Fellowship Bible Church Sermons

Questions and Answers

June 26, 2022 PM, Various.In this message Pastor Matt leads tonight's service addressing this question: "What are your thoughts about how we are to think scripturally about our second amendment rights?
Our Scripture reading was found in 2 Chronicles 15:1-19.

Jonah and the Fish

June 26, 2022 AM, Jonah 1:11-17.The sailors were already afraid because of the great storm that was
upon them (1:5). To their credit, they became even more afraid
after Jonah told them about his connection to the LORD who
created the sea and land. They understood that Jonah was the
cause of the danger to their lives, and their loss of goods that they
just threw overboard.
Remember we ended last time by noting that the sailors asked Jonah
why he ran from God? He was not a murderer or some other
reprobate. He was a man who knew what His God had told him to
do but did not do it. These men were incredulous because in their
own devotion to their “gods” they understood that there were
certain things you had to do, and certain ways you had to do it,
and if you violated those, you would get in trouble with that god.
Obviously this thinking is awash in pagan philosophy, but there was
enough of a conscience and the law of God still in their inner being,
placed there by God in the creation of humanity, that they knew
intuitively Jonah was doing something very dumb by disobeying
the God he professed to fear. All the events we have read about were under the direct control of
God, as is everything in this world. As difficult as things may seem
for you, remember that God is in charge.
Remember that you may have brought upon yourself some of your
situation by sinning against the Lord. Or, maybe not. But consider
this--if you are running from God in your life, and things are not
going well, you should really consider changing course before you
damage other people’s lives around you and God metaphorically
throws you overboard to straighten you up!
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 41:1-26.

Intro to the Book of Jude

June 26, 2022 SS, Jude.In this message speaker James Widgeon leads our new study in the book of Jude. In this first study, we see how Jesus warned of false prophets that would arise, how peoples hearts would grow cold, and how only those who kept the faith in Jesus Christ would be saved.

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers

June 22, 2022 PM, Matthew 20:1-16.Dear friends, we have a great God. If we are still sitting in the
marketplace waiting to be hired, we need to take up the standing
offer of employment by God Himself. And then, no matter how
long we have been "working" for God (living for Him), we need to
keep on until the end of the day, no matter how hot and sweaty
we might be. And we should thank Him all the while!

The Rich Young Ruler

June 19, 2022 PM, Matthew 19:16-30.The Lord’s three-plus year ministry is
compressed into a fairly small amount of text, and Matthew has to
keep moving efficiently from one event to the next. After teaching
on marriage, divorce, those who are gifted to be single, and
blessing some little children, the Lord is approached by a wealthy
young man with a question about his soul.
There is a lot we can criticize about this fellow, but give him this: he
had some concerns about his own soul. That is more than we can
say for some people. The statement of verse 30 about the first being last and the last first,
introduces the parable of the workers in chapter 20. We will have
to wait until we can study that in depth to get the full effect.
Our Scripture reading was found in 2 Chronicles 14:1-15.

Introducing Jonah

June 19, 2022 AM, Jonah 1:1-10.The fearful mariners ask Jonah why in the world he did this. Out of
the mouth of pagans! Look at this situation. The unbelievers
recognize that if you believe in God, and claim that He created
everything, and say that He is the Lord of all the earth, then you
should be obeying Him. It is only logical. How could you not? And it
is the same way today. When the unbeliever has a clearer vision of
what religion is supposed to do for your conduct than does the
follower of Christ, there is a problem.
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 40:28-49.

Questions and Answers

June 19, 2022 SS, Various.In this message Pastor Matt hosts a questions and answers session, addressing the following questions: 1) Why does Pastor Matt not address issues from the Pulpit, focusing on modern issues? 2) Romans 3:30 says that one God will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Why are two different prepositions used? 3) Where did all the workers go?

God’s Care for Children

June 15, 2022 PM, Matthew 19:13-15.As he ministers, the Lord instructs His disciples not to treat
children like a nuisance, but to bless them. More
importantly, he takes the opportunity to remind his
audience that it is child-like faith that is the distinguishing
mark of heavenly citizens. Without that, you are a child
of the devil.The Lord left that location and went on to another place to
continue His ministry. But we are left with the question of how to apply this text.
We intuitively understand that we must care deeply for
young people. The church and its individuals must
minister to little ones. The society at large and its laws
must protect them from harms of all sorts. Yet today, we
do not protect, but rather expose our young ones to
dangerous and immoral ideas. We do not teach them
religious instruction and thus by omission make many
think that religion is irrelevant.
Again, and more importantly, we are reminded that
kingdom citizenry is not opened up to self-sufficient
people. It is for those who are like children in their
estimation of themselves.

Divorce and Remarriage under the Law of Moses, Part 2

June 12, 2022 PM, Matthew 19:1-12.This passage inevitably raises controversy. I trust you can handle differences between believers with grace and mercy. I have taught for years that the standard for Christians is no divorce, but if there is divorce, no remarriage. That is clear regardless of your emotions or experience in the matter. The bottom line for me is that God has established marriage as a very high and holy calling. It is no joke, and it is to be maintained, jealously guarded, protected, nurtured, strengthened, etc.. We ought not focus on the exception clause, as if that is the main point of this passage—because it is not. It is only a sub-point that might apply in certain difficult situations, but does not soften the reality that divorce is SIN or demonstrates a deep-rooted SIN problem in marriage.
Our Scripture reading was found in 2 Chronicles 13:1-22.

Pastoral Advice

June 12, 2022 AM, Various.What would I tell you if I could be as open, transparent, and honest as possible? What if I did not have to worry about hurting your
feelings? What would I share with you?I have probably left out a few (dozen) thoughts. Let me know if you think advice on other topics would be helpful. But I am confident that if you focus on basics such as reading your Bible, making disciples, keeping yourself accountable, engaging the battle against sin in your own life, and being faithful in attending church meetings—you will do well. And that reminds me of Acts 15:29, but I hope that none of the problems mentioned there are
problems for us today. A helpful resource if you want to read on these topics and others is Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciples for the Christian Life. After I wrote these notes, I looked at his table of contents and found that I covered many of the same topics he does, though he does so in far greater detail.
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 40:1-27.