Sermon Video: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision - Genesis 17

 

Genesis 17 picks up the narrative 13 years after the birth of Ishmael in Genesis 16.  At this point Abram and Sarai have been in the Promised Land waiting for the miracle of a son and heir for 23 years.  At this point God speaks to Abram, tells him that he will be called Abraham and his wife Sarah, and adds that the promised son, Isaac, is only a year away.  Abraham laughs at this prospect, as Sarah will do in the next chapter.

God also gives Abraham a sign of the covenant that already exists between God and Abraham: circumcision.  This initiation rite wasn't unfamiliar in the Ancient Near East, God chooses something culturally appropriate to set apart Abraham and his descendants as his particular people, the ones he has called into this relationship.

Circumcision functions for Israel in the same manner that Baptism functions for the Church, it proclaims that those involved belong to the larger group, to that they are a part of the people of God.

What does the book of Acts say about the relationship between Jesus' followers and 2nd Temple Judaism? - part 5

 I've taken the material from my previously published study {What does the New Testament say about the relationship of Jesus’ followers to 2nd Temple Judaism?} and turned it into a series of YouTube videos in order to make its 53 pages of argumentation more accessible to the public, and hopefully encourage further study of what God's Word actually says about this topic on the part of those who have been tempted to take up the yoke of the Law of Moses.

Sermon Video: "circumcision of the heart"? - Romans 2:25-29

Surface level participation in religion isn't good enough.  Paul demonstrates this by discussion the circumcision of Judaism, but it equally applies to the baptism of Christianity.  Religious ceremony can be negated by immoral behavior (or lack of moral behavior), it is important but limited.  In the end, hearts and minds need to be changed, obedience to God's commands needs to occur, anything less is insufficient.

Sermon Video: Participating in the body and blood of Christ - 1 Corinthians 10:14-17

In his encouragement to the people of the church of Corinth that they should "flee from idolatry", the Apostle Paul appeals to the unity of the Church caused by the participation of its people in the body and blood of Christ.  But what does this "participation" mean, and what does it accomplish?  Through the past two thousand years of Church history, the interpretation of Jesus' words, "this is my blood", "this is my body", has broadened from the literal belief of the Catholic Church (transubstantiation) requiring a ordained priesthood to bring it about (sacredotalism), to the tweaking of this concept by the Lutherans (consubstantiation without sacredotalism), to the spiritual emphasis and rejection of the physical transformation of the Reformed, and finally the symbolic commemoration of the Baptists.  With such a continuum of belief/practice regarding communion (and baptism), is there hope for unity in a world where portions of the Church have been willing to kill and/or die regarding these differences?  Paul ends his mention of communion (in its anti-idolatry context) with a reminder that "there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf."  There can be only one Body of Christ, the divisions of Church History (and current reality) cannot alter that reality.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: A Chosen People once more - Joshua 5:1-12

Having successfully crossed the Jordan River, and having memorialized God's display of power, the people of Israel are now commanded by God, through Joshua, to re-institute the rite of circumcision before proceeding on toward Jericho.  As the text unfolds, we then discover that circumcision was not the only thing neglected by the generation that wandered in the wilderness, the people had also not celebrated Passover since Mt. Sinai.  The people obey, observing both the rite of initiation into the covenant, and the feast of commemoration of God's power in keeping the covenant by leading his people from bondage in Egypt. 
Why did God command these things, here and now?  The timing in the book of Joshua is repeatedly emphasized, as God's command to Joshua came on the west side of the Jordan, already in the Promised Land, and vulnerable to their enemies.  Because the battles ahead belong to the Lord, not to Joshua's strategic thinking, the need to be spiritually prepared for the task ahead is emphasized by God when he chooses this moment to insist that the people keep their covenant obligations.
The passage in Joshua reminds us of the need we have as a Church to emphasize both baptism and communion, for they are our rites of initiation and remembrance, and of the need we have as a Church to begin with obedience to the commands that we have already been given.  If we hope to do great things for the Kingdom of God, step one is to obey what we've already been commanded in the Word of God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: God made you alive with Christ - Colossians 2:9-15

In his ongoing effort to express the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ, Paul compares what circumcision was unable to accomplish, the removal of the "whole self ruled by the flesh", with what baptism in Christ can accomplish, namely the destruction of that nature enthralled to sin when those who believe in Christ are "buried with him" and "raised with him" by God's power through faith.  In addition, Paul reiterates that before Christ, "you were dead in your sins" but have since been "made alive with Christ."  This dramatic reversal, the hinge of history, is illustrated by Paul with a courtroom metaphor wherein Jesus takes the legal charges of our debt to God because of our sins, from our powerless hands, and nails it to the cross, allowing God to then cancel out our debt as having been paid in full. 

To watch the video, click on the link below:

A father's prayer of thanksgiving to God

This is the closing prayer that I gave at the end of the baptism of our daughter, Clara.  My wife, Nicole is Catholic, I am the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Franklin.  Our marriage is a testament to the spirit of Ecumenism that I have hoped for (and found here in Franklin) in my ministry.  Thus long before Clara was born, we had already decided to honor her mother's tradition, and that of her mother's family, should we have children, through baptism into the Catholic Church.  Clara will be brought up to honor and respect the traditions of the faith of both her mother, and her father, attending as both Nicole and I do, church on Saturday (at St. Pat's) and Sunday (at 1st Baptist).

Sermon Video: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you" - Acts 2:38-39

To commemorate the baptism of seven new members of First Baptist Church, the text for this week's message was Peter's instructions to those who responded to his message at Pentecost.  Peter told the crowd that had been "cut to the heart" by hearing about the death and resurrection of Jesus, that there first response should be to, "repent and be baptized".  Peter links the inward act of repentance with the outward and public act of declaring that repentance through baptism.  In addition, Peter then says that this need is for, "every one of you", and that both the repentance and the baptism are to be done, "in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins".  Jesus is rightly the focus of our repentance for it is his sacrifice that made our repentance acceptable to God by paining the penalty on our behalf which our sin of rebellion against God had justly earned.  When we accept that act of grace on our behalf, by faith, we the process of transformation that God intends for all his people to cleans them and make them useful, a process made practical when we "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" to act as our guide, strengthener, and comforter.  In the end, the offer of repentance from God, to man, stands as a lasting offer of hope, hope that those who this day entered the waters of baptism had already committed themselves to, by faith, in Jesus.

To watch the sermon video, click on the link below:

To watch the baptism video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Peter's Message, Part II - Acts 2:32-41

In the conclusion of his Pentecost message, Peter stresses the fact of the resurrection, the cooperation of the Trinity, and concludes by declaring that God has made Jesus "both Lord and Christ".  The response of the audience is dismay (rather than defiance) as they realize their guilt.  Peter tells them that they must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, but that if they do, they too will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  In the end, three thousand people choose to believe the Gospel.  This message has been passed down for two thousand years, but holds true to this day.  Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Sermon Video: Jesus' winnowing fork - Luke 3:15-22

Why was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, and why did John tell everyone that the Messiah would be carrying a winnowing fork? Oh yeah, and why is John talking about untying somebody's shoes?


The humility of John is on display as he denies that he is the Christ. Furthermore, he assures the crowds that the Messiah will baptize with the Holy Spirit, a more potent and permanent baptism than the water with which John is baptizing.
 
To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Sermon Video, "Alive with Christ" - Colossians 2:11-17

Paul expains that our Spiritual baptism with Christ enables us to receive new life when we were dead in our sins. It also allows God to forgive us, destroys the written law which convicted us, and allows us to live a life free of legalistic attitudes. We must all die with Christ, and be raised with him to new life.


To watch the sermon video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video