PV Bible Alive

This is part 4 of this series of sermons from Acts 19.  We've been studying the revival that happened in Ephesus in the first century.  And that revival can be classified as genuine or real.  It wasn't just emotionalism or a crowd's attraction to a good show.   Real revival comes when the Holy Spirit of God does supernatural work in a person or a group of people.  When that happens,...

This is part 4 of this series of sermons from Acts 19.  We've been studying the revival that happened in Ephesus in the first century.  And that revival can be classified as genuine or real.  It wasn't just emotionalism or a crowd's attraction to a good show.   Real revival comes when the Holy Spirit of God does supernatural work in a person or a group of people.  When that happens,...

Sometimes when we sing, "Lord, Send a Revival, and let it begin in me,"  I don't think we understand what we are asking for.    We want our world to magically go back to a simpler time when churches were full, prayer was practiced in school, and we naively believed that those who worked in Washington D.C. were "public servants." But real revival is like what happened in Ep...

When Christians talk about revival, they are often thinking about a sudden move of God that results in large numbers of people coming to Christ or returning to Christ. But if we look at Acts 19, and the ensuing revival that broke out in Asia Minor,  the revival wasn't sudden, and it wasn't simple, or easy. 

We often ask God to send revival, but most of us don't know what that will mean in our lives.  Real revival from God will be rigorous, rewarding, rapturous, revolutionary, and riotous.   

There is a lot of teaching about the Holy Spirit in Christian churches, literature, and media today.  And unfortunately, I believe the majority of it is at best murky, and at worst destructive. And chief among those destructive teachings is the doctrine that states that those who are already Christians have to seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a second gift from God.   In this sermon, we a...

What does it mean to be a Christian?  Is everyone a Christian who calls himself one?  If they say all the right words, does that make them a Christian?  In this passage of Scripture Paul encounters 12 men who are called disciples and he references when they believed .  On might assume from those two words that these 12 were already Christians when they met Paul.  But as the story unfolds, we disco...

There are a great number of ordinary people in the Bible who live ordinary lives in service to the Lord, but never get recognition for it.  They are the unsung heroes of Scripture.   There are also those who get a measure of notoriety for a brief moment but then pass into history with little fanfare.  They are the unsung heroes of Scripture. In my next two messages, we will look at three such peop...

It seems like every day we hear about some craziness that's happening in the world, in our country, or even next door to us.   And if we are Christians, it gets easier and easier to want to give up on being a "light in the darkness."   This message addresses that thought; the desire to give up.  In Acts 18:18-23, we continue with the story of Paul, taking the good news of salvation...

Part 2 of this sermon It seems like every day we hear about some craziness that's happening in the world, in our country, or even next door to us.   And if we are Christians, it gets easier and easier to want to give up on being a "light in the darkness."   This message addresses that thought; the desire to give up.  In Acts 18:18-23, we continue with the story of Paul, taking the g...

From July 18th until August 2nd 2022, Kansans will be given the opportunity to vote on the "Value Them Both" amendment.  As pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, I can't dictate to the congregation how they should vote.  But I can give my own opinion.  And I believe that you should vote "yes" on this amendment.   In this short message, I explain why.  This message is not inte...

As we look at the church and what it is supposed to be and do we come to the task of discipleship.  The last command that Jesus gave to His disciples was to "go and make disciples."   Despite that fact, sometimes the church has failed to make discipleship a priority.  This message is the start of a change in direction at Parkview Baptist Church.

This week we began a church diagnosis.  If we use the analogy of a tree, our church tree is sick.  It has ceased producing fruit, and it is diseased to the point of death.  So if we are going to see this tree "revitalized" we have to look the signs of a healthy tree, and compare it to ours.   The signs of a healthy church have to do with relationships; to the Lord, to each other, to the...

We are beginning the fourth week of our 40 days of prayer.  As I considered the devotions for the upcoming week I noticed several that concerned our eternal reality,  As we ask God for the revitalization of our church we are asking Him to help us live up to the eternal reality that we are already living in.  That reality is one of worship, trust, forgiveness, and victory.

When an injured body is brought by ambulance to the emergency room, they look for signs of life.  Do we have a heartbeat?  Is he breathing?  Are the eyes fixed and dilated?   They look for the signs of life. But what are the signs of life in a church?  What are the signs that there is Spiritual activity, not just activity, happening there?  In this message I want to present to you three signs of s...

This second message about our 40 days of prayer for revitalization looks at our priorities.  Since we know that only God can breathe new life into a church, then we have to ensure that our priorities match God's priorities. Simply put, God has to be our first priority, others our second, and we have to put ourselves in third place in terms of importance. In other words, we are not trying to r...

Are there any limits on what God can do?   Our natural and automatic response is to say, "No, God can do anything."  And yes, God can do anything.  But He chooses not to do some things.   He limits His work by His nature and His purposes.   So, in the Church, God chooses to limit Himself by our belief or unbelief, our humility of pride, and our purity or sinfulness.  If we want to see Go...

The last chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Thessalonica deals with a 3rd debilitating condition that may exist in any church; disobedience.   It is the worst condition that can exist in the church because it is not passive like being discouraged or being deceived.   It is when someone is actively disobeying the Word of God, and refusing to listen to anyone who points out their need fo...

Many churches today are faced with the prospect that their doors might close for good.  So, the effort then begins to "save" that work.  There are many steps a church needs to go through in order to revitalize a congregation.  But the first step a declining church must take is to ask themselves why they want to save "their" church.   Because if our motives are self-centered, no...

As we prepare to celebrate this day that we call Easter, it is easy to get lost in all the things that have nothing to do with the real meaning behind the occasion.   So, I wanted to do two things with this message;  1. Answer the question, "How did we get from Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, to chocolate bunnies?" 2. Answer a second question, "What is the true meaning...

In our last message, we discovered that there was active disobedience and sin in the church in Thessalonica.  The nature of the disobedience was a people who refused to work and support themselves. In this message, we look at how Paul addressed this disobedience.  It is an example of how we, in the church, are to approach other Christians, when they are living in disobedience.

The second debilitating condition in the church is deception.  It is when the church or individual believers choose to believe something that contradicts the Word of God.  Or when they let false teaching persist in the church.   False teaching is a cancer that will destroy the Church from the inside out.

The 3rd debilitating condition that Paul addressed in the church at Thessalonica was disobedience.   Some people were disobeying the command of Scripture, and Paul's direct instruction, and refusing to work.  And they were living off of the charity of other church members.   In this first part of this message, we delve into the details of this circumstance.

This is a sermon by my late father; Art Hays.  The message is about the woman who was taken in adultery.  The quality of the recording isn't the greatest, but I hope you are blessed by it none-the-less.

In this message, we look at the deception that was circulating in the church in Thessalonica and how Paul dealt with it.  Paul confronted false teaching.  He didn't tolerate it.  He didn't say, "You have your truth and I have mine, and that's okay."  He didn't say, "What I think the Bible says is _____, What do you think the Bible says?"   No, he stated that...