Jesus is alive! Those words rang out from two women very early that first Easter morning, causing everyone to take notice. When people die, they stay in the grave – that is the course of us all. Jesus, though, was different. He had predicted that he would rise again, to be sure, but people really didn’t know what to think when he said it; no-one comes back from the dead! The story of the resurrection can comfort, of course, but it can also challenge us. What if the stories of the God in the Bibl...
Apr 17, 2022•39 min•Ep. 92
God loves us! If the message of Easter says anything at all, it is that simple message: God loves us; He always has, and he always will! Because of his great love for us, God continues to reach out to us all and extend a hand of forgiveness and fellowship and eternal life. When we consider the story of the cross, several ideas come to mind: God pursues us, even in our sin; 2) Only God has acted to save us from our sin, and 3) God acted because he knew we would fail in our own efforts at self-cor...
Apr 10, 2022•36 min•Ep. 91
God wants to help us in this life! In the early church, people struggled with their old, sinful ways of life. They were saved, to be sure, but they still struggled to understand what actions were sinful and how those sinful actions and thoughts could hurt them and those they loved. Paul taught them what actions were sinful, ungodly, and inappropriate for those who followed Jesus. Too, he explained to them that there was nothing they could ‘do,’ in terms of good works, that could help them. They ...
Mar 27, 2022•35 min•Ep. 90
God wants us to live a godly life – and He will teach us how to do that! In the early church the Christians were still very much “pagan” in their practices – they had received Jesus as Savior and were learning what to believe, but they needed more. The Apostle Paul knew their situation, and taught them to live a different kind of life – a life that was based on the Truth that was in Jesus. This new life not only had a new set of beliefs and values; it also had a number of specific practices that...
Mar 13, 2022•40 min•Ep. 88
God loves us and wants to help us in this life, and one of his gifts to help us is. . . government! God’s plan for humanity was for people to live in a relationship with each other, in love and peace. Because we resist his teaching, He gave us government – to instruct us, to unite us, and yes, to punish us and ‘keep us in line.’ God’s power over us allowed Him to establish governments and use them to help us – all governments are come from God and used by Him. God even works in bad governments i...
Mar 06, 2022•39 min•Ep. 87
Have you ever had the perfect fast food experience? An experience where the line moved quickly the food was ready quickly and it was actually correct?! How does a trip through the fast food drive-thru line usually go? We wait forever in line. The order is wrong and sometimes not even fresh. As Christians we will see in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 that we need to be ready to serve up the hot fresh Gospel of Jesus Christ, but many times we might be serving the mediocre poorly prepared food of half baked...
Feb 27, 2022•37 min•Ep. 86
God wants to use us in ministry – and He often gives us special ‘gifts’ to enable us to serve his kingdom well! Most of us have heard the term ‘spiritual gifts,’ but we may not know what they are. Simply put: ‘Spiritual gifts are abilities and characteristics in the Christian’s life that enable God to use them in the most effective ways possible.’ Some of these gifts have to do with the more public needs in a church, such as teaching or preaching, while some are more behind the scenes, such as t...
Feb 20, 2022•41 min•Ep. 85
Rev Kev was feeling under the weather, so Associate Minister of Student Ministries Russell Peirce preached in his stead. We are grateful Russ was able to step in last minute and preach on Discovering True Love The best way you can support our Ministry is by sharing these podcasts with your friends and family. We also need your financial contributions to make our Ministries a possibility. You can contribute online at https://firstbaptistofindependence.aware3.net/give/ If you would like to stay up...
Feb 13, 2022•40 min•Ep. 84
What does God Want Me to Do? “I Want You to Control Yourself” Galatians 5 God wants our lives to be stable and fulfilling, and He wants to help us have that kind of life! In the early church people were having all sorts of problems: they were fussing amongst themselves, struggling with sexual temptations in a very pagan culture, and living lives that were no different than their non- Christian neighbors. God wanted more for them! God used Paul to teach those early Christians, and us, that one ke...
Feb 06, 2022•38 min•Ep. 83
It is always a challenge to get a group of people to work together on a task: especially when they are ‘butting heads’ over who’s in charge, and tempers flare! I’ve seen this at home and in the workplace, at schools, and yes, even at church. Working together can be hard work! James was writing to Christians who were throughout the Roman Empire, and they were just trying to make a living, all the while forming new churches wherever they went. It was an important time in the early church, and the ...
Jan 31, 2022•35 min•Ep. 82
My first car was an old pickup that I intended to make into a hot-rod; it was awesome! I was going to build a big motor for it and put on loud pipes, lower the front-end, and then put on really wide tires – I was so excited! One day as I was tinkering on this truck with my dad (an old hot-rodder and mechanic himself), I was going on about all the cool stuff I was going to do. I went on non-stop for a long time – finally my dad said, in that exasperated voice I knew so well, “How about we fix the...
Jan 24, 2022•36 min•Ep. 81
I remember an argument between an older brother and my Father, which went on for some time. Finally I heard my brother wail, “Daddy, what do you want from me? I just don’t know what you want!” The argument calmed after that, and I went on about my business. That was a fair question though, wasn’t it? We may ask that of our parents or spouse, our children, and maybe even of God. “What do you want from me?” Today I begin a series of messages in which try to imagine, using passages in the Bible, th...
Jan 16, 2022•35 min•Ep. 80
God is a good and gracious God; He is generous and loving, and works on our behalf in almost every situation! We are privileged to know and worship Him, and have a sense of his presence in our lives. ! The Apostle Paul taught those in the Roman church that because of God’s great worth and value, the best response is to worship Him, and serve Him in every way we can. Our faith will lead us to focus intently upon Him, and shape our lives around His work, and teachings. When we do this, we can begi...
May 11, 2021•59 min•Ep. 79
God calls us to follow Him “in spirit and in truth;” He says nothing about correct form! When Jesus told the story about the Pharisee and the Tax collector in prayer, He made it clear that the one that most thought was righteous had failed miserably before God; it was the one they thought was a ‘sinner’ that got it right! We must always be careful to not allow the form of our faith – worship practices and belief systems – become more important than a humble heart, and love towards God and others...
May 02, 2021•54 min•Ep. 78
One of our greatest natural enemies is from within – it is our fear! Fear of the new, fear of the unknown, fears of nature and the actions of others – we have all experienced them. Fear isn’t necessarily bad, in and of itself; but the way we respond to our fears can have a tremendous impact upon our lives! After the Exodus experience, God’s people missed out on a tremendous blessing from God because of the way they responded to our fears; they allowed their fears to lead them to reject God’s lea...
Apr 27, 2021•57 min•Ep. 77
Life can be hard, and there are times that we cannot seem to gain any kind of peace in a situation. We are all familiar with worry and anxiety, and know that sometimes we just can’t escape these feelings. This week we talk about the ‘enemy’ of worry and anxiety, and understand that we are sometimes in a fight for our lives, as we deal with what life has brought our way. God knows us, and has spoken through His Word to help. The Apostle Paul taught those in the early church not to let their worri...
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 76
We all have ‘enemies’ in our lives! These enemies may not be individuals, but rather experiences or situations that threaten us, discourage us, and maybe even make us feel like giving up. We can fight these enemies! God helped the prophet Elijah fight his enemies when he was at his lowest point – he was defeated, discouraged, and had really given up on his ministry. God came and encouraged him, though, and helped him do the things that he needed to do to get his life moving again. He overcame hi...
Apr 13, 2021•58 min•Ep. 75
Jesus’ death was entirely predictable – He had made all the wrong people angry, and they needed to shut him down – permanently! Through the crucifixion those in power hoped to discredit him as a criminal, and eliminate his influence in their culture. It didn’t work, of course. In fact, their murderous act, intended to shut him up, was used by God to bring about an action that proved that Jesus was, literally, here to stay. He raised him from the dead! God used Jesus’ death on the cross as a paym...
Apr 07, 2021•57 min•Ep. 74
God calls us to make time for Jesus, because He made time for us! When we read Paul’s letter to Timothy, we learn that God wants us to pray for others, so that God can work in their lives, and that we might learn to love even those with whom we disagree. Too, God has acted in Jesus because He loves everyone! When we love others as God loves us, our lives can be filled with peace, and we will be more able to live in peace with those around us. Paul also called Jesus our “Mediator;” that is, He wi...
Mar 30, 2021•54 min•Ep. 73
Our lives are often lived response to the influences around us – either good or bad; God calls us to something better! God used the Apostle Paul to teach us that He desires that we live our lives as “living and holy sacrifices” to him. This is a life that is not lived in response to forces outside our lives, such as culture and friends; rather, it is a life lived in response to the movement of God’s Spirit from within. This comes about as we make decisions to follow the teachings in His Word, an...
Mar 23, 2021•53 min•Ep. 72
Context: Josiah is King Israel is in idolatrous rebellion Less than 1 generation away from Babylonian captivity What God and Jeremiah are up to: Jeremiah is one of the prophets tasked by God to warn Israel. He’s told to go to the potter’s shop: God gives Jeremiah an object lesson Jer. 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, ...
Mar 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 71
When we make time for God in our life, we will find that He is constantly with us, and making an effort to help us in some way. God helps us through his written Word as He teaches us eternal truths, and calls us to live according to that Word. When we do that our lives are better, stronger, and resistant to the lies of our pagan world. Too, God helps us by giving us His Spirit, who dwells within us. His presence is a constant comfort, as well as a help through the challenges of this life. This l...
Mar 09, 2021•55 min•Ep. 70
Whenever we consider something in life that is important, we understand that we need to make time for it in life. Jesus and the Christian faith is like that – it is as important as anything in life, and we need to make time for the development and practice of that faith in our life! There will always be those that make claim to our lives, but we must be aware that only a few things in this life are truly worthy of our time and devotion. Jesus came once and established himself as The One from God...
Feb 28, 2021•55 min•Ep. 69
God wants us to be discerning when it comes to true spirituality! We have an almost unlimited capacity to deceive ourselves: we ignore facts, compare ourselves to those who are ‘worse’ than we are, and sometimes even lie to ourselves, all in order to feel good about ourselves. The church at Laodicea was doing just that; by measuring their spirituality against other churches and groups, rather than God’s eternal teachings, they saw themselves as spiritually healthy and righteous. Jesus condemned ...
Feb 23, 2021•52 min•Ep. 68
Even though Jesus calls us in His Church to all we can to reach the world around us, we have to accept the fact that many will reject Jesus, no matter what we do! We must remember to evaluate our church’s ministries by the standards Jesus himself used, and make sure our loyalties remain with him that the approval of those in this world. God rewards those who are faithful, and will care for them into eternity. The best way you can support our Ministry is by sharing these podcasts with your friend...
Feb 09, 2021•48 min•Ep. 67
It’s all about Jesus! We’ve heard people say that, and it is particularly true for the way the Church is to function. Everything we do is to either explain the work of Jesus in our salvation, or to demonstrate how life can be different, and better, when it revolves around him. The early church in the city of Sardis forgot this; they did many things well, but they had moved away from a focus on the salvation that is in Christ – and Jesus condemned them for it! We are to be always faithful to Jesu...
Feb 02, 2021•55 min•Ep. 66
Those who have the ability to lead others can have a tremendous impact on a church – for good, or for evil! It is important that church members monitor the strong in their church, to ensure that their influences are good, moral, and Bible Based. Even as they continually test the spirits in their congregation, though, a healthy church will never let an individual or group lead them from engaging in ministry to others. The ministries of the church are to be always faithful to scriptural teachings ...
Jan 26, 2021•55 min•Ep. 65
Jesus calls on His church to teach spiritual and moral truth, and correct those that distort that truth. We must learn to be alert to the teachings of those in our church, and be willing to ask them to explain themselves, and even challenge them if they say something that does not sound ‘according to the Bible.’ There have always been false teachers and teachings in the church; when these false teachings are allowed to develop a foothold, they may turn people away from the true faith, or lead th...
Jan 19, 2021•49 min•Ep. 64
From the very beginning of the Church, God’s people were often under attack! At times they were oppressed and persecuted by those around them simply because they were different than others; sometimes it was because their faith challenged the other faiths in the area. Too, the various political powers often chose to oppress the Christians for a variety of reasons. Regardless, it was hard to follow Jesus! In the church at Smyrna there was persecution, and Jesus spoke to them in the Revelation to a...
Jan 12, 2021•55 min•Ep. 63
A church’s leadership can have a huge impact upon its members’ lives. We want, and need, church leaders that are emotionally and spiritually mature. Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart.” -Jesus (Matthew 7:15) God’s people must not allow their defense of the faith destroy their loving spirit. A church that treats people poorly is no longer a church; a church without love is not a church. A new commandment I give to you, tha...
Jan 05, 2021•51 min•Ep. 62
