representation of God’s glory. Third, our bodies are raised in power. That power won’t be physical or tyrannical power, it will be Christ’s power that will direct our bodies to live as Christ lived. It is through our bodies we show to others the great redeeming/reconciling power of God in salvation. Fourth, our bodies will be raised spiritual. Though we will have physical bodies, they will be totally controlled by the Holy Spirit’s direction in our hearts. We will live as Christ lived, doing all that pleases God because of our obedience to Him. The fun part of that will be we will want and enjoy living a life that pleases God. Imagine that!
- Christ had to be human TO SYMPATHIZE AS A HIGH PRIEST! Read Heb. 2:14-18 and 4:14-16. Though Christ had no sin nature, when He was tempted, He felt, not only the temptation to put self first, but He also felt the awful, horrifying, repulsive devastation that God feels because sin cuts His heart to the quick. The very thought that Satan would even try to make Jesus sin was so repulsive to Jesus that He immediately drove Satan away with Scripture. Sin was just totally impossible for Christ because He understood the full effect it has on us and on God!! Because He was tempted in all ways we are, yet He was without sin, we can also overcome all sin because of our salvation. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:32 — 46.2MB) Subscribe: Hebrews 6:13-20
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. As we turn our attention to the Christmas season, it is appropriate to consider the Biblical doctrines that concern Christ’s coming. We believe Jesus was fully human and fully divine. The theological term for the perfect union of Christ’s divine and human natures is called the hypostatic union. It comes from the Greek word hypostasis which means “being.” The question is often asked, “Why did Jesus have to be fully human, and fully divine?” Today and next week we want to consider some Biblical answers to those questions.
- MAN NEEDED REPRESENTATIVE OBEDIENCE. When we speak of representative obedience we mean Jesus obeyed God for us in all parts of human life where Adam failed and disobeyed. We notice that Jesus’ obedience was (A) personal. Read Phil. 2:8 and follow your chain reference to learn this doctrine Jesus’ of personal obedience permeates Scripture. We also learn (B) Jesus accomplished salvation for us. Read Heb. 5:8-10 and Rom. 5:12-21. In 1 Cor. 15:44-49 Paul uses the term 1st Man speaking of Adam as representative of the race. Paul then speaks of Christ as the 2nd Man speaking of Christ as our representative. To properly represent us Jesus had to be fully human and fully divine.
- MAN NEEDED A SUBSTITUTE SACRIFICE. Read Heb. 10:1-7, then 2;1-17. The first passage helps us understand our need for a substitute sacrifice. The second explains that Christ was that substitute. Jesus became our High Priest offering Himself as the sacrifice. To offer Himself He had to be fully human. Jesus was also a sinless High Priest Who didn’t have to atone for His own sin. Only God is sinless and therefore “qualified” to offer the proper sacrifice. All the work Jesus did for our redemption was sinless which made it acceptable to God as satisfactory for our salvation. What would you be willing to sacrifice so others might be saved?
- MAN NEEDED A MEDIATOR BETWEEN HIM AND GOD. Read 1 Tim. 2:1-6. A proper mediator had to represent, in this case, Man to God and God to Man. There are at least three Biblical reasons we can’t mediate for ourselves: (1) we are already spiritually dead because of our transgressions and sins. Therefore, we have no means by which to stand in front of God. (2) Our allegiance to the principalities and powers of evil darkens our hearts with sin and sinfulness. (3) By (our sinful) nature we are naturally God’s enemies and the objects of His wrath. Eph. 2:1-3. Jesus, fully human, fully divine met the qualifications to be a proper High Priest; He was a Prophet to represent God to Man (Heb.1:1-3); and as a Mediator Christ becomes King as an honor for being the perfect Mediator, Sacrifice and Redeemer for the race; and to ensure God’s Law is always properly given and obeyed. God planned and brought all this to pass simply because of His infinite love for you. He has already done all the things we can’t to redeem us, so we can do all we can to show our gratefulness for such a magnificent gift as eternal spiritual life in Christ.
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:18 — 39.5MB) Subscribe: This week we invite Herb Bruss to deliver the message that God has given to him for us.
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