First Baptist Church Temple

Luke 22:7-16. Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover. Where do you want us to prepare for it? They asked. He replied, as you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The...

Long-haul leadership is deep. Nehemiah 9:1-3 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their god for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in con...

Nehemiah 5:1-5 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s...

Leadership = Vision = Change = Opposition Nehemiah 4:1-2 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back t...

Worship begins with praise of God’s Greatness. Nehemiah 9:5, “And the Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel. Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah – said: ‘Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.’ ‘Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.’” Is your view of God too small or too narrow? Worship continues wi...

The definition of discouragement, “To deprive of courage; dishearten. What causes discouragement? Fatigue Frustration Failure Fear Nehemiah 4:19-21 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us...

Nehemiah 1:2-5 2. Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these...

Matthew 17:14-21 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. Lord, have mercy on my sin, he said. He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. You unbelieving and perverse generation Jesus replied, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?...

Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with tow they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full...

Matthew 24:36-44 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood c...

Matthew 22:1-14 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slau...

Matthew 7:1-5 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your...

Matthew 6:24-34 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air;...

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a g...

Matthew 13:3-9 Then he told them many things in parables saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But then the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root....

I. Faith and love are inseparable. A. Believing that Jesus God’s Son has come in the flesh is a requirement. 1. Faith is a sign of being born of God. 2. Being born leads to right behavior. 3. Being born of God prevents us from habitually sinning. 4. Being born of God causes us to love others. 5. Faith is not only a sign but a condition of the new birth. B. A person who loves and respects a father...

I. Spiritual activity is not necessarily Godly activity. (There is a spiritual world.) A. Stop believing every spirit! B. Test the spirits! C. What should one test for? 1. Test prophets by what they think about Jesus. 2. The test is not only comprehensive, it is confessional. II. Test for consistency! (1 John 4:4-6) A. God’s people know his voice. B. God’s people have overcome the false prophets....

John 3:11-15 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s ere righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love e...

1 John 2:28-29 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. Do the right thing because Jesus is coming back. Our transformation empowers us to live a life not plagued by sin. Mark 8:38, “If anyone is ashamed of me and...

If what you believed about Jesus was not true would you want to know it? I. Know where you are headed. (1 John 2:18-19) A. The last hour; viewed theologically, denotes a period of time whether long or short, that will usher in the termination of all time and the revealing of the final salvation promised by God. B. Our world is headed to an end. 1. For most people born after 1960, there is little c...

1 John 2:3-8: We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must lie as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing you as a new command...

I. John’s message A. John received his teaching directly from the historical Jesus. (Historic Revelation) B. Our theology must be anchored objectively or else it will be shaped by any whim or inspiration that comes along. II. God contains no darkness. A. John is addressing Right thinking about God (light) and right living in community. B. God is light. 1. Old Testament refers to God as fire – Mose...

Crime scene investigation is the meeting point of science, logic and law. "Processing a crime scene" is a long, tedious process that involves purposeful documentation of the conditions at the scene and the collection of any physical evidence that could possibly illuminate what happened and point to who did it. There is no typical crime scene, there is no typical body of evidence and there is no ty...

2 Timothy 1:5-7 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. Use your gifts to bless...