Preparing for the Judgment Seat of Christ

This coming Sunday, I have the privilege of preaching at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. I am going to preach on the importance of the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Judgment Seat of Christ lays a foundation of accountability for all followers of Jesus Christ. Accountability is a cornerstone of personal growth, as it establishes a framework for responsibility, integrity, and continuous improvement. Accountability provides a structured framework for monitoring and evaluating tasks, projects, and processes, ensuring that they align with overall goals. It helps identify potential risks, errors, or inefficiencies early on, allowing for timely corrections. The practice of being held accountable is essential for fostering a resilient and high-performing work environment. Our passage for the message is II Corinthians 5:9-10, 14-21. There are three essential truths about accountability that we learn from the Judgment Seat of Christ; the catalyst, the character, and the calling.

Genuine Faith: Moving Beyond the Motions

This coming Sunday, at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, I have the privilege of preaching during the morning service. Last Sunday, I preached a sermon on the importance of gratitude. This week, I want to talk about Genuine Faith. Have you ever felt like you were just going through the motions? I have been there. It can happen at work. It can happen with family. It can happen with relationships. It can even happen with your spiritual life. Does the Bible address this state, this feeling, this reality? How is it that two people can sit under the same teaching in the same church and yet one grows spiritually and the other does not? The Apostle Peter addressed this issue almost 2,000 years ago. Grab a Bible and open up to II Peter 1:1-11.

There is NOTHING new under the sun

Yesterday was a great day at our church. We had our regular morning activities and then in the afternoon, we hosted our annual church picnic. There is nothing like the smell of grilled burgers and dogs while you sit around in the shade and socialize with others. It is a great way to celebrate the changing of seasons as summer finally gives way to fall.

The Heart of a Servant Leader

I have the privilege of teaching this lesson on Sunday during our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. Do you have the heart of a servant leader? When you hear the phrase, “servant leader” who is the first person who comes to mind? Books and seminars galore claim to teach people about the essence of “leadership“. When we open the Book of all books, the Bible, we learn many principles of leadership. Leadership explained in the Bible is servant leadership. Moses was a servant leader. Joshua was a servant leader. The Apostles were servant leaders. The concept of servant leadership permeates the Bible. This is what our lesson is about this week. Jesus is our prime example of servant leadership. He taught servant leadership and more importantly, He modeled servant leadership.

Forgiveness of Sin and Spiritual Healing

As Father’s Day approaches this Sunday, we are all remembering the men in our lives who have impacted us in a positive way. When we think of influential men, the primary example is Jesus Christ. In our Connect Groups this Sunday, we are going to study a powerful passage of Scripture in Matthew 9.

Only God can forgive sins

As I sit and prepare our Connect Group lesson for this coming Sunday, I’m simply amazed at how clear the Word of God is! The more I studied, the clearer things become. This week, we are going to study Luke 5. Our main passage is verses seventeen through twenty-six. In the first eleven verses, Jesus teaches by the seashore. He calls Peter and his coworkers to follow Him and become His disciples. As He gives the calling, He performs a miracle. Peter and his coworkers are amazed and answer the call to follow Jesus. After this amazing moment, as Peter and his coworkers are following Jesus, another miracle takes place. Jesus heals a man suffering from leprosy. These events cause Jesus to become very popular and people want to hear Him teach. This is where we will pick up this week as we study.

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer, a beautiful tradition that began in our country when President Harry S. Truman proclaimed a National Day of Prayer to be observed on July 4, 1952. Each year since that date, Americans have observed the day in their own way. The observance moved to the first Thursday in May by President Ronald Reagan and has been proclaimed each year since.

Battlefield of the Mind

I am preparing a sermon that I will soon preach at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. I’m actually going to have a trial run today with some teens at our home school Co-Op at our church. We are all engaged in a daily battle over what occupies our thoughts because whatever occupies our thoughts will determine our actions. To whom do you surrender? That is an important question because the answer to that question will determine whom you worship. We were all created to worship God but, if we do not worship God, we will worship something or someone else.

Building strong relationships

Last night, I had the privilege of teaching our elementary age kids during our AWANA program at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. Our theme was “fellowship“. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to maintain strong relationships with each other because we are part of the body of Christ. We have to get along with each other because we are all connected to each other through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our text for the evening was Ephesians 4:1-3. Life is all about relationships. As a pastor, I have the opportunity to help people transition from this life to the next. While on a deathbed, people usually do not regret not making more money or having more stuff. The main regret that I hear is, “I wish I had more time with _____________ person“.

Godly Discipline

What do you think of when you hear the word, “discipline”? Some people read it with a negative connotation. Others read it with a positive connotation. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience“. Discipline has it’s roots in Latin and is defined as, “instruction given, teaching, learning, knowledge“. Used as a verb, it means, “to correct, chastise, punish“. Based on the definition and etymology of the word, discipline is portrayed as positive. It is necessary. God deals with the subject of discipline all throughout His Holy Word. In this article, we are going to focus on one passage, Hebrews 12.