PV Bible Alive

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...

The second condition that sucks the power out of a church or out of the life of a Christian is deception.   Deception is when you choose to believe a lie.  As bad as the 1st debilitating condition was; discouragement, deception has done far more to destroy the church than discouragement has.  In this passage of Scripture, Paul warns the Thessalonian believers that a lie is circulating in their chu...

There are 3 conditions in the church that can impair or extinguish the church's, or a Christian's effectiveness; Discouragement, Deception, and Disobedience.  Paul addresses all three in his 2nd letter to the church at Thessalonica.  We look at Discouragement in this message.

As the millennium closes, then comes the judgment, and the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Then all the saints of all the ages will enter into the eternal presence of the Lord.

Is there any way to know if Jesus was actually born on December 25th?  In this message we look at some details of the story that help us determine the date of His birth.

In this episode about the end times, we answer the question, "What will that time be like?"  In short, all of the good that Jesus did as He lived His human life 2000 years ago will be exponentially multiplied worldwide.  Healing disease, abolishing famine, restoring nature, and enforcing justice against evil will be the normal course of life for 1000 years. And Jesus will literally reign...

Tradition tells us that Jesus was born on December 25th, around 1 B.C.  But does the Biblical narrative bear that out?  We're going to look at the controversy surrounding the date of Jesus' birth in these two final sermons of this series.

At Christmas each year we read the story in Matthew and Luke about Jesus' virgin conception.  And Matthew tells us that it was predicted 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His Immanuel." And each year there are those who would cast doubt on the virgin conception by saying that this prophecy in Is...

Where did Jesus come from?  As we come through another Christmas season, the question of Jesus' ancestry continues to be a source of doubt for many outside the church.

One of the most beloved parts of the story of Jesus is the story of His birth.  But, as much as it is loved by Christians, it is attacked that much by its detractors.  The Christmas story has been a source of controversy since the day that the Christ Child was laid in the manger and the angels said, "Glory to God in the Highest." In this series of sermons, we are going to look at some of...

In my Thanksgiving sermon, I preached that we have things to be thankful for in a fruitless year.  In that sermon, I compared the church to the parable of the fruitless tree that Jesus told in the gospel of Luke. But, as a follow-up to that sermon, what does a church or Christian have to do to prepare themselves for future fruitfulness?  We will answer that question in this message.

We've gone through a tough time in our church and in our lives over the last months.  And as I look over the present state of things in our country, even in my church, and life, it can feel like a long dry season.  And it feels like we may never emerge.   So, I preached this sermon during Thanksgiving week this year to encourage the hearts of those who still hold fast to Christian faith; &quo...