First Baptist Church Thomson, Ga

Dr. Matt Ward walks us through the history of religious liberty in the United States, the meaning of the article on Religious Liberty in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, and how we live in light of both.

Usually, when a preacher talks about stewardship, everyone thinks he’s just going to talk about money. True, money is one of the primary ways the Bible talks about stewardship, but this concept goes much further and deeper than our wallets. It involves the entirety of our lives as followers of Jesus. Ultimately, stewardship isn’t a matter of our bank accounts, but of our hearts.

In this message, I am introducing the main points our kids will be discovering in this week’s VBS. Through the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis, we can discover and celebrate the greatness of God's love, presence, plan, and power.

More than ever before, it is incumbent on God’s people to present a clear, biblical view of God’s purpose and plan for the family. Of all the areas where our world needs the preserving power of Salt and the illumination of the Light, it’s these issues involving families—especially marriage and children.

In looking at the Baptist Faith and Message article on The Christian and the Social Order, we use Jesus' illustration of being salt and light to focus on how we are to be the people of God in today's culture. We examine the biblical worldview and ethic on issues like race, abortion, gender, and sexuality. In a dark and decaying culture, now more than ever we need to shine the light of God's truth and be His preserving agent in the world.

As Christians, our relationship and responsibility to our nation is never more difficult than when it comes to war. We wrestle with questions like: Is war ever justified? If Jesus calls Christians to be peacemakers, is it right to ever take up arms to defend ourselves, our homes, or our country? If so, what principles guide us in war and self-defense?

Cooperation is a conditional value that is clarified with three questions: With whom do we cooperate? Why do we cooperate? and How do we cooperate? How we answer these questions is critical for our identity as Baptists and how we do ministry together with others.

In this sermon, I look at what Southern Baptist believe about the nature and value of education and the importance of education through a decidedly Christian lens. If God is the Creator of all things, and the Omniscient Knower of all things, then all truth is God's truth. That means that apart from knowing the God of Truth, we can only know things as partially true. The implications for how we view knowledge and wisdom and education are immense. I'll use Jesus' parable about the wise and foolish builders and some Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 to help us see the essentials for constructing a Christian education.

It's easy today for Moms in particular to feel stressed and depressed, burned-out, and like they're coasting on fumes. 2 Kings 4 tells us the story of a single mom who was literally running on empty. Her world was falling apart, and she was in danger of losing her family. Her story teaches us that no matter our problems, God has a plan. Just as God took care of this widowed mother of two, He will take care of you. When your cup seems empty and your battery is drained, there is help and there is hope.

As we look at what Southern Baptists believe about evangelism and missions, we look at the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28. In this sermon, I break it down into a simple, easy-to-remember format:1-3-3--one command with three principles and three promises.

When it comes to the doctrine of Last Things, God wants us to focus on the fact that Jesus will return, and how we are to live in the reality of His future return, not obsessively worrying over the details of how, when, and where. In this message we focus on the basic truths we can know about Last Things (eschatology) and how we should live in light of those truths.

Some people today want to discount the historicity of the Resurrection and focus on the “spiritual truth” behind it. But truth at the very least must be factual and rooted in what is real. If the Resurrection didn’t happen in time and space, what difference could a Risen Christ make in our lives and world? We cannot have a meaningful Christian experience apart from the truth that Jesus literally, bodily rose from the dead!

As we think about Jesus entering the gates of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we should focus on Jesus as the one and only narrow gate through which we must pass to have life eternal and abundant. In this message, we focus on Jesus as the Gate through which we gain access to God.

The Kingdom of God is both the theme Jesus taught on the most, and it is the most often misunderstood by His followers. What is the Bible talking about when it mentions the Kingdom of God/Heaven? What difference does the Kingdom have in our lives as we seek to live for Jesus in a day and age where there are so many kingdoms competing for our allegiance? We will discover the answers to these questions through this look into God's Word.

Is the Lord’s Day only a Christianized Sabbath Day, or is it about something else? Are we as New Testament Christians bound to the keep Sabbath as the Israelites did under the Old Covenant? What does the Bible have to say about worship on the first day of the week? We will unpack the history, meaning, and observance of Sunday as a day of worship in this message.

Some Christians wonder if the church is relevant anymore. Can’t they worship, love, and serve Jesus without belonging to a local church? Can’t they just “do church” online—on their own terms? These questions reveal an ignorance of the doctrine of the church and why the church matters to our faith, growth, and God’s redemptive mission in the world. In this message we'll look at the Nature, Purpose, and Power of the church in our lives and God's mission in the world.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are signs and symbols of that salvation. Whenever someone is baptized or we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it’s like we are acting out a parable. We are using all our senses to experience, remember, and proclaim the truth of the Gospel. And both ordinances not only remember the past, but they anticipate what is yet to come when Christ returns.

The Gospel is about a great exchange—taking away our filthy, unrighteous garments, and giving us a new wardrobe—robes of righteousness so we can stand before a Holy God. Paul’s clearest explanation of God’s redemptive mission and the plan of Salvation is found in Romans. In this sermon, we use passages from Romans 1-3 to examine the truth that Jesus alone saves, and He saves all who come to Him in repentance and faith.

Once we know Who God is and what God does, then we can more accurately answer, “What is man?” for what we believe about humanity flows directly from what we believe about God. The #1 theological issue of today, the Christian doctrine most debated and under attack, is the doctrine of mankind. And the implications of our view of humanity is enormous, ranging in issues from families, marriage, gender, racism, government policies, abortion, medical ethics, the justice system, etc. It is vitally important we get this right!

There are lots of misconceptions and fears about God the Spirit. Disagreements and debates about the what the Spirit is like and what He does swirl around churches and denominations. In this sermon, I aim to help us gain a clearer understanding of what the Spirit is like and what He does in our lives—His attributes and activities.