September 24, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Prayers of St. Paul: Asking for Wisdom, Revelation, Calling and Power | Ephesians 1:15-23

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September 24, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Prayers of St. Paul: Asking for Wisdom, Revelation, Calling and Power | Ephesians 1:15-23

The Prayers of St. Paul: Asking for Wisdom, Revelation, Calling and Power
Ephesians 1:15-23

In this passage the Apostle Paul is absolutely filled with thanks, wonder and praise. The Gospel is real. It is filled with its own substance, the completed work of Jesus Christ through His utterly righteous life, His deep suffering, His violent death, His powerful resurrection, His glorious ascension, His majestic session and His by dispatching, with the Father, the Holy Spirit into the world to regenerate His redeemed, so that they might preach the Gospel and thereby participate in the full gathering of the elect. What we need is wisdom, revelation, calling, and power. The Apostle knows that only God can provide these powerful tools to the life of the believer. He is both captivated by what God has already done in the lives of his audience (the Ephesians and us) and he is equally motivated to pray that they will finish the course, the calling to which God has set them apart. Let us listen and receive the marvelous treasures of Paul’s prayers today.

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September 17, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Prayers of St. Paul: Experiencing Together the Love of God | Ephesians 3:16-19

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September 17, 2017  | Pastor John Bayles | Prayers of St. Paul: Experiencing Together the Love of God | Ephesians 3:16-19

Prayers of St. Paul: Experiencing Together the Love of GodEphesians 3:16-19

We have all experienced God’s love through emotional, overwhelming feelings of kindness, mercy, and correction. We have read the Word and have been impressed about love. We have experienced the grace God has extended to each of us. We have watched as people who we thought had every right to be angry, unforgiving, and even justified to show revenge, responded with forgiveness and love toward others. Only God’s love could bring about such a reaction. In our lives we have failed to live up to our standards of behavior and known the forgiveness and love of God. Often the thought, “How could God love me?” In this text Paul is praying for us. He is praying that we will come to know the love of God even more fully. Today my hope is that we can all grasp more fully how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God.

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September 10, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Calling to Discipleship | Proverbs 2:1-11

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September 10, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Calling to Discipleship | Proverbs 2:1-11

The Calling to Discipleship
Proverbs 2:1-11

In this text we will hear the heart of God regarding discipleship. Set in the context of wisdom literature, the hope for this study today is the same as that of the original author – that the man and woman of God will take seriously the task of refining the treasurers of God’s word within their souls so that they might become powerful witnesses of the Gospel to a lost world. My hope is that you will be inspired and energized by the Word of God. May this text fill us with a senses of purpose: to obey the Lord’s command found in Matthew 24: “And he will send his messengers with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Mat.24:31); and Matthew 28: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mat.28:19, 20). This is the holy calling of the equipped disciple of Christ. As stated in the Romans epistle: “14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom.10:14 ,15). May our response be like the ancient cry of Isaiah: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me!” (Isa.6:8).

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August 27, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Contending for Fellowship, Favor and Forgiveness | Philemon 1-25

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August 27, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Contending for Fellowship, Favor and Forgiveness | Philemon 1-25

Contending for Fellowship, Favor and Forgiveness
Philemon 1-25

This letter to Philemon. like Colossians, is another close up look at the process of restoration of relationships. Only here in this first verse Paul describes himself a s prisoner of Christ Jesus. This is an appeal to freedom found in Christ. Paul is pleading with Philemon, a Christian, to receive Onesimus, a Christian as a brother in Christ not as a former slave in chains. We will see in this passage a difficult appeal to literally live in a new covenant context.

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August 20, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | Part 2: Off With The Old, On With The New | Genesis 9:1-17

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August 20, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | Part 2: Off With The Old, On With The New | Genesis 9:1-17

Part 2: Off With The Old, On With The New
Genesis 9:1-17

This message is Part 2 of last week's message; Off With the Old, On With The New. It deals with the details of the Noahic Covenant covering four main points: 

1. Provision for mandate fulfillment 

2. Provision for sustaining life 

3. Provision in the protection of life 

4. Provision in the covenant ratified/confirmed

                                          

                                                

                                                    Roger and Marsha Melson

August 13, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | Part 1: Off With The Old, On With The New | Genesis 8:20-9:17

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August 13, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | Part 1: Off With The Old, On With The New | Genesis 8:20-9:17

Part 1: Off With The Old, On With The New
Genesis 8:20-9:17

The text for the sermon today is taken from Genesis 8:20-22. It begins with a review of the times of Noah, the deluge of the flood and Noah's exit from the ark. Verses 20-22 of chapter 8 introduce the covenant God made with Noah, his sons and all flesh.

                                                 

                                                      Roger and Marsha Melson

August 06, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Final Greetings, Instruction and Encouragement | Colossians 4:2-18

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August 06, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Final Greetings, Instruction and Encouragement | Colossians 4:2-18

Final Greetings, Instruction and Encouragement
Col.4:2-18

In these final verses, Paul completes the letter to the Colossians. It was a common custom for a letter in the first century to by closed with a greeting section, however the name of the author was almost never mentioned again after the opening salutation. However here, we see Paul stating that this section was written by the means of his own hand. This of course indicates that Paul had dictated the bulk of the letter. This is not to suggest that the former letter was not the very words of the apostle, this sections makes it clear that Paul was the author of the letter and here, by his own handwriting appearing in the final section underscores this fact. Let us listen as the historical lens context widens here. A lens opens to reveal the familiar faces of his apostolic team at work. The instruction on prayer and witness are perhaps some of the most intimate and helpful in all of Paul’s writings. Let us lean in and listen to the master craftsman’s words of final greetings, instruction, and encouragement.

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July 30, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | The Days of Noah: Two Worlds (Not) Apart | Genesis 6:1-15, 18; Luke 17:25-28

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July 30, 2017 | Pastor Roger Melson | The Days of Noah: Two Worlds (Not) Apart | Genesis 6:1-15, 18; Luke 17:25-28

The Days of Noah: Two Worlds (Not) Apart
Genesis 6:1-15, 18; Luke 17:25-28

The sermon today from Genesis 6 and Luke 17 deals with the similarities between the days of Noah and the times in which we live. It addresses the Biblical doctrines that Noah understood and how they mirror what we understand today. The message further speaks to the spiritual decline of Noah's day along with addressing the characteristics of our current society.


                                                
                                                      Roger and Marsha Melson

July 23, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Freedom of Kingdom Living | Colossians 3:18-25

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July 23, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | The Freedom of Kingdom Living | Colossians 3:18-25

The Freedom of Kingdom Living
Colossians 3:18-25

Human relationships are impossible to maintain, except in Christ. We must never forget that we are in a redemptive relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is true now and it will remain so throughout out lives. Ultimately, we will be sustained in heaven, in an this same eternal redemptive relationship (note: Eph.2:7). In the light of our redemption, Paul will make several appeals to those engaged in classic human relationships of his day: wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters. Often the apostle Paul is accused of being a chauvinist and someone stressing the maintenance of a pro-slavery context. As we will discover today, this is far from the truth of what he is emphasizing. The Christian life is a reflective life. Jesus said, “freely you have received, freely give” (Mat.10:8). Paul is viewing human relationship from a new covenant context. We can act, because Christ has acted first. Jesus Christ has placed us into a new kingdom with new standards of acceptance and behavior. As Paul stated early in the letter, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col.1:13). As ones living in this new age, we exercise new behavior in human relationship, not determined by the worlds mandates, but by the standards of the Kingdom of God. Today Paul will show us that there is freedom in Christ that can be exercised no matter what the human condition for: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Joh.8:36).

July 16, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Reflecting the Original Nature | Colossians 3:10b-17

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July 16, 2017 | Pastor John Bayles | Reflecting the Original Nature | Colossians 3:10b-17

Reflecting the Original Nature
Col.3:10B-5-17

In today's text, Paul will begin to build upon the same foundation from which he instructed the Colossians to unclothe themselves from the dead sinful practices of their past sinful nature. He presents this argument based upon the result of the work of Christ presented in the first four verses of this chapter: ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col.3:1-4). He begins his discussion here with the words of v.10 “put on the new self, which "is being renewed....” We see in this not an instruction on how to start acting in a more righteous manner in order to become renewed, but due to the completed, redemptive work of Christ, the Colossian believer, and we, can act in a righteous manner, recognizing and then reflecting the very nature of God in Christ.