First Baptist Church St. Paris

What does our world need? This isn’t a trick question. Nor am I thinking of just “spiritual” answers that are true but may not always provide a path forward. It is easy to say “Jesus” and this would be correct but there is more than just a prayer. How does God answer prayers? You got an extra hour of…

Where is hope? Do you see hope around you? This can be hard depending on the day, circumstance and sometimes just our mood. The ancient world could be cruel. So can ours! But we have many safeguards that did not exist in the ancient world and in some places still do not exist. God’s people were to be…

Where have you seen God lately? I know I ask this often enough this is probably not a surprise for you to hear. Yet it is an extremely important question and equally important answer. God is active in this world. This is, I believe, a foundational principle of Scripture. God did not create this world…

Life is filled of crisis moments. How we respond to crisis is important. How we try to help those in crisis is equally important. We can intentionally and unintentionally cast blame when that is not warranted. Our new series—The Book of Ruth! I have chosen this book for a number of reasons. It is a short…

We are not perfect. This is no surprise to any of us, I hope. Life will happen and sometimes we will not be the person we want to be. Thsi is why grace is needed. How we respond to pain and failure is important. We have a couple options We all have pain and failures. We can bury it! This may work in…

Destinations set the journey. The journey is important but we must have a clear destination in mind, even if it is just to wander, before we start. Otherwise, we may never know if we got there. The Gospel of John has a destination in mind for all that has been said. Jesus performed many other signs in…

Prayer is where Heaven and Earth intersect. We have song that reminds us of this as well as the Lord’s Prayer itself. As one of my mentors in ministry, Dr. Dennis Metzger, as said; “God has hardwired this world to run on prayer.” Prayer is essential to the life of a disciple of Jesus. We cannot obey…

We need a re-awakening. This is just my personal opinion and thoughts as I look at our world, country and the state of Christianity in the West. I may be wrong, and I think I am okay being wrong, but I think by and large we need a re-awakening. I also believe the younger generation is probably going…

Our world lacks wholeness. I think this is how I would try to sum things up at our present state. There is much that divides and there are forces intentionally trying to divide. It is easy to be troubled, outraged and overwhelmed. In part because of the sheer number of things we have to process and also…

Where is home? This could mean different things to different people. We have sayings which indicate the reality of the different ways we can answer it. Is home a destination? Is home where others are? Jesus was concerned with the journey not just the destination. As we open up our text this morning we…

One of our problems: we think of ourselves too much. You can read this statement in at least two ways. 1. We think to highly of ourselves. This would be 100% true most of the time. But the second way is just as important. 2. We think of ourselves too often in general. John wanted to impress on the church…

Roughly 50% of adults rarely or never attend a church service each year. Think about this for a moment. This is gained from many different surveys and I read it often through some of the people I follow. Yet, as a recent Gallup survey I read indicated most people feel the morals of our nation are getting…

What is your most valuable possession? Think about this for a moment. What do you have which has more “value” to you than anything else. It does not have to be financial value but could be. Motives are important. This does not mean just because someone “meant to” or “didn’t mean to” we just brush off…

We are not immune from troubles. I know this is a “captain obvious” statement but we must be reminded I think of this. As I have said paraphrasing M. Scott Peck, “Health is commitment to reality at all costs.” There may be some who promise health, success, fame, fortune for those who follow Jesus but…

Celebrations are important. This past weekend, and really for the week to come in some areas, we as a nation are celebrating 250 years of independence. A great accomplishment and something worth celebrating. For Israel, celebrations took the form of feasts. In Exodus & Leviticus we see God setting up…

What does good leadership look like? This a question I ask myself often. I look to those who I would describe as this way. I also notice how much I don’t measure up. Israel had a history of mixed results with leaders. Maybe this should be encouraging because the same is true today. Israel was longing…

Approximately 500,000 children are born blind each year. The overwhelming majority of those are from impoverished nations and places where sanitary conditions are not great. Yet for many many more cataracts, macular degeneration and other eye disease can rob us of sight. The more we know, the less we…

Our world desires security. National security. Economic security. Security in relationship and the list could go on. This is not necessarily a bad thing but if we are not careful we can place our hope for security in something/someone who cannot provide it. Freedom does not necessarily mean independence.…

What if Jesus visited American churches? Have you ever thought of this question? What his observations be? How would we be challenged? How would we respond? As we come to John 8.12-30 it is easy to take the side of Jesus. We very well may be on His side. However, listen clearly and carefully, we may…

Credentials can be necessary. Credentials come in a many shapes and sizes. Keys, badges, cards, etc. Where did you graduate from? Who is Jesus? This is the primary question of Scripture and our answer should make a difference. As we open up our text this morning the questions is being asked, who does…

Our world is trying to get more efficient. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We must be willing, or at least I believe I should take stock of where I am “waisting time”. I use AI to help be efficient in many tasks. But, when we “save” time in one area we normally “spend” it trying to be more productive.…

Sometimes we must be asked the “hard questions” in order to grow. This is not comfortable nor enjoyable but it is necessary. Many times these questions lead to uncovering the “why” behind the “what” or “how”. Other times they will solidify what we “know” so we can continue to move forward. We live in…

What do you need? A simple yet profound question. Sometimes I ask it like this, “how can I best serve/help you? We must get good at helping people discern what they really need. There are plenty of different models to describe our human needs. Here are some categories: power/achievement, freedom/independence,…

Life has mountaintop experiences. This is when everything is going our way and sometimes, to use a sports analogy, we are in the “zone”. Praise Jesus for mountaintop experiences. Having faith when life is good can be challenging. As we look at our chapter in John this morning we are reminded that Jesus…