JESUS: Our Cornerstone
December 21st, 2011
This sermon was preached on December 18, 2011.
To listen to the sermon, CLICK HERE.
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JESUS: Our Authority
December 11th, 2011
This sermon was preached on December 11, 2011.
To listen to the sermon, CLICK HERE.
To download the sermon on iTunes, CLICK HERE.
Jesus: Our Healer
November 6th, 2011
We’re blinded by so many things and we need Jesus to heal us.
Have you ever thought you had a good picture of your current situation, only to later realize you were blind to what was truly going on in that moment? For many of us, we are living like that right now in our estimation of who God is and where we stand with Him. This text will help us to understand how Jesus is our Healer. He is the only one who can heal our blindness.
CLICK HERE for the sermon.
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September Letter from the Pastor
September 1st, 2011
Dear Welsh Faith Family,
God is working in our midst and He is answering our prayers! Let me show you what I mean by detailing just a few of the prayers God has been answering for our faith family:
As of August 9th, I have officially been your pastor for two years. After being called by God to move here in May of 2009, I began to pray for our Welsh Baptist faith family in many ways and about many things. God gave me a vision for where our faith family needed to grow and move in order to become the faithful, missional community we are called to be for God’s glory and Jesus’ fame. It wasn’t long after arriving in Frostburg that I began to see God working in our midst to accomplish His vision of enlarging His kingdom and changing His church, our church.
As I began to regularly meet with the leaders of our faith family, we began to pray that God would change our hearts and lives to reflect the compassion that Jesus had for His disciples and His covenant people, the Israelites. We began to ask God to open doors to new ministry opportunities where we could engage people outside of our walls with our time, talents, money, and most importantly…with our lives.
Almost immediately, God opened a door for us to get involved in the disaster relief effort in Haiti after their devastating earthquake in January 2010. God has continued to direct us to stay involved in Haiti in the development of local communities in Port-au-Prince and eventually with Alex’s House, a local Christian orphanage that just came to be after the earthquake.
What a blessing Haiti has been for our faith family! The opportunities we have had to serve the lost and broken people and children of Haiti have changed not only the Haitian people, but they have changed our own people who have committed to seeing the gospel spread throughout this island nation. I want to thank those who have contributed financially, those who have contributed their prayers, and those who have contributed their time and energy to go to Haiti. You have been a part of God answering our prayers!
Our leadership did not stop praying for ministry opportunities when God placed Haiti on our hearts. We knew we needed to have an international mission presence, but that we could not stop there. We continued to ask God to open up a local ministry opportunity for our faith family here in our own back yard. At times, we would see a glimmer of hope when an opportunity would present itself, but time and time again, each opportunity seemed to vanish as quickly as it had appeared. We did not lose heart. As you recall a few months ago, we began praying that God would send us the broken and hurting of our community so that we might show them the love and mercy of Jesus. And He has done just that!
It wasn’t until just over a month ago that God revealed His plan for our involvement in a local ministry to the broken and hurting of our area. God brought a young couple to our faith family who have a connection to a temporary halfway house that provides lodging, addictions substance abuse assessment and evaluation, as well as therapy for people trying to escape the strong grip that drugs and/or alcohol have on their lives. God has given us an opportunity to supply needed items to these people who are trying to get back on their feet with almost no one there to help them. Even more than the monetary things we can do for them, we are also able to spend time with them and encourage them with the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the only true means to finding freedom. What a ministry! What a blessing for us to be able to love on and encourage these folks with the mercy and compassion of Jesus!
Lastly, ever since Carol and I sensed God’s strong call for us to come and join our Welsh faith family, we have also been praying that God would allow us to participate in His bringing people to faith, and then baptizing and discipling those new believers to help them become missionaries in our community and around the world.
God first began to answer our prayers by growing our presence on the campus of Frostburg State University where we regularly worship with over 30 students every Thursday night during the school year. We have seen these students sharing the gospel with their friends. We’ve seen these students begin to meet daily for at least an hour to pray for the world and our church. We’ve seen these students grow in their faith and begin to be missionaries on campus, in our community, back home during the summer and during holidays, and even around the world when God gives them opportunities.
God has also begun to answer our prayers in a new way for us here at Welsh. Next Sunday, September 4th, we will be celebrating the spiritual births of several people within our faith family. For the first time in several years, we will be baptizing new believers during our Sunday morning worship gathering. What an exciting time!
We are seeing only the beginning tastes of a revival God is starting in our midst! I pray you will do your part in our responsibility to this community, to our faith family, and mostly to our God. Will you join us in celebrating new life in Christ through Baptism on September 4th? Will you covenant to pray for these new believers? I know you will.
Will you also begin to do whatever it takes to seek out opportunities to minster to those around you in your daily lives at home, at work, and wherever you go? Our church is more than a club for Christians. We are a missional body of servants who long for God to be glorified, Jesus to be made famous, and people’s lives to be changed by the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ! Let’s start doing what we were made to do! Let’s pray for God to open our eyes to what He is doing in our midst and let’s jump into the work He is doing with both feet and see how God spends our lives for His glory!
Your fellow worker in the faith,
Pastor Thomas
David and Goliath Sermon
August 16th, 2011
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August Letter from the Pastor
August 1st, 2011
What do we think we are doing?
It’s simple really. When it comes down to it, what we do (and don’t do) is the only real signifier of what we believe (and don’t believe).
Obviously we can lie to ourselves if we want, and most of us do at least some of the time, but the truth of the matter is that I will act on whatever I really believe. The converse is also true, if I’m not living out what I say I believe, then I’m not really believing it. Let’s take a minute to explore this truth with a little hypothetical situation.
If I say that I care for the safety of my children, then I will actually do things to ensure their safety. I will secure the house and make it child-proof. I will buy safety equipment for them to travel in during car rides such as car seats and then buckle them in making sure they are secure. If I truly want them to be safe, I will take the time to explain the dangers of their choices and reason with them why they should do or not do certain things as they grow up.
Basically, if I really believe there are potential safety issues for my children, then I will do everything I can within my power to ensure their safety and teach them how to be safe when I am not around. If I don’t do anything to protect them and teach them, then I must not really care about their safety as much as I say I do, right?
I’m sure all of you can understand and relate to this example. I have no doubt that you understand these truths and even agree with the premise that we act upon what we truly believe.
So why is it that we say we believe certain truths about God, yet we don’t act on what we say believe? I’m not even talking about the small stuff. I’m talking about the essentials of our faith like worship, discipleship, evangelism, prayer, fellowship, etc.
If we say we believe our entire lives should be about worshiping God, then why aren’t they? If we say we believe Matthew 28:18-20 and that we should be making disciples, then why aren’t we? If we say we believe God wants us to share our faith, then why aren’t we telling others about Him? If we say we believe in the power of prayer, then why aren’t we committing more of our time and energy to praying? Why aren’t we confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another…about more than just health issues? If we say we believe the church is to be a faith family who truly fellowships, then why do we only gather on Sundays or once a quarter over lunch? If we say we believe in forgiveness, then why do we choose to hold on to the past and not forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ?
We like to say we are followers of Jesus and we like to say we love God, but we don’t usually live out what we say we believe. And, if we don’t act on what we say we believe, then maybe we don’t really believe it after all.
Look, I’m not saying we have to do “this and that” to make sure we are really Christians. I’m saying that if we truly are followers of Christ, then we’ll look like it. Our actions and words don’t earn us God’s favor. Jesus’ work on the cross already did that for us. But if we truly believe what we say we believe, then we’ll start living it out.
What would it look like if we actually starting living out what we say we believe? How would that change our families? How would that change our workplaces? How would that change our faith family? How would that change our community? Think of all the possibilities and think of all the joy we would have in knowing we are doing everything we can to make much of God and to enjoy Him completely.
You brother and fellow sojourner in Christ,
Pastor Thomas
July Letter from the Pastor
July 1st, 2011
Welsh Faith Family,
I have a new challenge for you. This one doesn’t require you to spend any money or do anything that takes you out of your “comfort zone.” It simply requires a little time, discipline, and love.
I’d like for us to begin a new prayer initiative. If we truly love God, we will love the things God loves. And if we truly love what God loves, then we must love the broken and hurting people that God loves.
The Initiative: Pray and ask God to send us broken, hurting people to whom we can proclaim the gospel.
Loving broken, hurting people will not be easy. In fact, it will surely be messy and even exhausting; but if we love God, we must love those whom He loves. What they need more than anything (just as much as we continually need it) is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It won’t be easy, but it will be beautiful; and most of all, God will love it. Pastor Matt Chandler describes what it looks like to love broken, hurting people:
A key piece to anyone recovering from a broken and sinful world is an understanding of what the problem is. Everyone knows there is something wrong with the world, but what you think the problem is will determine how you try and solve it. Unfortunately, most people spend all their efforts on symptoms rather than the disease that’s causing those symptoms.
“Grace-Driven Effort” goes after the heart. I am always amazed at how so many people have separated their actions from their hearts. There is a reason you have a crummy marriage, lack patience, are always angry and addicted to ________________.
There is a reason you have to tear down other women constantly and why you feel led to point out their flaws and failures. The reason is you have a wicked, idolatrous heart. If you simply try to handle the symptoms without addressing your heart as the source of those symptoms you’ll never see sin mortified in you.
The only truly redemptive cure for hurting, broken people is the gospel of Jesus. Only Jesus’ work on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the power of God in His Spirit can bring true healing and redemption. Only God can renew and replace a “wicked, idolatrous heart.”
This is why we must begin to pray for God to send us broken, hurting people to whom we can proclaim the gospel.
Without the gospel of Jesus, these hurting, broken people will spend their lives trying to alleviate their pain and brokenness in their own power only to fail over and over again just like we have done time and time again.
They (and we) need Jesus and they (and we) need Him now, and not just so He can cure the disease and heal the brokenness (again part of the symptoms), but so that He can replace their (and our) wicked, idolatrous hearts with a new heart that longs for intimacy with God.
Will you join me in this prayer initiative? All it takes is some time and a heart for the people God loves. If we are the people of God we say we are, it won’t even be a burden. It will be our pleasure.
Prayerfully yours and His,
Pastor Thomas
June Newsletter Article from the Pastor
May 30th, 2011
the MISSION
June Letter from the Pastor
For the last 22 months, our faith family has been endeavoring to restructure and realign ourselves with the mission of Jesus. Our orders are to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” (The Great Commission).
Now that we have restructured our leadership team and reorganized our church to more closely resemble the New Testament church of the Bible, it is finally time for each of us to begin carrying out the mission of Jesus here in Frostburg, the surrounding areas, and throughout the world.
Some of you have already been doing this, working as forward scouts who go out and gather information and do short-term work in the field while the rest of the church prepares to launch the larger campaign. Well, the time has come for us to suit up and begin the incursion. As we line up in formation and begin to move forward into the community, here are a few brief reminders of the only way the mission will be successful:
1. Everyone must participate. Jesus has commanded ALL of us to go and make disciples. Notice, the authoritative word in the above sentence is “commanded.” He has ordered all of us to go and make disciples and this is what we must do. In fact, whether or not we follow this order is actually a sign of whether or not we are a part of his army, the church. If we do not follow his orders, then we are not obeying our commander and we are evidently not a part of His army, the church. We might go to a church and do churchy things, but if we are not doing as our commander has ordered, then we are not his followers. It’s that simple.
2. Everyone must make disciples. I know we like to think that this is why we pay the pastor, but the truth of the matter is that Jesus has commanded ALL of us to go and make disciples. For many of us, making disciples can be as scary as getting into the water for the first time when we are learning to swim. In fact, it can be downright terrifying. The great thing is…Jesus isn’t just pushing us out of the boat into water that is over our head. He has actually given us a life-preserver and an instructor who is the Holy Spirit, and he is ALWAYS with us. We never have to worry about drowning or messing up. If we simply obey his command to make disciples, all we have to do is reach out to those around us and tell them about what Jesus has done for us. Then each week, we can simply share with them what we are learning from the Bible and what we learned on Sunday with our faith family. It really is that simple, but we ALL have to do it.
3. We must make disciples who make disciples. We’ve seen first hand what happens when people stop making disciples. The church stagnates and begins to shrink and become inwardly focused. We’ve seen it in our own church and we see it happening in the churches in our community (at least 4 churches have closed their doors for good in Allegany County this year). Someone in your life helped you come to know and trust Jesus. Then they helped you further by teaching you how to obey the commands of Jesus, especially the Great Commission (see above), and now it is your turn to do the same. The great commission starts with us going and making disciples and it ends with us teaching the new disciples to obey Jesus’ commands of going and making disciples. It is a continual, reproducible action that we must begin doing now.
We say we love God and we want to see God glorified. If this is true, then this is how we do it, and it starts right here where we live, work, and play. It starts here and it starts now. Will you join us?
Your fellow disciple-maker,
Thomas
The Gospel According to Mark pt. 17 (“Lord of the Storm” – Mark 4:35-41)
May 15th, 2011
For our latest sermon series, we have been walking through the Gospel according to Mark. This week’s sermon is from Mark 4:35-41 and is entitled “Lord of the Storm.” Here are the sermon notes with a link for the sermon at the bottom:
I. Jesus is Lord of our storms.
A. God allows storms in our lives.
B. God is sovereign over the storms.
II. Jesus is Lord of our fears.
A. Fear reveals what we value most.
B. Fear reveals the object of our faith.
III. Jesus is Lord of the ultimate storm.
A. Jesus did not abandon us in the ultimate storm.
B. Jesus will not abandon us in the smaller storms.
C. Jesus will return and still all storms for eternity.
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