Brownwood Church

Jesus' parable of the soils is the key to understanding why the word of God takes root and bears fruit in some and not others. As the seed is sown, some is immediately snatched away. Some spouts up immediately because of its lack of depth. In others, it grows but is choked away over time. But the seed that makes it all the way to the good cultivated soil takes root and is the only that bears good...

As Jesus preaches the kingdom, He opens up their minds to a reality their eyes can't see: true family. Jesus points to His disciples as the answer to His question, "Who are my mother and brothers?" This doesn't make the natural family less meaningful, but fulfills God's actual purpose for it, one that doesn't terminate on itself. His family is eternal rather than temporal, of the Spirit rather tha...

There had never been a generation with more evidence of the Messiah than the one in which the Son of God walked the earth. Yet in the unbelieving Pharisees' relentless demands for Jesus to bend to their will with visible sign after sign, they prove themselves faithless, ignorant of the Scriptures, and blind to God in the flesh standing in front of them, their only hope of salvation.

There is nothing more important you can do for someone in this life than declaring the whole purpose of God to them. Paul spent years in Ephesus doing just that, and as he journeyed back through on his final missionary journey, he called the elders who remained and exhorted them to guard themselves and the flock by doing the same.

Men who aspire to oversee God's church desire a good work, one that requires godliness above all else. Virtually every qualification for an elder in the church is a characteristic of spiritual maturity. Though many churches prioritize the eloquence of a pastor or the board experience of an elder, God didn't deem those vital enough qualities to mention. Even the required ability to teach and lead h...

Every church in the New Testament had multiple elders to shepherd and oversee the flock of God. This practice was universal in the church for over a hundred years until Ignatius of Antioch elevated one of the elders over the others as a single bishop "in the place of God." This laid the foundation for what developed into the Roman Catholic papacy, but also set a precedent for the majority of Prote...

Elders are responsible for shepherding and overseeing the flock of God. As shepherds (or pastors), they lead, feed, and protect the sheep who belong to God. As overseers, they keep watch over their souls, and will give an account to God for how they guarded those entrusted to their care.

The soul of every man and woman longs for the same things: contentment, satisfaction, joy, fulfillment; in short, prosperity. In Psalm 1, God not only promises true prosperity, but shows us how we can obtain it in this life, and the one to come.

Every believer has received at least one spiritual gift to be used in service. These gifts are manifold in various measure, coming together in the church. This diversity is not a threat to unity, but a beautiful and effective picture of it. Our service of ministry must not ultimately be for ourselves or about us, but for God and about Christ. Not because He needs anything, but because He deserves...

Servants of the local church must be trustworthy believers. Paul instructs Timothy in the qualifications for deacons and deaconesses who serve the needs of the congregation. Those who serve well may not gain a high position in the world or a prestigious title, but more importantly, they gain good standing in the faith, and confidence they are functioning in the purpose for which God designed them.

As the church grows, needs increase and problems arise. In the early church, the apostles instructed the congregation to choose from among themselves Spirit-filled, trustworthy servants to collectively care for specific needs. As hands were laid and the official responsibility became theirs, the apostles were freed to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, their primary service...

Jesus helps us understand the ultimate purpose of deacons: to serve. His own incarnation was the greatest manifestation of this because He came and served our greatest need: to be ransomed from our sin. In contrast to James' and John's desire for exaltation and the Gentile exercises of lordship and authority down upon the people, Jesus taught His disciples that greatness in the kingdom came throug...

The greatest calling in life is making disciples. As Jesus looks out over the nations and gives His great commission from the mountain in Galilee (of the Gentiles), it is a picture of the gospel going out to the whole world. Though we can't baptize our laws in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, nor teach a piece of land to keep all Jesus commanded, we can disciple the nations by discipling t...

What is our motivation for faithful and generous giving? When Paul tells the church that God supplies seed to the sower to multiply, it is to have an abundance for every good deed, not for the accumulation of personal riches. As the church transitioned from the legal requirement of paying multiple tithes to now every believer as a priest purposing in his heart what they are to give, it is joy that...

The church was a family. It IS a family. It is THE family. And because the early church understood this, they continually devoted themselves to reflections of that reality. Like a family, they taught each other, had a participation of fellowship in their sharing and contributing, ate together, and prayed with and for each other. Like a family, they considered their possessions not merely their own...

As the first believers were transitioning from the shadows of worship in the temple to the gathering of the church, assembling together became where they reminded each other to hold fast to their new confession of Christ as the fulfillment of the law, prophets, sacrifices, temple, and priesthood. As these new members of the church assembled together, they encouraged one another to love and good de...

In due time, every tree will identify itself when it bears its fruit. The words we truly speak can only ultimately come from that which is already in our hearts. So in the end, the fruit of our lips will prove the condition of our hearts, which is why Jesus can rightly say that we will be justified or condemned by our words.

The generation Jesus came to had been given more light than any before. They were witnessing His mighty works and hearing the kingdom proclaimed greater than ever. Yet the Pharisees, in the face of the most obvious displays of the works of the Spirit of God, attribute His power to Satan himself. They were insulting the Spirit of grace, and if one rejects the Spirit, there is nothing else that rema...

What was God's ultimate purpose in the Sabbath? Why could Jesus’ disciples pick grain on it? How did David’s men eat the consecrated bread for the priests, which was unlawful? In what sense could the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and remain guiltless? And why was Jesus healing on the Sabbath not only lawful, but a means by which His ultimate fulfillment of it was demonstrated?

Discipleship and mission are two sides of the same coin. Oftentimes, we overcomplicate the call to make disciples, but God has called and equipped every believer in Jesus to make Jesus known where they live, work, learn, and play. 

The Father is pleased to hide spiritual things from the lofty and reveal them to the lowly. Jesus invites all of us who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him and receive rest for our souls; to unyoke ourselves from the cares of this world and the heavy burden of sin, and to put on His easy yoke of righteousness.

As John sits in prison, he begins to wonder why others were experiencing the promises of the kingdom when he was seemingly not. Jesus would reassure him He was the One to come, but John’s greatness will be perfected in suffering. God is so serious about His mission that He promises the same reward to the one who receives His messengers as the reward they will receive themselves. To receive the mes...

Jesus is the living One among the dead. He is the slain lamb who stands. God's power over death was demonstrated from the moment death came into the world to the end of all things. But it culminated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first raised incorruptible, the One who conquered death forever.

Jonah is lifted up, thrown into the abyss for 3 days and 3 nights, and brought back up by God. Despite his disobedience in running from God, the sign of the prophet Jonah is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 800 years later, as the Jews refuse to repent at Jesus' teaching and demand a sign, they stand condemned by the Ninevites who repented at Jonah's preaching alone. In Jonah, we have...

God was David's hope, so he knew he wouldn't be abandoned in death. And even though the power he believed would raise him from the dead forever hadn't yet been manifested when he wrote the words, their fulfillment was sure in what they ultimately spoke of: the resurrection of the Holy One.