Bethlehem Baptist Church

Introduction: Some of you have had the wonderful experience of having to start going to the doctor on a more frequent schedule in order to keep your health up as you have gotten older or if you have had some kind of health issue that now requires more frequent checks. All of us will at some point get…

Introduction: Who is the most virtuous woman you know? I don’t want you to answer that out loud in case she is not sitting right next to you. Throughout your life, you have probably had several women that fit the bill. I am blessed to be married to a virtuous woman and I remember preaching this particular…

Introduction: BOLO - person of interest Lookouts are also positioned on battle encampments to guard against the enemy 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know…

Introduction I don’t know how many of you have ever heard of a woman by the name of Monica of Hippo. You may have heard of her son, Augustine. Augustine was one of the early church fathers, but he did not start out that way. He actually was a very wicked young man. He lived a life of sexual immorality…

Introduction 1. Worship in Spirit and Truth ( John 4:23 ) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 2. Worship with All Your Being ( Rom. 12:1-2 ) 1 I appeal to you therefore,…

Introduction 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let…

Introduction: We say all of the time that we need people to pray for us. How often do you think people genuinely pour their heart out for you when you ask them for prayer? Most won’t even pray in that particular moment. However, even if it feels like no one else is praying for you, know that Jesus prays…

Introduction: What the best gift you ever received? Some of you may immediately blurt out the church answer, so I’m going to take that one off the table as a given. Think about the next best gift you’ve ever received. For those of you who are married, I’m going to take your spouse as an answer off the…

Introduction: We are going to be spending a few weeks in Matthew 24-25 in a discourse known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus describes in these passages what the times will be like when He returns. We certainly seem to be getting close as we see the news around the world of wars and famines and natural…

Introduction Many of you, I’m sure, have played a round or two of tennis, or at a minimum, you’ve watched it played on TV or gone to a game. You know that when the players are good, they hit the ball back and forth in a volley that can last a few minutes. It’s always exciting to see the hard shots and…

Introduction 1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was…

Introduction: 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the…

Introduction: Cemetery structures Cube in a cemetery 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood…

Introduction: On Sunday, we read the passage that we are going to look at tonight. However, I want us to do something different with it tonight than just read it. We are going to first look at the passage and see what is going on and then we are going to pray it back to the Lord making it personal. 19…

Introduction: When you meet a fellow Christian, you often get around to asking them the question, “What church do you go to?” Today, a lot of people will tell you that they go to such and such church and they pick their church like it’s a restaurant that they choose based on what they like. To be fair,…

Introduction: Take a stroll through a graveyard and you will see all kinds of interesting things, especially an old graveyard. Most of you know that Bethlehem has been around for a long time - over 200 years. We’ve had the cemetery for most of that time, so there are a lot of old and interesting graves…

Introduction: What is the most common way that you keep in touch with people? Today, we probably are more quick to jump on social media to see what someone is up to and we can usually see how their doing by taking a quick peek at their social media pages. We can also call or text them to find out how…

Introduction: Have you ever been lost and asked for directions only to have someone try to give them to you that had never been there themselves? During the American Revolutionary War, one of the advantages that the the Americans had was that they were fighting on home turf. They knew all the trails…

Introduction: Many of you are familiar with the song, “ Are You Washed in the Blood? ” We’ve sang it here for decades and it has been one of those hallmark hymns that gets passed along from generation to generation. Elisha Hoffman wrote the song and it quickly became one of the most popular invitation…

Introduction: Who is your favorite movie character? How many of you remember as a child or young person watching a movie and thinking, “I want to grow up and be just like that!” I’ve often heard it said, “Never meet you heroes.” What they mean by this is that they will let you down. We tend to idolize…

Introduction: Praying for the World 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. 1. Declare it Boldly Paul had no problem with being bold…

Introduction: How many of you have ever heard of an elevator speech? In sales you are taught to be able to give an elevator speech to quickly share who you are and what you do. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to…

Introduction: How many of you have ever had that friend that when you go to play golf, or do some other hobby, is the resident pro? If it’s golf, they may come up and tell you what you need to do with your golf stance or swing to hit the ball better and then step up to the tee box and shank their own…

Introduction What is the hardest commandment for you to obey that the Lord has given? Don’t lie Don’t steal (that includes things like downloading stuff for free that you didn’t pay for or mooching off the wifi of your neighbor) Don’t commit adultery (or better yet, don’t lust) Don’t dishonor father…

Introduction: Soldiers dressed up in their dress blues Look regal and majestic Sharply dressed an magnificent, but even with the Marine sword, this is the dress for a parade and not a battle If they are going to fight, their uniforms look completely different They have armor and protection on They have…

Introduction: We’ve all seen these ads that promote a big fight that is coming up and is going to be televised. Now, I have to admit that this is not my cup of tea. I’m not much into boxing or MMA fights. However, when these fights are publicized, there is a period of training and preparation that both…

Introduction: Goodbyes can be either the most tragic or wonderful thing in the world. It all depends on whether you like the person who is saying goodbye and want them to stay or not. If you love someone, you may find yourself hating goodbyes. If you can’t stand the person or are bothered by them, then…

Introduction: People come up with some really crazy questions to try to prove that God doesn’t exist. Sometimes, children may ask some of these questions and really want to know the answer, like, “Why is the sky blue?” or, “Why are trees green?” But others will ask questions like these: Can God make…

Teaching Outline Intro Alabama Song: 5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good…

Introduction: It’s that time of year again where you’ve spent your Christmas budget, you’ve bought and received gifts, you’ve made your New Year’s Resolutions and you are trying to set out on a new course for the new year. Some of you may have overspent for Christmas and decided that you need to get…

Introduction: We have some weird people in our family that like to run. I don’t mean that they just do a little casual jog, though I’m much more of a walker myself, but I mean that they pay money to enter into a race and run fast. One of these family members had a goal to run 1,000 miles this year. He…

Introduction: We’ve made it to a new year. This is the time of year where we make our resolutions and we reflect on the previous year. I have to admit something to you. I have been majorly depressed to close out the year. We’ve had a combination of sickness causing us to miss out on family gatherings,…

Introduction: Well, this morning, I had not planned on being here. My family was blessed with the flu virus and while I am not supposed to be contagious anymore, I am going to take extra precautions not to be too close to anyone. I had a backup plan and brother Marty was going to be here, but he and…

Introduction: It is such a blessing to get to worship with you tonight on this Christmas Eve. I have a confession to make. I haven’t always liked Christmas Eve services. If I have to be honest, I used to want to do everything but have to come to church on a Christmas Eve. I’m so glad God changed my heart…

Introduction: What’s your favorite Christmas song? Most of the songs we sing at Christmas feature some common themes like the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the angels, etc. All of these songs would make them labeled Christmas songs. This morning, we are going to take a look at a large swath of Scripture…

Introduction: Tell the story of being chased by grandfather and being disciplined Discipline is from love but it’s also because we are sinful humans. But we can also discipline out of sin as well. Tonight we are going to tackle godly authority with parents and children 1 Children, obey your parents in…

Introduction: We are in the holiday season and one of the hallmarks of the season is Christmas baking. I recently realized that I needed to shed some weight, but the problem for me is that this epiphany came at the wrong time of year! I love to eat the Christmas treats and most of these treats are baked…

Introduction Do you ever get the winter blues? I saw a product that was advertised the other day that is a type of light that you sit in front of to help beat the winter blues. It turns out that winter blues are a real thing. People are living through shortened days and the weather has usually turned…

Introduction: How does God’s presence change your current situation? Does it give you more strength and courage to face your challenges, knowing that God is with you and will help you be successful? Does it give you assurance of the outcome you face? We are going to go back this morning to the announcement…

Introduction: Storybook weddings vs. the real thing 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything…

Introduction 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1. The Eternality of the Word…

Introduction: There is a hymn named Come, Ye Thankful People, Come that is often sung this time of year when we enter the harvest season. The hymn begins with thinking about the harvest that God has blessed the people with and allowed them to gather in before winter. It then ends with God gathering the…

Introduction: Have you ever played the game 21 Questions? It’s a game that is designed for people to get to know each other. I’ve seen other variations like Chat Pack and others that are designed to help you get conversations rolling with other people. The sad truth is that we have lost the art of communication…

Introduction: We are quickly approaching the Christmas season and while it is not here yet, the first Christmas commercials have already hit the airways. Some of you have begun your shopping or will begin soon, checking off the names on your Christmas giving list. Some of those names are people that…

Introduction: We have chickens. These chickens are free range chickens. If I go to the chicken coop, I make sure that I have shoes on because I know that if I don’t, I will walk out of there with a nice surprise. However, did I say that these chickens are free range chickens? So that means that sometimes,…

Introduction: We’ve all seen children fighting over the simplest things. They may fight over a toy They want to be the first to push the elevator button on vacation. They want to get to drive the golf cart before the others. They want to be the one to push the buggy in the store. We’ve also seen adults…

Introduction: Have you ever gotten yourself so dirty that you couldn’t stand to be around yourself? Maybe you had been working in the yard or moving things and you sweated off your DO and now you had some rank BO. Do you remember how good it felt to get a shower and get cleaned again? Before you were…