First Baptist Church Longview

What keeps us from seeking Jesus when He's only six miles away? Tracing the journey of the Magi in Matthew 2, Pastor Collin contrasts their wholehearted pursuit with the self-satisfied indifference of Jerusalem's religious leaders. The matchless name came as a nobody from a no-name place to save the nameless — and that humble Savior still knows your name. Lay down your pride, bend low before the K...

Have you ever waited so long for something that you began to wonder if it would ever come at all? In Luke 1, Pastor Collin connects the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth to the centuries-long anticipation for the Messiah, highlighting how God works according to His appointed time. Even when He seems silent, He is faithfully preparing something far greater than we can see. This invites us to trust t...

Why is it that the more money we have, the more we seem to worry about it? Exploring the tension between financial anxiety and genuine joy, Pastor Collin draws from 1 Timothy 6 and Jesus' teaching that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." The pathway to joy with money isn't found in accumulating more — it's found in contentment and generosity. Using the inspiring example of John Wesley, P...

What does it actually look like to live a truly blessed life? On a hillside in Matthew 5:1–12, Jesus describes a kind of life that runs completely counter to the world’s expectations, and Pastor Collin walks through the Beatitudes to bring that picture into focus. The path to joy, it turns out, runs straight through poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, mercy, and purity of heart — not through se...

What if the direction you've been chasing joy is exactly backwards? On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus kneels to wash His disciples’ feet and calls them to love one another in John 13 and 15 — a moment Pastor Collin uses to reveal that this sacrificial love is the very pathway to joy. The stunning truth Jesus reveals is that self-giving, sacrificial love isn't the cost of joy — it's the so...

What if the joy you've been chasing your whole life has been just out of reach — not because it's hidden, but because you've been looking in the wrong place? In opening a series on joy, Pastor Collin grounds it in a simple but profound truth from Romans 5:1: joy is a relational outcome, and the deepest joy available flows from peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. True, lasting happiness i...

What do you do when you're stuck in the middle of a painful story, desperate for answers that never seem to come? As Job’s story reaches its conclusion and the promise of Romans 8:28 comes into focus, Pastor Collin closes the *Life after Loss* series by pointing to a God who works *all things* together for good for those who love Him. The God who governs the flight of hawks and the birth of mounta...

Why does God allow suffering that seems to have no explanation? Through the healing of the man born blind in John 9 and several key passages, Pastor Collin shows that while we may never receive an explanation for our losses, God is purposefully at work through them. Drawing from his own experience of losing his father, he unfolds five ways Scripture reveals suffering being made to serve God's rede...

Why would a loving God allow devastating loss — and why wouldn't He stop it if He could? Reflecting on Job chapter 2, Pastor Collin explores how suffering can come through Satan, evil people, and natural events, yet never falls outside the sovereign permission of a good and loving God. We are offered the choice to receive our loss as something that has passed through the hands of a wise, merciful,...

What do you do when loss arrives without warning and leaves you with nothing but questions? Beginning in the opening chapter of Job, Pastor Collin establishes that God remains sovereign even in the midst of devastating, undeserved suffering. The church is called to walk alongside those who grieve by showing up, offering presence over explanations, and refusing to minimize anyone's pain through com...

What if the struggles in your marriage are actually pointing you toward something far greater than you realize? By drawing from Ephesians 5:21–30 alongside the Song of Solomon and Genesis, Pastor Collin unpacks the profound mystery that marriage is designed to reflect Christ's self-giving love for the church. Marriage is not a hierarchy of authority but a union of one flesh — a mutual expression o...

Have you ever felt genuinely disappointed for forgetting your phone on the way to the bathroom? Looking at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, Pastor Collin highlights how easily good things can crowd out what matters most. Technology functions as a helpful tool when it draws us closer to God and the people we love, but it becomes a distraction the moment it replaces them. This week, ask your...

Is there a name — a brother, a parent, an old friend — that makes your palms sweat the moment you hear the word *reconciliation*? Reflecting on 2 Corinthians 5:14–20, Pastor Collin draws attention to Paul’s description of Christ’s love that compels us, leaving no other direction to go. The staggering truth is that God, the innocent party, initiated reconciliation with us while we were still guilty...

Why do we fight with the people we love most — and why does it keep happening no matter how hard we try? In James 4:1–3, Pastor Collin uncovers how the real source of conflict lies not in others but in the desires warring within our own hearts. The most disarming thing you can say in any argument is simply, "Part of the problem is I'm not getting what I want." Before the next conflict erupts, brin...

Have you ever wished you could take back words the moment they left your mouth? Looking closely at Ephesians 4:29, Pastor Collin explores the remarkable power words carry to either build up or tear down those around us. Words are not equally weighted — they carry permanence, they reflect the condition of our hearts, and they can shape a person's confidence and identity for decades. The challenge i...

What would it look like if your family was the *first* place you practiced your faith? Grounded in Colossians 3, Pastor Collin opens a new series on relationships by pointing to Paul’s call to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, patience, and forgiveness. The driving conviction is this: the cross of Jesus Christ is the most powerful relational dynamic in the world, and it should...

Have you ever wondered how much of history's most important work happens in the fine print, carried out by people whose names we never learn? By tracing the life of Barnabas in Acts 4, 9, and 11, Pastor Collin highlights how this often-overlooked figure invested in the early church, stood up for a mistrusted convert named Paul, and recognized the right person for the right moment. The church Jesus...

What if the seemingly ordinary, unseen moments of your life are shaping history in ways you'll never fully know? Drawing from the life of Susanna Wesley and the story of Joseph and Jacob, Pastor Collin highlights how quiet faithfulness echoes across generations. Our significance is not measured by what we accomplish, but by the lives we shape. Resolve to live faithfully in the hidden places, becau...

Is following Jesus really worth it when the world calls faith irrelevant and the cost keeps rising? Through the story of Polycarp — a second-century believer who chose death over denying Christ at age 86 — Pastor Collin points to Hebrews 12 and the testimony of a faithful cloud of witnesses. Faithfulness to Jesus, not comfort or safety, is what changes the world. Fix your eyes on Jesus and run you...

What if the small, seemingly insignificant things you do every day are actually the most powerful forces in your life? Following the story of Lottie Moon — a skeptic-turned-missionary — alongside the vision of Ezekiel 47, Pastor Collin shows how what begins as a trickle can become a life-giving river. Small deposits of obedience, faithfulness, and prayer, compounded over time by God's Spirit, acco...

What does God think about when He thinks about you — and does your answer change depending on how your week has gone? Pastor Collin traces the life of Martin Luther, a man tormented by the belief that God was in heaven keeping score, and connects it to the liberating truth of 2 Corinthians 5 and Romans 1. Through Christ, God is no longer counting your sins against you — not at salvation, and not a...

How often do we let complexity talk us out of doing the right thing? By weaving together the life of Mother Teresa and Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, Pastor Collin opens the *History Makers* series and highlights a powerful contrast between clarity and hesitation. The driving truth is this: clarity compels action, and when we fog up what God has made plain, we rob ourselves of th...

What does it really mean to be a "member" of a church — and is it anything like a Netflix subscription? In this sermon, Pastor Collin walks through 1 Corinthians 12 to show that every believer is an indispensable, God-placed part of the body of Christ, not a passive consumer of religious services. Every person's story, background, and gifts are needed for the church to fully reflect Jesus to the w...

When life and faith start to feel complicated, Pastor Collin reminds us that Jesus cuts through all the noise with one piercing question: What does love require? Drawing from Matthew 22 and John 13, he shows how Jesus reduces the entire law—and ultimately the identity of the church—to a single, unmistakable command shaped by His own sacrificial love. The heart of the message is simple yet demandin...

Have you ever felt a nudge from God toward a need so big it seemed laughable that He'd ask *you* to meet it? In this sermon, Pastor Collin draws from Matthew 14 — the feeding of the five thousand and Peter walking on water — to show that God often calls us to serve precisely where we feel least equipped. The core truth is this: your job is simply to do what you know how to do, and trust God to do...