FBC Tampa

1 Samuel 13:8-14

Genesis 1:1-2:3 - The manner in which the Holy Bible opens is high and lofty and worthy of our Divine Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. The beginning chapter of the Bible is authoritative and sufficient to answer man’s greatest questions - Where did life come from and what meaning does life have?

Psalm 19:7-14 - As we discussed last Sunday, the Bible is authoritative in our lives but we must also  embrace the truth that the Bible is also sufficient. The Bible is sufficient for all we need for life and godliness. The Bible will transform us, make us wise, give us joy, open our eyes. It will never change, and it is all we need for righteousness.

Peter 1:16-21 - A true Biblical worldview begins with the conviction that God Himself has spoken to us in and through the Bible – the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. Because the Bible is the Word of God we believe it to be true and reliable. The Bible is therefore the standard by which we must test all truth claims. It is the lens through which we must filter all of life. The Bible, rightly understood, is the foundation and final authority for everything we hold to be true.  Now a legitimate question should be raised and answered at this point. That question is, with all the sacred texts of all the religions in the world making some claim on truth how can we be certain that the Bible is the actual Word of God and therefore true in all it teaches?

Psalms 8:1 - Is the question of God’s existence and nature merely a philosophical debate with no real consequence upon human life? Or, as the Bible suggests is it futile to attempt to understand who man is apart from first understanding Who God is? Biblically, the two truths are inseparably linked together.

Colossians 2:8 - Do all professing Christians live with a Biblical worldview? Do they all filter everything through the lens of the Bible? Unfortunately, and tragically the answer is “no”. In fact, the vast majority of professing believers do not live life through a Biblical worldview. They certainly don’t do so consistently or intentionally.

1 Corinthians 11:23-32 - If someone asks you who you are and nowhere in the conversation does the name of Jesus come up, you are having an identity crisis. As a Christ follower and a child of God your identity is tied to Christ. You cannot talk about you without talking about Him.

Acts 11:26; Romans 6:1-7 - If someone asks you who you are and nowhere in the conversation does the name of Jesus come up, you are having an identity crisis. As a Christ follower and a child of God your identity is tied to Christ. You cannot talk about you without talking about Him.

Ruth 4:1-22 - What if we truly understood that as Christ followers and as those who are seeking to thrive in our walk with the Lord that the biggest thing in our lives ought to be God’s glory? God has indeed created us and saved us to be part of something infinity bigger than ourselves. God has created us and saved us to be part of His church and part of His redemptive plan for the world.

Ruth 3:1-18 - One of the great problems with the church today is a tendency to be satisfied with seeking the things of God rather than seeking God Himself. People are clamoring after the hand of God instead of the face of God.

Ruth 2:14-23 - As Boaz put into practice the part of God's law that provided for the care of widows and the fatherless, Ruth began to discover something of the heart of God. Boaz is a human manifestation of God's grace

If we desire for God to give us a new beginning and to work in our life then there are two things that must work together: our faith and God's providence. We must put feet to our faith and we must trust that He is in control and His plans will not fail. These truths are illustrated in the story of Ruth.

Ruth 1:6-22 -What do you do when you come to the realization that you have made some bad choices and are now facing the consequences of those choices? What do you do when you realize God has not left you but it was you who wandered away from God? What do you do when you are sitting in the pig pen of life and you come to your senses and realize that things are so much better back in your Father's house? Answer - you turn around and you go back home.

Ruth 1:1-5 - Perhaps you have heard the expression - "sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.” The first five verses of the book of Ruth present a real life example of this expression and serve as a warning to Christ followers not to fall into the same traps of sin.

1 Corinthians 15

John 4: 3-26

John 21:1-25 -The final chapter of John's Gospel reminds us that while Jesus is divine and the good news of the Gospel is from the very mind and heart of God, God uses frail human instruments to share His Good News with the world. God uses people to tell His redemptive story. Just as He called the disciples to take the Gospel to the whole world, so He has called us to take the Gospel to the nations. And just as the disciples had their fears and faults and frailties, we too are weak and fearful at times.

John 20:19-31 - The resurrection of Jesus is the single most important truth to know, believe and embrace. The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin to hope and without the resurrection there is no hope. John 20 teaches us to bring our sincere doubts to Jesus and He will prove His love for us.

1 Timothy 3:8-13 - Today as we ordain two men to the office of deacon in the church we turn to 1 Timothy 3:8-13 for instruction. Pastors and deacons are to work side by side in leading and serving the church. Deacons are to be an extension of the heart and the hand of the pastor. It is not incidental therefore that the character requirements to serve as a pastor in the church and to serve as a deacon in the church are virtually identical.

John 19:14-30 - God's justice is righteous and fair, but his punishment for sin is complete. Scripture tells us that the payment for sin is death and that an acceptable sacrifice of blood is required. In John 19, we see Jesus pay the ultimate sacrifice - taking on the sins of the world in our place so that we may be forgiven. Join us as we dive into God's word to grasp the significance of Christ's sacrifice, the greatest gift ever given to mankind.

John 18 - Mother Teresa once said that man should “give until it hurts.” She meant that we should give sacrificially in benevolence to help others. In John 18, there are five individuals who gave until it hurt. Jesus gave Himself away to help us gain what we could not earn, but four others gave away priceless treasures and opportunities in vain attempts to hold onto what they could not keep. All gave until it hurt.

Daniel 1

John 17:1-26 - The depth and breadth and heights of John 17 cannot be overstated. Some have referred to this particular passage of the Bible as “the Holy of Holies of Scripture.” God provides us with we get a glimpse behind the curtain as we are allowed to listen in as God the Son speaks intimately with God the Father.

John 16:16-24 - We all suffer in this life. We all experience times of disappointment, stress, and grief. Not a single one of us can expect to go through life with everything we hoped for working out just perfectly and without feeling the sting of pain or loss. At times, life can become so difficult that the challenges we face appear to be insurmountable. As we come to the middle of John 16 this morning we are going to find hope for those who are grieving and joy for those who are sorrowful. In the midst of what they thought was the worst night of their life, Jesus promised hope and joy to His disciples.

John 15:18-16:15 - Around the world the church of Jesus Christ is being persecuted at an alarming rate. From the inception of the church during the time of the apostles through to our modern day society, the church has always faced the hostility of the world. But Jesus did not tell us to expect clear skies and smooth sailing; in fact, he taught his disciples to expect the exact opposite of the world. Join us as we unpack Jesus' words together in John 15:18-16:15 so that we may understand the proper expectations and duties of Christians as we follow Christ in a fallen world.

1 Peter 1:3-5 -Every day people are being crushed under a sense of hopelessness. People are overwhelmed with fear, doubt, despair, and sadness while seeing no sign of light in their darkness. But is life truly hopeless? Is there no hope? The enemy desires for you to feel hopeless in this world, but we serve the God of Hope who desires for you to find true hope. And where can we find true hope? We find it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who came to bring us a living hope! If you need hope in your life examine the story of Easter for in it we discover hope.

Luke 20:13-25

John 15:12-17 -Friendship, love, and connection are vital to the thriving Christian life. Believers need other believers to help them fulfill their potential in Christ. In John 15:12-17 Jesus gives His followers two basic principles for Godly relationships. These two principles apply to all relationships in Christ and should govern every aspect of our relationships from their purpose to their maintenance.

John 15:1-11 - Genuine disciples of Jesus Christ will bear fruit; to do so is a part of their transformed nature. You cannot be a genuine disciple of Jesus and not find the fruit of that relationship in your life. Join us as we unpack Jesus' words in John 15 to understand the analogy and its importance to our relationship with Him.

John 14:15-26 - A fundamental truth we all need to embrace is that God does in fact love us. We know He loves us because He demonstrated His love by sending Jesus to die for us. The truth of God's love for you can and will transform your life. We know God loves us, but how do we know if we love Him? How can we tell if we truly love God and are not just paying Him some sort of religious lip service? In John 14:15-26 Jesus gives us two distinct characteristics of those who genuinely love Him: They obey Him and they are indwelled by Him.

John 14:1-6 -As Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time when He would no longer be with them He told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” How can we learn to not let our hearts be troubled? How is it possible to face this world without fear? From John 14:1-6 we will consider three keys to living with peace in troubling times.

There is a great danger in placing too much confidence in our own talents and abilities. Far too often we see this truth played out in our spiritual lives. As we continually struggle to remain faithful to Christ and His call we can see the dangers of being too confident in ourselves and in our own abilities. Perhaps no greater example of the dangers of overconfidence can be found than in the early spiritual walk of Simon Peter. From John 13 we will discuss how God will move us from confidence in ourselves to confidence in Him.

We all probably are familiar with and understand the Golden Rule - “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is a great rule, but Jesus takes that rule a considerable step further and challenges His followers to go deeper in our walk with Him. The rule Jesus calls upon His followers to live by is “Love others with the radical love of Christ.” Love others not as you would have them love you but as Jesus would love them. Love others as Jesus has loved you! Let's wrap our minds and hearts and lives around that thought for a few moments as we consider John 13:18-35.

John 13:1-17 Jesus knew who He was, where He was going and what love was. Jesus exemplified service. In life, we can often experience confusion over service and miss our call to serve as Christ served.

John 12:27-50 - The impact of the cross cannot be overstated. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance and the impact of the cross. The cross has split human history and literally impacted all of humanity. Consider the impact of the cross on your life as we consider John 12 together.

John 12:12-26 Just as our physical vision can become impaired, so too our spiritual vision, our ability to see God and the things of God, can become impaired. As we view the events during the Passion Week during Christ's earthly ministry, we ask two questions. How do we see God? Second, how do we see ourselves in the light of God's Word?

John 12:1-11 - "Odorous Offerings” is the title of today's message because in John 12, the Apostle retells a story of someone who worshipped Jesus in an extravagant manner and how someone else responded to that act of worship. In this chapter we see the aroma of a Thankful, Devoted Life and we see the stench of a Hypocritical, Self-serving Life. The question is - Does our worship pass the smell test?

John 11:47-53 - As we have already seen in John's Gospel, as Jesus presented the truths of Who He was, some believed and some rejected. Now, in chapter 11, Jesus has presented undeniable evidence of His power by raising a dead man back to life, a fact that no one, not even His harshest critics denied. Surely everyone would believe in Him now! What else could someone possibly need to believe. And yet, in the face of overwhelming evidence, not everyone believed. Some still chose to harden their hearts and minds to the truth and reject Christ.

John 11:38-46 - God has called ordinary people to represent Him and His love to the lost world. He has changed us and charged us to take the Gospel to the nations. Just as He did with the 12 disciples, Jesus will use the circumstances of life to challenge and grow our faith. The story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is filled with lessons to grow our faith.

John 20:30-31 - Are my facts based on my beliefs? Do I believe the things I believe about God because I want them to be true? Or, is my faith based on facts? Do I believe what I do about God because He has presented me with enough evidence and facts to know that I can trust Him and place my faith in Him?

Luke 13:6-9 - It has been said that if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time. As a church, we are aiming for a lofty and God-given goal. The goal of FBC Tampa is to be followers of Christ who are ever growing in our faith and ever helping to expand the kingdom of God.

Philippians 3:1-15 - We will never be right with God because of our own works; righteousness it is found only through faith in Christ. And only by faith, are we able to forsake all things that we would know Christ and press on toward the goal of spiritual maturity, keeping in view the goal of our eternal home in heaven.