First Baptist Shreveport

In our second week of looking at the book of 1 Samuel, we take a look at Samuel's calling.  He didn't recognize God's voice at first, but came to understand that God was indeed calling him.  Like Samuel, when we're in close proximity to God and God's people, we can hear our own callings better.  The timing may be difficult, but even imperfect people can help us boldly live...

In 1 Samuel, Hannah brought her heart before God in an honest way.  As we work through 1 and 2 Samuel in the coming weeks, we’ll see that God often bypasses the powerful and the impressive and instead will work through the faithful, the overlooked.  If you feel like Hannah at the beginning of this new year, maybe struggling, be assured that very often this is the point at which God starts to work,...

Christmas is the culmination of a long season of waiting.  After Advent, the world settles down and we ask, “what’s next?”In Luke chapter two, we hear again the story of the shepherds- ordinary, lowly, workers that we don’t know a lot about - but what we do know is that the night the angels appeared to them was the most memorable night they had ever had. Their response to the angelic chorus was to...

Immanuel, "God with us," has come to speak to the deepest longing of our hearts.  May you find rest in the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus this Christmas!  

Sometimes we silence ourselves and feel like our voices don’t matter.  We may even feel like we don’t have a voice.   Zechariah was silenced, but sometimes Advent calls for us to speak and maybe even to shout about what God has done.   Luke 1:46-56 records Mary’s song - her response to what God is doing in her life.  Mary was young, without much agency in kind of an insignificant place.  Nazareth...

How do you feel during a pause?  Do you always try to fill the silence?  What are we afraid of?  What do we think we will find in the silence?  When Zechariah was told by the angel that Elizabeth would become pregnant, Zechariah's questioning unbelief resulted in his silence throughout the pregnancy.   There are times when silent wonder is the best we can add to a moment.  There are moments w...

Today as we light the first of the Advent candles, we’ll consider Jesus as the Light of the World.  “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Jesus doesn’t say I am A light of the world, but THE light of the world.  It is audacious and exclusive.  The light calls us to Him.  We c...

How do you define home?  A residence or a house?  They say “home is where the heart is” which gets at something more: where we belong, where we can be honest and real.   In John 15:1-8, Jesus says “live in Me… Make your home in Me…” (MSG) We cannot live separated from the vine.  He is the Source.  We need to remain connected to Jesus.   There is a Greek word, Meno, that is used throughout scriptur...

John chapter 14 starts with a mood of anxiety, but Jesus responds with words of comfort and promise.   “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me… I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”   If you need a map, Jesus is the map.  If you need a guide, Jesus is the guide.  If you need a path, Jesus is the path.   When we...

Crisis moments are never convenient.  In John 11, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus about their brother Lazarus- “Lord, he who you love is sick.”  Jesus loves Lazarus and his sisters and Lazarus is very sick, but Jesus waited two more days before he went back.  This doesn’t always add up for us.  When we are in crisis, it is so hard to wait.  Martha says to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brothe...

Who do you follow?  When we follow someone, we need to be discerning.  In John chapter 10, Jesus uses the metaphor of the sheep and a shepherd: “I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 The character of the Good Shepherd: - KALUS :  Jesus uses the word “Kalus” here which means good, beautiful, wise.  The Pharisees would have recalled Ezekiel 34:11-16...

Jesus’ “I AM” statements are poetic declarations, helping us know who He is.  In John 10:7, Jesus says he is the gate for the sheep and whoever enters through Him will be saved.  Before this in John 9, Jesus heals a man born blind.  The Pharisees are upset about the healing and Jesus’ authority- THEY wanted to be the gatekeepers.  But Jesus says HE is the way to life.  He is the gate.  The blind m...

One of the ways God has revealed himself to us is through a litany of names and titles throughout scripture. These names and titles work together to give us glimpses of who God is.   We’re starting a new 7 week sermon series about God’s “I Am” statements: the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the...

In the 1720’s, a young educated man in Europe named Count Von Zinzendorf encountered a painting of Jesus by Domenico Feti that posed a question.  In Latin at the bottom of the painting, the question was “I have done this for you- what have you done for me?” This art and this question sparked to all-consuming devotion and a life long commitment by Zinzendorf.  Some years later, a group of Moravian...

Christians around the world face significant challenges and persecutions to gather and worship.  Today, we’re looking at the Freedom Path of the Baptist World Alliance’s 2033 Movement.   In the USA, we live with a remarkable amount of religious freedom- so much so that we can take it for granted.  But just because we don’t experience religious persecution here doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about...

We all desperately need connection with those around us yet we are on a trend to more and more social isolation.  Across the board, Americans report having fewer and fewer friends.  The impact of loneliness on mortality has been found to be as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day!   Our 2033 Movement path focus for today is the NEIGHBOR path.   A strategy for obeying the Great Commission is that we...

Sometimes we have expectations of people, but we experience hypocrisy- the outside doesn’t match the inside.  This can happen to all of us- we can have high ideals but we can give in to sin and temptations.   This week, we’re focusing on the “care path” of our 2033 Movement initiative.   So many Christians live with an unseen faith.  In Matthew 28, Jesus tells us in the Great Commission us to teac...

We need hope more than ever.  How does hope spread?  From the time of Jesus until now, it has spread from life to life, from story to story.   In Acts 1, Jesus tells the disciples that they will be witnesses.  Are we muted when it comes to our faith?  Do we openly talk about how Jesus makes a difference in our lives?  Many times fear and rejection hold us back.   You don’t need a complicated formu...

What if we had an important letter from home but we never bothered to open it?  The Bible is God’s love letter to us!   Are we reading it?  Are we committed to God’s word?  Jesus’ Great Commission tells us to “Go and make disciples of all nations…” Matthew 28:19 We are called to the nations to spread the word.  We are called to ALL nations, not just one culture.   There are about 1,100 languages l...

There’s never a bad time to set a good goal.  Goals really can move and change us and challenge us.  Over the next six weeks, we’re going to be talking about goal setting, aligning ourselves with the Great Commission and the Baptist World Alliance’s 2033 mission.  Today we’re thinking about goals as in Hebrews 12:1-3: “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us th...

We are all prone to procrastination, but sometimes it helps to think through tasks and create smaller, achievable goals. What unfinished task has God given us?  In Matthew 28:18-20, we find The Great Commission: “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father...

We are like sheep and Jesus is like the shepherd.  We wander off the path a lot because we are prone to sin and this is why we need a shepherd.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.   Psalm 23:4 says “Even though I walk through valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;  for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  We WILL go through the valley of the shadow of death. There is...

What does Psalm 23 mean to you?  It’s a psalm of God’s protection, care and provision.  Sometimes we can slide into feeling like we can provide for ourselves.  Sometimes we’re too proud or too distracted to realize how desperately we need God as our provider.   The Lord is our shepherd.  Sheep need a shepherd.   The Lord is my shepherd.  This is a personal relationship.  God is available to us eve...

This week, we are considering what the Bible says about Hell and judgement.  Of the 23 times Jesus mentions it,  Hell is most often spoken of regarding the need for repentance.  Universalism is the idea that everyone goes to Heaven, but this runs into problems- there is no true justice and nothing matters.  Judgement is necessary for us to feel purpose.  Jesus has called us to non-violence, but th...

What is our vision and idea of heaven?  Many pop culture misconceptions about what heaven is can flood our imagination, but what does Jesus say about heaven?  In the Gospels, heaven is mentioned 126 times.  Many times the concept of “Kingdom of Heaven” is used-  sometimes it is a reference to God’s presence.   What Jesus says:   What we experience after death is like coming home.  (John 14:1-6) Th...