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Weekly sermons from our Pastor, Barry Wilkinson.
Episodes
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
Series: God's Design for the Church
Sermon: The Church's Mission
Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20
Date: September 29, 2019
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
The mission of Hopewell Baptist Church is to glorify God by having a great commitment (Luke 9:23) to the Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-31) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Talk to someone about what the mission of Hopewell means to you and for you.
Let's see three things that Jesus wants His church to be all about:
- Evangelize the skeptic
- Matthew 4:19
- Jesus has called us to be fishers of men, not merely keepers of the aquarium.
- Romans 3:23
- Romans 6:23
- Romans 5:8
- Romans 10:9-10
- The reason the church is so important is that it does (God does through it) what nobody else does.
- Edify the saved
- What helps you in loving peoples hat are different?
- What helps you to forgive people?
- What helps you to share your faith?
- What helps you in your prayer life?
- Exalt the Savior
- 1 Corinthians 10:31
- God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.
Wednesday Oct 02, 2019
Wednesday Oct 02, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: Arresting Anger
Scripture: Numbers 20:7-12
Date: September 22, 2019
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you and your bother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." (Numbers 20:7-12)
The sin that kept him and the rest of the people out was unbelief.
I want us to see three things that will help us to allow God to arrest our anger, that will help us to give our anger to God:
- Heart
- Exodus 11:8
- Exodus 32:15-16
- Exodus 32:19
- Exodus 32:16
- Exodus 32:20
- Exodus 34:1
- The unbelief here is manifested as anger. The outcome of unbelief is anger.
- We get very self-centered when we are angry.
- This sin tainted God's glory (v. 12).
- "The opposite of this anger is not self control...[it's] humility." -Tim Keller
- Anger is being released because you, in your pride, are trying to control an uncontrollable universe.
- I'm either a moral failure or I am loved; I can't be both. The gospel says you can be both.
- "Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one." -Ben Franklin
- "Anger is actually a form of love. Anger is love in motion to deal with a treat to someone or something we truly care about." -Tim Keller
- Harm
- Anger is harmful to your health.
- Anger is harmful to the people around you.
- Sin can be forgiven but often leaves consequences; this is especially true with anger.
- There are 6 deadly steps of anger:
- Bitterness
- Rage
- Anger
- Brawling
- Slander
- Malice
- Help
- A few practical helps:
- count to 10
- take a breather (10 deep breaths)
- take a walk
- talk to a friend
- Admit and analyze it
- Repent
- Forgive
- Forgiveness doesn't mean it wasn't a big deal, they will get away with it, or you were not hurt.
- It is not forgetting; it is not saying it didn't matter; it is not pretending it did not happen; and it is not the same thing as reconciling.
- Forgiveness is letting it go and saying "You don't owe me anything."
- Forgiveness is canceling the debt of one who has sinned agains us by promising not to bring it up to the offender, to others, or to ourselves.
- Forgiveness is treating that person like God wants you to treat them.
- A few practical helps:
WEEKLY CHALLENGE: When you are tempted to get angry this week, ask yourself if you are loving something more than God and His glory.
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Good morning! We were so blessed to have Bro. Terrence Jones speak for us this morning. Bro. Terrence is the Senior Pastor at Strong Tower church in the Washington Park area of Montgomery, AL. We hope that you are as blessed by Bro. Terrence's message as we were!
Sunday Sep 22, 2019
Sunday Sep 22, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: Taking Sides or Taking Over
Scripture: Joshua 5:13-15
Date: September 15, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: When you have an opportunity to do/say something you believe God wants you to, praying something like this: "Lord, I trust You to live Your life through me right here." Read chapter 10 in "The Saving Life of Christ" this week.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:13-15)
Let's discover some big deals as we conclude the series but hopefully grow in allowing Christ to live His life through me:
- Pattern
- The big deal is that He is our pattern and our power.
- Why: God told me to
How: God is with me, in me, and will live through me. - "As you have learned to thank Him for His death, so you thank Him for His life, humbly assuming that He lives in you, as you have already humbly assumed that He died for you." -Ian Thomas
- Joshua 1:9
- John 8:29a
- Joshua 2:9-11, NIV
- Practice
- Joshua 3:10-11
- "In so many words, Joshua said, "You have been living for forty years int he wilderness as though your God were dead, but you are going to live from now on knowing that your God is alive." -Ian Thomas
- "Suppose God were to die tonight - would it make any difference in the way you live your Christian life tomorrow?" -Ian Thomas
- Revelation 3:1b, NIV
- Joshua 3:4b, NLT
- Exodus 14:21
- Joshua 3:15-16a
- Why did they do this? How did this work? How was this accomplished?
- Power
- John 5:19
- Joshua 5:13-14
- The question is not: "Is God on our side?" The question is: "Are we on God's side?"
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Live with this reality this week:
Why: God told me to
How: God is with me, in me, and will live through me.
Finish reading "The Saving Life of Christ."
Wednesday Sep 18, 2019
Wednesday Sep 18, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: Important Reminders for Meeting with God
Scripture: Exodus 19:16-17
Date: September 8, 2019
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 19:16-17)
If you are too busy to meet with the Lord, then you are too busy.
This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NIV)
Here are 4 ways to help us prepare to meet God and know Him better:
- Willing to obey
- Exodus 19:3-6, 7-8
- I commit to obey before I know what You are going to say.
- "He tells me what to do, and I have no safe option but to do it." -Charles Swindoll
- Luke 17:10
- Be alert to listen
- Exodus 19:9
- We need to be alert to hear.
- Spiritual cleansing
- Exodus 19:10
- We all need to take a few minutes and see if there is something blocking us from hearing and experiencing God.
- "While passing through this world of sin/And others your life shall view/Be clean and pure without within/Let others see Jesus in you." -"Let Others See Jesus in You"
- Deep reverence for God
- Exodus 19:16
- "If we are lost and living in sin, we have a good reason to be afraid of God because we are not right with Him and are destined for judgment and condemnation. But if we are His redeemed people, there is no reason to be terrified of Him. However, we have every reason to show Him reverence and honor Him." -Charles Stanley
- Hebrews 12:28
- Revelation 1:17
It's so unusual it's frightening
You see right through the mess inside me
And you call me out to pull me in
You tell me I can start again
And I don't need to keep on hiding
I'm fully known and loved by You
You won't let go no matter what I do
And it's not one or the other
It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known, fully known and loved by You
I'm fully known and loved by You
-Fully Known and Loved by You
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: The Sin That Keeps You Out
Scripture: Hebrews 3:19
Date: September 8, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 9 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week. Pray a lot this week, "Lord Jesus, live Your life through me right now. Thank You that You will."
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19)
"Unbelief grieves the heart of God more than any other sin." -David Wilkerson
Why is the sin of unbelief the one that keeps us out of God's promised life?
- It is a root sin
- Hebrews 3:18-19
- Numbers 13:1-2
- Numbers 13:27-28
- Numbers 14:6-9
- Unbelief brings about a host of other sins.
- It is a robbing sin
- How much faith would it have taken to get the land?
- You have to have enough faith to act on.
- Revelation 21:8
- It is a sin that needs repentance
- "It was out of a deep sense of need, as I despaired of my Christian life, that I made the startling discovery that for seven years I had missed the whole point of my salvation, that christ had not died just to save me from hell and one day get me to heaven, but that I might become available to Him, for Him to live His life through me." -Ian Thomas
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: When you have an opportunity to do/say something you believe God wants you to, pray something like this: "Lord, I trust You to live Your life through me right here." Read chapter 10 in "The Saving Life of Christ" this week.
Friday Sep 13, 2019
Friday Sep 13, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: The Exhausted Christian
Scripture: Exodus 18:17-18
Date: September 1, 2019
So Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself." (Exodus 18:17-18)
Moses was really good at not taking out his frustration on the people
Moses was really good at not taking things personally.
How does God help us recover from being emotionally and spiritually tired? Here are a few things God uses to help us:
- God restores us with His people
- Exodus 18:8
- We all need someone to talk with.
- We need someone we can talk with about the highs and lows of our relationship with the Lord (and life).
- We need someone to talk to about life.
- We all need someone we can worship with.
- Exodus 18:9-10; 11-12
- We all need someone to talk with.
- Exodus 18:8
- God restores us with His rest
- Praise God Moses was wise enough to listen.
- Exodus 18:19-20
- We all need to exercise, and we all need to eat.
- "No one is attracted to an unsmiling, always-grim-looking individual especially if he never takes a break to enjoy life. It is no sign of spirituality that you groan your way through life, looking humble and wanting everybody to be impressed with your rundown, overworked, underpaid, haggard appearance. Get a life!" -Charles Swindoll
- God restores us with Himself
- He restores us by us spending time with Him and paying attention to Him.
- Exodus 18:24, NIV
- Learn to separate the most important from the important.
Thursday Sep 12, 2019
Thursday Sep 12, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: Your Internal Battle
Scripture: Romans 7:18
Date: September 1, 2019
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (Romans 7:18)
The flesh is trying to satisfy your desires outside of God's will.
The flesh is the capacity to be self-controlled, to be uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit, and it encompasses all that has been made old by the presence of the new nature.
1. It refers to one's own effort independent of God (Rom. 4:1; Phil. 3:3; Gal. 3:3)
2. It refers to one's infirmity, weakness, and helplessness (Rom. 8:3)
3. It refers to our state of sin or being controlled by sin (Rom. 7:5)
The devil loves to keep you preoccupied with yourself instead of being preoccupied with Christ.
To allow Christ to live through me, I have to deal with the flesh. Here are three important words to consider as we deal with the flesh:
- Struggle
- Romans 7:18-19, NLT
- "Praise God for the war within! Serenity in sin is death. The Spirit has landed to do battle wit the flesh. So take heart if your soul feels like a battlefield at times. The sign of whether you are indwell by the Spirit is not that you have no bad desires, but that you are at war with them." -John Piper
- Seriousness
- "The flesh is a built-in law of failure, making it impossible for the natural man to please or serve God. The flesh can never be reformed or improved. The only hope for escape from the law of the flesh is its total execution and replacement by a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ." -Mark Bubeck
- Isaiah 14;13-14
- Spirit
- Galatians 2:20
- Galatians 5:16, NIV
- "You have been trying not to fulfill the lust of the flesh, in order to walk in the Spirit - fighting a battle already lost. What God has said to you is this, 'Walk in the Spirit,' in an attitude of total dependence upon Him, exposing everything to Him, 'and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh' - for you will then be enjoying through Him the victory that Christ has already won." -Ian Thomas
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 9 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week. Pray a lot this week, "Lord Jesus, live Your life through me right now. Thank You that You will."
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Our last with Bro. Billy was such a bittersweet joy. We hope that you have been blessed by his messages as we were! He closes out our revival services by preaching from 1 John 5:13...
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
Bro. Billy Graham, Pastor of Prayer & Evangelism at Redemption Church in Saraland, AL, continues tonight out of Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1-10...
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the sprit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.