Fellowship Bible Church Sermons

The Coming Judgment on Edom, Part 4

December 12, 2021 SS, Obadiah 1:1-9 (Reference Genesis 17:1-8, Genesis 12:1-3).In this message speaker James Widgeon leads our study in the book of Obadiah. The Lord speaks through the prophet that judgement has come to Edom and her ruin has been brought through the nations sins and would be utterly destroyed. We review the covenant God established with Abraham as well as his sons Jacob who would father the nation of Israel and Esau who would father the nation of Edom. God has spoken that destruction and ruin will come to Edom because of how they mistreated their brother, the nation of Israel during their captivity.

Christian Family

December 8, 2021 PM, Matthew 12:46-50 (see also Mark 3:31-35, Luke 8:19-21).The family of Christ is set out here in stark contrast to the enemies of our Lord who blasphemed His Spirit and were critical of His every move. They were as far away from “doing the will of God” as a person could be. Bottom line: Earthly, biological family is important. One’s relationship with God through Christ is even more important. Jesus’s family is much bigger than His
biological family.

The Empty House: A Bible Study Practice

December 5, 2021 PM, Matthew 12:43-45.In this message Pastor Matt leads begins this evenings service with a Q and A session. The first question was asked: How involved was Judas when Christ was sending the Apostles our two by two? It's certainly possible that Christ gave Judas, just like the other Apostles miraculous powers. When God indwelt His Spirit in the Apostles, they were gifted with heavenly gifts. However, there is no question that Judas was an unbeliever. Judas was doing religious things but he was by no means a believer in Christ. The second question was asked, what was it like for Judas' partner, did he notice something was not right with Judas? We are not sure but we do know that Judas was a liar, a deceiver, a thief, and eventually a betrayer. We know that God can use unbelievers to fulfill prophecy. Judas is one example of this. Later, we open the Scripture in the twelfth book of Matthew, where Pastor Matt leads our continued study. We see the nation of Israel was taking itself into a worse spiritual condition than they were in before. The Pharisees were blinded by there own ignorance and jealously of Christ. Observe that we can have a very active study of the
Scriptures within the confines of a very short passage. It
is profitable to meditate carefully on the words of Jesus.
Our Scripture reading was found in 1 Chronicles 20:1-8.

The Advancement of the Gospel

December 5, 2021 AM, Philippians 1:12-18.In this message Pastor Matt leads our study in the first chapter of Philippians, where we see Paul assuring his dear friends that although he is in prison, the
mission of the gospel is moving ahead anyway. In fact, the gospel is
moving ahead not just despite his imprisonment, but because of it!
God’s wisdom in using such situations to advance His work is
amazing.
COVID cannot stop the progress of the gospel, even if churches must
close temporarily. Government regulations did not stop the church
from worshipping last year, and they are not stopping us from
worshipping this year. Interestingly, the modern-day attacks on the
church can in fact be an occasion for us to become bolder and step
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out in faith. We know what we have is precious and true. It is the
only way a person can be eternally saved and secure. What do we
have to be shy about?
In our land, the modern version of opposition is little stuff. In other
parts of the world, the harshest of persecution cannot eliminate
the Christian faith. It can do real damage and deserves blame for
many souls being lost because they do not hear the gospel, but if
God wants the gospel anywhere, it will get there. Whether it is by a
person, or by means of the computer, or radio, or print Bibles, the
gospel will move.
Pray that the Word will run to its destination (2 Thess. 3:1). Take
serious stock of how you can be a conduit for the gospel. Don’t
leave it to your pastor or hired-gun missionaries. You are a minister
too (see Eph. 4:12, “work of ministry”)—even in hard times.
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 19:1-14.

Lord’s Table: The Blood of Christ Cleanses the Conscience

December 5, 2021 SS, Hebrews 9:13-14.In this message Pastor Matt leads our study in Hebrews 9:13-14, where we study the three different ways to try to approach God, not all equal. Notice three different methods of religion that are outlined in this passage: 1) Dead works 2) Animal sacrifice and 3) Christ’s self-sacrifice. We observe the effectiveness of each of these ways from verse 14, the death of Christ was intended not only to cleanse us from dead works, but to put us into service of the great King, the living God. May we be about serving Him in grateful remembrance of what He has done for us.

The Sign of Jonah

December 1, 2021 PM, Matthew 12:38-42.The point of the likeness between Jonah and Jesus is not death/resurrection, but the similar period of time in hidden in the belly of the fish/belly of the earth. So even if Jonah did not die and rise again, there is no reduction in significance of the similarity between the prophet’s fish sign and the resurrection sign of the Son of God. In the end, Jesus gave them a stupendous sign. But they still did not believe it, just like Luke 16:31 predicted.
We ended with this application point: Why ask God for something if you will still refuse to believe in Him?

Good men and evil men

November 28, 2021 PM, Matthew 12:33-37.Speech is a very good indicator one of one’s heart. You may not have
opportunity to do as much bad as your heart would if it had such
open doors. People probably speak more evil than they have done.
That is because it is so easy to speak. The heart and mouth are only
a few inches apart! So being judged by your speech is probably
worse than you think. I believe this speech includes your thought-speech, not just that which you have uttered out loud.
An old saying goes something like this: “Sticks and stones may break
my bones, but words/names will never hurt me.” That statement
has some value because it teaches us not to take what other
people say too seriously. They do not know what they are talking
about, or they are exceedingly mean in what they say and as such,
there is little value in their words. Today, however, that statement
has come under scrutiny because it is not true that words do not
hurt. Words can start wars; words can do deep damage in a
relationship. We can adapt the saying to highlight the meaning of this message:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but if you use evil words,
they will hurt you.” Why? Because your words will be an evidence
used in the courtroom of your future judgment. Indeed, “What you
say can and will be used against you.”
Our Scripture reading was found in 1 Chronicles 19:1-19.

Praying for the Church, Part 2

November 28, 2021 AM, Philippians 1:9-11.This prayer is a great reminder of what God wants us to be like. In
fact, He has begun a good work in us to be like this, and He is
bringing it to completion, in part by Paul’s prayer, in part by our
exposition of that prayer, and in part by our adherence to the
values expressed in the prayer. He will also complete His work in
your fellow Christians as you pray for them in this way. Not only
thank God for their partnership in the gospel and express your love
for them in prayer but pray that their love may not grow cold; that
it may abound; that it may be discerning and not sappy or foolish.
Pray they will live so that God can judge them as having done well.
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 18:1-32.

Do Christians Pick and Choose from the Old Testament?

November 28, 2021 SS, Various.In this message Pastor Matt explains why it is invalid for a critic to say that Christians pick and choose whatever they like from the book of Leviticus. There are very good reasons that Christians understand some principles to continue into the present age, while some ceased at some time in the past. We use three examples: the Bible's teaching on homosexual relations, keeping Sabbath, and the kosher food laws. There are explicit reinforcements of the first in the New Testament, and explicit teachings setting aside the other two. In addition, we learned that the critic has his own pick-and-choose problems.

Background of the Letter to the Philippians

November 14, 2021 AM, Acts 16:6-40.In this message Pastor Matt leads our study in the book of Acts, chapter 16, where we learn of the people of Philippi and the opening weeks of Christian ministry in that town.
Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 16:15-63.