Before you can be obedient to the commands of Jesus, you must have faith that Jesus can accomplish His purpose and His will. When Christians have faith, they obey. Experiencing the power of God comes in the context of obeying God.

The work of atonement could only be accomplished by Jesus and has been accomplished by Jesus. The work is done. It is finished. You must decide to receive the gift of His atoning work by believing faith or to reject the cross. You cannot add more to what Jesus has done. You either must receive the gift or reject it.

The work of redemption is finished and offered to you today. Receive the free gift of the atonement and be saved today.

Direction is more important than location. We tend to give more importance to location, but where you are heading matters more than where you are. You may be far away from the Lord today, but God beckons you to draw near (direction language). And the beautiful promise is that no matter where you are - when your direction changes from chasing after the world to drawing near to God, God meets you where you are and exalts you to a right relationship with Him.

Babies are cute, and we find them adorable. Even though they are not potty trained, they often spit up, drool when teething, incessantly cry when hungry, have no patience, and have a very low tolerance to any discomfort we do not think ill of them because they are babies. However, if a teenager behaved like a baby, we would recognize it as a lack of proper development and needing treatment or discipline. If an adult acted like a baby, we would judge the person as mentally ill. It is ok to be immature in the faith. It is not ok to remain immature in the faith. It is ok to be a babe in Christ. It is not ok to remain a babe in Christ.

Have you heard about deepfakes? The technology is terrifying when you think about all the implications of how it could be used to destroy someone’s reputation or even cause havoc with the stability of governments.

The church has been countering deepfakes since the very beginning. There have always been some who claim to preach the word but actually weaken, manipulate, and twist the word to suit their desires and agendas. Such people are spiritual deepfakes. They look like they are preaching the word, they say they are preaching the word, but they are not.

The way these are confronted and countered is by knowing the word so that counterfeits are recognized, by preaching the word faithfully so that others can recognize such counterfeits, and by keeping close to the word so that when such fakes come along, they are quickly identified.

This is the mission of the church – to preach the word. In every season with all faithfulness, until Jesus returns – preach the word.

In Acts 16, the Bible records that Paul and Silas had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel and casting out a demon from a slave girl. They were ordered to be imprisoned and their feet fastened in the stocks. The next verse gives a simple description:

Acts 16:25 (ESV) — 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

Paul and Silas were doing what Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:15-21. They were being abused by the government. They were in the unsanitary, uncomfortable, and unpleasant confines of a 1st-century jail. They were surrounded by others who did not know Jesus. But what do they do?

They do not complain. They do not scream and cry. They do not even demand justice.

They worship. They prayed and sang hymns to God. They were worshiping with integrity. They were worshiping in faithfulness. And they were worshiping for the glory of God.

The worthiness of fighting for something is not from the outcome but the value of what could be lost. It is worth the risk to contend for a brother’s restoration and lose than surrender him to the devil without a fight. Do not give up on your brothers and sisters without a fight. Speak truth into their lives, Contend for their restoration. Honor the testimony of the church.

Archeologists recently discovered a church building that may have been built over the home site of one of the disciples who lived in Bethsaida. Though this particular congregation has long been forgotten the church of Jesus remains. Though this building has been reduced to ruins and buried in the earth, the work of the church continues.

This is a helpful reminder to us. If there comes a day when our church building no longer stands or the records of our times and lives are lost, the work of the church will continue. Until Jesus returns, He will be gathering His followers Himself. Until Jesus returns, He will be sustaining the church in His power. Until Jesus returns, the church will be proclaiming the hope of the gospel.

The church has its power and purpose only when it is founded on Jesus. If the church attempts to move beyond or grow past the foundation of Jesus and the gospel of salvation it ceases to be a church. Today there are congregations with steepled buildings and signs in the yard declaring it to be a church, but who have abandoned their foundation of Jesus and the gospel. Without the foundation of Jesus, they are merely a social club or community group. When Jesus is our foundation, we are His church and His witness to the world.

From the sermon, Every Life Sacred Job 31:13-25, pastor Ben shares three things you should do in response to the sanctity of life.

From the sermon Gather Together, Hebrews 10:24:25.

Have you ever noticed that when you have unconfessed sin that you also have a greater temptation to skip church? When you gather with other believers, God uses the experience to draw you to faithfulness and expose anything that is keeping you from faithfulness.

From the sermon Gather Together, Hebrews 10:24:25.

For all the advantages and conveniences of technology, some things cannot be done virtually. Sermons can be heard through many technological avenues, but the church can only be who we have been called to be when we gather together.

We need to reform the old phrase “I’m just a sinner saved by grace with a new phrase. “I was a sinner, but now I am saved by grace!”

A clip from the sermon The Name: God of salvation, Habakkuk 3:16-19. Click here for the full sermon.

A clip from the sermon The Name: Brings Hope, Jeremiah 33:14-16

A clip from the sermon “Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6-7.”

Sometimes all you have is a few minutes. With this in mind I am excited to announce a new podcast channel called “Sermon Shorts”. I will be posting 5 min or less clips from recent sermons. I hope you will subscribe and listen. The channel is already available on Apple podcast and will be coming to Google podcast, and other podcast sites very soon.

The following is an example of what each sermon short will be like. It is from a sermon I preached from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 titled “Our Identity is in Christ alone.” Get more information at www.BenSmithsr.org