The Town

What is first in your life? If you have been part of a church for any amount of time than you already know the difference between what the answer should be and what it actually is. You might know that the Gospel should be first and foremost in your life – but is that reality? The reality of whether or not the Gospel is first in your life is directly linked to the depth of joy you can experience in all situations.

Real relationships bring real joy which is only found in Jesus. Real relationships that bring real joy are built and sustained by the Gospel. This means that we see one another as co-laborers in Christ and that we have something bigger than ourselves in common with one another.

Our first worship service on our new property in the heart of west Middletown.

God's tactics for winning battles is very different than ours. He chose Gideon a very weak man to win a great victory for Israel. Today, God works through Christ in a very similar way: he chooses the weak things of this world to shame the strong. Christians will find the source of great spiritual victory when they realize their weakness and embrace dependency on the living God in Christ.

Heaven is the ultimate realization of God's promises to mankind. It is a place, a destination and beyond our imagination. And yet, the Bible tells us much about what God has in store for His people and their eternal life.

Jesus' teachings about hell are some of the most divisive and controversial words of the Savior. It is hard for is to understand how a loving God could punish sin for eternity. This is mostly due to us thinking of our sin as less deserving of punishment than it actually is. Sin against and eternal God is deserving of eternal punishment. Jesus' teaching on hell should compel the Christian to find assurance in the work and love of Christ, compel them to share Jesus with the world and give thanks for God's eternal grace and offer of eternal life through faith in Jesus.

The defining characteristics of the church are what theologians call the marks of the church and they identify the true church of Jesus. Jesus has instructed the church to disciple members through discipline, to preach the Gospel to believers and nonbelievers and to celebrate the sacraments of baptism and Communion. Each of these marks play a vital role in the individual and collective life of believers.

The church is not an organized religion or simply a non-profit volunteer organization. It is the only institution that Jesus died for. The church is an assembly all over the world of those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ - they are the people that belong to God has his children. The Scriptures paint a picture of how God's people are the church.

God has predestined his children, called them with the Gospel, implanted to new life by His Holy Spirit and has given them the gifts of saving faith and repentance unto life - but what happens next? A whole new standing before God. God in his loving kindness changes treasonous and treacherous people into dearly loved sons and daughters. By faith we are united to the work of Christ and declared righteous by God and before God. We are adopted into his family receiving all the benefits and privileges of the children of God. And we are changed as the Holy Spirit empowers us to become more like Jesus every single day. We are no longer enemies but dearly loved children of the God of the universe.

The only possible of outcome of really hearing the Gospel and believing the Gospel is repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. In this sermon Pastor Dan takes a look at what the Scriptures say about saving faith and repentance unto life. Both faith and repentance are gifts of God's grace. Though salvation belongs to the Lord from beginning to end, it is at this point in the process of salvation that those God saves react to the Gospel, turning from sin, turning from our own work, and turning toward Jesus in faith and repentance. The Christian hates their rebellion and sin and looks to kill it every day. But at the same time, the Christian has real joy in knowing that Jesus has done all that needs to be done to save us from our sin.

Few Christians terms are well-known to the world more than "born again". And yet so many misunderstand what it actually means to be born again. There is a point where we hear the Gospel and God implants new life into us so that we can and will believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. To be born again means to have new life implanted in us. It is something that God does to us because of love, mercy and grace. The big question we all have to answer is whether or not we have been born again.

God has accomplished redemption, but how does He apply it to mankind? The act of redemption applied is miraculous. The Bible gives us a lot of information about how God actually saves us. Even the act of calling a person to believe the Gospel is a miraculous work.

The doctrines of grace teach that salvation belongs to the Lord. Every person ever born into this world is incapable of doing what is right or pleasing God. This is a central teaching of the Bible. But God, rich and mercy, has graciously chosen to save His people from their sin and radical danger. Even though we are radically corrupt, God has not only provided a way for salvation but has provided all that is necessary to save His people. In grace, God chose His people. In grace, God died for His people. In grace, God has revealed the truth of the Gospel to His people. In grace, God will keep his people until the day He returns.

In the church there are certain teachings that are debatable and there are others that are absolutely crucial to the Christian faith. We differentiate between these teachings as "open handed" and "close handed" doctrines. In this sermon, Pastor Dan outlines one of the close handed doctrines - that concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. His extraordinary person and work make mean an extraordinary lordship over every human life. Jesus' claims about himself set him in a category different from all other religions in the world. Whether you are a skeptic or a believer you must consider the claims of Jesus - after all no other man or woman has been able to change the course of history in the way that Jesus has.

This sermon was preached by Randy Manley of Molokai Baptist (www.molokaibaptist.com) in Molokai, Hawaii.

The Bible is the story of how God relentlessly pursued his people and saved them from their sins. That story is told through the covenants God has made with mankind. God from eternity past made a covenant to elect his people and provide redemption through the Son, Jesus Christ. In that story God made promises through covenanting with his people. Jesus Christ is the ultimate realization of those promises. The Bible tells of two classes of people in the history of the world - those who are under the covenant of grace and those who are not. Jesus is either our Savior or we are trying to save ourselves. One of these classes of people have a glorious outcome and the other does not.

Man was created in the image of God with true righteousness, holiness and knowledge. Even though the world has fallen and sin has entered the world we still bear the image of God. In this sermon, Pastor Dan takes us through a journey in the Scriptures as we see the original state of man in perfection, the beginning of our war with God, the result of our war with God, the winner God has given us in Jesus Christ and finally what we will become through faith in Jesus. The world is broken and the image of God in man has been marred but we are not beyond repair because of the matchless grace of God.

God has ordained everything that had and will come to pass. He is sovereign over every molecule and very person and their actions. This is a foundational belief to every person that claims that God exists. It is also a basic teaching of Christian doctrine. It is also a doctrine that should lead us to comfort and a greater understanding of God's love for us and all His creatures. Pastor Dan preaches from Ephesians 1 and Romans 9 as he encourages us to lean into this doctrine as we make our own calling and election sure.

There are many ideas today about what God is like. All of these ideas except those found in God's Word are descriptions false gods even when they are well intended. Even in Christain circles we tend to make God fit into or box rather than trust the words of God Himself. In this sermon, Pastor Dan takes a brief look at several doctrines concerning God's person and attributes. The sermon gives the listener a good foundation to explore the person and character of God not fully on their own.

What do you believe about the Bible? Is it God's Word? Are there errors? Are there parts of scripture that are now obsolete? Christians believe some very important doctrines about the Bible that affect the way they see the world. We believe that God graciously gave the writers of the Scriptures His Word so that we could know Him, ourselves and the world around us. We believe that the Scriptures are perfect because God is perfect. These days we live in a post-Christian culture that questions just about every claim Christians make concerning the Scriptures. That is why it is more important now than ever that Christians know what they believe about the Bible, why they believe it and how it matters in real life.