Welcome to the Liberty Baptist sermon archives.
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty, Baptist
Church in Eastern Massachusetts. You can find out more about us
or contact us at my Liberty, Baptist dot org or just look us
up on Facebook. And now, we hope that this
message from God's word will be a blessing to you.
It's coming up in less than two months and it's my desire that
we just put it this way. Just pull out all the stops when
it comes to what's going to happen on June 11th and like I
mentioned we're looking at having an outdoor service.
We're looking at, we already have Heartland, Baptist Bible
College coming to sing during the afternoon service.
We have Pastor George Kurt, be sending pastor of ours from
Westgate Baptist in Tampa, who will be here as well.
Well, we're looking to having a meal in here.
We're looking at doing extensive Outreach in the community
Through online and Direct Mail, as well as us giving out
materials as well. And we are really looking
forward to having a wonderful wonderful day.
A day that I pray that we will not forget in the history of our
church and the there's a lot that we have to do to prepare
for a day like that. And I mentioned this morning
that next week will officially roll out a program that I'm
calling a tuning up for the Which is getting us ready in
every way conceivable, whether it's here on the property,
preparing to put a tent on the property, or just getting the
outdoor Landscaping. Done the indoor maintenance
repairs, getting accomplished making sure that we're ready for
outreach and getting involved out in the community.
Preparing the funds that we need to be able to raise for some of
these things, to be able to reach out in the community
greater than we ever have in the past.
And then also making sure that we're most importantly, ready,
spiritually. That's why we're having A
Revival meeting in May then also while will be having some prayer
meetings not just here at the church, but also an individual
homes or will gather together with families and have some time
of prayer as well. I want to make sure that we know
that. When it's time for the 10th
anniversary, when it's over, as they would say, when you're
playing sports, you left it all out in the field that, you know,
that we've done everything that the prayers have been made.
That the money has been given that we have all done our dead
level best. It's going to require a lot of
work. I'll be honestly.
It's going to require some funds as well.
Well, for the reasons, I want us to raise some money because I
want to make sure that we hit every single door here in
Easton, whether it's physically going to the door or most likely
also having extensive Every Door.
Direct Mail approach as well. He say, why is that important?
Well, let me give you an example.
It was two days before. Liberty Baptist Church started
that there were some people from Tampa.
Florida, that were wandering down some Podunk little road
called Pequannock it. That they ended up happening
upon a home where Jim Jerome open the door, let them in and I
think that was a Saturday and the very next day he came to the
first service at Liberty Baptist Church because someone invited
him to come and he's been here now for ten years, you know,
there are more people like Jim Jerome that are out there.
And what we want to do is to not just honor the past but also
look forward to the future. We've already invited a couple
of folks that have been here in the past that we're going to
honor during the service. One, the one of the very first
people that were here, Miss Dorothy.
Dupont she's actually be traveling here.
We're going to honor her during the morning.
Really the first person ever to reach out to our church about
two weeks before the church started, she got a flyer in
heard or emailed and said my sister and I want to come to
church. Can we come and die and pick
them up this that morning? They're the first people enjoys.
Her sister is in Ohio now. Not able to come but Dorothy
will be here will be honoring her really the first two
workers. Ever had at our church.
Dan and or Woodward are going to be coming that morning and we're
going to be honoring them as well for their service and we
have one other that we want to honor as well one who has gone
on to heaven. And it's my prayer as we talk to
their family over the next few weeks that will be able to have
their family come. And I'm going to honor her,
whether the family is here or not, but it's my prayer that
their family will be able to be here and be a part of the
service and just have a really tough time of rejoicing because
we have so much to thank the Lord for over 10 years.
But we also know this that the 10th anniversary is not mission
accomplished. The 10th anniversary is really
to be continued and we want to make sure that we do continue
all the way until the Lord comes.
And so I really just in your mind, I want you to mark that
day on your calendar just to be part of it invite folks.
It's just going to be a wonderful day and I want to talk
to you more about it later and then we'll do more of that.
But I really say that all now because it goes into what we
have here with the message tonight because Yes.
Programs or wonderful. I'm thankful for a patch Club.
It was because of patch club that we had nine young people
come to church, seven of which would not normally be on
Wednesday night. Some of their parents staying
here for church, which was a blessing and kind of the hope
and prayer. When we have something like
that, programs are great. I'm glad we have a junior
church. I'm glad we have a
sunday-school. We're looking here in a few
weeks to add a Another Sunday school class.
We have Bible studies, we have Outreach, we have program after
program after program. We're looking at adding programs
as the Lord allows I'm all for. G but programs don't build
churches. In and of themselves programs,
don't build churches programs. Don't build the kingdom of God
in and of themselves programs. Don't build the kingdom of God.
What builds churches and more importantly, what builds the
kingdom of God is what we see here in Acts chapter 17 tonight.
And what we see here in Acts chapter 17 tonight is missing by
and large from the contemporary church today by contemporary.
I'm not talking about style of worship.
I'm just talking about the Church of today and is missing.
Maybe impart here at Liberty, Baptist Church because I'd say
this, as much as I love. Liberty Baptist Church.
And as much as I think this is a wonderful Church.
We don't follow the first century model in the word of
God, in the sense that really most churches today.
Don't because they were not just churches of programs.
They didn't really have many programs, but they were churches
of prayer and they were churches of the power of God.
And I think we can have all of them.
I think programs are good but without prayer, without the
power of God, we're really missing the mark.
And that's what I want us to focus on.
As we draw closer to that 10th anniversary, you know, a tent
may bring a crowd and weep. Praise the Lord for that a free
meal we find out brings a crowd breakfast.
Who would have thought right? I've never seen people come to
church so early as they did last week.
I was shocked. No one was more shocked than me.
A breakfast. Can draw a crowd of food can
draw a crowd at a concert can draw a crowd but to change lives
requires more than a program to change.
Lives requires something far greater than maybe we as a
modern church today and again I'm careful using that term
modern More contemporary. Because I'm not saying that we
are trying to follow in to modernism or into contemporary
theology. Or contemporary quote-unquote
worship? No, I'm just talking about as a
church today in the time frame that we live in.
We need more of Acts and Acts chapter 17 in our lives.
Would you stand, please for the reading God's word Acts chapter
17 will begin in verse number. One Acts chapter 17 beginning in
verse number one, The Bible says this, now when they had passed
through and fibulas and uphold Nia, they came to thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews in Paul as his manner was
went in unto them and three Sabbath days reason with them
out of the scriptures opening and alleging that Christ must
needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that
this Jesus whom I preached unto you is Christ and some of them
believed and consorted with Paul.
And Silas and of The Devout Greeks, a great multitude of the
chief women, not a few, but the Jews which believed not moved
with Envy took unto them certain lewd, fellows of the baser sort
more. What a term that is right there,
lewd, fellows of the baser sort. If you can't enjoy the King
James language right there. I can't help you lewd.
Fellows of the baser sort. These are some Bad Dudes, all
right, and gathered a company and set all the city on an
uproar and assaulted the house of Jacob jasen and sought to
bring Then out to the people and when they found them, not they
drew Jason and certain Brethren under the rulers of the city
crying and note this, these are they or these that have turned
the world upside down. Are come hither also, look at
that phrase, I'll say it, correctly.
This time, these that have turned the world upside down are
come hither also. I think many are not bothered by
Churches today because we're not turning the world upside down.
Oh, I'm certain. We're having an impact to a
certain level, but I wouldn't say we're turning East in upside
down or Brockton upside down and this is not an indictment of our
church. I'm talking about Christianity
today but wouldn't it be wonderful if we could be noted
as the church? That turned Easton upside down?
I think we can but it's not about what we can do, because if
it's up to our own capabilities, we can't do it.
It's all about what God can do and what God can do through.
Us. And that's what I want to look
at tonight. Heavenly Father, be with us as
we get into the word and again I know this was not the plan today
for me, but this was the plan for you.
And so I pray that you would just have us go in the
direction. You'd want us to go tonight and
we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you, may be seated. Paul and Silas on their second
missionary journey, were accused of turning the known world
upside down. Did I say this?
Tonight? This is what our culture.
This is what our world needs today.
In many ways, it is being turned upside down, but it's being
turned upside down by the forces of sim, it's being turned upside
down by the culture and it's being turned upside down by
those who would try to take those things that are so
evident. And those things that are so
clear from the word of God, Odd. But yet to make left, right and
to make right left and to make up down, and make down up.
And we live in a day where two plus two doesn't even equal for
anymore. That's the day that we live in.
The world is getting turned upside down.
Maybe we could put it this way tonight.
We turn it right side up again in the sense that we need to be
out there in the culture, not just out there.
Meekly, just saying, well I hope that they don't shut us down
hope that the world doesn't shut down our church in the sense of
you know silencing us and quieting us.
No I'm saying that we must broadcast what?
Do we must do far greater we must do far more but we don't do
it in and of ourselves. We do it with the power of God,
but how do you change a community on its face?
How do you change a community? There's a lot of different ways
that people would say you could change a community.
Some would say that it's by feeding the homeless or some
would say that by providing weekday programs for families.
There were some that would suggest you open missionary
hospitals or have doctors or dentists are optometrists go on.
On missions trips and and listen in, and of themselves, there's
nothing wrong with those things. If I've learned anything from
some of the track distribution, I've done.
And some of the things that I've heard from others that have gone
out and done more than I have, is that when you get out on the
streets and you see the homelessness, and you see the
difficulties that you see the mental illness and you see the
drug use. Certainly, there are people that
need physical health. We've had Facebook ads, going
out the last couple weeks, and we've had several people who've
talked about needing financial help and I wish that we just had
the type of funds that if it would solve the problem, get
what I'm saying. If it would solve the problem
that we could just plug all those financial holes in
people's lives and turn their life around.
I wish that we could do that if and I think it's great when
missionary hospitals are open and I I have friends that have
gone on missions trips, that are nurses and doctors and that have
gone and done great work on. Mission field.
There's nothing inherently wrong.
With any of those things. The problem is, is that none of
these things are bad in and of themselves.
But if this is all a church does, than they are treating the
symptoms instead of the disease, and the disease is sin, and the
prognosis is hell. We are not going to change
someone's life for eternity by giving them bread, but we will
change their life for eternity by offering the bread of life,
Jesus Christ, not by giving them water.
Water to drink that's clean on the mission field.
But by giving them the Water of Life now, I have no problem.
If there's a feeding station that is there, that's operating
to preach the gospel to people as they go through.
I think that's a wonderful thing.
I know missionary, is it open Clean Wells to be able to help
Villages drink properly? And guess where they open it?
Right? Next to the church so that
they're able to have people come in and out where they can
witness to them and talk to them.
I think that's a wonderful thing if that's the need.
Why? Because they realized that that
to feed One, once they'll be hungry in a day to have someone
drink once they'll be thirsty in a day, but to give them of the
bread of life to give them of the Water of Life.
They will never hunger, they will never thirst again.
This is what changes alike. And so while we even we as a
church, if we had a homeless Ministry or even if we as a
church went out and had a Ministry where we helped a
families during the week with their children in childcare and
different things like that, there's nothing inherently wrong
with them. But if you do that for any other
Other purpose than trying to give people.
The gospel you've missed the point because those things in
and of themselves don't change communities, the gospel changes
the community. Why?
Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
everyone, who believeth to the Jew first and also, to the Greek
Romans 1:16, there is power in the gospel.
The problem is, we're keeping that power under the bushel.
And not only that, we are not implementing God's program, not
of of children's programs and things like that.
Although again, there's nothing wrong with those but God's
program of prayer and God's program of power that comes from
him. But these folks had something
different, they turned the world upside down.
It's the second missionary journey there, there in
thessalonica. They did some things, they gave
us a model that we can follow. Here today.
They're very briefly. I want to give you these three
things. The first thing I see, is they
lifted up Jesus Christ. They lifted Christ.
Do you see what it said here? In verse number 2, it says in
Paul as his manner was, what does that mean?
This is what he normally did everywhere.
Pole went, this was the model that he followed.
He went somewhere and baked bread and handed it out to the
poor. Now, let's not what it says.
It says, and Paul, as his manner was went in unto them.
And again, at the synagogue and three Sabbath days reason with
them out of the scriptures, he didn't give them a TED Talk.
He didn't talk to them about what the Contemporary issues of
the day were. He said this?
I want to take the scriptures, what we would call the Old
Testament today, and I want to talk to you about the meaning of
the Old Testament. Well, what's the meaning of the
Old Testament, little points of Jesus Christ.
And so, what was he doing? He was leading them to the place
where they could understand that the Messiah Had come and his
name is Jesus Christ. Verse 3 opening and alleging now
that word alleging today is used a little bit differently.
You know when we hear the word allegedly it's usually on the
news and they said you know so-and-so killed so-and-so
allegedly or so-and-so stole from this Bank allegedly and
what they're saying is this is they're saying we have heard,
this is the case we're not saying that it's true, we've
just heard that it's the case. Because if they were to not use
that word allegedly, they could be liable for, you know,
slandering someone's name someone's character.
What if they didn't actually robbed the bank or what if they
didn't actually commit that murder?
So they have to use that term allegedly well, we see allegedly
here in verse number 3 opening and alleging, we might think
that Paul is may be hedging his bets a little bit.
It's almost as if Paul is not truly saying Jesus.
The Christ who let me ask you knowing Paul the Apostle knowing
Paul the missionary. Do you think that he softened
the blow The gospel at all though.
I would say quite the opposite. Wouldn't you know that word
alleging here, the connotation of it in the Greek is setting
down a meal. Believe it or not, he's sitting
down a meal in front of them. He is alleging.
That's the connotation if you go into the Greek, Paul is
literally making a meal for the Thessalonians and laying it in
front of him. He says, this is what I want you
to understand. I'm laying this before you open
opening and alleging, I'm presenting to you.
You that Christ must need have suffered.
Oh, and here's something from Sunday, school.
He must needs have risen again from the dead.
Sounds like there's a need for a bodily, Resurrection?
Isn't there? Having suffered and risen from
the dead? And that this Jesus whom I
preached unto you is Christ. That's a powerful message, right
there. And he says, this is what I have
to tell you that Jesus is Christ, he alleged it out of the
scriptures, he set it down in front of them.
And he says, I am going to lift Christ to these people.
What is our plan here at Liberty?
Baptist Church. Here's what we have to do.
Lift up Jesus Christ, we have to lift High, Jesus Christ, so that
everyone knows that at Liberty Baptist Church.
If you want to learn about Jesus Christ, this is the place you're
going to go. You're not going to hear about
dead Dogma. You're not going to hear from
Old Church fathers. You're not even going to hear
from a preacher that's giving his slant or opinion on things
know what we're going to have here.
Liberty Baptist Church is someone who's going to stand
before you with an Open Bible and no other book.
No Book of Mormon. No old church books.
No, Apocrypha and old. Catechism, just simply the word
of God, and we're going to open and allege that it was the Jesus
Christ that was put on the tree that was dead.
Who was buried who rose again and lives today, that will save
Souls. That's what we're going to
allege here in this building and we've got to do more of it, not
less. And it's got to be known in this
area. If you want to learn about Jesus
Christ, if you want to know what salvation is, if you want
people, who will love you. Who will love you that?
This is the place to go. Jesus Christ.
You know what we pick? Give people a warm greeting,
when they come in because we're lifting up Christ.
Do you know why that's so important?
We're lifting up. Jesus Christ.
What Pastor? I don't see how that's lifting
up. Jesus Christ.
Do you remember what Jesus said when you give a cup of water in
my name, what are you doing? You're doing it unto me.
And so what are we doing? When we are loving someone,
we're loving them in the stead of Christ?
That's what we're doing. I'm not trying to be weird about
this. This is what the book says and
so when someone comes in and we just sit down and we don't
engage and we don't talk what were showing is that that we
don't want to lift Christ in the matter though.
Someone should come here and be so overwhelmed by the fact that
people I want to love on them and people want to talk to them
and people want to engage with them and listen.
I know not, everyone can do that all the time.
Sometimes you have other things going on and sometimes you're
having a bad day and sometimes you just don't want anyone to
talk to. You can tell you, that's a great
time to get up and go talk to somebody.
If you're having a day like that because we all have days like
that and I understand it. But what do we do?
We want people to come in here and say we lift up Jesus Christ.
When people ask me what's different about your church,
then from the Catholic church, if I had a nickel for every time
someone asked me that brother, Dan how Different about your
church, then the Catholic church, and I say this, without
having to try to say anything that's disparaging about the
Catholics, there are wonderful, Catholic, people are very kind
Catholic people and I don't want them to feel like I am trying to
disparage them personally, but this is a very simple way to
explain it. Well, at our church, we just
believe what the Bible says in no other book.
We're just going to teach and preach from what the Bible says
in no other book. And you know what?
I find that most people respond in this way, that's Refreshing.
Most people say, well, I didn't know that.
And why, because what are we going to do?
We're not going to lift up a catechism.
I tried to do that. For 16 years is a Lutheran, I
memorized. What Luther said about the
Bible, but it memorize the Bible.
I mean, think about that for a second.
I memorize paragraph after paragraph to paragraph about
what a man in the 1500 said about the Bible.
But I didn't know a lick about the Bible.
But that's the way it is in many churches.
So what do we do? Well, we believe what's right?
What we may believe, what's right?
But it's only because we lift Jesus Christ and believe that
book. So what do we need to do?
We need to lift Jesus Christ, by the way, if we make much of our
tenth anniversary which I hope that we do, it's not to make
names for self. What we sing every anniversary
is what was saying this 10th anniversary.
The very first song We sang with his church open and it's the
very first song. We sing at every anniversary to
God, be the glory great things. He hath done.
We lift Up. So let's see that.
First of all, Paul here lifted up Christ.
But number two, I also see this. They launch churches, they
launched churches. I'm not going to get too deep
into this tonight for the sake of time.
But this is what churches do churches plant, churches
churches, start churches. No God ordained in the garden
that everything would reproduce after its kind.
By the way, that's still true today.
That's still the way God has designed things and plan things
that that's just the way very nature is but that's true for
churches. As well.
Churches start churches, I'm thankful that when I went up to
Pastor George perk in 2011 and I said, God has laid upon our
heart to start Liberty Baptist Church in Boston even though I
was the assistant pastor, even though I was the choir director
even though I was a youth director, even though she was a
teacher even though we were very integrated and what was going on
there, he never flinched. He never thought about it.
He said this, let's get you going.
Now, maybe he was trying to get rid of me.
In hindsight, and some of you say, just Westgate, still want
you because maybe know they don't.
I'm fine here. All right.
But the idea was this, he knew that it was a blessing for a
church to start a church. You know what happened?
A few years after that that Westgate started a church in
Oklahoma outside of Tulsa happens to have the same
anniversary as us was started on our sixth anniversary.
So therefore years behind us or six years behind us, I can do
math. But the idea is this church is
start churches, and God's plan is that God's plan for us is
that churches start churches? Do you know my desire for
Liberty, Baptist Church has been and will continue to be that we
start more churches. To a pastor.
We're a small Church ourselves. Well, churches, start churches.
Well, what if we spread ourselves too thin here?
I don't know that we're in any danger of that.
Let's just go ahead and give the Gospel wherever we can.
And when God gives opportunities, let's walk
through those doors when God gives us those export
opportunities. Let's walk through them, because
that's what happens here. Paul left thessalonica on a
rail. But you know what, it got left
behind a church. Well Pastor, you can't prove
that, it doesn't say that there. Well, I have to whole books,
it'll prove it to you once called first Thessalonians.
The others called second Thessalonians.
Why to the church? That is at thessalonica?
Greetings, that's what Paul says.
And we know that a church was established god-ordained.
The church as the institution where the gospel is preached and
people who grow, that's why we've been given the Great
Commission Now. How how does this happen?
How does this happen? Well, Matthew chapter 9 verses
36 through 38 says this but when he saw the multitudes Jesus he
was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and
were scattered abroad as sheep. Having no Shepherd, then saith
he unto his disciples. The Harvest is plenteous but the
laborers are few pray. Ye therefore the lord of the
Harvest that he will send forth laborers into his Harvest.
You know what? Jesus is prayer request for us,
is pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers.
Can I just be extremely blunt with you tonight?
I have tried for the last year and a few months to have an
associate assistant, pastor, come and work with us here at
Liberty Baptist Church. I've talked to other Bible
colleges. I've talked to men that work at
other churches. I have offered Sterling, pay
packages. I have offered to help them find
employment, but I've and I've told them about the need here
and how I believe there's great opportunity here and certainly
we've seen that opportunity very much over the last few months,
especially that opportunity growing and Rising once again.
But do you know what I've seen? And I prayed to the lord of the
Harvest to send laborers and I prayed on the outside that he
would send laborers from Oklahoma, from Washington, from
Oregon, from Kansas. These are some of the states of
places. I've talked to men, And you know
what? I've heard every time no.
No. Can I tell you it?
Bothers me a little bit because I love do England.
I'm not from New England, but I love New England.
Like this is where I am from now, and I love it.
I'm fiercely loyal to it. And when people from other
places don't want to come where I live, it's kind of like, you
don't like Boston, we don't like, you know, I'm just
kidding. We don't, that's not the right
Spirit. That's the Boston Spirit, but
that's not the right spirit. So, that's, that's not the right
Spirit. But you know what?
God has made abundantly clear to me, the laborers.
Have to be here. if you're waiting for the Cavalry to come
in, God hasn't sent it. No, he's given us Calvary, but
not the Cavalry. There's a difference.
So what are we saying? Now?
God has brought some, I believe in this local area to come and
get saved in a join with us, I believe that's part of it, but
God's calling us to be the laborers in the Harvest and have
seen some who have gotten that spark.
I've seen some who have gotten excited because God uses the
church to be able to go out into the community and be the
battering ram that can turn the world.
Down and listen, Easton's the community.
This upside down. A lot of ways people get upset
about the strangest things. I was online last week and
there's somebody that was upset. That was my first mistake being
online. Last week.
Somebody was upset really team. You probably saw this.
Some was upset because on Depot Street where they remodeled the
street somebody they started hanging the signs for the new
side streets. Not with one post but with two
posts. And someone said, why would they
use to post on a street sign? And people started arguing about
a thread that was 50 or 60 comments long about street signs
of whether they have one post or two.
You know, he still needs the gospel to cut through all the
mess and cut through all the, the difficulty and cut through
all the things that people argue about and fight about.
Well, what about this, political issue?
What about that? Political issue, guess what?
The gospel solves all of it, the gospel solves all of it.
And I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved in politics and I we
should make sure that we have honor and respect for the
government. I'll say that again, because
it's not very popular. We should make sure we have
honor and respect for our government, but I also know
this. What's going to solve the audit?
Would they honour issue, respect issue with the government was
good? Sold the mess that the
government is in, is you and I going out instead of complaining
about them, go reach them with the gospel.
That's what it's going to take. And again, I'm all for being
part of the political process, but we need to make sure that we
understand the dynamic that will change a community is the local
church. And maybe I'm not been clear
about that in the past. Maybe I've not been clear about
our relationship with the government here, and our
relationship with, how we are to respond, to it, for instance,
Romans 13. But I will say this, if you want
to make a difference here in this community, It's by being
part of a local church and be part.
That's not very popular today. That's not very popular but it's
what it is and and to change and make a difference.
So I see where to live Christ with a launch churches, but I
also see this we're to live. Consistently number three, we're
live consistently. Having the mechanisms in place
for a community to be turned upside down is one thing, but we
must be living our walk each and every day.
We have to live or walk each and every day.
Here's the problem. All this sounds good.
But we've got to do it. We're going to be consistent
turn if you would to 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 because
Paul is going to talk to the people of thessalonica about
something that I think will be helpful to us.
First Thessalonians chapter 2. You're going to few pages away.
First Thessalonians chapter 2 Who is in verse 14 yourselves,
Brethren know, our entrance in unto you that it was not in
vain, but even that after that, we have suffered before and
we're shamefully entreated as you know, at Philippi.
We were what's that next word? Bold in our God to speak unto
you? The gospel of God with much
contention, even though there were people that were not happy
about them, preaching the gospel, and by the way, he's not
even talking about thessalonica, he's talking about Philippi,
why? Because this was something that
regularly happened to him everywhere.
He went, he preached the gospel, And people didn't want to hear
him. But yet in the wake of the
Calamity that took place in every city and town, churches
were established. Why?
Because Paul, if I could put it this way, was who he said he
was. He didn't just preach something
and live something else. He lived.
Consistently the message for exhortation was not of Deceit,
nor of uncleanness nor in guile or craftiness, but as we were
allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel even so we
speak not as pleasing. Pleasing men, but God, which
Triathlon hearts for neither at any time used, we flattering
words as you know, nor cloak of covetousness, God is witness,
nor of men salt, we Glory, either of you, nor yet of others
when we might have been burdensome as the Apostles of
Christ. But we were gentle among you
even as a nurse cherish at their children.
So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing
to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God, only but also
our own Souls. Because you were dear unto us.
What made the difference for the Thessalonians was that they
literally saw Paul and Silas give their own souls for them to
be able to come to Christ. They live consistently with what
they were saying. By the way how many communities
have been turned off to God by watching people say, they love
God and do something different. How many times have people said,
you know, I really want to go to church, but I don't want to go
because of the Christians who were at the church.
Now sometimes that's their problem because they don't want
to in their heartbeat in church and they're they're projecting
that onto another church. But I will say this, there were
times there were churches in the communities that are not a good
testimony for Christ and so because they don't live,
consistently people say, I don't want to be any part of that.
Paulie, the consistent life. Charles Spurgeon, put it this
way. A man's life is always more
forcible than a speech. When men take stock of him, they
reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies.
If his life and Doctrine disagree, the mass of onlookers,
except his practice and reject his preaching.
Think about that. If his life and Doctrine
disagree, The mass of onlookers, except his practice and reject.
His teaching. Meaning this if you were saying
one thing and doing another people believe what you're
doing, not what you're saying? And we know that from life,
don't we? We know that to be true, but yet
we forget that in our lives. We can't talk about being people
of prayer, and not be people of prayer, because if we do, we're
going to miss the power that God wants to give us.
That's why tuning up for the 10th anniversary, isn't just a
program about. Let's get a lot of people here.
And here's some tricks that we can do to get people here and
let's drop it when we're done. No, we need to pray before the
10th anniversary. We need to pray during the 10th
anniversary. And guess what, what do you keep
praying with the 10th anniversary?
This is my prayer that we grow in prayer.
Over that time we as a church have grown in prayer over the
last several years with it. Men's prayer meeting ladies,
Bible studies, where they pray together, Wednesday night prayer
times are all of these different things, but I want us to grow in
prayer. We need more prayer.
Not less. We need to make sure that we're
living a consistently. That we're living lives that,
that when we say that we live for God, we actually live for
God, and this is what Paul did. This is how Paul lived, and this
is how we must live. I look at thessalonica, we get
sum of two of the most encouraging Epistles.
You will find are written to the people of thessalonica.
And what's ironic about those Epistles is that in most
Epistles, Paul has to deal with those people in that City having
done wrong. You know, Galatians Corinthians
Paul has to deal with some problems that they have
encountered, but mostly in first and second Thessalonians polls,
giving them encouragement and they were started in the midst
of a disaster. And yet through the midst that
because of the power of God, a church was established in an
unlikely place. And Paul and Silas, and many
others were accused of turning the world upside down.
I know this, I don't want people to talk about Liberty, Baptist
Church, because we're the best protesters on Earth.
I don't, I don't want people to talk about Liberty, Baptist
Church, because we're out there with signs and placards, and
we're going to, we're going to show the government what we
think about XYZ. I don't want to be known for
that. You can, I be honest with you,
there's people already doing that.
They can have that lane go with there's not a lot of people
doing that are out there. Passionately patiently
prayerfully trying to turn the world upside down for the sake
of the Gospel. How do we do that?
We have to lift up cross, we all lift him up, it's not my
message, but his message, it's not your life, but his life.
The message His Life For Mine is, what the message is.
We have to win to launch churches and I know that in the
future, I would like for us to do more as far as starting
another church, but we need to establish and strengthen what
God has given us here. And that doesn't mean just
sitting around, waiting for God to give us a building it means
just going out. Thanking God for the building.
We have now and doing the best we can with it and using the
funds that God has given us. Now to reach more people,
instead of just waiting for a building that we don't know.
God will ever just give us in the future said pastor.
God doesn't just give church buildings and churches.
I'm watched most of my friends. It seems like get Church
buildings that way and I'm just kind of waiting for our ship to
come in. But the Lord says this in the
meantime they strengthen churches that mean more money
needs to go to tracks and distribution and materials.
I think we should do that to the glory of God carefully.
Making sure that we're not being unwise and how we spend, but
understand at the same time, there's a whole world out there
that needs to be saved. And I I can't reach the whole
world, but we can do something about this town.
And then when you live consistently tuning up for our
10th anniversary is not just a neat thing that we should just
do for one day and then drop. No, it's really just an
extension of what we should do because we're a church.
Oh, Soul winning. Yeah, we do that anyway, prayer,
we do that anyway. Reaching people.
We do that. Anyway, preaching the gospel, do
that anyway, but we didn't do more.
You know what I would do after the 10th anniversary.
What if we do too much? Well, I'll tell you, if we end
up reaching the whole world, then we could suck.
But until then we've got work to do and they say this and I'll be
done. If you don't know Jesus Christ,
your savior to them, if you don't know that heaven is your
home, then maybe none of this makes any sense to you to them,
but I do know this is that there is only one way to Jesus Christ.
There's only one way to Jesus Christ and that is by faith,
repenting of your sins, and calling a bomb to save you.
And there's only one way to heaven and that's through Jesus
Christ. So what do we know that?
The scripture says that it's through, Jesus Christ that we
are saved and it's through faith.
Faith in Jesus Christ by repenting of our sins and
calling me Christ to save us. The good news is that anyone can
do it? How do I know that a child was
small? As that one back there?
Can accept Jesus Christ, Our Savior, And a man or woman on
their deathbed that humbles their heart, like a child can
receive Jesus Christ as Savior, but every person has to make the
decision for themselves. And I want to remind you tonight
that there is no greater decision that you can make it.
If you don't know that, you're going to heaven when you die
say, people can't know that. There's no way that people can
even be sure about that. I would contradict you and say
this, there's a group of people here tonight that are very sure
where they're going to go where they die.
And it's not because they're overconfident and sound, because
they placed their trust in themselves.
It's because they Place their trust in one who has much higher
than any of us. The one, whose highest of all
and holiest of all and that's Jesus Christ.
Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of
Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing
to you or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us
know by contacting us at info, at my Liberty Baptist dot org,
or you can visit us this Sunday at eight hundred Washington
Street in Eastern. Massachusetts, may the Lord
bless you as you grow in his word.
Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of
Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing
to you or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us
know by contacting us at info, at my Liberty Baptist dot org,
or you can visit us this Sunday at eight hundred Washington
Street in Eastern. Massachusetts, may the Lord
bless you as you grow in his word.