First Baptist Church Muncie » Sermon

Your Ways, Your Paths

wadeallen — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:45:05 +0000

For thousands of years, God followers have confessed that God is worthy of their trust. As we explore these ancient words, we are challenged to do the same. As we survey Psalm 25, we are assured that God is faithful. “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame” (Ps. 25:3)

Psalm 25:1-10

Impact

wadeallen — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:04:48 +0000

In our final sermon in our mission series, we are reminded that the ultimate goal of our existence is to impact our community with the love of Christ. We will explore Jesus’s words in Matthew 5; we are to be salt and light in our world.

Offering Ourselves

wadeallen — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:21:04 +0000

To say that the Holy Spirit is involved in our worship planning is a no brainer. We would all agree that somehow God acts and moves in my sermon preparation and delivery, in Matt’s selection of liturgy, in all aspects of our work. Why then are we surprised when something we read, a situation we experience, or a conversation ties directly to our topic?

I was reading from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals this morning and came across a quote from Jesuit Jean-Pierre de Caussade (18th Century). Now, don’t forget, this upcoming sermon is on stewardship; it is about realizing all we have is God’s and we are responsible to use it for his purposes.

“The great and firm foundation of the spiritual life is the offering of ourselves to God and being subject to his will in all things. We must completely forget ourselves, so that we regard ourselves as an object which has been sold and over which we no longer have any rights. We find all our joy in fulfilling God’s pleasure — his happiness, his glory and the fact that he is our great and only delight. Once we have this foundation, all we need to do is spend our lives rejoicing that God is God and being so wholly abandoned to his will that we are quite indifferent as to what we do and equally indifferent as to what use he makes of our activities.” ¹

You may need to read this a couple of times to let it sink in. It is a powerful confession that our lives are not our own. We have given them over to God to use for his purposes.

When we see the word “steward” or “stewardship” in a sermon title, we assume the pastor is going to talk about money. But stewardship is much deeper than dollars. Sure, it has to do with dollars. If our checkbooks are not submitted to God, there is a problem. Jesus has much to say about money and it a key concern for anyone who seriously follows Him. Yet, living as a steward is a worldview; it is about how we understand our proper relationship to the Creator.

We are going to explore the parable of the prudent steward in Luke 16:1-13 this week. Jesus defines our position before God as He shocks us by praising questionable behavior. Join us on Sunday as we engage the story together.

Claiborne, Shane; Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan; Okoro, Enuma (2010-11-09). Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (p. 134). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. ↩

Empower

wadeallen — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:26:01 +0000

In this third sermon in our mission statement series, we consider the task of empowering one another in the faith. First Baptist Church Muncie exists to equip this body of believers to walk with Jesus. We do this by engaging Scripture, sharing our stories, praying together, prompting each other in spiritual disciplines, and discerning and using our spiritual gifts.

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Care

wadeallen — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:45:48 +0000

As we come to the second sermon in our mission statement series, we explore our calling to care for one another. We open the letter of 1 John; the elder John speaks from tremendous experience to the Christians of the first century. He calls them to the remarkable task of caring, loving one another. As we love one another we complete the work of Christ and reveal to the world God’s love for them. 1 John 4

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Psalms Study

wadeallen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:17:02 +0000

We are in the middle of the sermon series regarding our mission as a church. I hope it will bring clarity to who we are and why we exist. The series will end just before the season of Lent. As many of you know, the season of Lent leads us into Easter. It is a time when we reflect on Jesus life and prepare for the celebration of Easter. This year, we will be studying parts of 7 Psalms as we move through Lent into Easter. We have spent time in the epistles, and the Gospels, and the prophets over the past several years. However, we have not spent concentrated time as congregation in the Psalms. This should be a rich study.

We will be following the lectionary during this season. You might remember that the lectionary gives us an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a gospel reading, and a reading from the epistles. We will be focusing on the Psalm each week. Here is a schedule if you would like to read ahead and prepare for each Sunday.

February 26 – Psalm 25:1-10
March 4 – Psalm 22:23-31
March 11 – Psalm 19
March 18 – Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
March 25 – Psalm 51:1-12
April 1 (Palm Sunday) – Psalm 31:9-16
April 8 (Easter Sunday) – Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Gather

wadeallen — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:04:40 +0000

As we begin a five-week series on our mission as a church, we consider the importance of gathering. A central part of our mission is our gathering together. But, our gathering is not just a social get-together. We are called together physically, to unite our hearts and minds, and to remind ourselves of who we are and who we are called to be as the people of God.

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Who is in Control?

wadeallen — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:05:48 +0000

Doug Gregg preached on January 15.

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We Three Kings

wadeallen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:17:10 +0000

The song Twelve Days of Christmas remind us that Christmas does not happen on one day. In fact, it actually begins on Christmas Day and goes through the evening of January 5. January 6 is the celebration of Epiphany. This celebration marks the events of Matthew 2, the coming of the three kings (wise men). We will explore the story of the wise men, separating myth from reality. The Magi offer insight into Jesus’ life and purpose.

Credit to Dr. Charles Cosgrove for research

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Christmas Day Worship

wadeallen — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:09:54 +0000

As we gather on Christmas day, we contemplate the story of the Nativity. Jesus’ birth was not a snow filled, hot chocolate laced occasion. It was messy, dirty, smelly. As we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded of the reality of Jesus’ coming. The circumstances of Jesus’ birth communicate God’s intention of entering our world, he purposefully came in this manner. Join us on Christmas morning as we reflect on the Nativity. Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

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