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December 30, 2007The Magi seem to have been astrologer-priests from the ancient Persian Empire. Their visit to Jesus is beautifully complementary to that of the shepherds whom we read of from last week's message. These two groups could not have been more racially different from each other. The shepherds were Jews, and the Magi were Gentiles. The shepherds were simple and uneducated, and the Magi were scholars. The Shepherds were socially poor, and the Magi were wealthy.
Yet despite these differences, these barriers, which normally separate people from one another, the Magi were united with the shepherds in their worship of the Lord Jesus. They were the first of millions of Jews and Gentiles who have come to worship him. This is the universal appeal of Jesus. It brought shepherds from their fields and the Magi from the East. And still today acts like a magnet attracting people of all cultures. It is without a doubt one of the convincing evidences that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Now, let's celebrate. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
December 23, 2007We come now at last to the result of the Old Testament, and the zenith to which all the prophets have been leading, namely the virgin birth of Jesus the Messiah. The gospel of Luke is not only filled with Old Testament language and culture, it is filled with the miraculous. It is surly fitting that a supernatural person should enter the world in a supernatural way. If we believe that Christ Jesus is the living form of God, then it is logical to also believe in the virgin birth. The Shepherds certainly did.
"I bring you good news of great joy... Today a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-11 By day and night the shepherds are always with their sheep. And it was them that God chose to announce that the most awaited Messiah had been born. How did the shepherds respond? Well hold on to your seats friends if you can, for in today's message we are going to uncover the transforming experience of Christ Jesus through the lives of the Shepherds in the fields. Now, let's celebrate! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
December 16, 2007After the restoration of the temple under Zerubbabel and the restoration of the law under Ezra, came the restoration of the city walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. Nehemiah had a unique role to play in salvation history and it was God's purpose for him to revitalize his people.
Nehemiah responded to God's will by praying for something specific and then putting his prayer into action. Immediately before he began his work he prayed. Prayer is still God's mighty force in fulfilling His purpose in our lives today. By Praying for Success, God will guide our preparation, teamwork and diligent efforts to carry out His will for his church. As God's message is proclaimed today be thinking about the work of revitalizing Creekside in a way that is honoring to God. And remember, it all begins with prayer. Now, let's celebrate! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
December 9, 2007Of all the Southern Baptists past and present, you are truly one of the most famous. Please do not take offence to the admiration. I know that fame was not a suitable goal for a lady during your place in time. But you did learn to tolerate the public as you exchanged your privacy to increase sufficient support on the mission field. Thank you for committing your total life to serving God in foreign missions. I am sure that you wouldn't have ever imagined that you would not only serve in life, but also in death.
I give them a mission in the world. John 17:18 (MSG) Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions is a cherished Southern Baptist tradition for celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus. And today we are excited and honored by the presence of our guest preacher, Brother Victor Vaughn, a missionary for the International Mission Board, who will be delivering God's message to our hearts. Please welcome Brother Vic and his beautiful family as we celebrate the day of our Lord in worship! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
December 2, 2007Last week it was Isaiah who was called by God as He asked, "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah 6:8. In today's message it is Jeremiah who God calls and says, "You must go to everyone I send you to" Jeremiah 1:87. Both of the prophets are called but only one is willing to go. In Isaiah's case, after his lips had been cleansed, he readily volunteered to serve: "Here I am, send me!" Isaiah says. But in the case of Jeremiah, he is not so ready to volunteer and gives God the excuse that he is too young and inexperienced. Sound familiar, remember Moses' excuses?
"Now, I have put my words in your mouth." Jeremiah 1:5 Isaiah was conscious that his lips were unclean, and Jeremiah that he did not know what to say. So, before they could fully serve God, Isaiah's lips were cleansed by a burning coal, and Jeremiah's mouth was touched by the divine hand, which was a symbol that God had put his words in Jeremiah's mouth. Now today, let's ask our Lord, What do I say? May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
November 25, 2007The call of Isaiah to be a prophet was a call by Yahweh, our God exalted and outside the material world, seated on his heavenly throne, and accompanying God were seraphs, angels of the highest rank in heavenly places, crying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord".
And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8 As Isaiah knelt in prayer at the Temple at Jerusalem the Lord granted him a transforming vision of His glory. It was a vision of the one and only true King. For during that time the golden age of spiritual intensity under the rule king Uzziah ended with his death. And the ungodly grandson Ahaz brought about apparent ungodly wickedness on the earth. Then from out of a burden in Isaiah's heart for God's people was his prayer answered by God. There was now a glimmer of hope for the earth, and that hope was in Yahweh as King of heaven and earth, worthy of our trust and worthy to be obeyed. A faithful prayer and a faithful vision is our hope in Christ Jesus as Lord. Now, let's celebrate! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
November 18, 2007It is with great joy for us here today at Creekside Baptist Church to be giving thanks to our Lord with our brothers and sisters of Creekside Vietnamese Baptist Church in our 2007 Annual Joint Thanksgiving Service. Also, immediately following our worship service we will be sharing a luncheon together in our fellowship hall. Praise the Lord!
Isaiah 12:4 Today's message is about giving thanks to the Lord. Do you know how we give thanks to the Lord? It is by praising the Lord! Praisegiving means, when you talk, talk to everyone about the greatness of God. Praisegiving means, when you sing, sing with joy in your heart about the greatness of God. If you are saved by the blood of Christ this morning then you have a great testimony. You are to share that great testimony with others, for you have received water from the deep wells of salvation through Christ our Lord and now that same living water should be flowing out of you to encourage and exhort others who thirst for Christ. Now, let's celebrate! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
November 11, 2007Are you on a quest for personal significance this morning? Are you looking for the formula for success or the meaning of life? Oh how useless a human life is that is imprisoned in time and space and that ignores or denies the reality of God. If reality is restricted to time and our brief human life span of injustice and pain merely ends in our returning to dust, then life is meaningless. And if reality is restricted to space and no ultimate reference point above or beyond the sun, then life is meaningless. That is why, my friends, that...
Proverbs 1:7 The truth is only God can give meaning to life, because only God can supply the missing spiritual dimensions of life. To time, God adds eternity without beginning or end. And to space, God adds existence above and apart from the material world. That is why wisdom begins with our humbly acknowledging the reality of God. If you're looking for the meaning of life this morning then look no further than what is behind me up on the wall. It is the cross, the cross for which God chose to demonstrate His love for us. That is where The Starting Point for a Prudent Life begins: at the cross. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
November 4, 2007Even before David ascended the throne he possessed pleasing and hopeful qualities of character. As a teenager, by putting all his faith in God, he struck the giant Goliath with a single stone in the forehead and rid Israel the brutal Philistine menace. He made a promise of friendship with Jonathan, son of King Saul. And later he twice spared Saul's life. He was secretly anointed king by Samuel and as he grew in manhood, David was well respected for his integrity and impartial concern for the good of God's people.
Psalm 78:72 However, it's all the more tragic because David did not live up to these expectations. And, because of his lust for beautiful Bathsheba, David showed his weakness by breaking at least five of the Ten Commandments. In light of sin how could David be described as a man "after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14)? Well, first he genuinely repented and turned towards God. And second, above all, he was "fully devoted to God" (1 Kings 11:4), all the more reason why our LORD chose His son Christ Jesus to come from the seed of David. Now, let us celebrate! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
October 28, 2007Yahweh is a covenant God who has bound himself to us in a solemn pledge saying, "I will be your God, and you shall be My people." It began with Abraham. It continued with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And now it is important for Joshua to take his place in biblical historicity. So it is that the beginning and end of the book of Joshua contain important references to the Covenant. And Joshua said to the people,
He is a holy God; He is a jealous God." Joshua 24:19 These are strong words but they emphasize the danger of being overconfident. Today the book of Joshua concludes with a renewal of the covenant at Shechem following the pattern of the vassal-treaties (recently discovered in the ancient Near East) between a conquered nation and the great conqueror. Christ was that great conqueror, overcoming temptation and sin, which make the followers of Jesus Christ heirs of God's covenant with Abraham. That covenant was renewed annually in biblical times. Today Baptism and the Lord's Supper are signs of what Jesus called "the new covenant", "Do this in remembrance of me." May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
October 21, 2007In the modern world, there is a massive shift, to the point where 63% of Americans reject the belief of moral absolutes. This Sunday we will consider the Ten Commandments and their implications for us in our modern world. Our ability to believe in and teach a common morality has crippled our nation morally; this can be seen through our nation's criminal justice system where people have shown absolutely no sense of right or wrong. And God spoke all these words:
The Ten Commandments were laid down by God, summarized by Jesus, and can be obeyed only by the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was not to give us a standard we could achieve; the purpose was to show us God's perfect standard, and how impossible it is for any of us to obey that standard. Jesus only fulfilled the law for us so we could obey it through Him. Obedience through faith in Christ Jesus inspired by love and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The key to obedience is therefore to love God; it is love that gave the law and it is love that fulfills the law. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
October 14, 2007Today we move onward through our biblical journey and for the next two weeks we will be following the life of Moses, Israel's greatest leader after Abraham. The story of Moses covers four books of the Pentateuch-- Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It was Moses who secured the release of God's people from their oppression in Egypt.
to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." Exodus 3:10 God's people were in misery and groaning. They were suffering as slaves and they were crying out. Their cries were heard by God and Moses was commissioned. The Almighty God, in Hebrew "El Shaddai", spoke to Moses from within a burning bush. How did Moses respond to God's divine call? He responded with excuses and further said, "Please send somebody else". Then God responded, "I will be with you". We will do well to remember that we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
October 7, 2007The biblical theme of "covenant" first originated after the flood. It was a promise initiated by God's grace and sealed with a sign to Noah to maintain the balance of nature. Now in today's message God's covenant to Abraham is to multiply his descendents and give them the land. The covenant theme, "I will be your God and you shall be my people", Genesis 17:7-8, is repeated throughout the Old Testament.
The promises of descendents and land were repeated and elaborated to Abraham at different stages of his life. In the thirteenth chapter of Genesis God told Abraham to look in all directions and everything he saw would be given to him and his descendents. In Genesis chapter fifteen God told Abraham to look up at the night sky because his descendents would be as numerous as the stars. The covenant first fulfilled in the multiplication of the people of Israel and today the covenant is fulfilled through the mission of the church, so that all those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
September 30, 2007In Genesis 3 the Word of God reveals the first act of disobedience. In Genesis 4 the Word of God reveals the first act of murder. Indeed, throughout the story of Genesis 4-11, the first developed society would gradually deteriorate, not only morally but ethically. We see an eruption of anger, jealousy, arrogance, violence, hostility, resentment, and revenge. The earth that was created by God would now be judged by God. "For I am grieved that I have made them," says the LORD. (Genesis 6:7)
Noah was not like any other man before him, God called him righteous, which means blameless. He had placed it in his heart that he would not conform to the virus that was deteriorating his society. When God warned him of the coming flood Noah, in holy fear, built the ark because God had told him to do so. By faith Noah became a preacher of righteousness through his testimony. So, as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man, Christ Jesus. (Matt. 24:37) And the judgment of God will again find the world mostly unprepared. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
September 23, 2007The Fall -- It was human disobedience that shattered the love, joy and peace of paradise In the beginning. As sin and death entered into the world through the disobedience of Adam, so too shall salvation and life be made available through the obedience of the Man Christ Jesus. Who himself was fully human yet fully divine. Satan refutes the truthfulness, the goodness and the supportiveness of God, i.e. the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3:1-6. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they hid. Sin, guilt and judgment are consequences of rebelling against God's authority. But even against the shape of sin's origin glimpses of grace begin appear.
While they hid, God missed them. While they hid, God searched for them. While they hid, God called out for them. Glimpses of grace begin to appear. The Lord God felt for them in their shame and wanted to ease their pain. So he clothed them. It was the first shedding of a blood sacrifice that clothed human sin, thus foreshadowing salvation through the blood sacrifice, The Grace, Christ Jesus. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
September 16, 2007"The LORD God" enjoys close companionship with his created human beings. The groundwork is laid in Genesis 2, namely the union of male and female, which is His loving way of providing friendship for human beings.
I will make a helper suitable for him." Genesis 2:18 Although we must not press this passage as the absolute message of marriage, because there are some who are called to singleness as the Apostle Paul made very plain in 1 Corinthians 7:7, we must however understand that it is God's idea and not ours. With marriage under such threat in our culture today it is good to be reminded of its biblical basis. As we see in today's message that God determined and gave Adam a partner. God gave Adam a helper and "helper" means a suitable partner because solitude is not good. It is not good for any human beings to be alone. God has made us social beings and friendships are also a precious gift of God. Let us be aware today of the joyful affirmation that God himself has purposed. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
September 9, 2007Ah Creation! What immense beauty and practical usefulness; the universe, man in the image of God, male and female given stewardship of the earth and the dignity of work. Here, right from the very beginning in Genesis, the sovereignty of God as Creator and the great bible doctrines are established. Its vital truths are laid down like a massive foundation on which the biblical Kingdom of God is built.
The pivotal point in God's creative work is the coming into existence of human beings described as having been created "in the image of God." And the question is, Just what does that divine image in human beings mean? A special relationship between God and us, or the capacity of Love we have for Him and others? Is it to hunger after God or to choose to worship Him with all of our lives? Could Christ Jesus be that image? For we know our human part in the image of God, the part that has brought sin into the world, the sin that Christ Jesus died for. And still the image of God can not be destroyed. The sanctity of human life arises from the value of God's image bearers. Gen. 9:6. And that's us as Christians, we humans are Godlike beings and therefore we must love and serve each other just like Jesus did. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
September 2, 2007In Revelation 20 there is a fearful contrast between those names which are written in the Book of Life, who will receive eternal life, and those names which are not in the Book of Life, whose fate is eternal damnation. In Revelation 21 and 22 the focus is on life; the Book of Life, the restored access to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the water of life. The supreme ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to Christ Jesus, and the Christian's supreme testimony is to desire and seek Christ Jesus.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 "Soon" Christ says. In the eschatological calendar of time what is to happen next is the event Christian believer's hope for, Christ Jesus coming. And Hope looks forward as does Faith and Love. This is how the book of Revelation ends. It leaves the church waiting, hoping, expecting and eagerly looking for Christ to come. But, in the meantime, the grace of the Lord Jesus is sufficient for us, until we are united with Him in eternal Eden. AMEN! May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
August 26, 2007The book of Revelation or "Christian Apocalypse" is above anything else a celebration of the victory of God; it celebrates conquest. Christ has conquered and God intends his people to share in his victory.
The seven trumpets, Rev 8:2, the dragon and his allies, Rev. 12:11, the Lamb and the 144,000, Rev. 14:1, Babylon identified and destroyed, Rev. 14:8 and the seven bowls of God's wrath, Rev 16:1, are special, meaningful and essential background passages that lead us into today's message, "The Rider on the White Horse". John now sees heaven standing open, and before him was a white horse whose rider was wearing many crowns, he was given the title King of Kings and Lord or Lords. There can be no doubt that this rider was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself riding onward in judgment with the armies of heaven following him. Next we expect the final battle to come, but instead, nothing happens, for Jesus has already won the victory over evil by his death and resurrection. And the devil was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. Rev. 20:10. May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
August 19, 2007With Revelation 3 behind us John is turning from the church on earth to the church in heaven. In Chapter 4 of Revelation we no longer see Christ as the light on the lampstand but Christ as the very center of the unchangeable throne of God. It is the same Christ but seen from a totally different perspective.
Revelation 4:2 As John looks through the open door, the very first thing he sees is a throne, symbol of sovereignty, majesty, and kingly rule of God. At the very center of the universe there stands a throne. The stars and planets receive their orders from it. The colossal galaxies bow down before it. And the most minuscule organism lives because of it. The one positioned on it is not described, because God is indescribable. One day there will no longer be hunger or thirst, pain or tears, no more sin and death, for all these things will have passed away because of the central domination of God. Focus this morning on the presence of God. Is He at the center of our life? May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
August 12, 2007We now come to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. It is "the revelation of Jesus Christ" Rev. 1:1. Christ says that he is "the First and the Last" Rev.1:17. In Chapters 2 and 3 the resurrected and glorious Jesus is inspecting his churches on earth.
I wish you were either one or the other! Rev. 3:15 Christ's message to the Laodicean church is very simple. He wants them to be characterized by wholeheartedness. The opposite is half-heartedness. Christ is very outspoken; he prefers that we are either hot in our devotion to him or cold in our lack of interest of him. Christ finds our casual lukewarm relationship with him nauseating. Laodicean is an adjective that has entered our vocabulary to denote people who are lukewarm in religion, politics, or anything else you can think of. Laodicean represents a church that is inwardly uncommitted. Our risen Lord was inspecting churches in the book of Revelation as he is inspecting our churches today. He identifies the seven marks he wants his church to display -- love for him and willingness to suffer for him, truth of doctrine and holiness of life, commitment to mission, together with sincerity and wholeheartedness in everything. Are those the marks of Creekside Baptist Church? May we abide steadily attached to God and to each other in Peace, Love and Unity!
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