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.

The Word of God transforms a family

Today, our church will head to a local elementary school to impart the Holy Word of God with public school children. We have a “Good News Club” that meets weekly. We are studying the miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Each week, we focus on a different miracle performed by Jesus to learn why He performed the miracle and what the results were. In our first meeting, we studied the miracle of turning the water into wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. During the first lesson, we began to memorize John 3:16. The key to this verse is “faith“. In fact, the Gospel writer John, explains why Jesus performed His miracles and why he (John) chose to compile them in his Gospel.

Fighting False Information

I have the privilege of studying the Word of God tonight with our high school students during AWANA at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. The theme for tonight is fighting falsehoods. In the Greek language, the word that is used for false is the same word that we get pseudo from that we use in the English language. When something is pseudo, I remember from by days of studying 10th grade biology, it seems like the real thing but it is not. When it comes to Biblical teaching, there are many false teachings that seem genuine but, upon a deeper dive, it becomes evident that the false teaching is not the same thing as the genuine teaching.

Born again to holiness

I am so excited about this week’s lesson in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church! In our three year journey through the Bible from cover to cover, we are finishing up Israel’s time in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. This was a very difficult period in the history of Israel. The children of Israel were battling their sin nature just like we battle our sin nature every day of our lives. It is easy to look at them on the pages of the Old Testament and ask, “why were they like that“? Are we not the same today? I am excited about this lesson because we are going to talk about being born again. It’s a phrase that we do not use as often as we should in the Protestant world. We talk about getting “saved” but we do not mention what we are saved from, how we are saved, what it means to be saved in a literal sense. I think we try to keep it vague on purpose because when we get specific, we become accountable. When we use the phrase “born again” explanation is needed and that is a good thing. The Apostle Peter really liked the phrase “born again” and he used it often in his writings.

A Relentless Rescue

I had the privilege of attending the Relentless Love conference hosted by CareNet, Southern Calvert Baptist Church, and Real Life Church all here in Southern Maryland. A young man whom I mentored a few years ago, Austin Reed, was the keynote speaker at the event. I had the opportunity to lead a break out session on an inductive Bible study about the subject of “love” from I John 4. I had 20 high school students in the session. Praise God for the power of His Word.

Overcoming difficult circumstances

How are you doing? 2020 has been a very difficult year for all of us. Many have given up, choosing to end it all instead of facing these difficult times. Others have fallen into depression and need someone to rescue them. This pandemic has led to some very difficult days. About 2,000 years ago, when the Apostle Peter was living out the Great Commission, the days were similarly difficult as they are today. Through Peter, God gives us advice to overcome these difficult times in which we live. As we examine I Peter chapters 1 and 2, we are going to discover how to cling to Christ during these difficult days.

Jesus on the Cross: Our Forgiveness made possible

Since March, here at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we have been studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Every Sunday morning, we meet at 9AM in what we call “Connect Groups”. We connect with each other around the Word of God as we seek to connect with God through His Holy Word. Our church is using the Gospel Project produced by Lifeway. This project walks us through the entire Bible over a 3 year period. As we study, we are not simply seeking to gain information about Jesus. We seek to encounter Jesus and experience the transformation that only He can bring to a person’s life.

The Confession, Call, and Conviction of a Disciple of Christ

What unique summer we have had so far! Many of our church activities are on hold because of the Corona Virus. As a result, most of our small group Bible studies have transferred over to video chat. Studying the Bible with people face to face is such a blessing and, unfortunately, we are not able to do that right now. But, in spite of all the changes, we are still walking through the Gospel of Luke. Two and a half years ago, we began the journey of walking through the entire Bible, cover to cover. We are currently in the Gospels. Our focus has been the Gospel of Luke, although we have incorporated other Gospel passages as well. This week, we are going to focus on Luke 9. I want to share what we are learning with you here in this article.

Faith, Worship, Serving, and Spiritual Gifts

I had the privilege last night of teaching Romans 12:1-8 to our Journey kids at AWANA. These are high school students who are looking to the future. They are making decisions at this time in life that will impact the rest of their lives. Many are thinking about their future; what superior studies they would like to attain, what kind of job they would like to have, where they want to live in the future etc. These are tough decisions for teenagers to contemplate. The most important decision that anyone could ever make is dedicating his or her present and future to serving the Lord. What does that look like practically? The apostle Paul gives us the answer in Romans 12.

Does God forbid women from teaching men?

I have been reading a lot of bad interpretations of I Timothy 2 lately and just wanted to clarify some things. I have written on this subject before and encourage you to read more about it here.