Sermons – Wichita Falls Baptist Church

John has rejoiced greatly in Gaius living a life anchored in the Truth, exemplified in his assistance to Gospel missionaries and in the testimony of those men to Gaius faithfulness to the Truth. But problems lurk within the church manifest in the pride and self-absorption of Diotrephes. How can today's church learn from Diotrephes' corrupt character, to prevent such cancer destroying our churches?...

[This sermon was originally preached October 31st in continuation of Pastor Mollenkopf's series through First and Second Kings] One of the great Old Testament leaders and prophets, Elijah, is about to be taken away, but God has planned for his mission to continue.  God’s work is not dependent on us, but He graciously calls us to serve Him.

Ahaziah tragically follows the “like father, like son” adage. Yet, his continuing in sin and seeking after other gods leads to God’s merciful judgment. But since Ahaziah won’t learn and repent from God’s warning of judgment, God's sword of justice falls.

When should the believer separate himself from the world? Should a believer ever separate from other Christians? When does tolerance become sin? These and other questions come to light in looking at the King of Judah's relationship with the King of Israel. Jehoshaphat and Ahab. A problematic relationship or one we should emulate? Pastor Mollenkopf wades into these applicable waters.

Life is full of challenging and difficult realities. One of them is the existence of suffering and evil. Where did it come from? Is there any hope to overcome it? Will it always be this way? God’s word does not exhaustively answer every question, but it gives us true knowledge to guide us in paths by which we can trust and follow Him.

Ahab should turn to God in his sorrow, but instead he continues to seek pleasure in this life, even if that means having to kill, steal, and destroy. Nothing escapes God, though, who holds Ahab to account. Shockingly, Ahab repents and we see God’s mercy in postponing judgment.

There is a battle against the enemy that Israel and we must undertake. For Israel this was against real flesh and blood enemies, but as Paul says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." We must heed the numerous calls in Scrip...

God calls us generally to him, but also specifically to the tasks and callings he gives us. Each call has a cost, but the ultimate reward will be much greater.

When Elijah despaired and asked God to take his life, God cared for him physically. Yet, God then also renewed Elijah’s mind and revived his spirit.  All three elements of our life must be considered when we deal with ourselves and others.

In this sin cursed world mourning is normal, but one day it will be removed. Sometimes our mourning is not temporary, but lasting and debilitating.  What do we do?  We should care for people the way God made us and that is caring for body, mind, and soul. We often focus on one or two of these to the exclusion of the others, and when we do we only harm ourselves.  Thus, we must consider God’s instr...

For us to know, love, and obey God, we must know both the Old and the New Testament.  All of it reveals God and His unfolding, redeeming plan for the world. How in the world does 1 Kings 19 play into that idea? Pastor Jeremy Mollenkopf explains.

Keith Pond continues his sermons series through the "Little Johns," delving into John's final epistle, a letter to the beloved Gaius. In eight short verses we see the expression of vital fellowship manifest itself in specific prayers for the saints in the church and in the provision for those who have committed their lives to Gospel ministry, two extraordinary activities every church and every sai...

Elijah’s “sight” moves from God to Jezebel and rather than continuing with confidence, he flees with fear.  He thought Carmel would be the ushering in of God’s kingdom, but God had other plans. Elijah not only gets his eyes off of God, but he begins to think he is the only one faithful to God.  In the midst of this God provides, rebukes, and reassures.

Some Jewish believers in Galatia have found hope in the gospel, but they say that all Christians (even Gentiles) must follow the Mosaic law to be pleasing to God.  Paul makes clear that no other gospel is the gospel, and that they should be willing to hear no deviations from the gospel (even from Him, angels, or anyone).

This well known story calls us to be faithful to God knowing that He will be victorious.  We may appear to be on “the wrong side of history,” but that is only momentarily.  God will win and prove himself to be victorious over all.  Let’s live in light of God’s eternal victory, today.

Ahab may have turned from God’s word, but God calls him back through the prophetElijah.  Yet, while Elijah begins his ministry with a call of God’s judgment for Israel's sin, Elijah then goes to the wilderness and then to Sidon.  Amidst it travels, God shows that he rules and reigns over all, not Baal, the god of Ahab and Jezebel. Thus, God alone can be trusted for provision and life. 

Pastor Mollenkopf notes that looking at six kings of Israel may seem tedious and boring, but those kings highlight important truths to us.  First, God’s promised judgment will come.  Second, if we continue in the sins of those who've gone before us, we can expect the same negative repercussions. Third, we may appear to be living a life that is noteworthy, but in God’s eyes, if we are not living fo...

The narrative  in Kings--the actual historic narrative--now returns from following Jeroboam in the north (Israel) to discussing the next three kings of Judah in the south.  Tragically, the first two kings (Rehoboam and Abijam) follow the path of Jeroboam into sin, but while they rebel, God’s promises to David allow a lamp to continue to shine.  Then God raises up Asa, a godly leader who brings res...

The story took a slight deviation away from Jeroboam to tell of a prophet who, though faithful to rebuke Jeroboam for failing to obey God’s word, failed to obey God’s word himself.  We now turn back to Jeroboam, and we tragically see that he still won’t obey.  Yet, when life gets out of control--his child dying--Jeroboam tries to get God to heal his child.  Yet, God is neither tricked nor mocked b...

Is obedience to God's word an Old Testament thing or does God expect his saints in Christ to obey as well? Pastor Mollenkopf vaults into this topic from a challenging passage from 1 Kings in today's message.

In John's second letter, immediately after exhorting the church to continue in the glorious graces of God-- life in the word, fellowship with one another, and obedience evidence by love--John warns the saints about the deceptions of darkness that threaten to neutralize and destroy churches then and now. He closes with a sweet exhortation to continue in rich fellowship--face-to-face, life-touching-...

Many are walking away from Christian churches today, and for the saint, that can wear you down and mire you in discouragement. John realized that some would walk away, but rather than stew in lament, he rejoices in those who continue to walk in the truth given to us by the Father. That truth is exhibited by the saints in an overflowing love for the saints and a desire to follow hard after God in o...

For a Christian to reach out in compassion to address the problems in our nation, Progressive America will often smack them down for bringing the truth of God's word to bear upon those issues. Conservative America will bash them for selling out to Marxist ideology. So what's a Christian to do? Keith Pond provides the saints biblical guidelines for understanding where the saint ought to stand and w...

Last week we saw the sad division of the kingdom due to God’s sovereign control and Rehoboam’s foolish leadership. The question before us now is how will Jeroboam respond?  Will he be the king to continue to lead Israel into peace, prosperity, and protection due to Yahweh? Tragically, we see his fear lead to him to lead the nation into idolatry.  He feels he must grasp for power and control, but r...

Sometimes in scrutinizing the details, we miss the big idea. Pastor Mollenkopf highlights Paul's big purpose in chapters twelve through fourteen of First Corinthians by weighing in on Paul's chief emphasis writ large throughout chapter fourteen: building up the church.