Cambria Pulpit

The greatest danger to the church does not exist outside the church, but rather inside the church. There is nothing outside the church that can destroy the church. Persecution from the world will never destroy the church. In fact, history has demonstrated the opposite. There is, however, something far more deadly and destructive that can destroy the church. Like a cancer than springs up inside the...

Does is matter how a church is structured? A quick survey of the hundreds of churches in Hillsdale county will reveal a variety of church structures. Some are heavily structured, and some have very little structure. Does it matter what a church does? Again, a quick survey of the hundreds of churches in Hillsdale county will reveal a variety of actions by the churches. Does it matter what a church...

There is a classic movie many of you are familiar with called Princess Bride . In the movie, the hero Wesley is killed by the villain. Discovered by his friends, Wesley is taken to the miracle worker name miracle Max. As he examines Wesley, he informs the friends that Wesley is not actually all dead, he is just mostly dead. He revives Wesley and Wesley goes on to defeat the villain and save the pr...

Due to the sensitive nature of the message by our missionary yesterday we cannot publish it online. So we are happy to bring you the next message in our Characteristics of a Healthy Church Series from 2019.

Through the most horrific act in history, our redemption was gained. However, this was no mistake. This was God's plan from before the foundation of the world. Pastor Dave discusses this amazing love as we continue through the Gospel of Mark

Due to technical difficulties we are unable to bring you yesterday's message from the Gospel of Mark. So we are reaching into our archives and brining you the second characteristic of a healthy church: A high view of God's Word. Originally preached on February 10, 2019.

One message seems clear in our world today as we contemplate all that is going on around us: Justice seems to be in grave danger. Whether we want to discuss the racial conflicts in our country, the debates in every state (and definitely here in Michigan) regarding the authority of the governor, the glaring hypocrisy of our national leaders, or the discriminate application of executive orders betwe...

What comes to mind when I mention salvation? What comes to mind when I mention the cross? Most likely like me, you have some sanitized thought that comes to mind. We sing upbeat songs with joy about the fact that Jesus died. And we ought to sing with joy. But often, we miss the heinous nature of the cross. We don’t see our sin for what it is. As a result, we don’t truly understand the suffering th...

They didn’t know it yet, but their world was about to spin out of control. What they had trusted would happen would be ripped away from them. All hope would be stolen from them. Chaos would reign. In a few hours they would move from complete comfort to running for their lives. Within 24 hours, their leader would be dead.  The disciples had no idea what the next day would bring. But Jesus did. So,...

Due to a technical difficulty with our recording yesterday we are unable to provide yesterday's sermon. So we would like to present this message from February 3, 2019 for your edification. More in our foundations series can be found on our website https://www.cambriabaptist.org/foundations/

The end times is a preoccupation we all love. When I was growing up, it was the film Thief in the Night . Later it was the Left Behind series by Tim Lahay that dominated the church. We love the charts and the signs and the speculation. Everyone’s favorite series is end times study. Over and over I hear believers state that this or that is a sign of the end times. Wars, persecutions, coin shortages...

Guest Speaker Dave Deets (Vice-President of the Institute of Biblical Leadership) walks us through Psalm 23. He reminds us that God is our Shepherd, we shall not want, we shall not fear, and we shall be blessed forever. 

What is God like and how do we please Him? If I asked you that, how would you answer? There are a multitude of views about God, from a doting grandpa to a blacksmith ready to smash us with a hammer. But your view of God dictates your view of life. For how you view God determines how you believe you can please God. Further, your view of God determines your view of everything around you: You possess...

We need not look far to discover Biblical ignorance in our world or in our church today. We quickly discover a gross misuse of Scripture, making it say what it never meant. We see some using Matthew 7:1 as a statement that we have no place to pass judgement on the sinful acts of others. We see some using 1 Corinthians 9:20 to justify sinful actions in the name of evangelism. We see the misuse of t...

Would you agree or disagree with this statement? Nothing is more nauseating to contemporary youth than hypocrisy, and nothing more attractive than sincerity. … Young people hate our adult shams and subterfuges. They have a very sensitive nose with which they can smell the faintest odor of religious humbug from a considerable distance. (Stott, Between Two Worlds, 203). People hate hypocrisy. Often...

We all love a good story. Whether it’s a love story, an action story, a historical narrative, or a good bit of fiction, our lives are surrounded by stories. But sometimes these stories are meant to teach us something. And some stories, from the nursery rhymes of our childhood to some fantasy allegories today, use word pictures to teach us those lessons. Jesus was a master storyteller. Throughout h...

We live in a day when one can determine their gender regardless of their biology and it is considered normal. A day when one can be accused of racism simply because of the melatonin or lack thereof in their skin and no one can argue. When the reigning ideology is tolerance, except to those you perceive as intolerant. And when everyone gets to determine truth for themselves, as long as it lines up...

In the 1500s there was a notable English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the new world by the name of Martin Frobisher. His goal was to find a northwest passage to Asia. He spent the majority of his time searching the St Lawrence River and the areas north. On his second voyage, he made an amazing discovery. He discovered a huge deposit of what he thought was gold ore. He loaded 200...

Guest speaker, Pastor Wayne Muri, presented the four tests believers must face from John 21. 

In our final outdoor service, we looked at the events of Palm Sunday: I have come to the point where I have no desire to turn on the news. I hate social media more and more every day. 2020 has given us a worldwide pandemic, crushing economic struggles, murder hornets, and now anarchy in the streets (not just of major cities, but even smaller towns). I waffle between consternation and hopelessness....

Wearing masks is really important, everyone should do it when in indoor public spaces. Wearing masks is worthless and stupid. It is simply another way the state is trying to control us. We need to open the economy up today. If we don’t many will lose everything and then the death due to suicide will be numerous. If we open the economy up now more people will die, don’t you care about life? The chu...

For many of us there came a time when we had to acknowledge that we could no longer see the way that we used to see. We were going blind. Perhaps the chalkboard began to get blurry, or we struggled to see the words on the page, or maybe we took the eye test at the DMV and didn’t pass, or we went to a routine eye examine and were informed there was a problem. For whatever reason we needed correctiv...

In 1776, on July 4th, the Continental Congress released a Declaration to the King of England declaring the 13 American Colonies to be free and independent. Every year we joyously celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy because of these men. In that text, the deist Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator w...

In this Drive in Service, Pastor Dave expounds Mark 10:13-31 For years, in the early exploration of North America, the Spanish sought for the fabled fountain of youth. They searched in vain for this fabled spring whose waters created eternal life. Today we recognize this as a fable, but we seek other forms of delaying death. We live in a day that is keenly aware of death. We are taking all measure...

Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published an article which revealed that the marriage rate has plunged to its lowest point since the government started tracking it in the 1860’s. This cannot be explained away as an economic issue, this is at its core a moral issue. We live in a society that no longer sees the purpose of marriage. When people “love” each other, they simply live with one another....