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: 55:41 — 48.0MB) Subscribe: Deuteronomy 4:1-10
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. We don’t hear much about pure Biblical doctrine today. One reason is that people aren’t interested in it! They think it is boring, heavy, only for preachers, and complicated. On the other hand God is very interested in doctrine. Why? In 1 Timothy 1:10 and Titus 2:1 Paul speaks of sound and healthy doctrine as life giving. All Biblical doctrine is the foundation of not only what we believe as Christians, but why we believe it. Doctrinal study is often referred to as systematic theology. What’s that? Wayne Grudem gives a great answer. He says systematic theology is any study that answers the question ‘what does the whole Bible teach us today about any given topic?’” With that in mind let’s consider a couple things we need to know about doctrine itself.
- THE DEFINITION OF DOCTRINE! Doctrines teach in the widest sense of the word. The point, purpose, and plan of doctrine may be to (1) impart information as in Prov. 2:1-11 telling us how to understand and gain wisdom and knowledge. Doctrine may (2) pass on knowledge as Solomon does in the Book of Ecclesiastes. It may also (3) help us acquire skills as Jesus teaches us in the parables and other of His teachings. The ultimate goal of doctrine is personal character development in the true Christian. The concept of doctrine is also a means to demonstrate and prove as God does through miracles. Every true Christian is to be a student of Biblical doctrine. No one who claims to be a Christian can make that claim and at the same time not embrace all the doctrines of Scripture with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.
- THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE. Heb. 4:12 is one of the most amazing verses in Scripture. It tells us Scripture is living and powerful. Life implies power, activity, capability, and the ability to act and do. All doctrines of Scripture begin immediately to work in a redeemed heart. We don’t get to choose which ones work, or which ones we accept. By design all Biblical doctrine touches and permeates human life (1) intellectually with “thus saith the Lord.” There is an innate concern in all humans relating to Deity! It also touches human life (2) in volition or our will and desire. There is also a desire from within the human heart to please, seek and fellowship with Deity; or to completely reject the idea of Deity. Either way Deity is an awareness of humanity. Finally, doctrine touches and permeates human life emotionally. In the Beatitudes Jesus expresses the emotional part of human life. Paul addresses human emotion throughout his letters. One can’t read the Bible devoid of emotion. The power and life of Scripture will either draw a person closer to God or drive them from Him, but human life is always affected by Scripture. So how are you letting the doctrines of Scripture touch and permeate your personal life? No matter who you are or where you life, you are affected by the doctrines of Scripture. They are designed to draw you to God and a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ who redeems us from our sin. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us a (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:49 — 42.9MB) Subscribe: Nehemiah 10:37-39
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 people of Israel began this covenant by saying “we will be careful to obey all the commands, regulations, and decrees of God. Here they summarize the covenant with “we will not neglect the house of our God.” So is that how it is with you? Is that how your Christian life begins and ends? True spiritual revival demands we not neglect the house of God. So what does that look like for a 21st Century Christian? Let’s consider
- NEGLECT EXPLAINED! In Nehemiah’s context neglect means “to leave, forsake, in a forlorn, destitute condition without any further care.” Another way of saying this from a Biblical perspective is “let nature take its course.” In this sinful world, the natural course of all things is toward deterioration, destruction, and death. Everything about this world’s influence is away from God and Godliness.
- NEGLECT EXPRESSED! How would you finish the sentence “the number one top priority in life for me is…? If you finish it with something like “working, learning to love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength by obeying God and keeping His commandments” great! If you didn’t – understand this; in its most basic, fundamental meaning, forsaking/neglecting works by drawing the human soul away from all things God, and replacing Him with anything and everything ungodly. Sin makes everything Godly appear unappealing, uninteresting, and unprofitable. It is a cancer that touches every part of our life to distract us, to keep us from submitting to God and from serving Him. The sin of neglect whispers in our ear that God understands we have so many things in our modern technological lives that distract us from Him. In fact, sin tells us, most of those distractions are really blessings God gave us, so we must care for them. Neglect comforts us by telling us we don’t need quite time with God everyday in His Word; after all we’ve read it how many times? We know what’s in it and have the answers if we need them. We are duped into believing God understands when we don’t stay for Sunday school because we have to go home and cook for the family; or have a family reunion, or have to drive 200 miles to play a ball game! Sick of this yet? So is God! Here is the good news; neglect is completely curable!
- NEGLECT ELIMINATED! No matter where you are in your spiritual neglect, you can reverse it if you return to Neh. 9:38, then 10:28, 29. You eliminate neglect by making a choice to change! What you are now doing made you what you are now! You must change something if you want to be what God intends for you to be! You must understand as a Christian you belong to God (1Cor. 6:19, 20). You must give yourself totally to Him (Rom. 12:1, 2) and live in His Word (Josh. 1:7-9; Ps. 1, 2). Another way of saying all this is “you must takeresponsibility to give to God instead of just taking from Him.” Start by giving all of you to Him, even those deep, dark secret parts you’ve been withholding! Then He is able to pour out blessings in abundance to you. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:25 — 47.1MB) Subscribe: This week we invite David Schmidt to deliver the message that God has given to him for us.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:32 — 52.7MB) Subscribe: Nehemiah 10:31-38
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 time passes and people become more self-centered, they become less service-centered! Satan is a master distracter as well as a master deceiver. Israel is turning again to The Lord in service. We find at least five standards for service. All service for God
- IS ESPECIALLY SACRED (v. 31). Ultimately, all service (in any capacity) comes from the soul. Service for the Lord comes from the heart of our soul. Because we have lost our fear of God, we don’t always see service for Him as sacred. If we have lost our fear, our reverence, our attitude of sanctification, we also lose point of view in service to Him. On our journey back to God we must retrain and resolve that all service to God is holy, sanctified. Such service must be done is reverence. Read Lev. 19:30 and Ps. 89:7 to get started. The angels that surround God are seraphim, the highest order of holy angels with unimaginable power. David teaches us that God is more awesome that all of them. Service must be done in an attitude of devotion. The idea is “careful as to the relation and presence of God.” In the NT the emphasis is on the fear of God as a result of love for God in the believer’s heart. Service for God must also be pure in motive. All service all the time anywhere must be to God’s honor and glory! Service
- MUST BE ACCORDING TO DIVINE DIRECTION (v. 32). No matter what, when, where or how the service is rendered, if it is rendered for God it must be only as He directs. God makes that clear to Israel when He tells them not to look anywhere else than His Word for direction. When our life contradicts God’s Word we are not following His direction, therefore, our service is not God centered. Service for Him
- REQUIRES THE BEST ENERGY FROM THE BEST PEOPLE (v. 34). No one can ever support from Scripture an attitude of apathy, uselessness, or indifference to a Christian’s life in service to the God Who saved them. The first or best energy in a Christian’s life is that energy spent putting and keeping God first in every part of their life. I. SERVICE IS ENCOURAGED BY SPECIAL DIVINE PROMISES (v. 34 – “as it’s written in the Law…”) All God’s promises concerning us are conditional! They are all “if…” “then…” Why? Because God is not obligated to be beneficent! Therefore, blessing depends upon obeying God’s law as He directs, not as we choose! Finally, service
- IS TO BE GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY ALL (v.36-38). The key word here is “ALL!” Everything we have or hope to have (except our sin) comes from God. That “all” includes family, income, health, home, everything. To neglect any Christian responsibility, is to neglect and even reject God’s instruction from His Law. We are obligated to lay aside all our prejudices and personal issues and wholeheartedly embrace God’s message. When we neglect to embrace all, we are neglecting God and His Word. Rev. 22:18, 19 tells us that’s not healthy! If we are serious about spiritual revival, then we must be just as serious about service to God as He directs! We are bound by our salvation to serve Him in “ALL!” If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:08 — 44.1MB) Subscribe: Luke 22:14-23
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. In the activities of a Christian’s life there are activities that more routine and mundane than meaningful. Over time we allow them to lose their deep spiritual impact on us. As the Rapture approaches spiritual shallowness continues to infect Christian more all the time. No matter what the current cultural and societal norms may be, Jesus never intended for His Body to embrace them. Jesus never talks about spiritual revival because The Godhead never intended that we should need to be revived! Jesus shares with His disciples two very important principle truths about Communion. The statements are given
- SO WE REMEMBER HIM! V. 19b. We have no way to fully understand and experience what the disciples did when they participated in that last Passover supper with Christ. When He tells them to “remember Me” Jesus used a word for remember that means “affectionate calling to mind of the Person Himself.” It more than just memory, it is awakening of the mind. When those 11 men remembered The Christ, they remembered His face, His expressions, His eyes, and His tone of voice and touch. They would remember the “burn” in their hearts as He shared with them opening the Scriptures. They would remember how they felt when He stepped into the boat from the angry waves, and sleeping. They would remember being rebuked for their lack of faith, and so much more! So the question becomes “what do you remember when you come to this table?” Jesus said, “remember ME, (not the crucifixion)! Every Christian should have at least one vivid memory of encounter with Jesus Christ at the point of their salvation! We must be able to look into the museum of our heart and find artifact after artifact that evidences memorable, historical experiences with The Lord Jesus Christ! Those memories are given
- SO WE REVEAL HIM! See 1 Cor. 11:26. Think about this; does the way you remember Christ in your life, reveal Him to the lost in such a way that causes them to want to come to Himfor salvation? Does your remembrance of Him reveal Him to other Christians in such a way as to cause them to allow Him more freedom to work in their lives? The answer to those two questions is so important because what we remember, about Christ, is what we reveal! We are to reveal His death! We are to reveal how His death on our behalf freed us from sin’s eternal penalty, and is the only way to heaven. His death frees us from sin’s bondage allowing us to follow in His righteousness out of love for the Law of God! Our remembrance also reveals our anticipation of His return. Dead people don’t return from anywhere to do anything! Jesus is NOT dead! He is alive and His life proves God’s complete acceptance of all His finished work on the Cross to free us from sin’s burden/penalty! Our redeemed life is a picture of what God can do through redemption. So the question here is what are you revealing to others (lost and saved) about Christ’s redeeming work in your life? You don’t have to remember that, do you! You know what you are revealing, 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: 47:28 — 43.5MB) Subscribe: 1 Peter 1:13-16
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. We are talking about spiritual, moral, and marital purity in our children. In Neh. 10:30 begins their new life by committing their children to marital purity. Last week we looked at Biblical prerequisites for dating. Today we consider four more that are equally vital. The question “how do I know when the right person comes along?” is on most Christian young people’s mind. I heard the pastor at my son’s church in Dallas, TX say this, “find a person with a verifiable history of godliness, then marry them, no matter what they look like.” That’s a great principle. Consider this—you will shut your eyes when you kiss them!! The world’s standards for choosing a mate are not those of a Christian. The Christian’s only standard is Christ Jesus! Any other “standard” is substandard! To teach our children to become and remain marital purity we must teach them
BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES CONCERNING _ _ _!
1. Christian parents must stop being cowards about talking to their children about sex! I say that because in a “purity” class we taught our teens 12 of 13 students said they learned about sex from someone other than their parents. Generally, peers and health class don’t teach Biblical principles for dating. Parents need to come to grips with the fact that “sex” is not a four letter word! Christian parents should look forward to the time when they can explain God’s second most wonderful gift to humans; salvation being the most wonderful!
2. Sexual feelings DO exist before marriage! There are two extremes on this point. One is to tell young people sexual feelings are wrong and to be ignored until the honeymoon! Really? How does one explain to a young person on the one hand they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and at the same time telling them some of the “feelings” God created are wrong until marriage? Don’t teach your children God contradicts Himself. The other extreme is that parents usually don’t discuss sex at all with their children. We see where that’s brought us, don’t we! Godly parents must teach their children what those feelings are, and how to handle them in a Godly way.
3. DON’T teach your children they are not old enough to be in love. You have taught them almost from birth to love. If they are old enough to date, they are old enough to love! Biblical, agape love doesn’t just happen. It is nourished, nurtured, and cared for! Teach your children what agape love is and how to deal with it.
4. Teach your young people never to date anyone they wouldn’t marry! Why is that? For a Christian to date someone they wouldn’t consider marrying, they are dating them for the wrong reason. It is very possible for a young person to lose their heart in love. Once that happens it is both heartbreaking and hard to end the relationship. There is so much more Scripture has to say on each of these principles. If we are to experience true spiritual revival, the first place it must be, is in our own hearts. Then we must teach our children “the whole duty of man… (Eccl. 12:12, 13).
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us a (574) 643-9419.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:51 — 45.7MB) Subscribe: Psalm 24:1-6 and Neh. 10:30
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. Last week we discussed the spiritual, moral and marital purity. Dad must be able to give his unconditional blessing on any dating relationship because God has established him as the head of the family. As God’s representative in the home, Dad is responsible and accountable to God for teaching, maintaining, and protecting the spiritual, moral, and marital purity of his family. A Godly father can sense danger to his family. God makes that happen to protect the family. When anyone attempts to deceive (God or anyone else) they are immediately in danger before God. Deception is premeditated, planned lying to intentionally mislead another person to satisfy the evil desires of an ungodly heart – usually through the destruction of the other person. This week and next I want to share some principles that every parent and grandparent should teach and model to their children and grandchildren as prerequisites to any dating relationship. They are
I. GOD’S PRINCIPLES IN CONTROLLING INTIMACY!
1. Fathers must teach their sons and daughters to be men and women of God, The Word, and prayer. If we don’t start there, we are starting on the wrong foundation. What is the best way to teach this principle? Show them in your daily life! Children live what they see, not what they hear! When adolescence springs on your child, you had better taught them sound Biblical principles by which to control those feelings or Satan will have a hay-day leading your child into immorality.
2. Parents must teach their children how to dress, and act like men and women of God. The fine art of being a gentleman and a lady is becoming extinct today. Teaching our children proper “etiquette and manners” to avoid provocative and sensual behavior is one of the first steps to avoiding trouble. Most young people today have no idea how to behave as “proper” gentlemen and ladies. We need to tell our children when they do something improperly, then in a gentle, loving way teach them the right way to act. Remember, you can’t just stop doing something wrong, you must at the same time replace the wrong action with a right one, or Satan will fill the hole with another (often worse) wrong!
3. Our children must be taught never to allow themselves to be in any situation where they would be embarrassed, afraid, or guilty if The Lord, Dad or Mom were to see them. Then teach them Heb. 4:13. The best way to stay out of trouble is to avoid it! Often until it’s too late, young people have no idea of the power of sexual feelings and drive. Almost all of the teens I’ve talked to believe those feelings can be turned off at any time without consequences! They don’t understand the danger.
4. Parents need to teach their sons and daughters that women are the “weaker vessel.” Read 1 Peter 3:7. We would say women are fragile, delicate creatures to be treated with loving, dignified, respect. Young men must be taught that God sees women as “very valuable with a price far above rubies.” If we expect to save our children and our homes, we as men must take seriously God call to us as men and women of God to teach our children to be the same. Reread Ps. 24:1-6.
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
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