First Baptist Church exists to develop disciples who love God, love the church, and love others. Find out more at www.bartow.church.
In the 1850s, a well-educated woman from a wealthy British family felt a divine calling to serve others through nursing—an occupation then considered lowly and improper for women of her status. Despite opposition, she trained as a nurse and went …
In 1988, musical artist Bobby McFerrin released a song. Part of the lyrics are as follows: Here's a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don't worry, be happy In every life we have some …
Have you ever thought about what type of mother you should be? Perhaps you've had some thoughts about what type of mother someone else should be. Did you know that God has an idea of what type of mother He …
There are a lot of issues in churches. There is disunity. There is sin. Some say churches are full of hypocrites. Some churches are led by poor leaders. Some churches don't allow their leaders to lead. Some churches have financial …
You know, as pastors, we deal with lots of issues. Some issues are serious, and some are less serious. Sometimes, people bring things to you that are no big deal at all. Sometimes, people make much ado about nothing. Sometimes, …
We need some help sometimes, don't we? When I first learned to use our text messaging service at church, I didn't know what I was doing; I needed a helper. When I rebuilt my first car, a 1965 Ford Falcon, I didn't know …
We have certain holidays in America that most people don't really know why we celebrate. For example, many people don't know the difference between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. A lot of us have no idea why we celebrate Labor …
Have you ever seen a cliffhanger movie? Now, I'm not talking about this one with Sylvester Stallone. Rather, I'm talking about a movie that ends in a way that leaves questions about what happened. I'll never forget the TV series “Lost.” Jennifer and I …
Have you ever seen an advertisement for a destination and it tells you some of the features of that destination? It may be something like, “Welcome to Bartow! Bartow has beautiful sunsets over the bright Florida sky. Bartow has majestic …
Do you recall a time when you had to assure others that everything would be ok? For many years, I was a youth pastor. I took teenagers on retreats, camps, and mission trips, all over the country and all over …
5 years ago I preached from 2 Peter 1:12-15 on how routine isn't easy. It costs us something to maintain. Sometimes it can feel exhausting to the point where the cost seems greater than the reward, where the cost of …
Ok, “There were two Jews, a governor, and a king.” Now, that might sound like the opening line of a joke, but it's not. Instead, it's the title of our sermon today: “Two Jews, a Governor, and a King.” In today's …
Have you ever seen someone so convinced they are right, yet they are actually completely wrong? Nowhere is this more apparent than on social media. I heard someone say the other day, “I've never seen someone win an argument on …
The country singer George Strait has a famous song called, “Amarillo by Morning.” In it, he sings, “Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone.” Well, today, we're continuing to discuss Paul's travels. You may recall that he was set to …
Do you remember what's going on with Paul in the Book of Acts? He was trying to make his way to Jerusalem, then to Rome, to continue expanding his mission to reach people with the message that Jesus Christ saves …
Did you know that ministry is not just for pastors and missionaries? Ministry is for every follower of Jesus Christ. God has a job for you to do, not only in the general sense but in a specific sense. …
Have you ever been in a ruckus? Some of you might be thinking, “I'm not even sure what a ruckus is.” A ruckus is a disturbance or commotion. Sometimes, you might come into a room where your …
An objection is a reason that you are against something or don't want to do something. I may want my kids to go outside because they're causing chaos inside. They may object by saying, “It's too hot outside.” …
How many of you here think you are pretty familiar with tools? Well, let's take a little quiz on tools and see how you do. You'll have to grade yourself on the honor system. Ok, here's …
Well, 2024 is over, and 2025 is here. Welcome to the new year! My hope, as you've already heard, is that 2025 will be “The Year of Evangelism” for our church. So, on that note, I …
When a plan is put together to address a need, it often will end in a blessing. Over the last two weeks, we've learned about that happening with Christmas. We've learned about “The Need for Christmas” and “The Planning of …
How many of you are planners? How many of you are not planners? Well, we're going to learn today that God is a planner. Now, it's ok if you're not a planner. Don't worry; you're not God. However, …
Have you ever seen a need, made a plan to fix it, and then benefited from the blessing of carrying out that plan? When our family lived in Kentucky, we lived in a house that was built in 1900. It …
3 Truths from Romans 10:9-10, 13 If you are a believer and follower of Jesus, our enemy the devil, along with the angels who were deceived and followed him that we now know as demons – are constantly throwing things …
Do you ever watch any of the shows that feature pawn shops? You can see folks come in and try to sell or pawn things to these shops for some extra cash. Oftentimes, the pawn shop employees will bring in …
I recall seeing this expression in places of business when I was younger, though I don't recall seeing it as much lately. The expression was, “We aim to please.” Do you remember that? To aim at something means …
Oftentimes, when Pastor Dirck preaches, he references a comic book hero or a character from The Lord of the Rings. Well, I'm also a fan of The Lord of the Rings. There's a character in The Lord of …
Perhaps you've heard the word providence before. Providence refers to the fact that God is in control of all things, and He is working out His plan through all things. Providence means that God is not only powerful, …
Today, we're back in the Book of Acts. We have a missions team leaving this week to go encourage other Christians and do the work of evangelism among those who do not know Jesus. This ministry …
Passage: Joshua 1:1-9 – Encouragement of Joshua 1After the death of Moses the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses's assistant: 2“Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over …
Are you someone who verifies things before you commit to them? Perhaps you aren't the type of person who believes everything that you read on social media. Perhaps you double-check when your children say they cleaned their room. …
Have you ever noticed how people are affected in different ways by different experiences? Some people love to go to social gatherings; others are exhausted by them. Some people are enthralled with baseball games; others wonder why no one is …
I remember when I was I was in high school at Mulberry High School, the Harvard of Polk County, and I played soccer. I was one of those guys who could play any sport ok, but no sports really well. …
This week I was blessed to do the invocation and the benediction at the investiture of one of our Polk County judges. What that means is that I did the opening prayer and ending prayer for an event where they …
The Lord God is powerful, isn't He, church? He can provide, He can bless, He can encourage, He can comfort, He can convict, and so much more. We're going to learn today that one of the acts that …
Have you heard about the power of persuasion? We might tell our kids, “If you're good for 30 minutes, I'll take you to get ice cream.” Your boss may tell you, “If you meet certain marks, you'll get an end-of-the-year …
When Jennifer and I got married, we spoke about having kids. After a couple of years spent being young and childless, we decided to start having kids. We wanted many kids. Then, we couldn't have any children. We tried, and …
Do you remember just two weeks ago when we learned that the Christian Pharisees were bringing division into the Church of Antioch? They were trying to bring extra Jewish rules for the non-Jewish Christians to follow. However, then we …
I remember when I was in the process of applying to be a doctoral candidate at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I never thought that I would pursue a doctoral degree, but the Lord opened up several doors, and it …
Don't you wish that when things were going well in the church of God that things would just go smoothly? When people are getting saved from their sins, churches are growing, and leaders are being developed, it would …
Well, here we are back in the Book of Acts. I'm so excited! Today, we are in Acts 14:21-28. Let's do a little recap. Here's what's happened so far: Jesus appeared after His resurrection and …
In Isaiah 55:9, the Lord God says, “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” There is something marvelous, mysterious, and wondrous about God's everlasting …
Have you ever wondered what it means to praise the Lord? To praise someone means to give them the attention they are due, or to show them admiration. So, when we praise the Lord, we are giving Him the …
What is something for which you long and yearn? My two youngest sons long and yearn for Xbox. My oldest son longs and yearns for his virtual reality headset. My wife longs and yearns for sleep. Of course, I long …
Every fall, I go to the woods of Hopkins County, Kentucky, to spend time with friends and enjoy time in the woods. When I lived there, I helped my friend Jim move an old cabin onto the property he owned …
Do you have a place where you can go to get a moment of relaxation or refuge? For some of you, that might be your home, or your back porch, or something like that. For me, it's my office here …
Last week, we started a new series called “The Psalms of Summer.” We looked at Psalm 1 last week, and it ends with these words in verse 6, “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.” …
I have a lemon tree that I planted back in 2020. It looked something like this when I planted it. Now, it looks something like this. Some of you can't even see it. There it is. The …
Everyone has an opinion about life after death. Just about everyone assumes there is something out there somewhere. Few people stop long enough to think it through, and yet it's the most crucial issue facing all of us. In 2 …
Have you every had someone ask you what you did during your day, and you think, “Where do I start?” Perhaps you had a wide-variety of tasks; perhaps you had a long day; perhaps you had a lot going on. …
Have you ever thought about a missed opportunity? When I first started a job as a youth pastor in Naples, Florida, I was invited by a family member to go on an Alaskan cruise and have the entire thing paid …
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