Bethlehem Baptist Church

Introduction: Have you ever been working with someone on a project and as they first begin to explain to you the project, you are a little unsure of what the vision is? As you work on it, the plan begins to unfold and you see what was tucked away in their minds begin to unfold before you? Last summer…

Introduction: There are some prayers that are as close to Scripture as you can get without being Scripture. One book of prayers that I have come to love that is a compilation of many puritan prayers that is so saturated with Scripture that it models for us the practice of praying back the Scriptures…

Introduction: I hope you at some point in the last couple of weeks have had the opportunity to walk down the mine shaft leading into the fellowship hall. If you did, you might have noticed a stick or two of dynamite laying on the ground in there. We've had a wonderful week of Vacation Bible School with…

Introduction: Well, most school graduations have taken place by this point and school is finally over. Maybe some of you have been waiting for months, since the first bought of warmer weather came for school to be over. You may have been counting down the days. Maybe you have summer plans that you want…

Introduction: Do any of you remember Scrooge McDuck? You remember that he was a wise financier and was a wealthy stinking animal! He used to have piles of gold coins that his nephews would dive onto and play in. You might wish you could be a little like Scrooge McDuck and have some piles of riches of…

Introduction: I'm sure that many of you at some point in your life have watched the transformation of a caterpillar, which is just another name for a glorified worm, into a butterfly. Maybe you have seen the caterpillar and put it into a jar with some leaves from the plant it was munching on and poked…

Introduction: We live in a distracting world. Things that grab at our attention. Some good some obviously bad. Focus mode. The Bible warns us to redeem the time for the days are evil. Anything that takes our focus off the mission God has sent us to accomplish is from the evil one. In the Christian life…

Introduction: Mom's are important in shaping the life of their children. What people believe about God is often transmitted by parents to their children. The children who grow up to be faithful followers of Christ do not do so because Christ is occaisionally mentioned in the home. They do so because…

Introduction: When we come to church to worship, singing is usually a part of the service. It might seem like a peculiar thing to go somewhere and sit in pews and sing, but it should be something that flows naturally out of our heart. Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this: ‘But how can I make melody in…

Introduction: 1 Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. 2 And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 3 But…

Introduction: What are some wise pithy sayings that you've heard people say about the weather or the times we live in? "When the wind is in the east, 'tis neither good for man nor beast." – Suggests that easterly winds often bring bad weather. "Ring around the moon, rain soon." – A halo around the moon…

Introduction How many of you have spent time wrestling in prayer with God over something? How about your sin? God wants us to wrestle with Him because it leads to our fellowship with Him and dependence on Him. What about when you've sinned against God? Have you ever messed up and felt so much grief over…

Introduction: A picture is worth a thousand words. We now love video more than pictures. The short form of video has taken over the social media world and dominates much of our time. Video Evidence of things Deep fakes 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into…

Introduction: My wife's grandmother lived next to us for many years. She was like a grandmother to me as well and we used to love walking next door. One of the ways she loved to show love to us was to cook for us. We wanted to make her feel that her love was received, so of course we ate what she cooked.…

Introduction: 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to…

Introduction: 1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was…

Introduction: What is the most embarrassing moment you've ever had? If you share it with us, I promise we won't tell anybody. I could share several with you tonight. Some people learn to embrace these moments in their lives, but if we are honest, they all can still make us blush. No matter what your…

Introduction: Have you ever gone out of your way to show kindness to someone that just didn't deserve it? Tonight we are going to talk about something that King David did to show kindness to one of his enemies, and as we will see, it is another foreshadowing of the kindness of God towards us. 1 And David…

Introduction: You know we all can probably share a few stories of some crazy things that we did growing up. If you ever come to our house you will find that we have a pond on the property. There is a narrow end to that pond and we once had a family member that set up a zip line across the pond at that…

Introduction Everyone loves a good story about a good king. We love the story to contain some drama and fighting with the good guys coming out on top. One of these stories that has been handed down through time is the story of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. King Richard the Lionheart Prince…

Introduction: Have you ever made a promise to someone and they called you on it? Maybe you promised your child or your grandchildren that you would take them out for an ice cream if they did well on a test. You make a promise and it seems like the time to fulfill that promise will come in the far distant…

Introduction: Here lately we've had some pretty powerful storms. It seems the weather has been on full display. Now, every time the wind picks up and starts to howl, I listen closely and start watching the trees to make sure they stay in place. Some of us have developed a sort of PTSD from the wind and…

Introduction: We've all been in worship services where we felt the Holy Spirit was present and we felt that God was surely in that place. We also have been in services that we felt were flat. A lot of people choose a church based on the worship service. If they are satisfied with the style of the service…

Introduction: We all love a good cookout. Some of you actually love to take your food and go camping or have a picnic out in nature. Almost always, these types of trips are planned. However, I want you to imaging for a moment following Jesus around for days trying to get a glimpse of Him. Maybe you are…

Introduction: Last week we looked at keeping the peace within the body by helping those who are having conflict come to peace with one another and labor together again. We had looked prior to that at the peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds. We saw that prayer and thanksgiving…

Introduction: A king without a capital city is really more like a deposed king than a reigning monarch. David has become king of Israel, but God is not finished with Him yet. Tonight we are going to see that God delights to use those who are committed to Him. 1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David…

Introduction: Peer pressure can make you do some crazy things. The encounter we are going to look at this morning will disturb and sicken you. It has all of the elements of a blockbuster hit, and while it might entertain the crowds, it should grieve our hearts. We will dive right in and see what happens.…

Introduction There is an expression “Good things come to those who wait.” That may be true, but tell that to the guy that's having to wait, right? We hate waiting, but the truth is, God has made us a waiting people. We are even waiting right now for Jesus' return and the consummation of all things. 1…

Introduction: Some of you may like to take up certain hobbies that involve discovering interesting finds. Maybe you like to go antique shopping. You may like to go to yard sales and see what treasures you might find. Some of you may even have a metal detector and you scour the ground looking for precious…

Introduction: How would you feel if someone who hated you suddenly died? In our world today, many would be glad. 1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. 2 And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his…

Introduction: intro 31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of…

Introduction: Who are some of your role models in the faith? Some of these people may be living, and some may have gone on to be with the Lord. Everyone should have someone that is their Paul. Paul mentored Timothy and Timothy mentored faithful men who would be able to entrust what they had learned to…

Introduction A few years ago we had a Vacation Bible School that had a song that was pretty catch called “Wonerfully Made.” Some of you may remember that song and you may can do the motions still. I think about that song every time I read Psalm 139 . Last Sunday was the Sanctity of Life Sunday and if…

Introduction: When I plant my garden in the spring, I usually start off pretty well. I don't have a lot of weed pressure to begin with, but if I am not careful, they will come with a vengeance and if I don't pull them out when they are small and don't have a good root system developed, I might not can…

Introduction: I don't like pain. Pain hurts. And yet, pain is a good thing. Think about ways that pain can be a good thing. It can cause you to react to a danger situation (i.e. hot stove, fire) It can cause you to grow stronger - “No pain no gain!” It can also cause you to depend upon someone else Tonight…

Introduction: This morning, we are going to continue to talk about the different types of soil that make up a person's heart. Jesus tells the parable of the sower to help his listeners understand His teachings on the kingdom of God. God wants us to hear Him. I'm sure that you have heard the old cliche…

Introduction: I was in Walmart the other day and if you've been in the store recently to look at the Christmas Clearance sales, you have probably noticed that they have already moved out the Christmas items to make way for Valentine's Day stuff and they are setting up their spring displays. My wife has…

Introduction: Have you ever looked at those 3D puzzles called magic eye? They used to be popular and everyone would go cross-eyed staring at them. They are made from a pattern that then has another image hidden behind it. I want to show you a few optical illusions this morning and see if you can spot…

Introduction: If you could write down what a successful new year would look like for you and have anything you wrote down come to pass, what would you put down as your most "blessed" year every? Something that God has been showing me lately is the amount of time that is wasted in my life on things that…

Introduction: What do you love most in this world? Christmas is a season where we often focus on love. We see it in marriage proposals as presents are opened and that engagement ring is there to be unwrapped. Of course I was always told that I couldn't cheat and try to give an engagement ring as a present.…

Introduction: 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and…

Introduction: What is it that you love most about Christmas? Is it the lights and the decorations? Maybe it's the parties and the festivities. You may love gathering with your family and friends. Christmas is probably one of the most popular holidays in the world and we may all have different reasons…

Introduction: When Mary held Jesus in her arms, what thoughts do you think were going through her head? To answer this question is to speculate and we can't know for sure, but we can ask what we might have been thinking. Most of us at some point have held a baby in our arms and you generally don't have…

Introduction: Christmas is a holiday that always comes under attack by the unbelieving world. We talked about how the world will attack us as Christians because we belong to our Father in Heaven. The reject God so therefore they reject us. We see also how easily the world will mock Christianity while…

Introduction: At Christmas we often focus on the “three kings” of Christmas. These were really the magi but the song has ingrained three kings in our minds and we also don't really know how many of them there were. We know that they brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They will arrive in…

Introduction: Christmas is a beautiful season full of wonder and mystery. A lot of people focus on the material things, but as Christians it is a season for us to focus on the King of Christmas. We often turn to very familiar passages. Familiar passages can become trite if we are not careful. They can…

Introduction: This week we will gather together with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. We come to this season of the year and think about the first Thanksgiving with Pilgrims and Indians and giving thanks to the Lord for surviving in such a harsh environment. We also think to modern day traditions of…

Introduction: Shepherding is an occupation that most of us will never consider outside of a setting like this. We won't have our children tell us that they want to be a shepherd when they grow up. We will probably only think about them when we put up our Christmas decorations and when we are in church…

Introduction: If you have pets, particularly dogs that live outside, you know that their is a type of pest that can really wreak havoc on your pet and even prove to be lethal. It's called heart worms. Your dog can handle fleas and ticks, though you don't really want them either, but heart worms will…

Introduction: Our nation has recently come through a very trying election season. For Christians, every season can seem trying. We sometimes forget that we do not belong to the kingdoms of this world, but to the heavenly kingdom of God. We have dual citizenship and try to influence earthly kingdoms with…

There is one spiritual discipline that Christians in the past used to take more serious that most Christians fail to practice anymore. That discipline is family worship. The fact that it is not practiced anymore shows! Imagine if you never teach your children how to brush their teeth. What would happen?…