Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Pastor Vijay Meesala shares the Holy Passion that the Apostle Paul had to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ "not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation" [Rom 15:20]. Paul's ambition was for anyone who had not heard of Christ to hear the TRUTH of salvation in Christ alone. What an ambition!

These final three verses of Chapter 10 returns to the theme of hospitality toward messengers of the gospel. (Matt 10:11-14). The point here is that rejecting the message that the Apostles bring is rejecting God's will. Likewise, embracing the message that the Apostle's bring is embracing God's will. those who embrace the Apostles, those who embrace the disciples of Christ (Christians) also embrace...

Whoever loves their family more than Christ does not love Christ. Jesus sets the tone in the life of a disciple that if the love of one's passions, one's wants and desires, outweigh one's love of Christ, then the disciple must resist that urge despite the war that comes. Let us remember that the nature of the gospel is peace. The nature of man is war. When the gospel is lived out truthfully and fa...

St. Augustine speaks about fear: "Let us fear, that we may not fear; that is, let us fear prudently, that we may not fear vainly." The words of Jesus in this passage reminds his disciples (that means the church too) that to fear what other men may do against the preaching of the gospel is vain in comparison to the trust that we have in God the Father who values us and protects our very souls. Rath...

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master." This lesson from Jesus to his 12 Apostles reminds them (and us) that the level of authority in the Christian journey is that of a teacher to a student, or a lord to a servant. A student will learn to be like the teacher, whether that teacher...

Jesus challenges his Apostles in sending them out in a ministry that is full of danger. However, in no way does Jesus call his Apostles to behave like little satans but instead they are to practice the shrewd wisdom of caution, or strategy in their dove-like innocents. There seems to be a balance in that as preachers of the gospel, these Apostles were to be shrewd yet innocent in their mission. Th...

World Evangelism requires that the laborers that are called and sent by our LORD must depend fully on Christ alone for all that is said, all that is heard, and for all that is required. The 12 Apostles are commanded by Jesus not to depend upon their own provisions but to instead accept with gratitude that which God provides on the preaching journey. Eat what is given to you. Stay with those who ac...

Jesus called to himself 12 special disciples who were granted the authority of apostles. These 12 men learned directly from the Incarnate God. No one else in history has had that privilege. Yet Jesus called these men to a ministry of hardship, difficulty, persecution, and martyrdom. They willingly followed and served.

Jesus' miracles seem to contradict the laws of nature ... and they do. But let's realize what Jesus does when he 'breaks' the laws of nature. The natural order is a pattern to which every event must conform and all events must obey the law-giver himself. The greatest miracle evident in Jesus' miraculous healings is that the LORD of nature orchestrates all events to produce these miraculous moments...

Matthew records in this text two miraculous events. One is the raising from the dead of a twelve-year-old girl. The second is the healing of a woman who had a feminine issue of blood for twelve years. These miracles shake people to the point of submission before the authority of Christ. There is hopelessness without Christ and these states of death and sickness reflect that hopelessness. Christ's...

The OLD WINESKINS were not the teachings of the Old Testament but were instead the rabbinical traditions of the Pharisees that had come to overshadow (and often contradict) the divinely revealed truths of the Old Testament Law. Jesus’ new and internal gospel of forgiveness and cleansing cannot be attached to the old and external traditions of self-righteousness and ritual. Jesus shows mercy upon h...

Matthew includes his encounter with Jesus as a witness for all to see that Christ extends mercy to the undesired ... the outcasts ... the diseased with sin who need a physician Savior. While the Pharisees condemned Jesus for being with Matthew and his sinner friends, Jesus reminds these learned Doctors of the Law to refresh their memories of Hosea's prophecy. God speaking through Hosea calls the w...

Faith is known by God alone. This miracle story of the healing of the paralytic is one of the most profound of Jesus' miracles. There is much more to see here than a miraculous healing. We see the forgiveness of sin more than anything else. We see that Jesus has the authority alone to forgive. No one else. This story also reminds us that salvation is not what one 'chooses'. Instead this narrative...

For Jesus to redeem the earth & reverse the curse [Genesis 3], he would have to overcome and have total power over Satan & his demon hosts in his human condition. Jesus’s divine nature was always in power & control of Satan and the evil spiritual world. There is a strong Jewish tradition that tells us of a spiritual battle/war that began long before the first words were spoken by God in creating t...

Jesus taught throughout his ministry that delay in following him was sin. Many who heard Jesus' teaching and witnessed his miracles responded with "I will follow you ... wherever you go." Yet we see in this text that Jesus would often respond with 'Are you sure?' ... 'Do you know what you are agreeing to in following the Son of Man?' The truth of the heart will always reveal itself when Jesus spea...

Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! The resurrection of the crucified Christ Jesus is the turning point of the New Testament and at the heart of the Christian faith. All of the gospel centers around the death of death. This passage in Matthew's gospel shows us that there are two reactions to this miraculous event. Fear is at the heart of the responses to the earthquake inducing resurr...

The gospels tell us of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas for several reasons. First that Jesus' death was necessary and the betrayal was a part of this end. But most importantly, Judas Iscariot's end is a warning to the Church. An apostle of Jesus Christ ... one of the twelve ... became apostate. Although Judas was destined to this end, it was prophesied by the Prophets that this would occur, he is s...

Let's all ponder how valuable Jesus truly is. How do we view the suffering and sacrifice of our Lord ... for us ... because of our sin. This passage in Matthew's gospel shows us the beginning of Jesus' final days. There are two differing ideas about Jesus here. Some valued Jesus as nothing more than a political nuisance. Even his disciples were 'indignant' over an extravagant act of worship. But M...

The story of Jesus healing Peter's elderly mother-in-law depicts an illness not caused by a demon or by sin ... it is a showcase of what it means to be human ... the troubles of being an elderly woman. The gospels are clear that Jesus healed many ... too numerous to count. He also cast out demons and did many miraculous things. But the purpose of the signs and wonders were not an end in themselves...

Today's sermon text reminds us that self-serving faith is not faith in Christ ... resulting in an eternal condemnation in the outer darkness. "I tell you, many will come from east and west, and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." --...

Jesus acknowledges the faith of a Gentile ... a Roman Centurion ... a Pagan outsider ... and honors his request to heal a favored servant. While the failures of human class and race structure hinder the universality of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus shows us in this encounter that race and class do not matter ... only the heart of faith. Jesus responds to the faith of the Centurion who recognized th...

Jesus has all authority to forgive, to heal, and to teach. How do you respond to Jesus? Are the words he speaks merely good advise? Do we see HIS words only as that ... words? Or are we astonished?

At the heart of the story of two men who build two houses is the genuine reconciliation of the sinner with the Father in Heaven. How one approaches the offer of forgiveness and a new life in Christ is the lesson from Jesus' Parable. The genuine Christian and False Christian are portrayed side-by-side in this concluding parable from Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. Loving God and loving his comman...

Today's sermon text reminds us that the work of God's will involves humility and sacrificial service. Whereas the mighty works of the prideful are not of God's will but man's will. [Matt 7:21-23]

The eternal battle from the curse at the Garden of Eden is at odds with the Heavenly Kingdom that Jesus establishes. Jesus wants to protect his Church from the punishment that waits for the devil & his angels. Let's remember that just because a 'Man of God' is eloquent and charming does not mean that the words from his mouth are of God. We are responsible to know the difference between the sweet &...