Houston's First Baptist Church

It has been a very difficult week, but we can know that God is over all things. We will get through this together. Let's be active in sharing our faith during this time as we recognize both the physical and spiritual needs around us. As we give and receive love, it will bring encouragement, refreshment, joy, and a heart for God.

Through looking at the book of Philemon, we can see how biblical it is to show appreciation. Gratefulness actually improves our outlook on life. As we trust Christ in this difficult time, let’s continue to love one another well and know that the church is moving forward and God is at work.

Heaven will be filled with the nations; therefore, our earthly plans must involve discipling the nations. Let’s have open hands and humble hearts, and ask God to use us for His glory and our joy.

We know that the plans of God are sweet, but they can be tough to take at times. He wants all to come to repentance, and He is faithful to continue to share His Word through His messengers, even at the end. And though Satan is at work, we can rest assured that there is victory in Jesus!

Studying the seven seals and seven trumpets can feel scary, but we need to remember in all of this that God desires repentance in order bring relationship. God’s strange work is His wrath, but His normal work is His mercy and love. While we are still in this age of grace with the tribulation yet to come, today is the day to turn to Him.

God has a Kingdom calendar, and as we look ahead to the 7 years of tribulation, we can see that the antichrist is coming and much difficulty, disaster, and death. As we live in this age of grace, don’t wait but turn and believe in Jesus Christ today for the forgiveness of your sins.

Hearing from God is at the center of the Christian well being. To hear God, we need to be disciplined in our daily walk with Him, and we need to be not only desperate and desiring to hear His voice but also dedicated to responding and obeying when He speaks. God is listening when we pray, so let’s love Him in return by leaning in to hear Him as well.

As we begin a new year, allow the difficulty of 2020 to draw you into deeper devotion of the Lord in 2021. Let’s be determined this year to do what needs to be done and walk in a way that shows faith and trust in the Lord. When we devote ourselves to the things of the Lord, we will see how it makes a difference in our hearts and lives.

As we look toward 2021, may our expectations be reset. Even if the world around us becomes worse, we need to keep doing what we have been called to do. We need to love well, live in purity, and eagerly wait for His return.

We have just come through Revelation 5 which is all about worshipping Christ. As we head towards Christmas, let's join with the chorus of Heaven and creation that worshipped Him in the manger and that is worshipping Him now.

As we study Revelation, we get a window into Heaven and what it will be like. We see praise, bowls full of prayers, and people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. May we live each day with fresh praise and prayerful hearts, and may our love for others reflect the heart of God and the unity we see in Heaven.

There are problems happening in our lives that we can’t fix, and It’s these things that cause us to turn to Jesus. Jesus Christ is our hope and He is the savior of the world. He is of the right lineage, He is the lion of Judah, and He is the lamb that was slain for us all. As we study Revelation in this Christmas season, we can look back with hope at when Jesus came, and we can look forward with h...

As we process this difficult year, let’s be sure to not let it steal our worship. We can thank God that we don’t have to overwhelmed by our circumstances. We can bless His name because He is our victorious God. Let’s lift our eyes to worship Him, and let our lives be brought before Him in humility, surrender, reverence, and full of thanksgiving. In this, we will find our purpose and joy.

In Revelation 4, we see John is in Heaven in the throne room of God. It is filled with His splendor, and the sound of worship is all around. Join with the worship of Heaven today, and know that we, as believers, we will one day be with Him.

The church of Laodicea is famous for being lukewarm. They invited compromise into their lives and became accustomed to having the people decide. We as a church today need to be on guard against lukewarm living, and we need to instead choose to be a people that is surrendered to the obedience of Christ and refreshing and life giving to others. Let’s walk with Jesus, and let Him do His work in us an...

In the book of Revelation, there are no negatives mentioned about the church of Philadelphia. They were humble, faithful, and they abounded in brotherly love. Let’s be as the church of Philadelphia, full of love and able to stand as pillars of truth, holiness, and righteousness. And as we do this, He will show us open doors to share His truth.

We’ve seen throughout revivals in history that God can move in dark times. May our hearts break for what breaks His, may the next generation know of His greatness, may revival spread everywhere we go, and may we see division in our nation healed. God is moving, even in difficult times.

As we look at the churches of Thyratira and Sardis, we can see the call to not compromise, to live in a way where our reality is better than our reputation. We need to keep our focus on loving God and remaining faithful, knowing that kingdom works and endurance will follow. Let’s come to Jesus Christ to clothe us in garments of white, and walk in His purity.

Through the study of Revelation we have seen that there is a plan, a future, and a hope. Even if you are facing persecution like the church in Smyrna, trust the Lord and remain steadfast. If you have become interwoven with the world, like the church in Pergamum, turn back to the Lord. There is healing and forgiveness in Him. Let’s remain faithful in these last days and walk with pure hearts, so th...

Through a look at the church of Ephesus, we see a body of believers who resisted evil and endured hardship, but they lost their first love. Have you lost your first love? Know that he has not lost you, and He loves you. Let’s remember, let’s repent, and let’s repeat what we did at first.

Our cultures is in the throws of deep pain, social tumults, poverty, and more, but we cannot be more impressed with our sins and circumstances than than the mercies of God. Nothing can separate us in this life or the age to come from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus. Through Him, we overwhelmingly conquer, so may we continue to serve Him faithfully.

This year has been a difficult one, but we have to be a prayerful and surrendered people. We have to trust the mystery of how God moves. We can trust His protection and His power, and with Him, be a light to the world.

Heaven is on our side, and God’s heart for us is good. He loves us, He died for us, and He has given us new roles for His service and glory. As a believer in Christ, we get to show people the way to God before this age of grace is over. His first coming was marked by obscurity, but when He comes again, all will know.

2020 has been a year of trials and storms, and it has exposed our foundation. Just as the people living in the time of the New Testament needed encouragement, so do we. As we begin our study of Revelation, we can know there is a plan, a future, and a hope, and that God wants to bless us through studying this book.

Have you been drawing near to the Lord during this season of COVID, or have you felt yourself drifting? Though we have become accustomed to a life of being 6 feet from others, don’t ever settle for being 6 feet from the Lord. Draw near to Him. Hold on to hope. He is better! And let’s watch out for one another because of what He has done for us.