Sermons – Wichita Falls Baptist Church

When Jesus cried from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?," his words echoed from a psalm of David, Psalm 22. A cry of despair, but also hope knowing that “He has done it." Pastor Mollenkopf opens up this rich passage on the Sunday we commemorate Jesus' resurrection.

Pastor Mollenkopf examines David’s final psalm, Psalm 145. The shepherd king pens a masterful song of praise to God. Using each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet he calls on all generations to praise God, the God who cares, rules, and reigns.

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by telling his disciples that those who are poor in spirit are blessed. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? What even does it mean to be blessed? Jesus then goes on to tell them that for those folks, "theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Okay, but what does that mean. Keith Pond explains what the Beatitudes are and how this opening Beatitude is significant for...

Life has many burdens, sorrows, and trials. Yet, David in Psalm 55 reminds us to cast all your burdens on God because He will sustain you.

Even believers have times where we wrestle and wonder, “Why does evil seem to prosper and doing good get punished?” “Should I bother doing what is right?” “Is there even good in the world?” In Psalm 73 Asaph tells of walking through this dark path, but in the end, he comes out with light and hope as he remembers who God is and what He will do. Pastor Mollenkopf opens up this rich psalm in this mor...

Heaven will be an eternally enjoyable place, but due to misunderstanding, many, even many Christians, are not that excited about it. Sadly, many bound for Hell think it will be a far more interesting place. As we see what God has revealed to us about Heaven, we should be guarded us from such deceptions, filled with hope, and motivated to love our neighbor with an even greater fervor. Pastor Mollen...

Numbers does not end with Israel entering the Promised Land.  As Pastor Mollenkopf concludes his sermons Series through Numbers, he highlights Israel's final preparations, and highlights the need for us as believers to be ready to enter the "Promised Land," our final destination in glory with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Moses lists  the various places where God led Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land to give Israel confidence and courage to face their future. As Moses’ anchors them in God’s protection and provision of them in the past, he also calls them to enter the land with the purpose of removing the nations and idolatry that is there.  He concludes, by telling them of God’s promised gift to come.  Pastor...

As the second generation prepares to enter the Promised Land, an apparent threat of rebellion rises in Israel. Moses addresses the seemingly agitating tribes and secures from the a commitment to the nation and to God. How then does this apply to us today? Pastor Mollenkopf unpacks the responsibility of every believer to commit themselves to Christ's church, to a local church, to both minister the...

This morning, Keith Pond introduces a sermon series that will be scattered throughout the year as he has opportunity to preach. Francis Schaeffer asked a question that became the title of one of his books: in light of the truth of the Gospel, "How Should We Then Live?" Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, begins with great encouragement and exhortation to his disciples regarding what living such a l...

God sends Israel to go to war against Midian to get vengeance for their tempting Israel to sin in Numbers 25. This war not only serves God's purpose for vengeance but also prepares Israel for the many battles they are about to face as they enter the Promised Land. The war is not so much against Midian, though, but against any and all rebels (including our own sin) against God.

It's not uncommon to hear somebody say, "I swear it's true," or they will add some other point of emphasis. They want you to know what they are saying is the truth. But what does God say about making an oath? Should you vow? As Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land, they must be aware of the serious nature of keeping their oaths and promises. And we must come to terms with what Jesus' says ab...

Reading through the Bible can be tough when you get to Numbers. What's the point of all of the sacrifices and feasts? We may find that we get bogged down in the repetition. God doesn't want us to get bogged down. He desires that his people would remember and rejoice. He wants them to consider the glory of what's to come. Pastor Mollenkopf opens up these challenging chapters in Numbers.

While Israel’s unfaithful thoughts and actions led them to wandering in the wilderness for almost 40 years, God’s faithfulness kept them alive and preserved a second generation to receive the blessings of his promises. With the faithless generation having passed away, God now has Israel recount their numbers and prepare anew to enter the Promised Land. These passages show time and again God’s fait...

Many in the nation of Israel die in a Balaam-induced temptation to the men of Israel. Sexual temptation leads to sexual sin which leads to spiritual adultery and idolatry, and only by God’s mercy in stirring up Phinehas is Israel delivered. The cost of their sin? 24,000 in Israel die. Pastor Mollenkopf highlights the holiness of God, the wretched and adulterous nature of all sin, and God's righteo...

Paul exhorts the saints to set their minds on things above, next things. What's the big deal? How extraordinary will eternal life be? God gives his people tantalizing snippets of the wonder of the life to come both in the Old Testament and  in the New. Such knowledge ought not make the saint complacent and idle in this life but should fire our engines to be the men and women God created and redeem...

Jesus’ incarnation is celebrated worldwide, but why did he come? What were the reasons for God coming in the flesh? Hebrews 2:10-18 opens up the importance of Jesus’ incarnation, and Pastor Mollenkopf explains.

God gave Mary an incredible blessing in being the one to bear the Messiah and Savior, Jesus. History has borne out how man will take one of two extremes regarding Jesus' mother; to venerate Mary beyond what God's word allows or to ignore her altogether. Pastor Mollenkopf highlights the biblical blessedness of Mary but also highlights that Jesus tells us that though Mary is blessed, we can be even...

So much competes for our attention between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That fact is seen in that most folks see the Christmas season beginning on “Black Friday.” In times past, Advent, the Sundays preceding Christmas, prepared the hearts of saints in the Church to be prepared for the celebration of the Son of God made flesh. This morning, Keith Pond opens up the first verses of Hebrews to turn our...

Numbers 22 has no direct mention of Israel, Moses, the Levites, or the priests, but God is still watching out and caring for His people. God knows the forces against us, and in His love He protects, guides, and cares for us (even we don’t know He is doing a single thing about them!). All of this goes down with a foreign people, a foreign prophet, and a peculiar donkey. Pastor Mollenkopf explains.

After the faithless generation failed and did not enter the Promised Land, the second generation of Israelites to come out of Egypt, by God’s grace, faithfully (most of the time) responds to the challenges God gives them. Pastor Mollenkopf shares and applies these thirty-five hundred year old lessons to the saints today.

The faithless generation's 40 years of punishment draws to an end, and God returns the next generation to Kadesh where the first rebellion occurred. How will they fair? How can they handle the loss of leaders (Miriam and Aaron)? While their actions are up and down, we see God’s faithful love for His people even while upholding his glory and his justice. Pastor Mollenkopf opens up Numbers 20 to the...

Where are you going? God desires us to be on a straight vector to eternal life with him. One of the ways God exhorts us occurs when we come face to face with death. Solomon exhorts us to that end in the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 7:2-3, 12:1). Jesus, with the death of Lazarus, confronts Lazarus sister, Martha, with the same truth: the end of life must make us stop and consider what road we are tr...

In order to cleanse Israel from the uncleanness that came from the death of so many in their rejection of Aaron, God provides a red heifer sacrifice. The author of Hebrews, 2000 years later, sees this as a clear connection to Christ: "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will...

Following God’s authentication of Aaron as the priest by having his staff produce almonds, the Israelites fear that no one can approach God. God reminds them that he set up the priests and Levites so that they might draw near to him through them. How does that apply to us in an era where the priesthood has past? Pastor Mollenkopf  explains from Numbers 17 & 18.