Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Jason Paredes: How Long Will You Doubt? (Exodus 9:1-12)

Jason Paredes, lead pastor of Fielder Church in Arlington, declared, “All the blessings of God are found in obedience … in obeying God.” We experience all the fullness of God’s blessings when we obey God, he continued. “The longer you delay obedience, the harder it gets to obey,” Paredes added.

The greater the distance between God’s command and a person’s obedience, the greater the number of excuses for not obeying. Ultimately, a person can become so calloused as to not be able to hear God anymore, Paredes explained. Pharaoh provides an example.

God sent plagues against Pharaoh and Egypt to bring about the release of the Israelites. Despite the worsening nature of the plagues, Pharaoh continued to harden his heart against God.

Paredes examined the fifth and sixth plagues—death of Egyptian livestock and boils on the Egyptians. He described their economic and spiritual significance. He cautioned his hearers against hardening their hearts, referring to Hebrews 3:7-14, and he concluded by pointing to the work of Jesus interceding before God on our behalf (Hebrews 4:14-16).

This sermon was delivered Aug. 28, 2022, for the morning worship service of Fielder Church in Arlington. It is part of a series on the Book of Exodus.

A sermon script is available here. A Spanish version of this sermon is available here.

Bautistas Predicando es una columna del Baptist Standard. No es un esfuerzo para avanzar en una teología o estilo, sino para presentar lo que una colección de Bautistas considera una palabra de Dios. Asimismo, Bautistas Predicando ofrece un repositorio de predicación Bautista para el estudio y la investigación futuros. Para recomendar un sermón que se presentará en la Bautistas Predicando, por favor envía un correo electrónico a eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Rafael Rondón: ¿Por Cuánto Tiempo Vas a Dudar? (Éxodo 9:1-12)

Rafael Rondón, el pastor de campus de Pioneer de Fielder Church in Arlington, consideró el problema de “la parálisis del análisis”. Las personas posponen la toma de decisiones cuando sopesan todos los detalles y costos. Obedecer a Dios puede correr la misma suerte si continuamente esperamos más pruebas de Dios para creer y obedecer.

Faraón ofrece un ejemplo de este tipo de renuencia espiritual a obedecer a Dios. Las plagas, especialmente la quinta en la que murió el ganado egipcio, fueron una catástrofe económica, explicó Rondón. También fueron un ataque espiritual directo contra los dioses egipcios, agregó.

Buscar más pruebas o más respuestas puede convertirse en una excusa para no creerle a Dios y no obedecerle. Buscar respuestas no es el problema; buscando razones para no creer que Dios es. Eventualmente, Dios puede aceptar nuestro rechazo hacia él, y nuestros corazones se endurecerán a él como lo declara Hebreos 3:7-14.

Hoy sigue siendo un día de esperanza, proclamó Rondón. No endurezcas ni cierres tu corazón a Dios, sino mantenlo abierto a Dios y cree en él, exhortó.

Este sermón se pronunció el 28 de agosto de 2022 para el servicio de adoración matutino del Pioneer Campus de Fielder Church en Arlington. Es parte de una serie sobre el Libro del Éxodo.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Juan Moreno: Faithful to Examine the Truth (Luke 4:1-4, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

Juan Moreno, bilingual pastor and student pastor of First Baptist Church in Athens, said we have to look for and find the truth. He recalled when he was a classroom teacher and had to determine the truth when a child came to him blaming another child.

Moreno introduced the Gospel of Luke. Luke wrote more of the New Testament than anyone except Paul. He was a Gentile doctor who sought the truth and turned his training on studying and interviewing those who knew Jesus. His Gospel is the basis for the Jesus film seen by millions of people. People are coming to know Jesus because of Luke’s faithfulness to telling Jesus’ story, he said.

The Apostle Paul demonstrated the same kind of faithfulness to Jesus and the gospel, Moreno explained.

Faithfulness is demonstrated by trusting God, our light in darkness, he said. It also involves confessing mistakes, continuing in faith, and investing time and energy in our relationship with Christ. There are no shortcuts; the truth always will be found.

This sermon was delivered Sept. 18, 2022, for the bilingual morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Athens. It is part of a series on the fruits of the Spirit.

A sermon outline is available here.

Bautistas Predicando es una columna del Baptist Standard. No es un esfuerzo para avanzar en una teología o estilo, sino para presentar lo que una colección de Bautistas considera una palabra de Dios. Asimismo, Bautistas Predicando ofrece un repositorio de predicación Bautista para el estudio y la investigación futuros. Para recomendar un sermón que se presentará en la Bautistas Predicando, por favor envía un correo electrónico a eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Juan Moreno: Fieles en Examinar la Verdad (Lucas 4:1-4, 1 Corintios 4:1-5)

Juan Moreno, pastor bilingüe y pastor estudiantil de la Primera Iglesia Bautista de Atenas, dijo que tenemos que buscar y encontrar la verdad. Recordó cuando era maestro de clase y tuvo que determinar la verdad cuando un niño se acercó a él culpando a otro niño.

Moreno introdujo el Evangelio de Lucas. Lucas escribió más del Nuevo Testamento que nadie excepto Pablo. Era un médico gentil que buscaba la verdad y centró su formación en estudiar y entrevistar a los que conocían a Jesús. Su Evangelio es la base de la película de Jesús vista por millones de personas. La gente está llegando a conocer a Jesús debido a la fidelidad de Lucas al contar la historia de Jesús, dijo.

El apóstol Pablo demostró el mismo tipo de fidelidad a Jesús y al evangelio, explicó Moreno.

La fidelidad se demuestra confiando en Dios, nuestra luz en la oscuridad, dijo. También implica confesar errores, continuar en la fe e invertir tiempo y energía en nuestra relación con Cristo. No hay atajos; la verdad siempre será encontrada.

Este sermón se pronunció el 18 de septiembre de 2022 para el servicio de adoración matutino bilingüe de la Primera Iglesia Bautista en Atenas. Es parte de una serie sobre los frutos del Espíritu.

Un bosquejo del sermón está disponible aquí.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Pastor Rocky Vasquez: A New Birth (John 3:1-10)

Rocky Vasquez, pastor of Calvary Lakeside Baptist Church in Duncanville, described butterflies as caterpillars that have been transformed. What people consider ugly, slimy and suitable for stepping on changes into something beautiful.

Jesus described something similar in his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus. The powerful, prestigious and pious Nicodemus was missing something in his life. Jesus said he needed to be born again.

Being born again is being made a new person. It goes beyond the externals of knowing the right answers and doing the right things. It is the internal work of the Holy Spirit initiated by God, Vasquez declared. The internal change makes itself known outwardly, he proclaimed.

This sermon was delivered July 10, 2022, for the morning worship service of Calvary Lakeside Baptist Church in Duncanville.

The sermon manuscript and slides are available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Van Christian: Asking the Wrong Question (John 4:4-10)

Van Christian, pastor of First Baptist Church in Comanche, considered the question a Samaritan woman asked Jesus when they met at a well. She wanted to know how Jesus could ask her for a drink of water. Christian explained the problem with that question.

The woman’s question pointed out the differences between her and Jesus that were supposed to keep them separated. We do the same thing to establish separation between us and God, rejecting God’s efforts to connect with us, Christian contended.

Christians have perpetuated the misunderstanding that God doesn’t want anything to do with people, he continued. Christians must go back to the world with the correct message about Jesus, correcting the misunderstanding, Christian exhorted.

The right question asks for relationship. Christians must teach the world how to ask it, he concluded.

This sermon was delivered March 19, 2017, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Comanche.

A sermon manuscript is available here.

https://baptiststandard.com/wp-content/uploads/Van-Christian_03192017.mp3

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Joshua Sharp: Trials and Temptations (James 1:1-18)

Joshua Sharp, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Orange, compared spiritual growth to physical strengthening. A person who only uses 5-lb. weights can’t expect to develop the kind of strength required of an Olympian, he said. Just as physical strengthening requires increasing resistance, so does spiritual growth.

Sharp provided a practical and thorough verse-by-verse explanation—what is called an expository sermon—of James 1:1-18. He described the way James instructed Christians to think about trials. James also instructed Christians facing trials first to seek wisdom by asking God for it.

Sharp explained trials are not necessarily punishment, and they often do hurt. Christians will face difficulties and should trust God confidently—particularly God’s character and intent—through them. Likewise, outward trials are not the same as inward temptations. We should not blame God for the latter.

Sharp concluded where James concluded the passage, with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

This sermon was delivered Aug. 7, 2022, for the morning worship service of Trinity Baptist Church in Orange. It was the first sermon in a series on the Letter of James.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Jana Morga: Meditation of Heart (Psalm 49:1-12)

Jana Morga, student minister at Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, opened her homily with an illustration from Star Wars Episode 3. Seeing Anakin Skywalker’s fear of death, Chancellor Palpatine offered him a way to save from dying the one Anakin loved most.

Death is a common fear. Addressing this fear, the author of Psalm 49 tells all people—regardless of status—where to find hope, Morga said. That hope is found in Christ’s death on the cross and his victory over death, she continued.

Morga explained the Hebrew words from Psalm 49:3 translated as “wisdom,” “meditation,” “heart” and “understanding.” She called her listeners to meditate on God’s heart in order to get to know God intimately and then to act on their knowledge of God, the purpose of which is “love in action.”

This sermon on the lectionary passage was delivered July 31, 2022, for the morning worship service of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, which at the end of the service licensed Morga to gospel ministry.

A sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Rev. Allen Scott: Obey or Disobey? (Judges 6–7)

This week’s feature is a departure from the weekly sermon feature. Though technically a Bible study, Rev. Allen Scott delivered his lesson in a way often associated with preaching. Likewise, his method of teaching is similar to the form of an expository sermon, which is a comprehensive and detailed explanation of a passage of Scripture.

Rev. Allen Scott, associate pastor of couples ministry at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas, began his study of Judges 6–7 with a recap of key lessons from Judges 1–5. He explained how the Israelites were unfaithful to God. They worshipped just like the people around them who worshipped other gods.

As a result of doing “evil in God’s sight,” God gave the Israelites “into the hands of the Midianites.” “God allowed the Midianites to be in control [of the Israelites] for seven years,” Scott recounted. And the Israelites cried out to God because of it.

There is a price to pay for disobedience, Scott declared. To those who don’t like what the Bible says or what God says to do, Scott responded: “You don’t have to like it. … It’s your thing. Do what you wanna to do. You can obey, or you can disobey. But understand, disobedience is going to lead me to bondage somewhere. There is a price to pay.”

Scott explained in equally strong language God’s response to the Israelites, God’s expectations of them, and God’s deliverance of them through Gideon.

This study was livestreamed July 20, 2022, for the Wednesday night Bible study at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas. It is part of a series on Judges.

A sermon presentation is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Josh Breslaw: ReKindle Evangelism (2 Timothy 1:1-12, 2:8-13)

Josh Breslaw, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gonzales, began his tenure there with a sermon on Paul’s instructions to Timothy. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul suggests his young protégé needed to “rekindle the gift of God” given to him.

Paul referenced Timothy’s mother and grandmother as examples of the faith Timothy needed. Breslaw suggested Paul was disappointed in Timothy for not living up to his mother and grandmother’s example.

Breslaw explored reasons why Paul exhorted Timothy to rekindle God’s gift in him. Timothy’s problem seems to have been cowardice, his “playing it safe.” A generation later, John sent Jesus’ message to the same church Timothy served—the church in Ephesus—which still needed to rekindle its “first love.”

Breslaw challenged his hearers to examine the work they are doing in Christ’s name and whether they are doing it in Christ’s power and fueled by passion for Christ. He concluded with a call to be rekindled through the Holy Spirit or to make a first commitment to following Christ.

This sermon was delivered June 5, 2022—Pentecost Sunday—for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Gonzales. It was the first sermon in a series on 2 Timothy titled “ReKindle.”

A sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Pastor Chris Simmons: Soon, I’ll Be Done with the Troubles of this World (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

Chris Simmons, senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas, appealed to Paul’s encouragement to his younger protegé Timothy. Though this world has trouble, trouble will not last forever.

Paul wanted to prepare Timothy to receive the mantel of ministry from him, Simmons explained. Paul told Timothy to preach God’s word. It’s “going to be rough,” so “keep your head,” Simmons paraphrased.

Paul told Timothy he’d given God his best, was poured out and was getting ready to depart this life. Paul expressed his confidence to Timothy that he did what God called him to do, and faithfully so—he fought well and finished well—and would be rewarded by the Lord.

Paul wanted Timothy to know: “Not only does God got a crown for me but God’s got a crown for you” and for all who look and long for Christ’s appearance, Simmons proclaimed.

This sermon was delivered July 10, 2022, for the morning worship service of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas as part of a series on 2 Timothy.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Seth Pitman: Difficult Times Ahead (2 Timothy 3)

Seth Pitman, outgoing pastor of First Baptist Church in Throckmorton, is preaching through 2 Timothy to prepare his congregation for their next pastor. He will begin a new pastorate August 1 with First Baptist Church in Seagraves.

Paul was preparing his young protegé, Timothy, for ministry after Paul was gone. He wanted Timothy to be ready for the difficult times that would come. Those difficulties might not be persecution. They might be the normal trials of life.

“It is a gross misrepresentation of the Christian walk for someone to stand before you and say, ‘Give your life to Christ, and all your problems will go away.’ That’s a lie,” Pitman declared.

Paul’s counsel to Timothy expounds on two points: Difficult times will come—as confirmed by Scripture in numerous places—but “with God we can get through them,” Pitman said.

He then described the two resources Paul told Timothy God provided for getting through the difficult times.

This sermon was delivered July 10, 2022, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church of Throckmorton as part of a series on 2 Timothy.