First Baptist Family of Asheboro, NC

My one is a guy who would say he is a Christian.  God has placed him on my heart to pray for this guy and see what God does in his life.  Maybe this guy will join us in worship soon.  We have resources for you today to take and pray for one person.  We should all be asking, “Who is my one?”  Who would you like to see connected to God?  Maybe the person you’re thinking of calls themselves a Christian. 
What comes to your mind when I say, “pumpkin?”  Fall?  Pie?  Finally it feels like fall this year.  What comes to your mind when I say, “Christian?”  For us inside the church it is a positive word but it’s not a positive word throughout history.  The word disciple is used 281 times in the Bible.  A disciple is a follower of Jesus.  Jesus’ first call to the disciples is similar to the invitation God gives to you and I.  The passage we examine today is Jesus calling some of his disciples.
Jesus doesn’t choose the best, He chooses the willing.
As we look at these twelve, all are unique.   We …

The cross sets us free.  This is what Romans is all about, the plan of salvation and the way we can be restored to God.  We think of this as just the beginning, how we start, but the Gospel is much more than just the beginning.  It’s about how we continue.  We tend to drift away from God.  We tend to get caught up in other things and we lose the urgency of the Gospel.  We fail to see what it means to have the daily Gospel applied to our lives. 
We tend to drift away from the gospel.
You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. 15Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. Romans 15.14-15 (NLT)
The Gospel is familiar to us.  Paul knows the church in Rome, the one he is writing to.  The book of Romans is the whole of the Gospel.  There’s a depth to our relationship with God, what God has done in and through us.  We need to understand the fullness of God.  We think we start our relationship with…

Do you consider yourself to be a good judge?Are you the one who picks out the apples at the grocery store?Do you make good judgments? How to make good judgments and good decisions is a skill.When we make assessments we have a standard we go by.We create this standard ourselves rather than going by the standard of the Gospel.If we use our own standard we can hinder the Gospel.There was a great controversy in the early church, a battle in their society.We do not have this struggle today.The new believers, many of them came out of Judaism and they wanted to continue following the food laws of the Old Testament.Other believers from a pagan background were not keeping these laws.Do we have to follow old Jewish customs was the question.This was a serious struggle for them!They were essentially fighting over BACON!This wasn’t turkey bacon!It was pork bacon.Do you have to give up bacon to be a Christian?This was serious!It was a theological battle.This church was dividing.We are not in this b…

Romans teaches us we are a new creation.The Holy Spirit of God transforms you from the inside out.As we seek out our identity in Christ we begin to change.We live in a world that is the same.In Romans 13 we are reminded to be good citizens, pay our taxes, and then we come to verse 11.We are to fit into society, to be good neighbors.Do not get comfortable.We are made to stand out and be distinct.For example, when you wear your school colors you want to stand out.When we come to Christ we stand out to the rest of the world.We are not like everyone else.These people who found Jesus find themselves in circumstances where they don’t fit in.It’s easy to fall asleep!This is not literal sleep we are talking about here, but figurative.It’s not literal.It’s an analogy.We are capable of falling asleep spiritually. It is easy to fall asleep.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. Romans 13.11 (ESV)
This is an analogy for time.We know the hours of the day.Th…

Paul is writing from Corinth.  He is reminding us what real Christianity looks like.  If the Gospel has taken root in your heart this is what it looks like.  These are clear statements.  I think I’m setting a record with this sermon having 12 points!  Some of you might be wondering if you should have brought a lunch with you today!  I’d like you to ask yourself which one of these you need to look at further in your life. 
Be authentic. “9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
The word love here in verses 9 and 10 are different words for love.  In verse 9 the word love that’s used is the kind of love God has for us.  This word is unique to Christianity.  Unconditional love, it describes God’s love for us.  We can have this kind of love for other people in our hearts.  The only way we can love others like God does is to take off the mask and be genuine.  People went to performances and the actors wore masks.  When the performance was over they took off the …