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Why Home Groups?
Weekly Update – September 1st, 2022 Last fall, in our series titled, “Why Church?”, we asked a number of questions, such as: Why Gather?, Why Pray? and Why Evangelize? One of the questions that we did not ask is, “Why Home Groups?” Since the summer of 2018 our church has held home groups, but when Covid came, with the exception of one that began meeting virtually, we paused meeting together in smaller groups outside the walls of the church. Well,…
Fall Opportunities
Weekly Update – August 18th, 2022 Last Sunday we took a look at Ephesians 4:17-5:2 and how we are called to live the Christian life. The calling given to every single one of us is to “be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1) as we live lives that are transformed (Eph. 4:17-24) together in the church (Eph. 4:25-32). The best way to sum up what this looks like is to say that as Christians united together in the church, or for…
Preaching Verse by Verse
Weekly Update – August 18th, 2022 Over the next few weeks, we will examine a few different topics that are pertinent to the context of our church. This week we will look at our vision/mission, as well as some opportunities for this fall. Then in September, we will take a few weeks to examine biblical leadership as we consider our own leadership structure at FBC. Nevertheless, even though we are taking a few weeks to examine topics from the scriptures,…
The Gospel Made Visible
Weekly Update – August 11th, 2022 As First Baptist Church, we believe that we are to strive to be the true community that God has designed his people to live within in the church. Now, the reason why I would call it a “true community” is because there is no other community that rivals it. All other clubs and organizations gather based upon preferences, talents, or other demographics, but the church is the gathering of people who are united together…
Expositional Preaching
Weekly Update – August 4th, 2022 In the apostle Paul’s final days, right before his own death, in 2 Timothy 4:1-5, he gives the call to Timothy to preach the word. In light of false teachers, perhaps decreased attendance, controversies in the church, and a pagan culture, the encouragement given to Timothy is not to get creative, to do something funny or to be more entertaining. No, again, preach the word. Our day is not too much different than this.…
Scriptural Authority
Weekly Update – July 28th, 2022 As we continue to watch the downgrade of our culture, we must remember how important it is for the church to remain counter-cultural to all that we see around us. There is pressure from many angles to capitulate to what are quickly becoming the norms of society in terms of the sexual revolution, the idolatry of self, and the general acceptance of immorality. The only hope we have as the church to resisting these…
Clothes Closet
Weekly Update – July 21st, 2022 It is not unusual to have multiple people stop by during the week looking for help from our church. First Baptist Church is situated in the center of town and has been in the center of town before the center of town was even located where it currently is. We have a reputation for helping others, whether it be through our clothes closet and food pantry or through providing gas or for the temporary…
Vacation Bible School
Weekly Update – July 14th, 2022 This week, we have had the opportunity to host our annual Vacation Bible School. The theme for this year is, Monumental: Celebrating God’s Greatness. Every day children from all over our community have come to learn about how big our God is and how much he cares for them. This has been shown through the different memory verses that we have had, as well as through our teaching time about the life of Joseph. …
True Community
Weekly Update – July 7th, 2022 When we think about this longing for community that each one of us has, we must understand that it is not as simple as joining a church and living out our days in peace and harmony. No, true community takes work. It takes humility, repentance, intentionality and grace. That is why many have sought to modify the true community of the church in order to make it easier. The way that this happens is…
Pro-Life and Roe v. Wade
Weekly Update – June 30th, 2022 There has been a lot of controversy over the last week as to what actually happened when the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade on June 24th. This controversy has stemmed from many different sources, but regardless, what I want to do for you this week is provide a brief history of abortion in our country, followed by a case for life, to then a countering of the common misunderstandings that are being promoted. …
Disciplined for Christlikeness
Weekly Update – June 23rd, 2022 We all go through difficult times. Even as Christians, we still face cancer, accidents, or the loss of loved ones. Some of our adversity may be chronic and difficult. Some adversity may be short and mild. Either way, God has not exempted His children from the painful circumstances and situations of life. Then we add to this, that not only does God not exempt believers from pain, but He actually allows it and even…
SBC Update
Weekly Update – June 16th, 2022 This week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) convened in Anaheim, CA. Every year during the second full week of June, Southern Baptists gather to vote on important matters that pertain to the mission of the convention (you can find their mission/vision HERE), as well as discussing new ways in which participating churches can connect to reach the world for Christ. There are over 47,000 churches that partner together with the common goal of fulfilling…