Pastor Taylor Shippy's Sermons

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Isaiah 7:1-17; 2 Kings 16:1-14; Matthew 1:1-25 We find that humanity has always been in need of Immanuel, 'God with us.' Whether you are the king of Judah being threatened by two nations allying together against you or a world full of sinners unable to save themselves, the only salvation humanity can ever truly rely on is 'God with us.' That is what we celebrate this Advent...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 13:24-27, 32-37 Today is the first Sunday of Advent in 2021! We are beginning a tour through some well-known, beloved Christmas carols during the Advent season. We begin with a beloved carol that is not about the first Advent but actually about the second one. Jesus Christ promised that He would one day return and come again! As we kick off Advent this year, we do so re...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 18:33-37 Today is "Christ the King Sunday" here at Gibbon Baptist Church! A Sunday set aside to remember and praise Christ for ruling and reigning in this world as king! 

Pastor Taylor Shippy - James 5:17-18 We are beginning a new sermon series entitled, "Let Us Pray." We'll be exploring different biblical texts to discern what it has to say concerning our prayer lives. We begin with James, the brother of Jesus, who makes an interesting observation concerning the Old Testament prophet Elijah. Perhaps all Christians can be like Elijah? And maybe it begins with prayi...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 6:10-17 The final metaphor for our "Picture This!" sermon series is the image of the Church being the Lord's Army in this world. The Church is posed and threatened by cosmic forces of darkness. But God has not left the Church defenseless. God has supplied an arsenal of defensive measures to combat against the spiritual warfare present in our world. The question is...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 5:25-27 We are still in our "Picture This!" series exploring different metaphors from the book of Ephesians that depict the nature of the Church. This week we explore what it means for the Church to be the Bride of Christ. Christ is both sanctifying and presenting the Church to Himself as an immaculate bride. Since we are this bride, we need to cooperate with Chris...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 4:17-24 It is "Baptism Sunday" here at Gibbon Baptist Church! And while we celebrate the ordinance of baptism, baptism itself is more than simply being immersed underwater. Baptism is a journey. Baptism is a lifestyle. Baptism is something we are called to live into each and every day. 

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 2:19-22 This is the third entry in our sermon series, "Picture This! Metaphors of the Church in Ephesians." Paul tells the Ephesians that God is dwelling in a new kind of temple. This new house of the Lord is unlike anything they have ever thought or imagined. God's temple is now God's people. God's temple is the Church. God's temple is us.  

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 4:1-16 This is part two of our series "Picture This: Metaphors of the Church in Ephesians." This week we look at the concept of the Church being the "Body of Christ." Paul uses this picture to tell the Ephesians that they all share a calling toward 'oneness' and maturity that are both wrapped up in this metaphor of the Church being Christ's body. If this is the cas...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Ephesians 2:11-19 This is part one of a sermon series entitled “Picture This! Metaphors of the Church from Ephesians.” Picture this… as members of Christ's Church... “[Y]ou are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). What does it mean to be the family of God? How does one become a part of God's family? How can we better be members of...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - 2 Timothy 3:14-17 Why doesn't the Bible explain everything? That's a good question! Let's try and answer it! 

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Obadiah 10-15 God cares about our human relationships. God cared about the relationship between Edom and Israel as evidenced by God's anger, recorded in Obadiah, aimed at the Edomites for their behavior and actions toward their 'brother' and neighbor Judah when the Babylonians came on the scene. Perhaps that is an indication that God does indeed care about how we today treat...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Nahum 1:2-8 The Book of Nahum isn't talked about much in Christian circles despite it being one of the 66 books of the Holy Bible. Whether because it is believed to be irrelevant or because its subject matter is a bit uncomfortable, perhaps God can still speak through the prophet Nahum today? Perhaps the word from God through Nahum is a reminder that our God can and does exe...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Haggai 1:1-11 A new "normal" has set in for the post-exilic people living in Jerusalem. A new "normal" without the Temple. And this does not sit well with the prophet Haggai. Despite the objections of the people, Haggai preaches that the time is now to re-prioritize the presence of God in their community. And the time is now for us to evaluate the priority we place on our re...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Habakkuk 3:17-19 The prophet Habakkuk finds himself stuck like many of us likely are... stuck between a time of present hardship and chaos and a looming dire future... stuck between an announcement of salvation and vindication by God and the unspecified future when that announcement becomes reality. Perhaps we can relate to the prophet Habakkuk's struggle more than we realiz...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Amos 7:1-15 God appears to call anyone to be a prophet, even someone like Amos. By all accounts, the prophet Amos was by no means a professional prophet. Whether he was simply a shepherd or a business owner or whatever, Amos was not like the other prophets in regards to his previous occupation before God called him. Perhaps this unconventional prophet is an indication of the...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Joel 2:12-14 The people the prophet Joel is ministering to have been through quite an ordeal. From a locust plague to a drought, these people have suffered quite a lot. But then the prophet suspects that the dreaded "day of the Lord" may be just around the corner. This means the people are seemingly trapped. Stuck. Boxed in by past pain and future worry. Where do you turn at...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Hosea 2:14-23  The marriage of the prophet Hosea with an unusual kind of mate is the catalyst for a picture of God's union with His people Israel. The prophet's actions speak before and even louder than his words! Perhaps the Church, as God's 'new' Israel today, we can learn something from the words of this minor prophet about our relationship... our "marriage..." with...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 10:1-33 This is the final sermon in our series "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses." It is Pentecost Sunday for the Gentiles! God is moving and working in the life of a pious Roman centurion, and He does not want the Apostle Peter to miss out. Perhaps through both a vision and a lived experience God can show Peter what it means to be a witness of Jesus Christ with peo...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 9:10-19 We are still in our sermon series, "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses," and this week we build upon what Pastor Taylor proposed; namely, that the best kind of witnesses are those that form relationships with other people as a means of sharing the message of the gospel. Admittedly, this is easier said than done. Even those in the Book of Acts struggled with bu...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 8:26-40 Continuing on with our sermon series "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses," we are concentrating on the verbs that characterize the deacon Philip during his highway encounter with a chariot-riding eunuch from Ethiopia. Perhaps a familiar story for some from the Book of Acts, Pastor Taylor walks through seven key verbs that should be characteristic of all witnes...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 3:1-10 This is part three of the sermon series, "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses." This is the first instance of a public collision between the church, who are newly clothed by the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and someone in need. What will happen? How will people, who have been touched and possessed by the Holy Spirit, respond to those who are suffering...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 2:1-13 This is part two of our series "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses," and this week we are looking at the birth of the Church. Luke records in concise verses the origins of the Church when the day finally came for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the small band of Jesus' followers. The disciples of Jesus were waiting in Jerusalem for the manifestation of the prom...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 24:36-53 This is part one of a new sermon series entitled: "Ready or Not: Being Jesus' Witnesses" where we will be looking at how the first eyewitnesses of Easter carried on the charge by the resurrected Jesus to be His witnesses in the world. This week we are looking at one of the many resurrection appearances by the risen Lord. He appears to His followers, proves His...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Hebrews 12:1-3 It is "Spiritual Roots Weekend" here at Gibbon Baptist Church, and that means that we are setting aside time to consider the faithful women and men that gone before us. It is significant for us to periodically pause to reflect upon the past to better engage with our present to then move into our future.