Bible Talks of Jesse Baker

SUNDAY SERMON What do your words say about you? In our passage for today, Malachi reveals a great ‘distinction between the wicked and the righteous’ (3:18), a distinction that is brought to light by our words. Before the God who listens, our words, however small they are, have the power to airdrop us either into the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. The words we speak determine the futu...

I wonder if this is your Creed? • “I believe in Gold, Treasure Almighty, basis of fortune on earth: And in Greedy Might, the only force that works.” • “I believe in owning shares; the extension of credit; the retention of gain; the reclamation of debt; and in life without fasting.” • “I believe in money.” The truth is that greed is a religion with millions of devoted adherents, including the peopl...

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓲𝓷𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮, 𝓲𝓷 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓶. The spiritual complacency of the people of Israel is dire. Before a God of goodness and love, the people have wearied him with their words of hypocrisy and blasphemy (Mal. 2:17). In their rebellion, they daringly say, ‘God favours evildoers’ and critically ask, ‘Where is the God of justice?’ The Israel...

𝐵𝒾𝒷𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓃𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓃𝒶𝓃𝓉. For this reason, the covenant of marriage cannot work apart from both FAITH and FAITHFULNESS. If you need to constantly scan through your wife’s messages to see if she is cheating on you, there is no faith in your covenant to her. If you have created a secret Tinder account on your private second phone, then you are not showi...

S U N D A Y E X P O S I T I O N ‘𝓗𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓾𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓸𝓹𝓾𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓶𝓸𝓭𝓲𝓯𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓭’ (𝓙𝓸𝔂𝓬𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓵𝓭𝔀𝓲𝓷). God established a “covenant with Levi” (Malachi 2:4). There were twelve tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Levi had a special agreement with God. The tribe of Levi pledged themselves to be the loyal priests of God over the nation of Israel. One...

Series: Killin' Apathy Passage: Malachi 2:1-4 Preacher: Pastor Jesse

The priests of Israel became spiritual frauds, pietistic phonies, and robed pretenders who orchestrated scandalous religious ceremonies for their own gain. The priests were trying to keep the temple doors open by whatever means possible, even if that meant committing serious crimes against those whom they served. Henry Nouwen, a popular spiritual writer, said, “There is the power that oppresses an...

Text: Malachi 1:9-11 What is God absolutely committed to? Malachi 1:11 says, 'My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.' In other words, God is absolutely committed to the universal fame of his name. We pray tha...

“The quality of our sacrifices to God reveals the state of our hearts before him.” What do your sacrifices tell you about your present relationship with God? Truth: “When we give God our best, his name is most magnified in us.” - Series: Killin' Apathy - Text: Malachi 1:7-8 - Preacher: Pastor Jesse Baker

Series: Killin' Apathy Text: Malachi 1:6 Preacher: Ps Jesse Baker “𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓹 𝓭𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓪 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓖𝓸𝓭.”'The foundation of leadership is godly character, not charisma or status. You may have enough charisma to be a televangelist or enough status to be the Pope, but if you have no fear of God, the spiritual vitality of your ministry, home, o...

Series: Killin' Apathy Text: Malachi 1:4-5 Preacher: Ps Jesse Baker

Series: Killin' Apathy Passage: Malachi 1:2-3 Preacher: Pastor Jesse Baker

Malachi is a prophetic attack against spiritual apathy. ‘In a time of spiritual disillusionment, Israel grew weary of God and of keeping his covenant’ (Gordon D. Fee). After many years of zeal and fervency for God, ‘there has been a steady erosion of living faith and spiritual urgency’ (John Benton). Their faith has lost its edge, and worship has become dead formal. How will God save his people fr...

The 11th sermon on John by Pastor Jesse.

The 10th sermon on John preached by Pastor Jesse.

Pastor Jesse preaches on John 2:1-11, showing that the sign in Cana is much more than a miraculous party trick.

What is the evidence that saving grace is at work in your life? The answer is plain: it will be our chief desire to please God by living a profitable life and to avoid what is unprofitable. Text: Titus 3:8-15.

To win the culture to Christ, people need to encounter Christ in culture. The Bible says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Pe 2:12). Our fearless lives of holiness are the arms we take up for cultural revolution. We remake culture by building a brand-new culture shaped by good works. In this sermon,...

We live in-between two appearings of Jesus—and these two appearings of “grace” and “glory” are the fuel that drive the engine of the good life. Tim Chester puts it this way: “We are pushed from behind by the wonder of grace and are pulled forward by the hope of glory.” The knowledge of grace and glory fuels godliness. I pray that this teaching will be a blessing for your own discipleship to Jesus....

Before we knew Jesus, we were barren trees in the desert, “unfit for doing anything good” (Titus 1v16). But through our newfound “faith” in Jesus, our identity was transformed. In love for him and his gospel, his life nourishes our whole being. We then emerge as new people who now produce the fruit of “godliness” (1v1). In Titus 2v1-10, Paul seeks to drive home this point. He illustrates what this...

Through the gospel, even the wild dogs can become tender lambs, “sound in the faith” (1v13). Even the most broken, unfaithful leader can “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Tim 2v22). Even the rebels can be forgiven by the amazing grace of God. Text: Titus 1v10-16.

Paul left Titus on Crete to “straighten out what was left unfinished” by ‘appointing elders in every town’ (1v5). Paul did not leave Titus in Crete to seek out people with next-level administration skills, slick church promotion ideas, or an attractive, vibrant personality. Paul left him there to appoint elders who were “blameless” (1v6). Text: Titus 1v5-9.

Like his mentor Paul, Titus is to preach the message about faith, knowledge, and hope. But this is no ordinary preaching. Paul makes the point that ‘eternal life is “manifested” (brought to light) through the preaching of the word’ (Titus 1v3). Eternal fates are sealed by the words of our mouths. The model for Titus is thus also a model for us. Eternal life breaks into human history as we preach t...

We should no longer observe the “old” ceremonial Sabbath of animal sacrifices, for the old shabbat has finished in Jesus. The temple curtain has been torn from top to bottom. The “old” system has gone.

Timothy Keller has said, “Because the world is full of ugly things, we need the Sabbath to feed our soul with beauty.” Jesus himself said plainly, “In this world, you will have trouble,” but he also said his desire for his disciples was “that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.” Sorrow is inevitable in this life, but joy is not. In the Way of Jesus, joy is a gift, but it’s one that...