Bethel Baptist Church

Scripture Reading: John 2:12-22 This passage is John's account of Jesus cleansing the temple.  John has the story at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have accounts of Jesus clearing the temple too, but in those gospels it occurs just prior to Jesus' death, at the end of His ministry.  The difference is probably to be explained by the possibility that Jesus cleared the...

Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11 Turning water into wine is one of Jesus' best-known miracles.  Found only in the gospel of John, Jesus performed this miracle as the inaugural display of power in His public ministry (Jn 2:11).  Having said that, it was not a fully-public miracle because only a few people actually knew what had happened. John calls this miracle a 'sign,' (Jn 2:11) which is a word tha...

 Originally Presented: March 15th, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 16:17-20 Ever since the beginning of the human race there have been those who not only deny the truth about God, but offer alternative and false statements.  In the garden of Eden, Satan blatantly declared, "You surely shall not die."  His declaration to Eve was as deadly as it was untrue.  Then there were the Egyptian magicians mim...

Scripture Reading: John 1:35-51 God the Son is the obvious center of John 1.  We see this by the repeated reference to Him, using different titles.  He is the Word (Jn 1:1), God (1:1), Light (1:9), Jesus Christ (1:17), Lamb of God (1:29), Rabbi (1:38), Messiah (1:41), Son of God (1:49), King of Israel (1:49), Son of Man (1:51). John the Baptist's entire ministry was carried out "that he [Jesus] mi...

Originally Presented: March 8th, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 16:1-16 Shakespeare wrote: "Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."  Solomon wrote: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov 27:6) and "As iron sharpens iron, so one men sharpens another" (Prov 27:17).  Our friends are crucial to the quality of our lives.  With good friends...

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-34 This passage is the second extended paragraph containing John the Baptist's declarations about Jesus.  It is clear from the statements in this section of John 1 that the Baptist had one thing on his mind … the exaltation of the person of Christ.  John makes two remarkable and awesome pronouncements concerning Christ.  He is the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29) and He is the So...

Originally Presented: March 1st, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 15:22-33 In this section of Romans, Paul lays out his future plans.  Having preached over most of the eastern section ("Jerusalem to Illyricum" - Rom 15:19) of the Roman empire, he sets his sights on Spain, the farthest western realm of Roman rule.  On his way to Spain Paul desires to stop to see the Christians in Rome, where he has n...

Scripture Reading: John 1:19-28 The overall purpose of the gospel of John is that "you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (Jn 20:31).  To that end, in writing this gospel, John is making a case for the nature of Jesus.  Jesus is presented as the Son of God and is, in fact, God in human flesh. In language that has a legal air to i...

Originally Presented: February 22nd, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 15:19 In his recounting his ministry, Paul makes reference to what Christ had accomplished through him (Rom 15:18) and he cites that this work was done "in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit" (Rom 15:19).  The phrase "signs and wonders" (or a variation) appears sixteen times in the New Testament and the con...

Scripture Reading: John 1:14-18 There is no event in human history of more wonder and majesty and significance than the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity.  The Creator and Owner of everything that is, became a human being.  He walked on the earth He created.  He ate the food that existed because He made it.  The Creator became a creature.  As Michael Card wrote in his song … "Eternit...

Originally Presented: February 1st, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 15:7-13 The final exhortation to Christians to accept one another, in spite of their behavioral differences in non-essential things, includes a deliberate reference to the whole Old Testament by way of quotations.  One last time before he leaves his topic, Paul states in no uncertain terms, ". . . accept one another, just as Christ...

Scripture Reading: John 1:9-13 After writing about the wholesale rejection of Christ, both by the world and by the Jewish people (Jn 1:10,11), John reminds us that there was still a remnant of people who did not reject Jesus.  Taken together, John 1:12,13 highlight two elements of conversion … the human response, in verse 12, and the divine source, in verse 13. To become a child of God, someone mu...

Originally Presented: January 25th, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 15:4 After quoting Psalm 69:9 in Romans 15:3 to highlight the idea that even Jesus did not please himself in His death, Paul makes the statement, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4). The whole of...

Scripture Reading: John 1:9-13 In this passage John is continuing to unfold the implications of his statement, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men" (Jn 1:4).  John is focusing on the nature of Jesus as 'light'.  John frequently uses the word 'light' in his gospel (23 times) as he contrasts the light of Christ with the darkness of the world.  When John says that Jesus is the 'true l...

Originally Presented: January 11th, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 15:1-6 The first section of Romans 15 is a continuation of the subject introduced in chapter 14, namely how Christians view each other and treat each other in the face of disagreement concerning non-essential matters.  (Remember that originally there were no chapter and verse divisions in the Biblical manuscripts.  The  chapter div...

Special Guest Speaker: Waad Haddad Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

Originally Presented: January 4th, 2009   Scripture Reading: Romans 14:1-6 We live at breakneck speed, with activities filling our days to the maximum extent.  We usually take little time for rest, whether it is rest for our body or rest for our mind.  We eat our meals quickly, drive quickly, and talk with those we love but briefly.  It is a frenzy that, for the most part, is not healthy . . . nei...

   Scripture Reading John 1:4-9 In this section of his prologue (Jn 1:1-18), John continues to describe the nature of the Son of God.  Here, using simple words that he will use frequently in this gospel, John declares that Jesus is 'life' and 'light.' Whereas it is true that all life in the material world (plant life, animal life, human life) issues from the Son who created all things (Jn 1:3), Jo...

Originally Presented: December 7, 2009 Scripture Reading: Romans 14:13-23 Romans 14 focuses on the response Christians have to each other when they differ concerning non-essential practical matters in their living.  Regarding these matters, people usually fall into one of two categories: a more restrictive view and a less restrictive view.  Early in the chapter Paul commands the more restrictive p...

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-5 Two questions eclipse all other questions in life … Who is Jesus?  and … What is your response to Him?  Usually the answer to the first question greatly determines the answer to the second question.  In the gospel of John Jesus is presented primarily, though not exclusively, as the Son of God.  By this designation John means to display Christ as God the Son, in all Hi...

Originally Presented: Nov 30th, 2008 Scripture Reading: Romans 14:1-12 One of the great declarations in the Bible is found in Romans 8:1 … "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  This promise means that Christians will never be subject to the wrath of God . . . not in this life, nor in the life to come.  It is an indescribable wonder to be free from the wrath o...

Survey of the Gospel of John

Originally Presented: Nov 23rd, 2008 Scripture Reading: Romans 14:1-8 Romans 13  commands us to love one another.  Romans 14 introduces a ramification of loving each other and this subject will occupy chapter 14 and part of chapter 15.  This section answers the question, "How do we think about and treat others who practice their Christianity in ways that we disagree with?"  The issues mentioned in...

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 is Solomon's 'bottom line' as he brings his book to a close.  It is the summarization of what life's central focus should be.  "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecc 12:13). This passage is, at once, both an exhortation to the whole human race and an indictment of all people.  There is no one who fea...