First Baptist Church Thomson, Ga

Jesus empowers us to overcome our fears and He strengthens our faith when we choose to follow Him, stepping out of the boat of our comfort zones and safety nets, and dare to trust Him to help us through the storms we face. If we just focus on our circumstances, it’s always going to lead to fear and frustration, worry and anxiety. But if we focus on Jesus, He will empower our faith with confidence and courage, and show us a way through.

In Matthew 8, we find the story of a leper who approached Jesus for healing. It shows us Christ’s compassion and His desire to heal the afflicted, to transform our lives by His power through our faith. As we think about this story, I want to point out some aspects that can help each of us move from our place of hurt toward healing, wholeness, and holiness in Jesus.

We all start out life as sinners, spiritually broke, struggling with a sinful nature in a fallen world. But where we start out doesn’t have to be where we end up! God offers us the free gift of salvation, made possible by His grace. In this sermon, we’ll discover that no matter how lost you are, how far away from God you feel, God wants to move you from lost to living!

In this final message in this series, we look at a true story of an amazing financial miracle, from 2 Kings 4. I believe this passage teaches us that no matter our problems, God has a plan. Just as God took care of this widowed mother of two, He will take care of you, even when you are in a desperate situation. If we will seek after God, trust and obey Him, we will see God provide beyond what we can ask or imagine, all for His glory and our ultimate good.

Why is it such a blessing to help others? Because when we do that, we are becoming a part of God’s Story! He is a God who gives! He is a God who invests. He is a God who rewards our hard work and sacrifice. In this message, we look at a story Jesus told in Matthew 25 to see what it can teach us about how to be better stewards of what God has given us.

Continuing the "I Was Broke. Now I’m Not." sermon series that began last week, we are focusing on what God’s Word teaches us about money and stewardship. Last week Chad Aukland from Injoy Stewardship Solutions talked about the foundational truth to our understanding about finances and stewardship is that God owns it all! In this sermon, we answer the question, “What happens when we give?” And we look at that through a significant miracle that took place during Jesus’ ministry—the feeding of the multitude with a boy’s lunch.

In this last message of this series, I want us to go a little deeper, especially in how to dig in and study God’s Word to discover what God is saying to us, so that it can transform us from the inside out. We'll look at key principles to keep in mind when reading and studying Scripture, equip you with two methods of Bible study, and talk about how to take God's Word from our heads, to our hearts, and then to our hands.

Brother Jeff Harris brings a comforting and encouraging message from Isaiah 6 about what it means to trust in our Holy God when times in life are challenging and difficult.

When you approach the Bible, remember it’s more than a textbook to learn or a rulebook to follow…it is God’s Word to you, revealing His Mind and Heart. In this message, I'll share with you some ways we can get a good grip on God’s Word so we can handle it correctly. The more you use the Bible, the better a grasp you will have of Scripture and the better equipped you will be for life!

Ultimately, the doctrine of the Bible boils down to the question of its reliability and authority. As I said last week, if we can’t trust ALL of Scripture, how can we trust any of it? That’s why it is vital to be clear on what it means for God to inspire the biblical writers so that what they wrote are in fact the words of God Himself. That is our basis for the truthfulness, trustworthiness, and authority of the Bible. In this sermon, I'll unpack the implications of believing the that Bible is the Inspired Word of God.

The biggest question about the origins of the Bible are this: How much of it was inspiration, and how much of it was perspiration? How much of this is the work of God and how much is the work of men? We'll explore these questions in this sermon and discover how words written thousands of years ago, in ancient languages, on the other side of the planet became the Bible you hold in your hand today.

Given the crisis of biblical illiteracy in our churches, we need to rediscover the rich treasury of truth, wisdom, and life-changing power that is found in the pages of the Bible! This begins with us going back to the basics. Do we know, understand, and believe in what the Bible is? Do we truly trust the Bible, and know why we can trust it? How do we use the Bible for changing our lives, helping others, and knowing and following Jesus more fully? I hope this sermon series will help us answer those questions more firmly in our hearts and minds, and that it will equip us to confidently share these truths about the Bible with others. Let’s start at the most basic question: What IS the Bible? I want to answer that question from two perspectives—externally and internally. What do people say about the Bible, how can we as human beings identify what this Book is. Then, what does the Bible say about itself?

Psalm 107 is both a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s goodness and a song of testimony for the specific good things God has done for His people. It can help us understand that no matter what we face, regardless of life’s circumstances, God is faithful and true, good and loving, present and powerful. We can praise Him for His goodness, and we should proclaim His goodness to others. We all have a testimony of thanksgiving to share in our worship to God and our witness of God to others.

In Psalm 13, David helps us express the very real and raw emotions we may have in seasons where it feels like God is distant and doesn't hear our prayers. Through this song of lament, we can learn how to keep praying in faithfulness despite the frustration and doubt.

Psalm 119 is organized into 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. By organizing this psalm about God’s Word around the alphabet, you could say it literally instruct us in the ABC’s of God’s Word! The message of Psalm 119 is that the Bible is sufficient for all areas of life, from A to Z, and a life lived on God’s Word is a life as ordered and reliable as the alphabet. Two major themes emerge: WHY we should value the Word of God and HOW we show that we value the Word of God.

In Psalm 29, we saw God as enthroned over nature—the Lord is enthroned over the Flood. He is King over the storm, as His voice thunders throughout the Land. Today, we will discover in Psalm 47 that God is also enthroned over the nations—He is the King over all peoples, kingdoms, armies, and leaders. Psalm 47 teaches us how to approach the battles of life—before, during, and after, with trust in, worship to, and proclamation of our Warrior King.

Psalm 29 is a beautiful psalm and great example of Hebrew poetry, yet is often neglected. Through this psalm, David celebrates our God who is the omnipotent King and Lord above the storms. He challenges us to acknowledge and worship our awesome God who is King over all Creation. This psalm teaches us important truths about who, why, and how we worship.

Psalms 111 and 112 together remind us of God’s blessings on His people, and His expectations of His people. While these psalms are about God’s blessings on and expectations of the people of Israel, we can apply them to ourselves today, and I think they especially apply to men who are husbands, fathers, leaders, and mentors.

This sermon in the Psalms is connected to our church's VBS theme for this year: SCUBA--Diving into Friendship with God. We could spend lifetimes searching and studying the ocean depths. Scientists are constantly finding new forms of life in the deepest, darkest reaches of the seas. We can spend not only our lifetimes, but all of eternity searching out God's wisdom and ways, and still not fully plumb their depths! Our friendship with God—an adventure that will never end, a treasure chest we’ll never fully unpack! There’s no better psalm to pair with this VBS theme than Psalm 139, in which David seeks to understand the depths and heights of his relationship with the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God!

A.W. Tozer wrote, “God wants worshippers before workers; indeed, the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the art of worship.” Tozer was commenting on our tendency to elevate serving the Lord as workers above serving the Lord as worshippers. If we’re not careful, worship becomes a performance, a job to accomplish. We can allow our egos and preferences to get in the way. When that happens, who or what are we actually worshipping? God, ourselves, or other people’s approval? Psalms is a great place to turn to evaluate our hearts, motivations, and understanding of worship. In this message, we look at Psalms 100 and 150, two of the best-known hymns of thanksgiving and praise in the Bible, to help us master the art of worship.