New Life Baptist Church

Over the 60 years since the people returned and completed the temple, many of the Israelites - especially the priests and Levites - had disregarded God's Laws and married their unbelieving neighbors. There are certainly many reasons they did...

This week's sermon covers Ezra 8 and is called, "The Blessing of Costly Obedience." It follows up last week's sermon on the blessings of obedience nicely, helping us to see that our obedience - which is blessed by God - is often...

The year is now 458BC, and roughly 60 years have passed since the temple was completed in 516BC. Our main human character, Ezra, finally enters the story at this point. He is used by God in powerful ways: three times during this chapter, we see that...

We've done a good job recognizing, training, and commissioning missionaries as a church. But to be effective over the long-run, we've got to ensure they are supported well. We'll learn: Effective missionary work requires a vibrant...

After Darius commanded his officials not only to allow the Jews to finish rebuilding the temple, but to finance the whole operation, the work wrapped up quickly. Once the temple was completed, the people held a great celebration and worshiped God...

In this sermon, we look at Ezra 6 and see the providence of God in the bringing about of the rebuilding of the Temple by the decrees of pagan kings and government record-keeping.

This week's sermon covers Ezra 5:1-17 and is called, "Trust in Action." It's been 16 years since the foundation of the temple was laid, but the people stopped working due to the opposition they faced. Their circumstances...

After the exiles finished laying the foundation of the temple, they experienced opposition from the people around them. The opposition was private and informal, taking the form of discouragement, fear, and obstruction. Today, the opposition becomes...

After laying the foundation, the exiles continue the work of rebuilding the temple. However, they encounter opposition from the people around them who don't want them to obey God's commands. Jesus promised us that we would be persecuted...

After about 70 years in exile with no opportunities to worship, the people are eager to reestablish corporate worship back in the Promised Land. We'll highlight several important observations: They reinstitute worship even before they begin work...

This chapter is basically a big list of everyone who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem when King Cyrus gave them his permission to return home and rebuild the temple. As you read the chapter, you realize that there's nothing extraordinary about...

This week we began our new series, "Renewed Worship: The Book of Ezra." We will cover all of Ezra 1 in a message called, "God is in Control!" This book begins where 2 Chronicles leaves off. The year is 538BC, and King Cyrus of...

This week we have a topical vision message for us as we get ready to kick off another school year. We'll be covering Colossians 1:15-29. We learned that to make mature disciples of all nations, we must proclaim Christ in the power of God.

This Sunday we wrapped up our summer series in 1-3 John with the third inspired letter of John. The message will cover all of 3 John and is called, "Fellow Workers for the Truth." We see a contrast between two church leaders – one who...

Foundations are really important - if you don't have a solid foundation, everything you build on top of it will crumble. Jesus taught us to build on a firm foundation in his life and ministry, but many people are building their lives on shifting...

Editors Note: This is a re-recording of the sermon from 7/29/18 Seven different times in the passage, John will use the word "know." He wants his readers to know what is true, so they will believe what is true. But even more than that...

Because God is love, and Christians abide in God, we must also abide in love. However, every single one of us struggles to love other believers. It’s only when we surrender to God’s love for us that we begin to be free to walk in love toward other...

As has been stated in previous sermons, 1 John has a spiraling structure—revisiting the same themes over and over, each time amplifying them further. In this epistle John has given us moral tests (e.g., Are we obedient to God's word?), social...

Last week, John refuted “antichrists” and their teaching, and helped ensure that his readers - and you and me - would continue to abide in Christ. This week, we will see that John appeals to 3 aspects of God’s relationship to His People to make his...

Last week, John warned us that the world is passing away, along with its desires. Now, John tells us that we aren't just living in the last days, but the last hour. And in the last hour, opposition has come in the form of false teachers who...

We saw last week that the identifying mark of a true disciple of Jesus is a person who not only follows Christ's commands, but loves his/her brother or sister. This week, John gives a very strong warning to Christ's disciples not to love the...

We saw last week that we know we are Jesus' disciples if we obey his commands. John will continue to press the issue of assurance of salvation this week, this time connecting following Jesus and love for others. We learned that our love for...

So far, we've learned that God is light, and has no darkness in him. Further, we saw that Jesus’ blood is sufficient to cleanse all those who confess their sins to God. It becomes clear from the outset of the letter that Jesus is the Savior –...

We are continuing our new sermon series "Walk this Way" with 1 John 1:5-10 in a sermon called "Walk in the Light." The Apostle John is responding to the false claims that a believer can live without sin in their lives. We will see...