Basic Biblical Beliefs - the 3 Essentials of God con't [42:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Psalm 102:25-27 [+/-]Psalm 102:25-27 [25]Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. [26]They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, [27]but you are the same, and your years have no end.
& Proverbs 16:9 [+/-]Proverbs 16:9 [9]The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
& Isaiah 46:9-11 [+/-]Isaiah 46:9-11 [9]remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, [10]declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' [11]calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
& James 1:17 [+/-]James 1:17 [17]Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (ESV)

Last week,  Pastor Al began looking at the 3 essentials of God; that help us better understand His Sovereignty. He covered the aspects of God’s Self Exsistancy last week, and picks up on His Self Sufficienty and His being Eternal tonight.

Deserts and entertainment by FBC members!

Please plan on making a donation to our

mission teams this summer to Kiev Ukraine,

and the Cherokees.

Bryson City/Cherokee, NC Families on Mission Trip June 20-25th

Kiev, Ukraine Mission Trip: July 9th – 18th

 

 Turning a Corner [41:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

1 Thessalonians 4:1-6 [+/-]1 Thessalonians 4:1-6 [4:1]Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. [2]For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. [3]For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; [4]that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, [5]not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; [6]that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. (ESV)

The first verse of the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians represents a turning of a corner.  We are on the same street that we have been on from the beginning of the book but we have here turned a corner that calls forth a different emphasis. The first word of the first verse of the fourth chapter is, “finally.”  Some more witty than me has noted that this “finally” is like the one found in a lot of preacher’s sermons; it is spoken and then what follows are two more whole chapters!  The word itself does not mean “finally” as in drawing to a conclusion but finally as in “as for what remains.”  And what remains here is so important.  Like many of Paul’s letters, this one can be easily divided into two sections.  The first section is about what the church is to be and what the church is to believe.  The second section is about how the church is to behave or what the church is to do.  And this is the corner that we turn with the first verse of the fourth chapter.  We turn from doctrine to duty or from belief to behavior.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

I did not vote for Barak Obama. That probably is a big shock to those of you who read this blog. But today shortly after noon, he became my president and your president as he officially accepted the rights and responsibilities of the highest office in the land. There is so much about where he stands on so many issues that I find impossible to support. I am strongly pro-life. I don’t believe in abortion and I don’t believe in euthanasia. His stances are radical on both. I do support our war on terror and have thought often that although we are better off without a strike on our homeland, maybe the validity of the war would have been substantiated by another strike. I am confident that more would have come had we not engaged the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. I do not believe that the government can solve our problems; most of what we face now in so many sectors is due to the government creating a multi-generation welfare state. That situation could get dreadfully worse in the next few years. I could go on and on about policy stances that were the reason for my not voting for him.

But not voting for him was hard for me because of my background. I wanted so much to vote for an African-American for president. I was so excited that we finally had a candidate of some color other than pale skinned people like me. I grew up in a time when black people were despised by white people. In fact, I was taught that only communists used the term “black” because what they really were was something else. You know the term. If you don’t, you are better off not knowing it. I remember going to the doctors office and seeing the two waiting rooms and watching as two to four whites were called back to see the doctor for every one black. I remember the separate water fountains and even separate entrances in restaurants that in my childhood were just then beginning to serve black people. I remember playing with children who were black and being rebuked by adults who just knew that I knew better. I remember when blacks marched in our town in the early sixties and were beaten and broken by their white landlords for their behavior. One scene that I shall never forget and do not want to forget happened the night after one of the marches. My grandfather’s cousin was a rather wealthy landowner who had numerous blacks living on his land. He took names of those who lived on his land and threw them out of their houses the afternoon before he came to church to lead the singing that night! I stood there as a little boy hearing my grandfather and others affirming him for him “putting those ?????? in their place.” And what I’ll never forget is hearing him lead the music that night as we sang about the love of God for all the world, and knowing that something was not right with that scene. And I remember going with the BSU at Augusta College to a black church in Augusta and having some of our students drop out because they were encouraged by their pastors and their parents not to go. All of this and so much more is a part of the warp and woof of my life. I was disturbed by events such as I have described; I detest them now. No person who belongs to Jesus could believe what so many taught me to believe about other races and no person who belongs to Jesus could have behaved the way some of these people behaved.

That is why I wanted to vote for Barak Obama. It was all the wrong reasons for voting for anybody. But it was a first for me for the first time in my life. His values would not allow me to vote for him. He is now my president. I will pray for him as I am commanded to do. I hope that you will too.

 

 Basic Biblical Beliefs - January 18, 2009 [32:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Isaiah 45:18-25 [+/-]Isaiah 45:18-25 [18]For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other. [19]I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right. [20]"Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. [21]Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. [22]"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. [23]By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' [24]"Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. [25]In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory."
& Job 40:6-9 [+/-]Job 40:6-9 [6]Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: [7]"Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. [8]Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? [9]Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

Tonight Pastor Al looks at the 3 essentials of God; that help us better understand His Sovereignty.

He covers the aspects of God’s Self Exsistancy, His Self Sufficienty and His being Eternal.

 

 The Key to Church Growth [40:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

1 Thessalonians 3:1‐12

The third chapter of First Thessalonians ends with a prayer.  This prayer is  pivotal.  It is a benediction and by virtue of what a benediction is, this prayer is  seeking God for His blessing upon the people in this church as they grow in  relationship to God, in relationship to one another and in relationship to reaching  the lost in their world with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This prayer is  transitional as it takes us from what is found in the first three chapters to what is  found in the final two chapters of this first letter of Paul to the church in  Thessalonica.  Paul prays first that God would see fit to open the way so that he  might come to them.  Here is an example of praying for what we so much desire  and believe it to be what God wants, but this never happened for Paul.  He wanted  to come to this church that he loved but he never made it beyond that first visit.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

Want to know more about being a Godly Man? Then do not pass up the opportunity to spend time with the Men of FBC. Whether you are a newcomer, or one of the original 20 from  Rocky Creek, there will be plenty to hear, see, and do at the retreat. Hear testimonies from men who have given their lives to Christ. We will dig deep into what it means to be a Godly Man in a worldly environment! Whether you are a Golfer or the adventurous type, your Saturday afternoon will be a great time of fellowship. Meals are included.  Come see what God has in store for you!

 

 Basic Biblical Beliefs - January 11, 2008 - the Doctrine of God - Pt 3 [+/-]ERROR: No passage found for your query.
: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Exodus 3 [+/-]Exodus 3 [3:1]Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in- law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2]And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. [3]And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." [4]When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." [5]Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." [6]And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. [7]Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, [8]and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. [9]And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. [10]Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." [11]But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" [12]He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." [13]Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" [14]God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" [15]God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. [16]Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, [17]and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."' [18]And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.' [19]But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. [20]So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. [21]And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, [22]but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians." (ESV)

Pastor Al begin continues teaching on the doctrine of God; under the microscopic lens of the Gospel.

Who is God?

Can we know this God?

 

 What does the Bible really teach about Alcohol? [44:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Proverbs
 20:1 
and 
Romans
 14:1‐23
I am going to talk today about what the Bible really says about the use of alcoholic beverages.  This sermon did not come to me suddenly; it has been brewing in me, no pun intended; for years.  The very best sermon on this subject that I have ever heard was delivered in 1997 by Pastor Johnny Hunt current president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of what is perhaps one of the finest churches in our Southern Baptist Convention.  Entitled “A Commitment to Total Abstinence” he preached this sermon on a Sunday night during a time in his church when this was a hot button issue.  Many of his members were social drinkers seeking to serve Jesus.  He pleaded with them to listen carefully and to look closely at the Word of God.  I am doing the same.  I am not preaching his sermon.  I don’t do that.  I have read it and studied it and will draw some data from it, but what you will hear today is the result of a long journey of struggle in my own life in relationship to this issue while seeking to be very serious about listening to these Sacred Writings.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

It is extremely unfair for any person who reviews a book to make blanket statements about the book without citng the substance of the book that creates the causes for concern.  What I did in my initial entry about The Shack was to show first that the book is very intriguing and very inviting because of its story line.  Who isn’t hooked emotionally by a book that purports to tell the tale of a struggling father captured by a vision of God that calls him to a place where he will be encountered by this God with whom he is struggling who will help him deal with is loss.  The emotional draw of t he book is so strong that almost every reader is prone to parlay every other issue into what is peripheral.  But what I wanted to show in the first entry is that issues like the doctrine of the Trinity are not peripheral concerns.  When this book makes the Trintity into a grouping of three that intersect one another with each bowing to the other, it does something with this sacred truth that Scritpure never does.  God bows to no one.  Jesus can only do that which is given Him by His Father to do and the Holy Spirit is always subservient to the Father and the Son.  But let me reach beyond this central concern and address just a few others.

There is an exchange in the book in which Mack is trying to figure out the ways of God.  And the character that represents the Holy Spirit says to Mackenzie that humans demanded independence and God gave it to us and we now complain about the things that happen in the world.  And then he speaks these words, “nothing is as it should be, as Papa desires it to be, and as it shall be one day.”  What inglorious half-truth.  Nothing is as it shall be one day but nothing is outside the sovereign control of God.  This statement opens wide the door to open theism, God does not know what is going to happen and responds to do His work based upon what we do, and closes the door on the sovereignty of God.  What it says essentially is that God isn’t really in control; we are.  He wants to be but He will not interfere with our independence.   Or take the exchange on page 182 where Jesus speaks of those who love Him from every system that exists so there are Buddhists who love Him and Muslims who love HIm and Mormons who love Him.  It is not simply that such understanding is not biblical; it is the half-truth that is the heresy.  Jesus prior to this conversation assures Mack that He (Jesus) is not a Christian.  That is true.  But this becomes the foundation for the falsity.  Ask the Bible this question, “who loves Jesus?”  The answer is “the one who keeps His commands, the one who does what He says.”  Can a Buddhist love Jesus entering into a relationship with Jesus and remain a Buddhist?  A Muslim?  A Hindu?  Ask the Scripture this question and the answer is a clear and certain, “absolutely not.”

Let me just give you one more.  Jesus is talking with Mack about the cross and He says that what Jesus accomplished on the cross was the reconciliation of the whole world to God.  Really?  Do you know what that is?  That is universalism.  But he goes on to say that although the whole world has been reconciled to “Papa” not all have yet to believe it or accept it.  God in this scenario has done His part and now it is up to us to do ours.  Such an understanding takes salvation by grace alone through faith alone and makes it mean absolutely nothing.   What is written about salvation in “The Shack” makes salvation partly of God and partly of us and if we don’t do what we should do, it is just too bad.

Well, I have done far too much with this little book already.  It was a fun read from an emotional perspective.  I am afraid that too many are going to be hooked into it by its emotional draw.  Read it carefully and prayerfully.  Keep your eyes and ears open.  It is one of those books from which I walk away thinking how nice it would be if it were so, but it ain’t so!  Don’t be deceived.

 

 Wednesday Evening Message - January 7, 2008 [28:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John 6 [+/-]John 6 [6:1]After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. [2]And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. [3]Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. [4]Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. [5]Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" [6]He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. [7]Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." [8]One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, [9]"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" [10]Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. [11]Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. [12]And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." [13]So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. [14]When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" [15]Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. [16]When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, [17]got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [18]The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. [19]When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. [20]But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." [21]Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. [22]On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. [23]Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24]So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. [25]When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" [26]Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. [27]Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." [28]Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" [29]Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." [30]So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? [31]Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" [32]Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33]For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." [34]They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." [35]Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. [36]But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. [37]All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [38]For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. [39]And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. [40]For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." [41]So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42]They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" [43]Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. [44]No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45]It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- [46]not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. [47]Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48]I am the bread of life. [49]Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50]This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51]I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." [52]The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" [53]So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [54]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55]For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. [56]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. [57]As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. [58]This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." [59]Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. [60]When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" [61]But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? [62]Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63]It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64]But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65]And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." [66]After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. [67]So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" [68]Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, [69]and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." [70]Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." [71]He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. (ESV)

Pastor Al continues looking at Biblical Conversion, specifically looking at Paul’s conversion on the road to Damacus. Research shows that 52% of professing Christians believe that there are multiple ways to get to Heaven.  This is why understanding Biblical Conversion is so important.

Commentator Charles Blow from the NY Times is referenced in this message, the original article referenced can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/opinion/27blow.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Pastor Al also references the book “The Shack” in this message, he has blogged a couple of commentaries on the book, which can be found at the links listed below:

The Shack

More on the Shack

 

 Report on Keiv, Ukraine [55:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rev Joel Ragains, IMB missionary to the Ukraine, visited FBC Waynesboro with his wife Mary Ellen this morning and this evening shared more about the work they are doing at the Kiev Theological Seminary in Ukraine.

Learn more about Joel and Mary Ellen’s work in Keiv here:

http://www.kievkonnect.com/

 

 Stepping out in Faith! [37:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Genesis 12:1-4 [+/-]Genesis 12:1-4 [12:1]Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. [2]And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3]I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." [4]So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (ESV)

Rev Joel Ragains, IMB missionary to the Ukraine, visited FBC Waynesboro with his wife Mary Ellen this morning. Joel shared a message about stepping out on faith, looking at the examples of Moses, Abraham and Peter.

Learn more about Joel and Mary Ellen’s work in Keiv here:

http://www.kievkonnect.com/