Leonard St. Baptist Church

The Greatest Gift

2011-12-11T07:24:00.001-06:00

As the holiday season is in full swing many are chasing last minute gifts for people they have yet to check off their list. Everyone is so worried this time of year about making sure that everyone on their list gets just what they wanted, that best and most wonderful gift.

When this is our focus we miss the point though. This time of year is a time when we celebrate the most wonderful of gifts. The gift of the Son of God. This gift is so wonderful that we celebrate it year round but this time of year we focus on one particular aspect of this gift, the fact that God became one of us. The fact that God was made flesh.

You see the most wonderful gift that ever was given was not wrapped up neatly and put under a tree. No, the most wonderful of gifts was stripped naked and hung on a tree to die. There was no star hanging on top of the tree on which Christ died. In fact the brightest star that we can see, the Sun, hid its face from the awful scene of the slaughter of the Son of God.

It was through this terrible scene though that God was giving us the greatest and best gift that has ever been given, His Son. Through Jesus hanging on that tree we have fellowship with God and eternal life if we will turn and put our faith in this one who hung on the Cross.

So the question left for you this morning is, will you turn and trust on Christ and receive this most wonderful gift?

How can we Know Anything?

2011-11-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

This is the question we should be asking ourselves. Where does your authority for knowing anything come from? This is the topic we will be discussing in our Doctrinal Study. We will be considering the first topic in a series on what we believe and why we believe it.

We will be looking at the Bible and we are going to see that it is the final authority for all that we do as Christians and as a church body. Our primary text is going to be:

2 Timothy 3:15–17 (ESV)

¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We are going to see that Word of God, The Bible is able to:

· Show One the Way of Salvation

· Be Trusted since it has God as its Author

· Teach correct Doctrine

· Reveal Sin in our Lives

· Correct false ideas and Practices

· Show us the proper way to live

· Gives us everything we need in order to Serve God!

This is the foundation of all that we do here at Leonard St. and anything that does not line up with this teaching must be abandoned. I pray that we will be willing to submit to the Word of God as the People of God! Are you willing to submit the God’s teaching? Ask yourself why you believe what you believe and see if you can find the reason for your beliefs in Scripture.

Have Faith in God

2011-08-25T05:13:00.002-05:00

Mark 11:22And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.

“Have Faith in God.” When you trust the God who controls the entire universe it should not be a surprise when He does the impossible. In fact putting our faith in God gives us assurance that He will do the impossible! We sometimes get so caught up in the idea of asking God to cast a mountain into the sea that we forget the greater miracle that He has already performed, our salvation.

God has thrown the mountain of our guilt and sin into the sea! (Micah 7:19) What greater miracle is there than this? If we believe and trust Him for our eternal salvation what is left for us to doubt Him on? If He has given His own Son to secure this salvation for us then there is nothing left for us to doubt Him on? If He punished His Son for us then there is nothing that He will not also freely give us. (Romans 8:32)

Have Faith in God this week and trust the One who is able to save you to the uttermost.

The Purpose of our Church

2011-08-08T10:32:00.002-05:00

We exist to go as witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ in our Community, State, Country and to the end of the earth, being empowered by the Holy Spirit of God for the purpose of the lifting up of the name of Jesus wherever we go until the whole world hears the gospel. –Acts 1:8

Like a Good Neighbor

2011-07-27T13:57:00.001-05:00

I once lived in a place where my neighbors were not so great. They would shoot fireworks over into our yard as they partied all night long. They put a pack of dogs in cages right outside our bedroom window along with a chicken coup. Needless to say it was not a good experience. It was during that time I learned how important it is to have good neighbors. During our time in this place I was able to share the gospel with those people but thinking back on it, I did not pray for them like I should have.

As I prepare to share from Gen 18 this evening for our prayer meeting we read of a neighbor we would all like to have. His name is Abraham. He has been chosen by God to be the Father of a great nation of people. Abraham lives outside of a city of sin. This city is Sodom, a city marked by God for great judgment. When Abraham hears of this judgment that is impending upon those people in Sodom however he does not simply turn a blind eye to them and say, well I guess they are getting what they deserve. No instead he intercedes in prayer for Sodom. He prays that God would spare this city and he perseveres in this prayer.

Andrew Fuller in commenting on this text says, “It is good having such a neighbor as Abraham.”(1806, Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, Solid Ground Books, 224) He goes on to encourage all believers to intercede on behalf of their lost neighbors and countrymen. As we bow before the throne of grace let us pray as though Hell is hot and those who have not received Christ are going there. Let us pray for the salvation and deliverance of our lost neighbors. Let’s be the best of neighbors.

As an aside we should note the difference between Abraham and Lot. While Lot lived in the city and apparently made a life among the people of Sodom, he seems to have made little if any impact on his neighbors. Abraham on the other hand showed great love to them though he did not engage in their sinful activities nor allow his family to be a part of such things as Lot appears to have done. In this day of cultural engagement let us strive to be like Abraham rather than Lot. You can show love without being sinfully involved in the culture.

Marriage and the Glory of God!

2011-07-22T17:42:00.000-05:00

The Family is under attack in our culture. There is no doubt in my mind that the number one target Satan has in America is the family. Our children are being taught things that are contrary to God’s commands in schools, there is an agenda behind the educational values that they are pushing down our throats each and every day.

Homosexuality is no longer seen as wrong and sinful but as an alternative lifestyle that must be protected by the federal government.

Divorce is at an all time high with almost as many marriages ending in failure as end in success. I read somewhere this past week that the 70’s were the last time that the number of marriages that ended in death outnumbered the number of marriages that ended in divorce.

I would bet also that if you traced the disintegration of the family, of the church and of the nation on every level you could follow it back to the 70’s. I did not do that but I don’t think I have to. I don’t believe those days were perfect but you can’t tell me that our society is more moral in way or form.

Yes the family is under attack and more specifically, the institution of marriage is under attack.

This week guys as we continue our Journey with Jesus we are going to see that as we go with Him on this journey of discipleship, we are going to be different than the rest of the world around us. I think we have already established that several times over as we have seen that we are walking to the Cross and that we are walking by faith and that we are walking with concern and compassion for those around us.

But there is something else that should be evident in the life of the person who is a Christ follower. That something different is the Christians commitment to marriage and to the family for that matter.

There is nowhere else that we can show more of a our value for Christ’s commands than in our own home. This is where the rubber meets the road so to speak, this is where we put up or shut up. Our homes are to smell of the gospel. They are to speak of the gospel. They are to Picture the gospel. And that is what I want to show you this Sunday morning. I want to show you from God’s Holy Word that marriage is a gift to us to use for the Glory of God.

Marriage is in fact given to us to show others around us the gospel. We are going to see from this text and other supporting texts that

As we journey with Jesus our Marriages are to reflect the Gospel!

Please come Sunday as we study Mark 10:1-12 together.

Who is Great in God's Eyes?

2011-07-15T19:43:00.000-05:00

Our culture seems to be obessed with greatness. This is clear when one takes time to add up all of the American Idol knockoffs that make up our TV programming. We desire to be great in other's eyes and the idea that somone like us off the street can make it thrills our soul and gives us hope. Hope that we can somehow be fulfilled as a celebrity. The problem arises because this is not what Christ has called us to. This is not the greatness that He has in mind for us. James Edwards gives a great statement in his commentary on Mark 9, “At no point does the way of Jesus diverge more sharply from the way of the world than on the question of greatness” ( James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, The Pillar New Testament commentary 285-86.) We have such a wrong view of greatness in the modern church, in many ways we have still not learned the lesson that Jesus taught His disciples 2000 years ago on the way to His crucifixion.

After Jesus told His disciples that He was on the way to be killed, they responded with an argument over who would be greatest in the kingdom that Jesus was going to set up. They had imagined an earthly kingdom where they as part of the founding movement would be near the top of the pecking order. I am sure they envisioned people coming to them for their opinion on matters of importance and others stopping and staring in awe of their importance as they walked by in the marketplace. They probably were also counting the number of servants and maybe camels that they would own.

No different than our modern day view of Christianity. It seems that many times we can’t help ourselves in thinking of all the ways people should bow down our own greatness. Or if we do not consider ourselves great we devise schemes to climb higher so that others will think of us as great. We may even privately argue over who has the most influence in the church or gloat over our ability to sway a vote at the church business meeting or committee that we sit on. No I do not see a big difference between my own heart and the disciples. I and I fear many other pastors and church members still have a lot to learn on greatness.

Jesus in His grace does set us straight. He uses no other than a small child to do so. He says that showing a child kindness is the same as showing Him kindness. He says that the one who is great in His kingdom is not the one with the most servants but the one who does the most service for others. He turns our idea of greatness on its head. His point is that God is interested in how we treat those whom we can gain nothing from. God is not interested in the size of our TV but rather the size of our heart towards the less fortunate, towards the helpless around us. You can tell how much you love Jesus by how willingly you love children, by how much you are willing to serve those who have nothing to offer you.

So then I ask you, WHO IS GREAT? I have a lot of work to do how about you?

No Other Gods

2011-07-06T15:27:00.000-05:00

As our daughter gets older we are trying to teach our son how to share with her. He is not really catching on all that great. He does good sometimes but then there are other times when he gets really mad. For example when she takes “ducky” his favorite possession, he hates it when he as to share ducky but he is learning and it is a process through which we are all learning to trust God’s grace more. And it’s worth it right? It is so important to be able to share.

My wife on the other hand has still not learned to share. You let a woman even think of looking my way and she is not happy. You would think that she would be ok with sharing her husband but she is not. And the same goes for me, I can barely handle her even talking to other men when I am not around. The thought of sharing her with someone else makes my skin crawl and violent thoughts come into my mind.

Why is this? I thought we were supposed to share everything? Well, we are not supposed to share everything. A true love relationship is exclusive. In order for a marriage to work both people must be fully committed to just that one spouse. Otherwise it falls apart.

This is the truth that is expressed in the first commandment. When God says in Exodus 20:3 that we are to have no other gods before Him. He means that He and He alone is to be worshipped and loved by His people.

He means that there is no room for a second lover in this relationship. If you want to have a relationship with God then you must say goodbye to all others that compete for a place in your heart. He even uses the picture of marriage in His relationship to His people to show this truth. When one reads the book of Hosea it becomes clear that God is interested in a monogamous relationship with His people.

This is what is meant by the commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. It means that He is our passion. Our desire, the one we look to please and pursue. Jesus illustrates this truth by telling the parable of the hidden treasure.

Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

There is nothing more valuable to a Christian than his relationship with Christ. And in order for that relationship to work it must be an exclusive one.

This is a truth that many in our day have forgotten. In our desire to be pleasing to all we have bought into the pluralistic idea that all religions are equal and none is wrong and all are right. This is simply not the case. Although Christians recognize each person’s right to choose their own religion or lack thereof we still firmly believe that Jesus is truly the one and only Savior. That there is none beside Him and that all others are wrong. The first commandment reminds us that this is indeed the only option as a Christian.

On the other side of this truth is the Christian who claims to worship God alone. Many times we get so caught up in our own desires that we forget all about God. In a sense we make an idol of ourselves and push God out of the way. It is important for us to remember that God must take the primary role in our lives at all times.

I would challenge each of you to check your hearts today and see who it is that you are serving. Can you say that you serve God alone, or are there idols that have crept in? God will not share His glory with another.

Forsake all For Christ!

2011-06-03T08:50:00.000-05:00

Mark 8:29 (ESV)

²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

This discussion takes place between Jesus and His disciples, it is at this point that Jesus pushed His disciples to the point of professing His true identity. Peter, the spokesman, for the rest speaks up first and proclaims this great truth. Jesus is truly the Messiah! He is the Christ, the anointed one, come to save His people. What a glorious statement, we should take time to consider the implications of this grand profession for it is a magnificent truth. God has sent His chosen one into the world. The Kingdom of God has truly come. This is the greatest news that has ever come. In fact Jesus says this of Peter’s confession:

Matthew 16:17 (ESV)

¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Peter must have felt pretty good about all of this, I know that I would have. Yet when we read on we see that professing that Jesus is the Christ is only part of salvation. Following Peter’s confession Jesus tells the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem to be killed. Peter wishing to correct Jesus takes Him aside and begins to tell Him how this isn’t going to happen. Jesus responds with that now famous rebuke, “Get behind me Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the tings of men.”

What a terrible thing to be so rebuked by the Lord. Peter must have went from the mountain top to the valley. He has proclaimed the greatest truth ever known and yet here he is now being rebuked as an agent of Satan! So then our question is, how can we avoid such a rebuke and mindset?

The answer is found in Mark 8:34–35

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Jesus’ answer to the earthly mindset is simple, die to yourself and follow Him. Give up your right to yourself and give all of your life over to Jesus. Taking up one’s Cross is representative of walking with Jesus to the place of execution. We are to die! That’s right we are to die to ourselves, to this world, and all desires that take us away from Christ.

Peter’s problem was that he wanted Jesus to conform to his idea of what the Messiah should do when he should have been submitting to what Jesus the Messiah was going to do. Any time we begin to dictate to Christ what He is or is not going to do we begin to have an earthly mindset.

We must learn to turn from the allure of this world and see Christ as the supreme treasure as He is. Simply saying that He is the Savior is not what He calls us to. He makes clear in this passage that true saving faith is more than verbal or intellectual assent to His identity. It is actually following Him. It is placing our trust in Him each and every day. It is realizing that He is worth more than all this world has to offer and trusting Him to lead us. It is taking up our cross and following Him.

JESUS has always many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the Cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him… What power there is in pure love for Jesus—love that is flee from all self-interest and self-love!

Do not those who always seek consolation deserve to be called mercenaries? Do not those who always think of their own profit and gain prove that they love themselves rather than Christ? Where can a man be found who desires to serve God for nothing? Rarely indeed is a man so spiritual as to strip himself of all things. And who shall find a man so truly poor in spirit as to be free from every creature? His value is like that of things brought from the most distant lands.

…No one, however, is more wealthy than such a man; no one is more powerful, no one freer than he who knows how to leave all things and think of himself as the least of all.

Thomas à Kempis. (1996). The Imitation of Christ. Oak Harbor, P. 84

May we be known as those who have forsook all for the sake of Christ.

Still Standing on the Rock

2011-04-27T09:15:00.000-05:00

Matthew 7:24–25 (ESV)

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

These are powerful words for many who have faced a monster of a storm this week. Our community has experienced what it means to go through a storm and come out the other side intact. I have witnessed more people than can be numbered helping neighbors and strangers recover from a devastating storm that took many earthly possessions. It has been a long week already and there is still much to do. As we move forward I hope that you would consider with me this text for a brief moment. We have a wonderful promise here from our Savior that if we will put our faith in Him that we will be able to stand against all manner of adversity that this world can throw at us. We will be able to go through the worst of situations and still be able to stand. Our physical houses may be blown away but OUR FAITH WILL STAND! Our possessions may be washed away but OUR FAITH WILL NOT BE MOVED! When you place your hope and trust in the ONE who has all power and authority there is nothing that can move you. You may find that you are struggling to see God’s hand in all of this that has happened over the past several days, I pray that today you will remember who your foundation is. That you will return to Him and remember that He holds you up, not the things that are temporary all around us, but the One who is eternal. The one who has given His life on your behalf, the one who holds you in His hand (He does have the whole world in His hands). I pray that you will dig down deep into Christ today. That you will find in Him a foundation that is not moved, that you will have a faith that is unshaken. That even when the world around you is rocked that you are found still standing on THE ROCK!

In Christ and for His Glory,

Bro. John Graves

Why is Easter so special?

2011-04-23T14:56:00.001-05:00

Every year millions gather to celebrate a day that has become known as Easter. What makes this day so worthy of our attention year after year? I think maybe we miss the important of this day because of its name. We should really probably call it Resurrection Sunday. This is the day that we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ the Savior of the world rose from the Grave. This is the day that the one who had died on the Cross rose up. We celebrate each year that fact that we serve a risen savior.

Well you may be wondering how Jesus is our Savior and what the Cross is all about. This is the subject for our Easter Sunday sermon this year. We are going to be discussing Matthew 27 and seeing the true meaning of the Cross. There are three words that we are going to talk about. Humiliation, Substitution, and Reconciliation. I pray that you will take time to be at 625 Leonard St. Hot Springs AR at 10:45 tomorrow morning to consider with us at Leonard St. Baptist Church, The True Meaning of the Cross of Christ.

Bro. John

2011-04-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

Jesus the Shepherd

2011-04-08T20:24:00.003-05:00

Mark 6:30–56 is our text for this Sunday.
Last week we saw in Mark’s gospel that Jesus is a carpenter who can relate to what it is like to work a hard day’s work. He can relate to sweating in the heat all day to build things with his own hands. This gives us great hope as we consider our Savior.

This week in Mark 6:30-56 we are going to see Jesus as our Shepherd. What we are going to see though is that Jesus is not just any Shepherd, He is THE Shepherd. He is the One who is the master of the universe the One who has all power and authority to take care of His people. David Garland has said that, “A shepherd is someone who stays with his sheep at all costs, guiding, protecting, and walking with them through the fields. He’s not just a person who raises sheep. They lead sheep to food and water and are even mindful of the sheep’s condition (Gen. 33:13). They gather lambs that cannot keep up in their arms (Isa. 40:11). They seek out lost sheep; and when they find them, they carry them back to the fold on their shoulders (Luke 15:5). They guard against predators and thieves. IT is a dirty and hard job.”(David Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, Zondervan, 1996 258-259). This statement is so true of our Lord. He is a good shepherd who provides so well for His people and we see evidence of this right here in our text.

Jesus feeds His people with the Word and with Bread and then comes to His disciples’ aid when they are struggling against the terrible storm. He has mercy on us and them even when we don't understand how amazing He is as we are going to see as well. Jesus is OUR Good Shepherd He will take care of us in His grace and mercy. I pray that this week you will take time to consider how amazing our great and good shepherd truly is. See ya Sunday at 10:45!

Bro. John

Jesus: The Carpenter

2011-03-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

I have been studying this week in Mark 6:1-6 for Sunday’s sermon. Today it occurred to me perhaps for the first time what the phrase, “Isn’t this the carpenter?” in verse 3 really means. I have always thought of this passage as the place where Jesus’ hometown rejected him. I still believe that to be the correct interpretation of this text. But today another deeper meaning came to me. I realized that this means that Jesus became a man like me. He was not some stuffy architect designing cities and pretty little wooden figures. He was a hard worker who people who worked hard depended on. He was the guy that the farmer came to see when his yoke for his oxen broke. He was the one you called up when your roof was leaking or you needed help putting in a new wall. Jesus is a man like me! (well sort of I don’t have those skills but I will try to help you if I can) In order for Jesus to do the things that would have been required of a man in his occupation he would have been strong and tuff not like many of our pictures that we have of him today. He was an ordinary guy from an ordinary place.

During a time period when people were expected to know their place in society God became a man in a little out of the way town in an ordinary family and took on a regular job. I think I can understand a little more now what Hebrews 4:15 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

You tired this week from working hard? Jesus knows what that is like he has been there done that. He is not a savior for the elite but for everyone. From the highest ranking government official to the lowest person in society Jesus came for you. He knows what it is like to have the pressures of everyday life crowding in, deadlines to meet and unhappy customers to please. He knows what it is like to be rejected by those who are closest to you, your own family, and still show love and compassion for them. Our Savior is able to sympathize with us because he has walked in our shoes. Think this over this week, I pray that it encourages you the way it has me.

Man Up

2011-03-25T22:18:00.004-05:00

Recently I was looking over Bible studies carried at a local Christian bookstore and I was shocked and disappointed by what I saw. There were several dozen Bible studies and books for women about how to be a good mother and woman who loves Jesus Christ. There were even specific books for wives who had husbands being deployed to war. For men there were maybe five Bible studies and a handful of books on being a Father and Husband that honors God. At first glance I thought, well they should make more books for men, this isn't right. But I realized that the reason they don't carry more books for men is because men don't buy them. Really, women outnumber men in the church by large amounts, especially in serving the church. How many times have you seen a mother and her children at church with no Father in sight, in comparison how many Dads with children and no Mother?

The sad truth is that most men are at home watching sports, playing video games, hunting or fishing while their wife or ex-wife is trying to give the children a Godly upbringing. It's no wonder. Guys it is time to MAN UP, get off the couch and slap yourself, repent before God and start leading your family! We wonder why the home is broken in America? It is because lazy fathers are 35 years old and spend more time playing Xbox and Hunting than they do praying for their family and modeling a life of being a servant of Christ. Revival in the America will only happen when men turn to Christ. I am not saying that all men are bad, but we all have room for improvement, especially me. I am also not saying that video games and sports and hunting, etc are bad in and of themselves, hunting and other activities can be great bonding time for families. Anything can take away from Fathers (Mothers too) from being the parents God wants them to be, we can work too much, watch too much TV, etc. I have not arrived and am not perfect, but I am strongly convicted when I compare myself with Jesus and His life.

I have so much respect for single mothers, they carry such a heavy burden that they were not meant to carry, they were designed by God to have a mate to work together with them to raise the children and provide for the family. It is not God's design for half of homes to end up in divorce and who do the children live with most of the time? The mom. So who do they miss out on in life? Their dad. The cycle is vicious because short of a miraculous gracious work of God, that little boy will grow up like his daddy and be addicted to pornography and hunting every weekend and pick his kids once a month and drop them off at his parents for the weekend. How sad is it to see the exchange of children in the grocery store parking lot on Fridays and Sundays, God help us. Again I am man and I know situations differ but for the most part men are to blame here.

I pray for an awesome movement of God among men around the world. That God would revive in our hearts a passion for Him that would not be able to contain the overflow of love that would effortlessly spill into the lives of our wives and children and the church we serve in. As we see in the life King David, when men fail, it affects the whole family, innocent children are punished and people are hurt. But God is merciful men, He loves you and like the father in the story of the Prodigal son, He is waiting in front of His home and watching down the road for you and when you turn to Him, He will embrace you and change your world and then you will truly know the joy that video games and women and deer and fish could never bring without knowing Him. Turn to Him today. At Leonard Street, we love families and we love your family, we would love to pray with and for you, feel free to call us or come by the church at anytime. Let's Man Up for Jesus!

10 Steps to Effective Prayer According to Jesus

2011-03-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

By definition the Christian life is not primarily an experience, nor is it primarily feelings, though these have their place. It is primarily a relationship. All relationships grow or wither in proportion to the depth of communication that takes place.

““And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their
reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ” (Matthew 6:5–15, ESV)

1. Pray to Be Heard by God not Men

It does not matter how often you pray in front of others if you do not pray when God is your only audience.

2. Pray trusting in God’s Faithfulness

a. Babbling may sound cool but it doesn’t produce any results

i. Save the Showboating for the Ball Court

ii. How often do you pray with words that you would never use in everyday talk?

b. The Length of the prayer is not what is important

c. God knows your needs but…

d. He Still wants to hear you express those needs

3. Pray Based on God’s Adoption of Us!

a. You do not pray because you in of yourself have a right to pray. You have lost that privilege through sin. Christ restores that privilege through his death on the cross.

4. Pray For God’s Glory

a. God should be the ultimate purpose behind every prayer that we pray.

5. Pray In Accordance with God’s Will

a. It is His will that we should be focused on not ours.

6. Pray Everyday

a. Prayer should not be reserved for difficult times…it is something that should come as naturally as breathing for a Christian.

7. Pray in Dependence on God

a. When you pray for things like your daily bread you are acknowledging that you need God for everything not just the big stuff.

8. Pray in Repentance for Your Sins

a. Sin will keep you from praying rightly. Harboring sin in your heart will block your prayers.

9. Pray as You Forgive Others for their Sins

a. Without forgiveness in your heart for others God will not hear you.

10. Pray planning on being Faithful to God and His Law

a. It would be silly to pray for God to forgive for something you plan on doing again.

Slave of Satan or Set Free by Christ?

2011-03-18T21:38:00.002-05:00

Our society seems to believe that Christianity is repressive and holds people back from all of their potential freedom. Our culture seems to think that if we have all the freedom to commit sin and get Christian principals out of the way, that we will be better for it.

I do not hold to this line of thinking. In fact I would say that this has been proven to be a wrong way of looking at the world time and again. For instance Charlie Sheen who the media cannot seem to get enough of proves the point that the end of sin is pain and bondage not freedom and happiness. If there is anyone who should be happy according to worldly standards it is someone like Charlie Sheen. Instead however we see a man who has given himself over to drugs, sex and any other sin he can find and yet he is miserable and he is making all those around him miserable as well.

This week we are going to be looking at Mark 5:1-20 on Sunday Morning. In our text we are going to see the results of all that sin has to offer. It is not a pretty site, but more importantly we are going to see the freedom that Christ brings. We are going to see that as we walk with Jesus, He sets us free from the oppressive nature of sin. That instead of repressing our freedom and making us unhappy in Christ we find freedom and supreme joy.

So if you are interested in knowing how to be free, stay free or tell someone you know to be free join us at 10:45 Sunday morning at Leonard St. Baptist Church.

See you then,
Bro. John

Family Ministry

2011-03-17T22:53:00.002-05:00

Hey LSBC and Hot Springs! This is Adam Brown, the new Family Minister at Leonard Street. It has been such a joy for our family to get to know our new church family and see what God is doing in Hot Springs. We just unpacked our truck one week ago today and already God has been working in our lives to show us the need in our community. There are so many hurting families all around us. All you have to do is look next door, at a co-worker, or the person at the grocery store to see the hurt. Families are hurting and we are seeking to minister to them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You may be curious about why we are calling this Family Ministry? It is really simple. God created the family, He loves the family. He has ordained two groups to disciple people; the church and the family. Children are most impacted by their family life over any other influence, it is a fact. Most children don't grow up to be like a teacher or coach or favorite movie star, they end up like their parents. This is a scary and encouraging fact. It scares me to know that every word and action I have is being absorbed by my daughter and I see and hear her mimicking me. At the same time it lets me know that for her to grow up and Love Jesus means that if I live a life loving Jesus, she probably will too. Of course there are exceptions and children will make bad decisions sometimes, but over all they end up like their parents.

At Leonard Street we want to minister to the whole family, from the un-born child to toddlers, children, youth, their parents; we want to help parents be equipped to disciple their kids. For many years the church has been similar to school, the mall, and soccer practice. We drop them off at church for their spiritual growth just like we do for their knowledge at school and soccer practice. We want to, in addition to ministering to the family at the church, equip parents to disciple at home. We believe in Sunday School and other programs and we see their value, but if we are going to save the next generation, it can't be for a couple hours on Sunday and Wednesday, it is going to take work and effort. If we don't reach our young people somebody else will, will we let it be us for Jesus, or the world for Hell?

We have a few opportunities to serve families in Hot Springs. FIRST, we need help on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30 so that we can have a children's time during Wednesday worship. We need at least four people to help with this. SECOND, we are having a Community Easter Egg Hunt April 23rd (Saturday before Easter). We need volunteers to help set-up at 9am, the event will be from 10-12 for the public and then we will clean up immediately after. We will have free pictures, games, egg hunt and the chance to sign up for our VBS. God is at work in Hot Springs and He is drawing people to Himself, the question is will we allow Him to use us?

Feel Like Your Sinking?

2011-03-12T09:30:00.000-06:00

A lot of times it can feel like we are sinking deeper and deeper with each passing day. I want to tell you that Christ can bring us through troubled waters. He can lift us up and carry us to where he wants us to be. It is all about trusting in Him and His Strength. Sunday morning we are going to be looking at our 10th sermon from Mark's gospel. The text is Mark 4:35-41 if you want to read it and come prepared (and I hope you do). We are going to see how we can overcome fear and doubt in our lives as we Journey with Jesus. So come and see what God has for you!

Has the Great Commission become the Church’s great Omission?

2011-03-09T13:59:00.002-06:00

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." " (Matthew 28:18–20, NIV84)
When I read this statement by Jesus and compare what our church does in order to fulfill it I wonder if we got confused somewhere. What I mean is that most of our resources are spent on us. Most of our teaching time is devoted to people already within the church. Most of our activities revolve around entertaining church people. So I just wonder if we are truly living out this great commission or if we have simply omitted it from what the Church has been called to do.
I shudder to think of the number of people in our church that have never shared Christ with someone. Not invited them to church but actually shared the gospel with them. And of course the number of people who do this regularly is even less. We are not ordering our lives and our churches the way that Christ has instructed us to do so. Jesus does not leave his followers with a list of do's and don'ts, he does not leave them with a list of programs for his followers to do. He leaves them with a singular purpose, to go and take all that he has given them to the ends of the earth. Wherever they go, they are to take the gospel with them. That is the command, that is the purpose of this group of people. It seems however, that we believe the purpose to be building a really nice facility and putting on really good music and entertainment so that we can get people to our buildings. This is not the great commission this is building our little kingdom. When we are more focused on getting people to our worship service than getting them to Jesus we have a real problem. The best possible scenario for seeing people come to know Christ is through one on one relationships.
I do not think anyone denies the fact that the church is becoming more and more irrelevant to our culture. It is obvious by the amount of people who have simply written off Christianity as a thing of the past. The situation is bad but what makes it worse is our response to the problem. In our demonization, The Southern Baptist Convention, the answer seems to be telling all of the churches that they should focus on the great commission. The denomination spent all sorts of time and money having meetings about the problem and how to address it within the convention. This is really troubling to me. To me the answer seems simple. Churches need to have a heart to see people saved. Churches must again say, we are here for one purpose, to spread the good news that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World! We need pastors who will lead by example and share the gospel regularly with those outside the church. We need church members who are committed to caring for their community in a Christ-like manner so as to show the love and compassion of Christ to a world that doesn't get what we are all about many times. Until this happens it doesn't matter how many resolutions are passed at the national level, it doesn't matter how many cuts in the conventions budget are made, we will continue to fail to reach this generation.
We must realize as a church of Jesus Christ here at Leonard St., that we are not put here for ourselves. We are put here for the glory of God. We are put here to carry with us all that Jesus has shown us through his Word. We are put here to make disciples through teaching others what Christ has taught us. When we see that as our purpose then we will be doing what Christ has called us to do. This is why we are going to begin intentionally waling our neighborhood sharing Christ and telling people about how we can serve them and their families. This is why we can no longer simply come to our building and expect people we do not know to just show up! Jesus makes it clear here in our passage that we are to go to them, they are not commanded to come to us! So let's Go for the name of our Lord and Savior. Let's quit omitting our reason for being. It is time that we as a church started living out what Christ has put in us.
This Sunday night we will be talking about how we can fulfill this Great Commission in our community. How we can show our obedience to our Savior. I want us to truly search our hearts and ask ourselves if we are holding on to things that are keeping us from fulfilling this command that Christ has given us. There is a song that says, "We are to make disciples in all nations, have we even made them in our own Nation?" This is a good question we should ask ourselves. Are you actively pursuing a lifestyle that reflects this purpose or are you pursuing a lifestyle that reflects a selfish purpose? Come Sunday night and let's pray together and ask God to forgive us and empower us to GO!

Growing with God

2011-03-03T13:49:00.002-06:00

"He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." " (Mark 4:26–29, NIV84)
Have you ever thought about the fact that God is at work even when you can't see what He is up to? It is true, here in our text for this Sunday we see that God is growing His kingdom even when we can't tell what is going on. He is growing his kingdom even though we do not understand how.
Just like when we plant a seed and do not see any results sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks, things are going on without our knowledge. Beneath the soil the seed is beginning to germinate and take on a new form, the shell is falling away a beautiful sprout is beginning to make its way to the surface, then all of a sudden we see it, a brand new green sprout coming up out of the ground where there was nothing before.
We did not cause that seed to grow nor do we really understand what has happened. All we know is that we planted a seed and boom, there is a plant and pretty soon there will be a harvest.
The same is true of the Kingdom of God. It is growing where we cannot always see it and we cannot always understand how it is growing, all we know is that it does. Sometimes though we can get impatient and begin to question whether or not God is at work at all. We share the gospel and people do not respond. Or we read the Word and pray and do not see an immediate change in our lives. Therefore we assume that God is not at work. This is not true though, God is always at work, he is always growing his kingdom, whether it is in our hearts or in this world, His Kingdom is marching on. All we can do is keep planting seed and going to bed and getting up and seeing what sort of harvest each new day holds.
It is my prayer that we as one of many churches in the Hot Springs area would join in the work of spreading the seed of God's Word as far and as wide as we can and let God do the rest. I firmly believe that God is at work beneath the surface of this city and He is doing great things that many of us do not even see. Every day I am confronted with a different person, or different church, or different ministry where God is doing great things. It is good to know that we at Leonard St. Baptist are part of The Kingdom of God that He is growing and I pray that it stays that way.
We must not forget whom we serve; I was recently reminded of God's ability to work things out in His own timing. We as a church called Bro. Adam Brown to be our Family Minister a couple of weeks ago. When we did this we were thinking that it would take several months at least to be able to have them come and be a part of the ministry here. This was because of many different factors that would have to fall into place for them to be able to move here from their home in Louisville, KY. Well I was completely wrong, what I thought would probably take months has literally taken just three weeks. They will be moving here next Wednesday the 9^th. This is just one of many examples I have seen in recent months of God's activity where we do not see what he is doing. I praise Him for being faithful even in the midst of my lack of faith. God is amazing! I hope that you will take time this week to tell someone just how amazing God is, plant that seed!
See you Sunday at 10:45 for worship,
Bro. John

Do You Desire God and His Word?

2011-02-26T07:56:00.000-06:00

This week we are looking at a Parable about our response to the Word of God. It is found in Mark 4:1-20. Many call it the parable of the soils. Within this text we find out that there are 4 responses to God's Word. A Hardened Response which refuses to even listen. An Emotional yet insincere response that agrees that it sounds good but doesn't follow through. A Half-Hearted Response that agrees that God's Way is best but instead chooses the things of the this World; and then finally a True Response of Faith which Hears, Accepts, and Does God's Word. Each of these responses have to do with the condition of our heart when we hear God's Word.

The third response of Half-Heartedness is the one I wish to address briefly with you now. It seems that many times Christians forget that God desires and deserves our full attention and affection. We seem to think that we can get by with only halfway serving God and then taking the rest of the time to serve ourselves. This is wrong and we should repent of our Half-Hearted Devotion to God. Sometimes we need to take a step back and reprioritize our lives. To step back and make sure that God is still first priority and not second or last on our list. We many times do not realize that ordinary everyday things have taken the place that God should have in our hearts. How sad it is to think that something as unimportant as a Ball Game can take precedence in our lives over the KING of the Universe who Sacrificed Himself that we might live? How terrible it is to think that we have allowed the gifts of our King to become more important to us that His fellowship through the Word and Prayer. I encourage you to read the following warning from John Piper and examine your own heart to see where God is on your priority list.

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18–20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the deadliest appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable.

Jesus said some people hear the word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. But then “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14 NASB). In another place he said, “The desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19 NASB). “The pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things” are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking.

And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God.

—John Piper, A Hunger for God (Crossway, 1997)

Hotel or Hospital?

2011-01-28T11:50:00.001-06:00

Mark 2:17 (NIV)
¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A few weeks ago I was reading a book in which the author asked the question, "are our churches hotels for saints or hospitals for sinners?" This question has stuck with me for some time now and especially this week as I consider Mark 2:13-17. In this passage Jesus is eating with a bunch of "sinners" and is showing them true friendship. When the religious people of the day criticize him for it he responds with the statement found in the verse above. He tells them that it is sinners he is interested in rescuing not those who have no need of forgiveness. His point is that he has come to heal those who realize that they need healing not those who believe themselves to be well. The people in the text have become so immersed in their religious activities they have missed out on what God is doing. He is healing the hurting, he is forgiving the sinner, he is setting free the captive, while they are sitting around discussing the latest theological questions of their day. Sound familiar? Unfortunately more often than not our churches have become a place for Christians to sit around and talk to each other while the world outside is going to Hell. Jesus came for the sick not the well and if we are going to be about His mission then we should be seeking out the sick as well. This means spending real quality time with those who are not Christians. This means going to where those who are "sinners" are and showing them genuine love and concern. Not patronizing them but actually caring about those who are not necessarily like ourselves. We ask many times "WWJD" what would Jesus do? The answer is found in what Jesus Did, he went to the sick with the only medicine that could help, the gospel. Let us go and do likewise.

Bringing Others Along for the Journey

2011-01-19T14:02:00.000-06:00

This week at Leonard St. we are going to continue our Journey with Jesus. We are going to be looking at Mark 2:1-13. This passage shows us that Faith in Jesus compels us to bring others to Him. That true faith will do whatever it takes to get not only ourselves to Jesus but others as well. It is the story of four men who loved their friend so much that even though there was no way for them to get him to Jesus they made a way. I love what Charles Spurgeon says about this text.
"Faith is full of inventions. The house was full, a crowd blocked up the door, but faith found a way of getting at the Lord and placing the palsied man before him. If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by ordinary methods we must use extraordinary ones...The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us? It was the presence of Jesus which excited victorious courage in the four bearers of the palsied man: is not the Lord among us now? Have we seen his face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt his healing power in our own souls? If so, then through door, through window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all impediments, labour to bring poor souls to Jesus."

Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening : Daily Readings, Complete and unabridged; New modern edition. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006).

What are you willing to do in order to bring the gospel to someone who has never heard? This week as we continue the journey I pray that we would begin to see the importance of bringing others along with us.
As we read the story we are going to see that Jesus does something unexpected. Before he heals the man of his paralysis he pronounces his sins as forgiven. This is the real need that the man had and it is your greatest need as well, I pray that if you have not come to Jesus that you will as you look at His ability to Heal your Sin.

See you Sunday at 10:45,

Bro. John

Join the Journey!

2011-01-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

Last week Leonard St. Baptist Church began to journey with Jesus. We are going to be walking with Jesus this year and using the gospel of Mark as our guide. We will be continuing this journey in Mark 1:14-20 this week. You are invited to come and join us as we consider the Message Jesus Carries and the Men Jesus Calls. We are going to see that this message is of the greates value and that the men that Jesus calls are ordinary people like us. So I ask you to Join the Journey this Sunday Morning at 10:45. Bro. John

The Night Heaven Stood Still

2010-12-17T13:35:00.000-06:00

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the angels the night that Christ was born? To see your King born as a baby? To know that God has become flesh that he might redeem sinful man must have been a shock for these angels on the night of our Savior's birth. I picture in my mind, as I meditate on that night, all of Heaven holding its breath as the one who is born to take away the sins of the world is laying there in the manger. They must have thought not just about the fact that God took on flesh but about the fact that He had come into the world to go to the Cross. This knowledge brings even more wonder and awe at what happened on that night. Can you imagine the anticipation as thousands of years of prophecy and hope are fulfilled in a single instant? The fulness of time had come and God was fulfilling his promise of a savior. It must have been a sight, no wonder the angels had to break out into song as they announced this event to the shepherds in Luke 2. Unfortunately we are so busy this time of year that we miss this opportunity to take a moment and praise God for the gift of His Son. This Son that was "Born to Die." Won't you consider taking time this Sunday to come and worship as we praise God for this amazing gift of Salvation. We will be having a short Christmas play and then move directly into our Sermon. So please come and bring someone with you.

The Promised King Part 3: Jesus Our King is God's Greatest Gift

2010-12-11T20:11:00.000-06:00

What is the best gift anyone has ever given you for Christmas? If you are like me it is hard to pick one out as the best one. That is until you consider the fact that every Christmas we celebrate the giving of the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ. He is by far the best and great gift that ever could be given. We are going to see this truth from John 3:16 this Sunday morning.

Have you ever thought about all that God gave us when He gave us His Son? There is nothing more valuable to a father than his children. Yet this is exactly what we are told that God has done in sending Jesus. He has given His Son and not just any Son, His only Son. This begins to show us how valuable of a gift Jesus is but it does not finish the story.

We are also going to see what we receive through this Son. Everlasting Life and Forgiveness of sins. All of these things we will consider so please come ready to praise God for the greatest gift ever given...Jesus Christ.

The Promised King Part 2: Our King Deserves our Worship

2010-11-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

This coming Sunday we will continue talking about why Christmas is such a great time of year. We began last week by talking about how it gives us a chance to reflect on our Savior, Jesus. We looked at Isaiah 9 together and saw that our King is Wonderful. He gives us Hope and Light and Life and Freedom and all sorts of amazing gifts. Not only does our King provide wonderful Gifts, He is wonderful in who He is. In fact one name he is given is Wonderful.

This week we are going to move over into the New Testament. We are going to be studying the Gospel according to Matthew. You may remember the Christmas carol based on this text found in Matthew 2. It says, "We three kings of Orient are..." We are going to see in Matthew 2 that these men, however many of them there actually were, travelled a great distance just to worship Jesus. Not only that, they brought Him gifts.

They brought Him Gold as is fitting for a King. They brought Him frankincense that is fitting for a Priest, and they brought Him myrrh which reminds us of His death on the Cross.

No matter what meaning you attach to each of these gifts they all have one thing in common, they were expensive. They cost these men something. Worship always costs us something. If we are really going to worship Christ this Christmas season we need to realize that it costs to Worship Jesus.

When we follow after Him, He asks us to give our time. Our time to serve others and help them in their time of need pointing them to His grace and glory. He asks us to give of our money as well. So that we can share the blessings he has given us to those who do not have as much. He asks us to give of our lives. This means we may need to pour ourselves into someone who is hurting during the Christmas season. It is not always easy to help others but it is well worth it to share Christ and His love with them. What better way to Worship Christ than to give yourself away this year.

Won't you give yourself as the gift this year? Worship our great and wonderful King by giving yourself away. You can't really wrap yourself up and lay under the tree but you sure can make some one's year by giving yourself to Jesus. Just think about it. How much more would people think of Christ this year if we as Christians lived like Christ and gave ourselves away? See you Sunday!

When Heaven Rejoices...

2010-11-09T11:17:00.000-06:00

Celebration is reserved for times of great joy and happiness. When someone gets a promotion at work or has a birthday there is usually a celebration that follows. We had a celebration at my home not too long ago for just such an occasion. One my daughter was born and two one of our family members was celebrating another year of life. This qualifies as a great opportunity to rejoice and make merry in our household. You may have other reasons for rejoicing as you are reading this, there are so many different events that can take place that cause us to rejoice.

The question for us that comes from Luke 15 is, what makes Heaven rejoice? Why do the angels throw a party? The answer is found in verse 7 of Luke 15. Jesus says in this verse that there will be more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over 99 who need no repentance. He tells two more parables to illustrate this point. God delights in the repentance of the sinner. He finds joy in the salvation of the lost.

This truth is most clearly seen in the last of these three parable told by Jesus. The parable of the prodigal son as it is called, shows that God delights when a sinner comes to himself and realizes that he needs God. Jesus uses one of the most powerful demonstrations of love possible. The love a parent has for his child. In the parable the son in so many words tells the father that he wishes he were dead so that the could have his inheritance. The father in the story gives the son his inheritance and the son leaves to waste all that his father had given him. After the son has run through all of his money and is now on the brink of starvation he decides to come home and thrown himself on his father's mercy.

When this happens the father sees him coming up the road and runs down and kisses him and hugs him. He then proceeds to lavish the son with gifts and throw a magnificent party in celebration of the fact that his son that was dead is now alive.

We all were once in the same condition as the son in this parable. Having rebelled against our heavenly father we were left with nothing but death as an option. But Christ came and paid our penalty for sin. He stood in our place condemned on our behalf. When we realize this and come running to God for mercy, we receive it freely and completely. Our heavenly Father holds nothing back from us. He gives us more than we could ever have imagined. And Jesus' point here is that it delights Him to do so. God is happy to give us forgiveness. Every time someone repents Heaven throws a party.

I wonder if you have found this forgiveness today? Have you come to Christ? If you have do you share this joy with others? Do you celebrate with those in heaven when a sinner repents? You should.

Are you Weary and Burdened? Let me tell you where you can find rest!

2010-11-02T12:08:00.001-05:00

It is easy to become wearied in this life. There are many more responsibilities and burdens than we can handle. For some of us it is related to our family, my wife and I just had our second child. So now we have a 17 month old boy and a 7 day old little girl. It is an amazing feeling and we are truly blessed to have both of them. We are wearied right now though because our new little baby is not sleeping at night. She sleeps just fine during the day but as soon as we lay down for bed she is ready to wake up and stay awake. So now after about a week of no sleep, we are both wearied. It seems that no matter what we try, we can find no rest. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining in the least. In fact I love every minute of it.

It is just that I can relate my own physical exhaustion to the group of people which Jesus addresses in Matthew 11:28. He invites all who are weary and heavy burdened to come to Him and promises them rest. This weariness that Jesus offers to relieve is not the physical weariness that I have as a result of lack of sleep. It is deeper than that. It is a spiritual weariness. A tiredness of soul.

The group of people Jesus is addressing in this text are people who have worked their entire life to find peace with God. They believe themselves able to find peace with God through obeying the law and working harder to please HIm. The problem of course is that the gulf that is fixed between man and God cannot be crossed by man's efforts. The gulf that is between man and God is too far for our righteousness to span. in fact the only one able to span this gulf is God Himself.

We can work and work until we are completely exhausted and still there will be no rest for our souls. On the contrary we will only find ourselves more tired than when we began. Our burden will grow greater not smaller. As we try to carry the weight of our own sin we will find it a burden we are incapable of bearing.

There are many ways people try to get rid of this burden and find peace with God. I have already mentioned the most prominent, personal righteousness. Of course we have no righteousness according to Roman 3:10. So this is impossible. Others will try to ignore this burden by indulging in distractions that this world offers. Such as money, careers, drugs, alcohol, sex or any other number of ways of trying to take their minds off of this terrible burden that they carry. Once again however these will all fail to provide the peace that the the weary so desperately need.

Jesus' offer to these people is peace, rest, refreshment if you will. Jesus' simple advice to those who are weary of carrying their sin and burdened by their guilt is COME to ME. Place your faith in Me. Radically abandon yourself to the mercy of Jesus. Run to Him put your faith in HIm. Submit to Jesus as your master and teacher and He will give you rest for your soul.

You can find peace, you can posses rest, these are freely offered to you in Christ. Are you wearied by your attempts to approach God on your own? Is your sin too heavy to carry anymore? Come to Jesus. Place your faith solely on Him.

Consistent Change

2010-10-19T13:43:00.001-05:00

If there is one thing I love, it is change. I abhor routines in all things. Ask my wife and he she will tell you all about it, it drives her crazy. For instance I love this time of year because everything is changing. The weather is getting cooler, trees are loosing their leaves and changing colors, and I know sooner or later we will probably have snow. If there is one thing you can count on in Hot Springs AR, it is for the weather to change. Every year we can expect the weather to change, some years it is more consistent that others, but it changes none the less. I like having the assurance that we will see change every year. I enjoy the seasons. Change is a good thing for me.

Change is also good in the life of a Christian, at least the right kind of change. In Philippians 2:12-18 Paul tells us that we are to continue to obey the Lord, that we are to continue walking with Christ. In other words, we are called to change consistently. Now, we are to keep the same Lord, the one aspect of the Christians life that can't change is his or her Master. We must remain loyal to Christ.

Now of course this does not mean that we do not grow in our relationship with Christ and our understanding of who He is. As a matter of fact we should continue to grow in our conformity to His will. So if you think about it, we should be consistently growing in Christ. Paul describes this process by saying, "work out your salvation." We are called to continuously, consistently submit ourselves to Christ and His will and do so with awe and reverence. There are areas of our lives that we all need to grow in and become more Christ like. We are to strive everyday to work out what God has worked in us.

The second part of this command is a reminder that God is the one who causes us to want to do good and then gives us the ability to do it. Phil. 2:13, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." So in effect we are working out what God has put in us. This is important for us to remember, we don't get the credit for the good works, we are not trying to work our way into God's favor. If we are in Christ, we are in his favor already. We are simply doing the works which He recreated us to do in Christ.(Ephesians 2:10) Remembering this truth will keep us from falling into the trap of works righteousness.

So in essence we are called to consistently change. We are going to be continuously called to grow in our conformity to the image Christ. All the way until the day we see Him. This may seem as a high calling and that is because it is, but we have hope. The reason we have hope is because, He who has started this work in us is going to keep perfecting it until the day of Christ.(Phil 1:6, my paraphrase) He will continue molding us to His will until one day we are made perfect before Him.

Exciting Times at LSBC

2010-10-04T09:15:00.001-05:00

These are exciting times at Leonard St. Baptist Church. We have begun a new ministry on Wednesday nights that is not only a huge blessing but also a lot of fun for everyone involved. On Wed. nights we join together about 5 o'clock and begin cooking. At 6 o'clock we eat. It is a free meal to all who wish to come though donations are welcomed from those who feel led to give toward the ministry. Our goal is to offer a meal to hungry in our neighborhood. Not just hungry for food but also for love and fellowship. Also we hope to feed everyone spiritually which is what we do following the meal. We have a short time of bible study and prayer every Wed as well. If you are not taking part in this wonderful time I would invite you to Taste and See.

Another exciting event that is taking place is a partnership we have made with First Baptist Hot Springs. They have graciously allowed LSBC to help them in their Upward Basketball program beginning at the end of November. This will involve having two hours of practice on Monday and Tuesday nights each week. We are excited to help in this ministry. It is also exciting to know that sister churches in Hot Springs, AR can work together to see God's kingdom grown. If you are interested in being a part of this exciting opportunity please contact Bro. John Graves.

These are just two of the many things God is doing in our church and in this city. We also have other ministries that we will be talking about unveiling very soon as well. God is moving in our church as He continues to grow us. We have grown in number over the past 15 weeks and continue to wait on God to add more to our number as He saves people in our city. He is also growing us spiritually as we journey through His Word every week and see how He wants to change us and our church.

As I said these are exciting times. I don't know what the future holds for us here at LSBC but I know that it is good. The reason I can say that is I know who directs the future and He is always Good!

Until I see you again keep praying, praising and Serving HIM

In Christ and for His Glory,

Bro. John

Welcome Back to School Bash 10

2010-09-19T16:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday the 18th was an awesome day at LSBC. We had so much fun as young people came out and had lots of fun. Thanks to all who helped to make this special day happen.

Find Your JOY!

2010-09-19T07:16:00.000-05:00

     We begin a new sermon series this morning. We are going to be walking through the New Testament letter of Philippians. This letter is all about joy and rejoicing in the LORD.

    So many times we try to find our happiness in the things of this world. When that happens we end losing it. It is my prayer for you this morning that as we look at this first chapter of Philippians together, you will see that there is only temporary happiness and joy to be found in the various things this world offers.   We are going to see this morning that, in order to find True Lasting Joy: We Must find it in Jesus Christ.

I am excited to see how God changes our hearts and our Church through this series. I hope that if you are not worshipping somewhere else this morning that you will consider coming to Leonard St. Baptist Church to take part in this exciting new study.

Welcome Back to School Bash

2010-09-16T07:56:00.000-05:00

Leonard Street Baptist Church

Invites You to Our First Annual

Welcome Back to School Bash

The Day will begin at 11 with Lunch and continue on through 3

We will begin eating hot dogs at 11 and have sno cones and popcorn to snack on the rest of the day.

There will be games and prizes including a

3 on 3 tournament after lunch

There will also be a drawing for a grand prize at the end of the day

The church is located at 625 Leonard St. in Hot Springs Ar.

If you need more info or directions feel free to call

501-623-7205

Adults and Children of all ages are invited to attend this fun filled afternoon.

Getting Ready for Battle

2010-09-15T12:54:00.000-05:00

Tonight we will continue our Study through Ephesians 6:10-20.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ” (Ephesians 6:13–14, NIV)

In this text the apostle Paul is exhorting the Ephesians to prepare for battle. Spiritual warfare is a serious business and it takes preparation. He encourages them to stand firm and tells them how they can do this. He tells them to put on the Armor of God. He tells them that this armor will protect them and give them the ability to stand their ground in the face of Satan and his onslaught.

The first piece of this armor is the belt of truth. John MacArthur explains the need for this belt, “It was also common for a Roman soldier to wear a strap. It was connected to the front of the belt, went over the soldier’s shoulder, and connected to the belt in the back. He would attach his sword to the strap along with decorations or medals from battle. When a Roman soldier put on his belt, attached the strap, and hooked on his sword, he was ready to fight.” So in other words this was the first piece of armor that the Soldier would put on.

A belt may seem like a small piece of armor for a man that is about to go out and fight for his life, but in this case it is so very important. We may see the sword or the shield as the most important piece of armor. And there is no doubt that they are the most noticeable and flashy but not necessarily the most important. If the soldier does not begin with putting on his belt, he will have no way to carry his sword into battle. So that is why it is listed first.

Paul associates the soldiers belt with truth. So according to Paul, before we even think about going into battle with Satan, we will need truth. If we are going to be able to stand when we are attacked spiritually, then we are going to have to prepare ourselves with truth. It may not be the flashiest or most noticeable aspect of the Christian life but without it, nothing else matters.

The truth is what gives meaning to all that we say and do. It is the reason for our serving the Lord. It is the foundation on which we stand. If we are going to stand our ground, we need some ground to stand on. This ground is truth. On the one hand truthfulness in what we say and do and on the other The Truth found in God’s Holy Word.

We must decide early on whether or not we are committed to each of these things. Are we committed to staying true to God’s Word? If we are then we will study it and know it. We will live it out from Day to Day no matter how difficult the circumstances. The problem is many want to skip this step and move on to the other parts of the armor. What they don’t realize is that without commitment to God and His Word, they are missing the whole point.

James Boice tells a story that illustrates this well, “There was a preacher in Scotland who tried to serve his congregation by teaching some of the illiterate members to read. One was an older Scotsman to whom he had given a number of lessons, helping him through easy portions of the Bible. Circumstances called the pastor away. But a few months later he came back and again went to visit the home of this man. He was not there, but his wife was. The preacher asked how he was doing with his reading. “Is he getting through the Bible?” he queried.

“Oh, no! He’s got out of the Bible and into the newspaper long ago,” she answered.

In my opinion many Christians are in precisely that position. They have gotten out of the Bible, if indeed they ever were in it, and they are into the newspapers, magazines, or whatever popular books there may be that strike their fancy. They know more about the box scores of the players in the various baseball leagues than they do about the Gospels, more about football scores than the Sermon on the Mount. Such things should not be. Certainly we are free to learn all we can about everything we can, but lesser things should not keep us from mastering the truths that will make us strong for battle.”

How committed to the battle are you? Are you willing to put in the hours of training each week it takes to be able to stand against all that comes against you? There are going to be times of trouble in your life. This is guaranteed. There is no doubt that you will be tried and tested weekly if not daily. Your commitment at the beginning of each day will make the difference. If you go into each day saying, “it doesn’t matter what comes today, I will serve the Lord.” Then you are preparing your heart for success. On the other hand if you skip your morning prayer and Bible study time to catch the news or whatever then you are preparing for failure. When the time of trouble comes you will fold and you will be defeated yet again.

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ” (1 Corinthians 10:12, NIV)

Who's on the Throne?

2010-09-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

     This Sunday marks nine years since our nation was attacked. I am sure that most people still remember what they were doing the day that horrible event occurred. During the aftermath of the attack many flocked to churches to seek answers and some also came to find comfort. The event rocked their world and they wanted to be sure that they knew the One in charge. Events like this shape us and change us forever. They cause us to think differently about the world in which we live. They cause us to ask, "Who's on the Throne?" Or who's in charge?
     The concern that I have is that many have forgotten just who is really in charge of this world. Who sits atop the circle of the earth and accounts its inhabitants as grasshoppers. I am concerned that people in this nation have forgotten about the One on the Throne.
     This week we are going to consider a passage that I love to preach from, Matthew 14:22-36. This passage contains the account of Jesus walking on the water. In this text we find that He is indeed boss. He is ruler of this world. When He speaks all creation stops and listens. We are going to see that when we look to Him we can find true certainty. When we look to Him we do not have to wonder who is on the Throne because we know Him personally. This text reminds us that no group is able to act outside His power and control. We can go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that our God sits on His Throne.
     I hope that you will make a special effort to be at Leonard Street Baptist Church this Sunday at 10:45 as we talk about these concerns that we all have. Please also make an effort to bring a friend who may have problems with anxiety over world events. Perhaps God can use this as an opportunity to show them that He is on His Throne.
Until then keep praying, praising, and serving,

Bro. John

The Path of Grace

2010-09-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we can get sidetracked as Christains and as a church as well. This Sunday evening we will be looking at Acts 15 together as we continue to walk through our study of the Book of Acts and Being the Church. In this text we are going to see that the early church faced some of the same struggles we face today.

The had to answer the question: "What does it mean to be a Christian?" How can we know if someone has truly come to know Jesus Christ? Isn't it amazing how this question is one that we are still debating in many churches even today? What they learned and what we will see as well is, there is one true path to God and there are two ditches that people fall in while trying to figure out this path.

One ditch that we are going to look at is the ditch of legalism. Basically, the idea that Jesus is good but He didn't quite do good enough. We need to add our own works to what He did in order to truly be saved. This is a big problem for many people around the world today. Many feel that they must add something to the Sacrifice that Christ made. Or that others must become like them in order to come to know Christ. We are going to look at how we can avoid this ditch.

Unfortantely many who avoid the ditch of legalism swerve too far over and fall off into the ditch of license. This is the ditch that says that Christ puts no restrictions on those that follow Him and that being a Christian brings no change to one's life. This misunderstanding of salvation is equally wrong and also very tempting for many who wish to attain Salvation but not Christ. We are going to look at this ditch as well and see what it looks like and how we can avoid it.

Finally there is the path of Grace. The Narrow Path if you will, the only way to God. This path is the only one that leads to God. This is the only road to salvation. There is no other way than grace. We are going to see that in order to "Be the Church" we must get a handle on this grace. We must come to understand that salvation comes through Christ's work on the Cross alone and that we can add nothing to what He has done.

So I encourage you to come this Sunday Evening and learn of the "Path of Grace."

The Heart of God

2010-08-30T09:49:00.000-05:00

If you want to find direction in your life, the first step as Jonah and we found out is Listening to and Following God’s Command. The second step is living in the assurance that when we take a misstep and disobey our God, He is ready and willing to forgive us as we Repent of our Disobedience.

The Final step that we are going to see this Sunday morning in our search for Direction in our lives is, in order to know how to order our life we must have the right Priorities. Or the right heart, the proper passion if you will. We must have the correct motivation for all that we say and do.

And there is only one way we can be sure that we have this right heart, this proper passion and correct motivation. It is found when we see and understand…

The Heart of God

What is God about? What is He concerned with, where is His passion found, what Motivates God to do what He does?

God does all that He does to Display how Awesome and wonderful He is. The way that He does this according to Scripture it seems is through Displaying His Wonderful Love toward Man Kind. This is the focus throughout Scripture.

Scripture really only has one subject, that is God’s relationship with Mankind. It reveals that God lavished His love upon Us when He created us in His image. He made us in a way that is totally different and way better than any of the angels or animals or fish or birds or anything else that He created. WE are the only creation made in His Image.

Then we learn from Scripture that though we in Adam sinned and died not only physically but spiritually He has provided a way for us to regain our relationship with Him and be forgiven of our sins. We are not cast away forever but instead find refuge and forgiveness through Jesus Christ the Son of God who died in our place. This promise can be found as early as the third chapter of Genesis.

Throughout the rest of the Old Testament we see God pouring out his love and grace on Israel, even when he punishes them for disobedience is to bring them back to himself. We see Him choosing for Himself a special people through which Messiah will come. We see him providing His Word to them through which we learn of Him the greatest and best of all beings. Apart from His word we cannot and could not know God but he has chosen to reveal himself to us.

Then in the New Testament we see the fulfillment of all of these promises that He has made throughout the ages to not only Israel but all mankind. We see him fulfill these promises in Sending Messiah, Christ, Jesus the Son of God. We learn of His kindness and love through the person of Jesus. We see the ransom paid and our sins taken away in the act of sacrifice upon the Cross at Calvary.

This whole drama is laid out for us in Scripture and is told in Ephesians 1 and 2 pretty clearly that it is for God’s glory in the sense that God is best glorified when He shows His love for us. Someone has said that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. I say no, God is most glorified in us when people see the great grace which he has shown us even when we chased after idols which we had no business chasing after.

Guys, God’s heart, Christ’s heart is, his burning Passion, is the salvation of Sinners. Jesus makes this clear when he says I have come to seek and to save that which is lost. He says I have come not to the righteous but the sinners, the well have no need of the physician only the sick. Guys God’s heart is to see Sinners Saved and Changed by His great Grace.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ” (Ephesians 2:4–7, NIV)

We are trophies in God’s case. We find that God loves us and saves us because of His great love for us.

When we get a hold of this singular fact then we will have the right heart, the right motivation, the proper passion if you will. All of our actions and carryings on will flow out of this one truth. All that we do will be for the purpose of Making God Famous among the Nations so that they too can enjoy Him forever. So that they too can experience His great love and mercy, and His great grace by which He has saved us from our sins!

This is something that Jonah still didn’t get after running from God being thrown overboard swallowed by a great fish and then vomited out on the beach. Jonah still did not get it, he still thought that God was his to command, he still thought that he could keep God and His glory all to himself and not share with other nations. Well Jonah is wrong and you are to if you believe that you can keep God’s great love all to yourself. Jonah chapters 3 and 4 show us God’s Heart.

We as a church in Hot Springs exist to share this love and grace with those around us. This is our purpose for being, to make God famous in Hot Springs, AR and in the rest of the world as well. If you know someone who is not a believer then I ask that you bring them to church with you this Sunday and also (more importantly) that you share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them this week.

After Worship Fellowship Tomorrow

2010-08-28T07:23:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that we will be having a Pot-Luck and fellowship tomorrow morning following worship service. Also after eating we will have an afternoon of worship and praise music so hang around for that as well.

Love Lifted Me: Repentance and Second Chances

2010-08-26T13:21:00.002-05:00

Do you feel like you have blown it with God? If you don't feel that way now, I am sure there has been a time when you did. Last Sunday we saw a man who blew it with God and it cost him dearly. This week we are going to be looking at Jonah chapter 2. This chapter answers the question for us, what happens when I blow it? This passage is all about second chances, or forgiveness. We are going to see that God has offered us forgiveness and a second chance through repentance. We are going to spend some time working our way through Jonah chapter 2 and see that we can indeed be forgiven for our sins and that God offers us this forgiveness freely. I hope that you will come and see how you too can take part in this amazing gift of God's grace.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare Lesson 2: The Passionate Prayer

2010-08-25T16:02:00.000-05:00

Passion ■ noun

1 strong and barely controllable emotion.

3 an intense enthusiasm for something.

The only way we can pray with Passion is to deeply desire that for which we are praying. We should always pray like we mean it, and the only way can do that is if we really do.

E.M. Bounds writes, “This, then is the basis of prayer that expects an answer. IT is that strong, inward desire that has entered the spiritual appetite and demands to be satisfied. For us, it is entirely true and frequent that our prayers operate in the dry area of a mere wish or in the lifeless area of a memorized prayer… The freshness and life has gone out long ago."

What is Passionate Prayer

1. Passionate Prayer Should Have Personal _________. (Matthew 6:7-8)

2. Passionate Prayer Comes from a Real ________. (Revelation 3:14-21) Passionate Prayer is _________. (Mark 7:24-30) What Causes Passionate

4. A Desire for A _________ relationship with God. (Psalm 42:2)

5. A Desire for the ___________ of the Lord. (Psalm 27:4) A Desire for _____________. (Matthew 5:6)

7. A Desire for a ___________ Faith. (Mark 9:24)

8. A Desire to have a ________ witness. (Acts 4:29)

9. A Desire to see people ___________. (Romans 10:1) A Desire to see more ____________. (Matthew 9:38) s

11. A Desire to see _______ Kingdom (The Church) grow. (Matthew 6:10, Matthew 16:18)

Some Dangers to Our Passionate Prayer

Routine: Just like in a marriage that becomes nothing more than a routine for us. If all we are doing is going through the motions and not really thinking about what we are praying, our prayers can become cold and lifeless.

Sin can destroy our Desire for God. The same way a child no longer wants to eat dinner when he has had five snickers bars. When we spend time doing what God hates, it is going to take away our desire to know Him more.

Lack of Evangelism, God’s heart is to see people come to know Him. That is His burning desire, his Passion is for His glory. When we are not doing the very thing that reminds us of how lost the world is without God we will grow cold in our prayers. Much like spending time with orphans reminds us of their great need, spending time with those who don’t know God reminds of their need of Him.

Lack of Fellowship with Believers, Especially those in the Church. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ” (Hebrews 10:24–25, NIV) When we don’t spend time with God’s bride we will lose our perspective on what He is doing. We must endeavor to keep close to God’s people and especially the other people in our church whom we are serving with. Think of the close bond that soldiers build with each other through a tough war. Or the way teammates on a ball team begin to have a strong relationship with one another. If we are not making a conscious effort to be a part of God’s people we are going to have a less than ideal desire to serve God.

Some keys to helping you stay passionate in your prayer time:

• Make a list of things that you deeply care about.

• Pray about those things the most.

• Try to keep your list simple and don’t include a bunch of things just to have a long list.

• If you are praying for a specific person try to spend time with that person.

• Take your time and don’t rush through the list, this is why you need to narrow your list to passions that you have.

• Ask God to give you a desire for other things that you know you should be praying for.

• If you recognize that you are just reading a list, try praying through it backwards or skipping through it and not praying through it in order.

• Pray out loud.

• Pray when you are alone and the TV and Radio is off and you are free from distractions.

• Always be Honest with God, He knows what you are thinking.

Welcome Back to School Bash

2010-08-19T10:25:00.000-05:00

Well its official, on September 18th at 11:00am we will be kicking off our Weclome Back to School Bash. All of Hot Springs is invited to come to this event. It is going to be a ton of fun as we will have hot dogs and games and basketball and all sorts of exciting things to do.

More information will be forthcoming as we make preparations for this event.

If you have any questions just give me a call at 623-7205.

Running Scared

2010-08-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been called by God to do something for His Kingdom? Maybe it was teaching a Sunday School class or maybe sharing the gospel with someone you just knew would make fun of you. In one way or another we have all been called by God to serve in some capacity.

This Sunday morning we are going to begin a three week study of a man who was called by God to preach to a wicked people. Instead of running to do the task that God had given him, he decided to run away from God and from the work which he was called to.

This man's name was Jonah. We find the jest of what he did when God called in Jonah 1:3-4 “But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ”

Jonah did what many Christians do when God calls, he ran scared. Scared that God might use him to send grace to those whom Jonah thought unworthy of God's grace. Sometimes we run because we are: Scared that we might have to do something we are uncomfortable with. Scared that we might have to sacrifice to serve God. Scared that we might be rejected perhaps. Or maybe scared of failure. There are all sorts of reasons people are fearful when God calls but none of them are good enough for God.

Whenever you run from God there will be consequences. As we see here in these two short verses. One of the consequences was a very real physical danger. Sometimes when we run from God and begin to live in sin we see very real physical consequences in our lives. Maybe it isn't a ship that is about to sink but if say someone runs from God to Alcohol we could see all sorts of physical problems out of that.

On a deeper level however running from God costs us something even worse than physical danger. It costs us greatly spiritually speaking. Notice that Jonah payed the fare to get to Tarshish. Well if you read on through this short little book, you know that he never made it there. When we run from God we pay the fare and never get to where we want to be. But when we turn and serve the Lord he takes care of the travelling expenses and always makes sure we get to where we are going.

Just something to think about this week as you look forward to Sunday morning worship.

New Bible Study Series

2010-08-16T21:02:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday Nights we have been studying what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. This has been a great study that has been helpful in showing us how we are to walk with Christ.

I feel that it is time we switch gears. We are going to turn our attention to prayer and faith. This study will deal with how we pray and what is involved in it. We will also be touching some on spiritual warfare.

I hope that everyone will make an effort to be a part of this exciting study as we focus on how we can best find the strength we need to serve the LORD whom we love.

Keep on Praying, Praising and Serving,

Bro. John

Report on Camp Hot Springs

2010-08-13T19:03:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to give a quick report on Camp Hot Springs. This past week was an amazing work of God. That is the best way I can describe it. There are several reasons I say this.

Nearly a hundred children heard the gospel in a real and meaningful way, many of whom had never heard before. In fact around half of them do not regularly attend church.
Several children made professions of faith this past week.
We had the opportunity to share love and compassion with children we would never have met any other way.
I as Pastor of Leonard Street Baptist church was greatly encouraged by the commitment of the people involved with this camp and worked so hard to make it happen. I am truly thankful for the people from First Baptist Hot Springs, Walnut Valley Baptist and the other churches that worked together on this camp and extended an invitation to plug in and take part.
As a church we now have more relationships with people in our community that also have a heart for reaching Hot Springs School District.
We have an opportunity to follow up with many of the children and parents from this past week.

There are other ways that God moved this past week these are just some of the highlights. I will be giving a more detailed report Sunday Evening during worship service.

Until then keep, Praying, Praising, and Serving,

In Christ and for HIS glory,

Bro. John

God's Amazing Grace

2010-08-08T14:08:00.000-05:00

What an exciting morning we had today! We had the privilage of seeing two babies dedicated to the Lord. We heard about God meeting needs for our Celebrate Recovery Program. We heard about an opportunity to take part in a camp for 5th and 6th graders from Hot Springs School District. And most importantly we got to praise God together in song and hear from His Word.

God is truly good to us. He has shown His amazing grace to Leonard Street Baptist Church over the past couple of months. He has reminded us that He is not through with us and that HE is going to be using us to reach our community for His great name's sake!

As I shared with one person in the church about their excitment and mine as well, I said it is a lot like being a little kid in the weeks leading up to Christmas. You don't know what your going to get, but you know it is going to be Awesome! Well that is the way I feel about the church. I don't know what exactly God is going to do with us yet, but I know it is going to be amazing and beyond anything we could have dreamed up on our own.

So keep praying, praising, and serving Him. And I'll see you soon,

In Christ and for HIS glory,

Bro. John

The Balancing Act

2010-08-05T11:06:00.002-05:00

A Christian Rapper called, Sho Baraka has a song called "Slow it Down" one of the verses say this,

My man J's in seminary here/ been doing that seminary thing for a year/ he gets a pat on his back from his seminary peers/ but he begins to have a preliminary fear/ because he studies but he doesn't apply/ while others do the work he's studying why/ they do the work and he philosophies on methods and structures to make him look wise/ while guys walk the earth so wretched/ he can break down the fall of man in a second/ he doesn't use compassion when he shares his faith/ he has a whole lot of truth but not a lot of grace/ the more I do the more the Lord is pleased/ I guess he doesn't understand Luke 17/ Too many reading the bible not being the bible / we need a revival LORD humble us/

In Acts chapter 9 we have the account of Saul of Tarsus meeting with Jesus Christ. This meeting is in many ways a great explanation of what real Christianity is all about. If there is one person who can show us what it means to "BE the Church" and not just "Go to Church." It is Jesus Christ and this is who Saul, also known as Paul the apostle encounters.

The specific part I want us to look at for this post has to do with Paul's reaction to Jesus. Only part of it is included in chapter 9 for the other half of his concern we will have to look at Acts 22 as well.

There are two questions that Paul asks.

First in Acts 9:5 Paul asks "Who are you Lord?"

Second in Acts 22:10 Paul asks "What do you want me to do?"

The first of these questions is vital to our walk with the Lord because it is through this question that we come to know more about the one whom we serve. Some people call this study, Theology. Without a proper understanding of God we can fall into heresy and error very quickly. The problem though is that many who study a lot of theology forget about actually serving the God whom they study about. They become theologians rather than Christians. This is a great temptation for many who are drawn to intellectual arguments. This has been a great problem in my life and I must repent daily of spending too much time studying and not enough time acting on that knowledge which I gain from God's Word.

In respect to this study of God though let me also point out to whom the question is addressed. The question itself is addressed to the Lord. It is not addressed to another theologian or bible student. Paul does not go to the latest and greatest theological system in order to understand Christ more. This is another problem that is plaguing the church today. Many would rather read about God in the puritans or some other author and try to experience God through their eyes than through serious Bible study of their own. This is a warning that I did not heed at first, I was stubborn and immature I guess. Eventually however, I began to listen and to study more Bible and less books. As I did begin to put down my theology books more and pick up my Bible with greater frequency something began to happen. I began to encounter God on a more personal level than before. Also many of the arguments that so many "theologians" spend time debating became less important. And something else happened.

I began to ask the second question Paul asked with a greater passion. What would you have me do Oh Lord! When we begin to encounter Jesus on a personal level not mediated through someone else, we begin to feel His passion for those around us. We begin to feel the weight of the needs around us and see His true love for those around us. Our desire begins to become more balanced. We love to spend time studying and fellowshipping with our Lord and also more time serving Him through sharing Him with others.

Isn't that all You've Got?

2010-07-28T10:35:00.003-05:00

In Acts chapter 8 we see the beginning of the fulfillment of the global mission of the church. This mission is to put it simply the radical infiltration of the Christians into the community around them and then outward to the rest of the world. This is the same mission that the modern church is given from Christ. We are called forth from our areas of comfort and relaxation to go out into the communities in which God has placed us for the purpose of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately this mission is often neglected by the church. John MacArthur makes a revealing observation when he says, “For many Christians, the nearest they come to penetrating their community is driving to church in a car that has a fish sticker on the back window. We come to church and say, “I’ve done my duty to God.” We try to live our testimony rather than speak it. But no one ever got to heaven just because someone lived his testimony in front of him. Sooner or later you’ve got to give them the words of the gospel. (MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, 1991, p. 107.) This is a great representation of the modern church’s greatest problem. So many Christians today do not see the necessity of reaching out to those around us.
Instead of showing the love of Christ through service and compassion to the needy, we spend our time on church softball leagues. Rather than reaching out with help to those who are homeless or hungry, or orphans, we hide out in our homes and claim a fear for our safety. Long ago we gave up on the public school system where most of the children in America reside and instead focus only on our own family’s educational needs. We are not longer impacting the culture as the early church did, we are instead withdrawn into our own version of Jerusalem, where everyone is like us, everything is just how we want it and we never have to come into contact with “those people out there.”
John Piper writing in his book Finally Alive, asks the question “What will it take so that thousands of Christians in our churches become passionate about telling the gospel to unbelievers? One of the reasons we don’t do it as much as we should is that life in America is so entertaining that thoughts about desperate, eternal, spiritual need are hard for us to feel, let alone talk about. The world is just too interesting and entertaining. It feels awkward to make ourselves or others uncomfortable with thoughts about perishing people. It’s heavy. But life in America is light.
So perhaps what God will choose to do is what he did for the church in Jerusalem. They were not moving out from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world in evangelism the way Jesus told them to in Acts 1:8. So Stephen was raised up to bear such irresistible testimony (Acts 6:10) that the only way his adversaries could handle him was to kill him (Acts 7:60).
And when they did, the persecution spilled over onto all the Christians in Jerusalem. “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1). And what was the result? Acts 8:4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). Literally: “Those who were scattered went about gospelling the word (euangelizomenoi ton logon, Acts 8:4–5). They weren’t preachers. They were just ordinary folks, thousands of them (Acts 2:41). After they were driven out of their homes, they went everywhere telling the good news.” (Piper, Finally Alive, 2009, 171-172.)

My prayer is that Christians in America would awaken to the opportunities that are set out before us. We have the freedom to share the gospel with whomever will listen. People all around us are hurting and waiting on someone to come and bring the good news to them. Will they hear it from us?

The Destuctive Nature of Sin

2010-07-27T15:29:00.003-05:00

Anyone who has ever gone to Children’s church knows the song, “Joshua at the Battle of Jericho.” We love to sing of the great victory that God gave to His people at Jericho. But you know what? I have never heard anyone sing “Joshua at the Rout of AI.” Ai is where Israel got embarrassed by a small little town of people. They didn’t even think they needed to send their whole army to attack this little place up on the hill. Yet after they sent their men up it wasn’t very long before they came running back down the hill with 36 of them being killed.
When one looks at Joshua 7 we find out why this is. Joshua and the Israelites had overlooked one little principal that is so vital to a Christian’s walk with God.
1 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV) 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! In other words it is always important to examine ourselves before we attempt to take on any battle for the Lord. Whether it be a little bitty sin or a big problem that we face, we must first examine ourselves and make sure there is no sin in our lives. Joshua had not done this before the battle at Ai and therefore he did not know that there was one in his camp who had disobeyed God. Achan had taken something he shouldn’t have and in doing so had invoked the wrath of God upon all of Israel. So that when they went up to attack little ole Ai they got whipped like a bunch of little school boys.
Unconfessed sin in our life brings all sorts of problems. We may feel that no one knows and that it affects no one except for us, but sin does affect those around us. Consider the man who drinks away his paycheck instead of providing for his family. So that his wife and children go hungry. Or the person who drives drunk and kills a family of four on their way home for vacation. Or the parents that bow down to the idol of wealth and neglect their children while they pursue their career. All of these sins are blatantly obvious in their affect on others.
There are other sins that have more subtle affects on those around us. How many churches do not experience true revival because of the division between a few of its members? How many churches are missing out on the blessings of God because of the sin of one or two in their congregation? Sin does affect others and it destroys God’s work in the lives of those around us.
I would encourage you to read the account of Achan’s sin in Joshua 7 this week and reflect on the destructive nature of sin in the life of a believer.

The difference being with Jesus Makes

2010-07-11T14:24:00.002-05:00

In John 9 when the Disciples were with Jesus, they came upon a man that was born blind from birth. Their reaction was not compassion or ministry but rather a theological debate over who sinned to cause this man born blind. They were not concerned they were curious about his condition.

In Acts 3 we see Peter and John come upon a man born crippled. This time however they were concerned about his condition not curious. They were no longer interested in theological wranglings about things they could never understand. They had been with Jesus and knew that Jesus cares more about our compassion shown to those in need than for our curiosity about petty theologies that people come up with.

2010-06-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

The New King James Version. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 9:24–25.

I have always loved this response from the formerly blind man. He is being questioned as to what has happened to him. He has already told his interrogators once what has happened to him but they continue to probe him for a different answer. So this man who has been dramatically changed by an encounter with Jesus gives the only other answer he has. "Look fellas, before I met HIm I was one way, after I met Him I was a totally new person."(paraphrased of course) or I guess we could quote him, "I was blind and now I see."

How wonderful it would be if Christians could give the same testimony concerning Christ. When someone doubts who Christ is if only more believers could simply say, "Look at the results." If only we could point them to the change that Christ has brought to our lives. I only wish that change was more apparent in our lives through the love that we have for others, and the joy we have in our Savior.

On keeping texts in context

2010-04-26T14:40:00.001-05:00

It is ill to wrench passages of the Bible out of their context, and treat them as infallible Scripture, when they are only the sayings of men.
By acting thus foolishly we could prove that there is no God (Psalm 14:1), that God hath forgotten his people (Isaiah 49:14, that Christ was a wine-bibber (Matt. 11:19), and that we ought to worship the devil (Matt. 4:9).
This will never do. We must enquire who uttered the sentence before we begin to preach from it.
C. H. Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes, Volumes 3 & 4: Matthew to Revelation (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), 145.

The Door that No one Can Close

2010-04-25T07:08:00.000-05:00

“He openeth, and no man shutteth.”
— Revelation 3:7

Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise and before every believing soul he setteth an open door, which no man or devil shall be able to close against it. What joy it will be to find that faith in him is the golden key to the everlasting doors. My soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom, or art thou trusting to some deceitful pick-lock, which will fail thee at last? Hear this parable of the preacher, and remember it. The great King has made a banquet, and he has proclaimed to all the world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the fairest flower that blooms. The spirits of men advance to the gate by thousands, and they bring each one the flower which he esteems the queen of the garden; but in crowds they are driven from the royal presence, and enter not into the festive halls. Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition, or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self- righteousness, but these are not dear to the King, the bearers are shut out of the pearly gates. My soul, hast thou gathered the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of heaven thou wilt know its value, for thou hast only to show this choicest of flowers, and the Porter will open: not for a moment will he deny thee admission, for to that rose the Porter openeth ever. Thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy hand up to the throne of God himself, for heaven itself possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty, and of all the flowers that bloom in paradise there is none that can rival the lily of the valley. My soul, get Calvary’s blood-red rose into thy hand by faith, by love wear it, by communion preserve it, by daily watchfulness make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be blessed beyond all bliss, happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine for ever, my God, my heaven, my all.
Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening : Daily Readings, Complete and unabridged; New modern edition. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006).

Spurgeon Commenting on Eph 3:8

2010-04-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! ‎‎‎‎You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on his head, you will only crown him with silver when he deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of his pipe, when he is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at his feet. There is no love like his, neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in him—oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined. My Master does not treat his servants churlishly; he gives to them as a king giveth to a king; he gives them two heavens—a heaven below in serving him here, and a heaven above in delighting in him for ever. His unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, there, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.

The greatest apologetic known to man

2010-04-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

Acts 4:14—“And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

The rulers and elders were opposed to Peter and John.

It is no new thing for the gospel to be opposed.

Nor a strange thing for the great, the official, the powerful, and the influential to be foremost in such opposition.

The opposition of ungodly men is—

Natural, seeing that the heart of man is depraved.

Endurable, since our Lord and his apostles suffered it.

Harmless, if we commit the case to God.

Overruled for good by divine grace and wise providence.

The best and perhaps the only way to silence opposition is by exhibiting the blessed results which follow from the gospel.

Those who would say anything if they could, can say nothing of what they would, when they see before their eyes the cures wrought by the word of the Lord Jesus. “The man that was healed” is our best apologist. Better than Paley’s “Evidences,” or Butler’s “Analogy,” is the proof given by results.

Spurgeon, C. H. My Sermon Notes, Volumes 3 & 4: Matthew to Revelation, p 180. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Purpose of Evangelism

2010-04-02T15:00:00.003-05:00

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. ” (John 20:30–31, NKJV)

John's gospel was written for a specific purpose. He shares that purpose in the verses that i have quoted. It is simple, that people will come to know Jesus and trust on Him as their Lord. That they will read of who He is and believe that He really is the "Christ," the Savior of the World. But John's purpose doesn't stop there. There is a reason he wishes that they will believe. "and that believing you may have LIFE in His name."

So many times in our southern christianity we are more focused on winning people to our point of view than showing them Jesus. John wrote this gospel not as an academic in order to impress other theologians. He wrote this gospel so that people would read it learn about Jesus trust on Jesus and gain Life everlasting. That is the purpose of this gospel plain and simple.

We do a great injustice to the gospel when we begin to focus more on winning arguments about inconsequentials of the faith than on reaching the lost. I personally have been a part of the former and have seen the results of Christians bickering over minor details rather than sharing the gospel. If only we would see that our purpose isn't to be the smartest guy in the room, but to share with others who Jesus is. To introduce others the Lord of the universe that can save their soul. This is our purpose this is the gospel's purpose. If we are doing anything else we are in grave error.

What we have lost.

2010-03-19T16:22:00.001-05:00

The old commentator Cornelius a Lapide tells how Thomas Aquinas once called on Pope Innocent II while he was counting a large sum of money. “You see, Thomas,” said the Pope, “the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’: ” “True, holy Father,” said Thomas, “and neither can she now say, ‘Arise and walk.’ ”

Taken from Hughes, "The Church Afire" commenting on Acts 3:1-11

On waiting on God's Power in our Lives

2010-03-19T11:34:00.000-05:00

The Scottish novelist George MacDonald said, “In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably, or succeed more miserably.” Nehemiah succeeded because he depended on God. Speaking about the church’s ministry today, the late Alan Redpath said, “There is too much working before men and too little waiting before God.”

Taken from Wiersbe's "Be Determined"

MacArthur on "Lordship Salvation"

2010-03-17T18:12:00.001-05:00

December 22

Submitting to Christ as Lord

“God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name … that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Philippians 2:9, 11

✧✧✧

To receive Christ as Savior is to submit to His authority as Lord.

Is Jesus Lord? According to the declaration of the Father, He is. We cannot know Him any other way than as Lord. That’s why the first creed in the history of the church, given in Philippians 2:11, says, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Every Christian must acknowledge that. It is the foundation of the Christian faith, the very substance of what we believe. We don’t make Him Lord after salvation. Every time I hear someone say, “You need to make Jesus Lord,” it is as repellent to me as hearing fingernails scraped down a blackboard. We never make Jesus Lord—God has already done that.

Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and those who would receive Him must take Him for who He really is. Puritan John Flavel put it this way: “The gospel offer of Christ includes all his offices, and gospel faith just so receives him; to submit to him, as well as to be redeemed by him; to imitate him in the holiness of his life, as well as to reap the purchases and fruits of his death. It must be an entire receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In a similar vein, A.W. Tozer said, “To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching, for no one can receive half of Christ, or a third of Christ, or a quarter of the Person of Christ! We are not saved by believing in an office nor in a work.” Jesus is Lord, and if you refuse Him as Lord, you cannot call Him Savior. If you have truly received Him, your life will be characterized by submission to His authority.

Lordship Salvation

2010-03-03T16:25:00.001-06:00

“[Receive] Christ Jesus as Lord” (v. 6, NIV, emphasis ours). Jesus and Lord are one Person, but so often we are prepared to accept His saviorhood without acknowledging His sovereignty. Indeed, perhaps this is one of our greatest failures, both in the preaching of the gospel and in the acceptance of the Christian message. Everybody wants to know his sins are forgiven and have an assurance of heaven, but it does not necessarily follow that this “easy believism” prepares us to bow to the demands of Christ as Lord of all life. To accept Christ as Lord means:

Lord of every thought and action,

Lord to send and Lord to stay,

Lord in speaking, writing, giving,

Lord in all things to obey;

Lord of all there is of me,

Now and evermore to be.

—E. H. Swinstead

C. H. Spurgeon’s comment on our text is both insightful and appropriate. He writes: It is interesting to notice that the apostles preached the lordship of Christ. The word Savior only occurs twice in the Acts of the Apostles (5:31; 13:23). On the other hand, it is amazing to [observe] that the title Lord is mentioned ninety-two times; Lord Jesus thirteen times; and the Lord Jesus Christ six times in the same book. The gospel is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).¹

Like Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor was accustomed to saying: “Christ must be Lord of all or not Lord at all” at every stage of our Christian life. It is a contradiction in terms to name Jesus “Lord” over part of life. He can only be Lord of the whole of life. Christ must sway the scepter of sovereign rule over our entire personalities. In our preaching, we must ask: “Have you accepted Christ as Savior?” and “Have you accepted Christ as Lord?”

The debate on “lordship salvation” fails to recognize that you cannot separate saviorhood from sovereignty. As John Stott has put it, “When you come as a sinner, you open your hand to receive forgiveness and eternal life, but you come on bended knee.”

In our preaching of the gospel, then, it is important to inculcate the initial acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord.

Olford, Stephen F. and David L. Olford. Anointed Expository Preaching. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998. 287

What if we looked like this?

2010-03-03T09:31:00.002-06:00

“and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. ” (Acts 2:45–47, NASB95)

"The early Christians acknowledge that Jesus owns both them and their property (cf. 4:32); they sell off property to meet needs as they arise (4:34–35) and open their homes as meeting places for fellow Christians (2:46). These actions do not reflect an ascetic ideal, as in some Greek and Jewish sects, but instead the practice of radically valuing people over possessions. Such behavior reportedly continued among Christians well into the second century, and it was long ridiculed by pagans until pagan values finally overwhelmed the church."
Craig S. Keener and InterVarsity Press, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Ac 2:43.

Can you imagine this being done in the modern american church? I can't. My selfishness wells up even now to make excuses for my possessions.

A great new website

2010-03-02T13:10:00.000-06:00

http://iamnotashamed.org/ go check it out

Come Thou Fount, Come thou King

2010-03-01T15:11:00.001-06:00

David Platt at SBTS chapel

2010-02-28T08:18:00.001-06:00

Embed:

David Platt at SBTS chapel

2010-02-28T08:18:00.000-06:00

Al Mohler on the Purpose of Apologetics

2010-02-27T10:23:00.002-06:00

The goal of a proper apologetic is not to win an argument, but to win souls. Apologetics separated from evangelism is unknown in the New Testament, and it is clearly foreign to the model offered by the Apostle Paul. The great missionary was about the business of preaching the Gospel, presenting the claims of Christ, and calling for men and women to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.

For too many evangelicals, the study of apologetics is reduced to philosophical structures and rational arguments. This is not Paul’s method. He is not merely concerned with the justification of truth claims, but, more profoundly, he is concerned for the justification of sinners.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 5. Lousville, KY: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001. pg. 23

"All I Have is Christ"

2010-02-11T17:09:00.001-06:00

ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

Preformed by NA Band. Check it out.

Oh that this would be said of more Christians!

2010-01-28T11:30:00.002-06:00

“Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.” ” (Daniel 6:4–5, NASB95)

Can you imagine if this was the testimony of more Christians in this land? We all want God to be with us in the Lion's den as he was with Daniel. But I wonder how many stand for God in the den of the World? How many are faithful when there is not imminent danger. Daniel prayed three times a day before he ever went into the Lion's den. You could say that he was prayed up before the danger ever surfaced. We on the other hand wait until the crises to say oh Lord where are you I need your help!

The reason Daniel could face the Lion's den was because he was believing God before it ever came up. He trusted God with his day to day life before he ever had to trust God in the face of the Lions. Daniel believed that God was best for him for his daily walk not just for his crises situations.

How I pray that I would be more like Daniel in my prayer life, more prayer in my daily walk and then the Lion's den wont seem so scary.

Paul the Apostle

2010-01-26T11:19:00.002-06:00

I am preparing a new sermon series through the letter to the Ephesians. As I prepare I of course have spent some time in the introduction. The more I think on the introduction to this letter, the more amazing it becomes.

"Paul and apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God"

We are apt to pass right over this very important, very powerful statement. Think of all the implications this title brings with it, especially when you consider who it is written by.

Paul was not always an apostle. He used to go by the name, "Saul of Tarsus", the guy who threw Christians in Jail and even consented to their execution. He was one of the most zealous Pharisees there were for the purpose of stamping out this thing called Christianity. In fact you could say that he hated Christ. Yet here he is writing a letter with the title of apostle of Christ Jesus. Apostle means sent out, so basically Paul was sent out for the purposes of Christ.

A Changed life is the first description of this truth hat comes to mind. Paul's life had been changed in every way possible. His very reason for being was turned around 180 degrees.

Of course there are also the implications of authority. Paul the former persecutor of followers of Christ is now the one directing them on behalf of the Lord. Everything about this introduction is mind blowing.

We could also speak of God's grace in calling Paul. He could have simply struck him down and killed him but He didn't. He instead called him to one of the most privileged and important tasks in the history of the world. A fact that I don't believe Paul ever got over.

I pray that I would not "get over" the fact that God has shown such grace to one such as me, who used to hate Him as well. Our God's grace goes far beyond any sin we could commit.

The Best News Ever Heard!

2010-01-14T13:48:00.002-06:00

A group of women were going to put spices on Jesus' grave. When they got there they found instead an angel who informed them that they could not because Jesus was gone. He had risen from the grave. Instead they found an empty tomb. The angel said to them "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen."

Can you imagine what excitement washed over these women? They were expecting to see the most depressing site imaginable, but now they finally understand. They finally get it, they do not serve a dead savior, but a living one who has not only died in their place but now lives making intercession for them. Yeah I would have like to have been there that day!

What a Night

2009-12-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

That night when in the Judean skies

The mystic star dispensed its light,

A blind man moved in his sleep

And dreamed that he had sight.

That night when shepherds heard

The song of hosts angelic choiring near,

A deaf man stirred in slumber’s spell

And dreamed that he could hear.

That night when o’er the new-born babe

The tender Mary rose to lean,

A loathsome leper smiled in sleep,

And dreamed that he was clean.

That night when in the manger lay

The Sanctified who came to save,

A man moved in the sleep of death,

And dreamed there was no grave.