First Baptist Family of Asheboro, NC

  Thanksgiving is on our minds this week.   I want us to pause and think about our hearts and our souls.   I want you to take good care of yourself and I’m not just talking about the pandemic.   I want you to let God be your Shepherd and take care of your soul.   400 years ago, in 1610,   a group of people left Plymouth, England and boarded a ship called the Mayflower and headed to what we now call the Unites States.   These people were religious separatists.   They were tired of the rules of worship and they had an ideal in their hearts that people should be free to worship as they feel led.   We still have that same spirit in us today.   There’s a sense of this spirit in Colossians chapter 2.   We have a tendency to squelch faith and worship and this can be done by people who sometimes don’t even know what they’re doing.   One of our Baptist distinctives goes all the way back to colonial days.   It’s called, “soul comp...

  We are living in some of the most challenging, difficult, frustrating and confusing times.   People’s emotions, relationships, fears, and sense of security are all over the place. During these times I have been asking God two questions: 1.     God, what are You trying to teach me? 2.     How should I respond? My prayer is that when we leave this place, the Holy Spirit will so speak that we will have a greater resolved to live daily with Jesus. Prayer:   Lord, let Your blessings be upon the message today.   Have mercy on the speaker.   He is a sinner in need of Your grace.   Have mercy upon the listeners, we might hear what You might have in store.   Will You speak to all of this morning through your Holy Spirit, so when we leave this place, You will see that our desire to live daily with Jesus has increase.   We thank You for this time to be a gathered church.   We offer this prayer relying upon J e...

A good mystery is fun for us.   As a kid we love to solve mysteries.   As a child Scooby Doo was so much fun.   As an adult you realize the plot is the same every time.   Scooby and Shaggy get separated but they always figure things out.   Paul talks about a mystery we have in Colossians 1:24-29.   Paul will solve it.   In Paul’s time period people thought only a few could have knowledge of God.   You had to think the right way to connect to God.   We too struggle with whether or not we know God.   We think if things are going well we’re ok with God.   It’s when we struggle that we question God.   Paul gives us a basis for how we know God.   Struggles can make us question our relationship with God.   Walking with Jesus is costly and worth it. When things become costly we evaluate if they’re worth it.     Our culture evaluates suffering as bad.   In our culture we minimize suffering, but in the ...

  In Psalm 22:3 the KJV reads, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel .” Other translations translate the word inhabitest as enthroned.   In practice, that’s not necessarily what we mean.   If I’m praising my child, I’m giving an affirmation to them.   It means god is present in moments when we are lifting ourselves up to Him.   God inhabits this space when we meet together.   God is always available.   God gives His presence to us.   We are no longer strangers to God.  Have you ever been in a group and someone introduced you to someone you already know?  It’s a good feeling when we already know someone.  Paul says you are no longer a stranger to God.  You know God.  This is a good reminder for us that we come to God not as a stranger.  In Colossians 1 God is the Creator of everything. Jesus takes first place.  What does it mean for God to be first in our lives? Follow Jesus. Who a...

  Colossians 1:15-17 is part of an old song, a hymn.   I’m reminded of a visit with my parents when my nieces discovered an old record player.   They didn’t know what it was!   I had the privilege of showing them how to use it and it was interesting to listen to it.   There’s something nostalgic about the crackling sound it makes.   This song, Colossians 1:15-17, is over 2,000 years old.   As we take communion together today this is a sacred moment for us.   We do this with our brothers and sisters around the world.   This song was sung by the earliest believers.   It’s a song about who Jesus is.   It’s an early hymn. Jesus is our Creator. In creation God is visible.                            15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, H...