Faith Baptist Church

What is the baptism of the dead? What relevance could it have to the resurrection? How does it impact my thoughts of ministry today?

What is the day the Psalmist had in mind in Psalm 118? A day where God demonstrates his steadfast love? A day he delivers his own from great distress? A day in which he exalts one previous discarded to a position of supreme honor?

The Scripture goes to considerable length to record what happened to the body of Jesus between it's death and resurrection. What is the significance?

When Jesus said, "It is finished" what was he declaring was over? His life? His sufferings? Prophecy fulfilled? Or something more?

Many in the adoring crowds on Palm Sunday were among the number that cried out "crucify, him; crucify him!" What are the contributing dynamics to spiritual defection? Judas is himself a case study.

What is the significance of the palms on Palm Sunday? What is the significance of the Lord's riding on a donkey? Why did the Lord in this case embrace and almost fuel the praise of the throngs?

The Scripture is clear that God has in the past and God will in the future judge nations and people groups for their sin against him. Without special revelation the Scripture cautions us against proclaiming that we know particular disasters are tied to particular sins. However, we do have a description in Romans 1 about why and how God judges sin.

Purity referred to something unmixed - uncontaminated, clear, clean. Many Jews came to see purity as something external and ceremonial only. The purity God demands and the gospel produces is something that starts on the inside.

The Scripture is clear that God Judges Nations. The Scripture also gives strong caution against thinking we can trace all disaster to particular sin. Where does that leave us? We get at least part of an answer from Jesus himself as He responded to questions about the deaths of some at the hands of a cruel leader and the deaths of others in an accident.

The spread of the COVID-19 virus is a "calamity" that is effecting the entire world. Where is God and what is He doing in such situations? The Bible gives caution about connecting all suffering to specific sin. The Bible gives witness to multiple purposes of God in the trials and afflictions that enter His people's lives. The Bible is also clear that God has judged nations for their sin and will y...

Many have noted a change in emphasis between the 4th and 5th beatitudes. The first four speak of qualities of the repentance that turns to the Lord. Beginning with the 5th, these virtues are now an outgrowth of the converted and changed life. Mercy is one dimension of the love of God that involves compassion on those in need and acts to relieve their misery.

An altered physical appetite is a sign of changes in the body and an altered spiritual appetite is a sign of a work of God in a man's heart. People that are blessed by God have a hunger and thirst after righteousness. In this case "righteousness" is referring to a desire to be right with God. This is not the appetite of men and women apart from the grace of God. When a man has an appetite to be ri...

The Sermon on the Mount is not an anti-dote for social ills and a promotion of political activism. Neither is it applicable only for a future millennial kingdom. Jesus was evangelizing through this sermon. The first three beatitudes point to marks of a saving repentance.

The ministry of Jesus consisted of teaching/preaching and of healing/miracles. The miracles were not primarily displays of compassion but signs of the identity of Jesus. Christianity at its core is not about physical and social dynamics; it is at its core a matter of responding with faith and obedience to the words of God.

This text records the call to four men to leave their occupation and serve in a full time capacity. The first prong of the call was to walk with the Lord. The second prong was to invest their lives in reaching men with the gospel. Their response was immediate even though it was at considerable cost.

Matthew 4:12ff, records Matthew's first report of the public ministry of Jesus. From cross-referencing we know Matthew has skipped over earlier ministry in Judea and Nazareth and the opposition and rejection experienced. Matthew just points to the hand of God fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy to favor people in darkness with the light.

In the third temptation the devil appealed to Jesus to obtain from him what the Father had already promised he'd give the Son. The appeal was to shortcut the wait and the difficulty endured during the wait. The response of the Lord indicated that waiting to receive God's will in God's time and God's way was an act of worship.

In the first temptation the devil urged Jesus to display his divine power to meet the needs of his humanity. In the second the devil used the Scripture to urge Jesus to prove his professed dependence on the words of His Father by doing something presumptuous in the name of faith.

What are the qualities of sacred music that contribute to a true spiritual blessing as opposed to just a good feeling? A text saturated with the Scripture. A purpose to teach and admonish. And the entire package - text, sound, musician, musicianship, and all accessories be a suitable offering to the Lord.

You can be saved, surrendered, and separated and still miss out on living in the will of God if your mind is not saturated with the Word of God. The Word is the means the Spirit uses to transform us into the image of Christ.

Living very practically surrendered is not just a "requirement" to be in full time service and especially to be a missionary but is a necessary step to living in the center of God's will for every believer. The heart of the surrender is a heart of worship not just of doing my duty.

Living in the center of God's will requires battling the pressure of our enemy the world. The world functions under the control of the devil and includes not just overarching alienation from God but the fads that reflect the spirit of the current age.

God wants you to experience life in the center of His will. He has outlined a proving process to that end. The Scripture first makes the assumption that those exhorted to apply the proving process are personal recipients of the mercies of God embraced through a saving faith. What are the marks of such a faith?

Job was godly and rich and the devil seized on this combination to claim Job was insincere and God had bribed Job into worshipping Him. God allowed Satan to afflict Job "without cause" in Job. Job grieved and yet still worshipped. What was the foundation of his worship?

The eternal Creator God would remain unknowable and as if a Supreme Being or Supernatural Force if it were not for Jesus's taking on man's form and living among men and revealing a person full of grace and truth