Central Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

Have you ever played the blame game? Something goes wrong and you start pointing fingers trying to determine whose fault it is only to find several fingers pointing back at you. What does all that accomplish? When Jesus came face to face with a blind man and with us he wasn’t interested in pointing fingers, but getting to work. I’m sure you’ll be challenged and encouraged as we celebrate together.

Have you ever wanted to get away for a little rest and relaxation? Jesus left the crowds and the chaos continued as he came face to face with a madman. The details of this encounter are both ghastly and captivating. Join us Sunday to see what one meeting with Jesus would do for this madman and ask that meeting with Jesus would do the same for us.

We’ve been talking about effective post-Christian evangelism in our This vs That series. As we conclude we’ll discuss one of the hardest parts – playing our role and trusting God to play His. Jesus said, “If I am lifted up, I will draw all men to Me.” Do you trust Him to do that? Don’t miss the dramatic conclusion to this series.

We all have certain traits where those who know us best say, "that's just ______________!" We might deny it, but everyone knows. There is something about the way we live that speaks louder than our words. The same is true for evangelism. This Sunday we will see how Jesus modeled this to his friends on the road to Emmaus.

We continue down the Emmaus road, learning from Jesus how to share the gospel in today’s world. And that involves the hard step of waiting to be invited. So what do we do while we wait? Let’s talk about that in today's sermon.

In our attention-deficit world, listening is a great gift. People love telling their story. They’re telling it hundreds of different ways – twitter and tattoos, photos and Facebook. Listening to what people are saying is a selfless act. It’s gift. When we listen to others, we demonstrate what God is like because we have a God who listens and draws near. Come and listen this Sunday.

What matters more, the journey or the destination? This week, we’re continuing our sermon series on the journey that Jesus took with two of His disciples down the Emmaus Road, and we’ll see how joining others on the journey can make a big impact on both them and us. Come and join us this Sunday—especially you dads—as we journey together on this mission of sharing Jesus and impacting people!

Our mission is to Share Jesus and Impact People. And we all would like to live our mission with greater effectiveness, right? During the next 6 weeks we will join Jesus on the Emmaus Road as he engages two sad, cynical disciples shortly after his resurrection. We will closely examine the way Jesus impacted them so that their spiritual eyes would be opened. You’ll be sure to see the way Jesus interacted with these men is often different than most approaches today. Join us and prepare to be challenged during our next sermon series titled This vs. That.

It's been an exciting year working our way through the book of acts. We've seen the rise and growth of the transformational church. It has flourished despite persecution, beatings, imprisonment, and even the murder of her members. You want to be sure to be here on Sunday for the dramatic conclusion of Acts: The Unstoppable Church.

Our lives need vision. We need clearly articulated destinations that guide all our efforts and energies. For, Paul, that compelling vision was his encounter with Jesus Christ. Everything he did, whether he was on trial or shipwrecked, was guided by that vision. What about you? What compelling vision drives your life?

How well do you hold up under pressure? This week we will take a seat inside a courtroom and watch as Paul is on trial. How will his faith stand up under the interrogations of both Jews and Romans? How does your faith stand up in the public square? Come celebrate new members with us this Sunday and be challenged to develop a faith that holds up under pressure.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our Moms! I don’t know about you, but I need a reminder alerting me to important days like this, otherwise I’d forget. You’d think with all of the digital reminders we have today that we’d never miss anything really important. The truth is we miss the most important things all the time. Don’t let that be the case on Sunday! Come and let’s celebrate together!

Would you like to be a highly effective Christian? After 3 years of establishing the church in Ephesus and equipping leaders, Paul bids a long farewell. It is the only message in Acts from Paul to Christians. It is a fascinating study on Christian living. Join us this week to discover some habits of what makes a transformational church unstoppable.

What is the most powerful force on the planet? I hope you're a part of it. Jesus said that He would build His church in such a way that not even the gates of hell could prevail against it. In this last installment of the book of Acts, we will watch the expansion of the church to the known world of that time. More and more people were impacted by the gospel and invited to be a part of the church. Now the call comes to us - to proclaim God's unstoppable gospel because we are adopted into God's unstoppable church. Join us as we begin our new sermon series, Unstoppable Church.

Easter is the ultimate celebration of life and hope! we believe it is the single most important event in human history. On Easter, a Divine Exchange took place. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to exchange our burdens for His power, our sorrow for His joy, our regret for His hope, and our death for His life.

Evil is present and everything is not okay. It is a truth we all know too well. We are wrapping up our Straight Talk series with an important question: How should we think about evil? It's a question that has plagued the human heart for centuries. To understand it we will explore an ancient dialogue between a prophet and God. It is an ancient dialogue to a post-modern world.

Have you ever heard the phrase "I don't even know where to begin"? Maybe that's the phrase you would use if someone were to ask you to describe God. When you read the Bible what image of God comes to mind? When you pray how do you think about the God to whom you are praying? We will only scratch the surface this week as we consider how we ought to think about God.

How do you think about people? Where does a person’s of definition of value come from? What voices do you listen to in order to arrive at who you are? God tells us each person is uniquely created by God, is valuable to him, and has been given gifts to impact people in a way that honors the Creator. As the church we are called to be people who recognize and affirm the dignity of all people so that every person can embrace what God says about them.

God Nothing Everything

Missions Conference 2019