Ramsey Creek Baptist Church

The Lord’s Supper is weighty. It's important, it has meaning, and it should not be assumed or taken for granted. Men, women, and even children have died for their belief & practice of it. When Jesus said, "This is my body..." and "this is my blood...", we need to understand the representation He intended. When He said these things He means “This represents my body”. In John 6 Jesus gives the key to understanding His hard teaching - it's a spiritual thing, not a physical thing (6:63). He also equates eating and drinking to coming and believing (6:35). The moment a person comes to Him and believes, they have partaken of His body & blood and will never hunger or thirst again for spiritual things. - When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we remember the Gospel. - When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we proclaim the Gospel. - When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we experience the Gospel together. When we gather for communion we remember His death, we proclaim the Gospe

If we don’t understand giving on the individual level, we won’t understand why we give when we come together as a body. We were designed to proclaim the virtues of God. How? By our verbal communication as well as our actions toward others at home, in the church, in the community and in the marketplace. Sacrificial Giving is an exercise of this submission to Christ and an example to the world and principalities that I do not serve the flesh or it’s desires. When God spoke in Malachi, about bringing all the tithes into the storehouse and blessing those who obey, God was not really concerned about their outward actions of giving. The lack of giving, and tithing was rather an outward gauge that exposed their heart. The consequences of disease, pestilence, & financial ruin were not because of their refusal to tithe and give, but rather their rejection of a relationship with the one true God. He was rehearsing all the ways He had demonstrated love to them and provided for them in the past, and

The debates about baptism usually revolve around two things: 1. When should we baptize someone? and 2. How should we baptize them? Baptism is more than just getting wet - there's purpose behind it and purpose in it. In telling the story of the early church, Acts repeatedly ties Christian baptism to repentance and faith. In fact, in every case in the book of Acts, only those who’d already believed were baptized. This is why Baptists believe that the churches should only baptize believers. Does the mode of how we baptize really matter? 1. The original language. - the word baptizo means “to dip or immerse” 2. The consistency of Scripture. - Water was used - Acts 10:47-48 - Much water was necessary - John 3:23 - People came to the water - Acts 8:36 - People went down into the water - Acts 8:38 - People came up out of the water - Mark 1:9-10 & Acts 8:39 3. The clarity of its picture. - Romans 6:3-8 - It is our spiritual union with Christ that causes these benefits to come. It is a spi

Let’s not over-complicate the subject. Prayer is the privilege of the people of God. It must be a part of our gathering. In one sense prayer is private: "But when you you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matt. 6:6). In another sense its deeply congregational: "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (Acts 1:14). "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). Why was the early church so jazzed about prayer? Because they were jazzed about Jesus. They were jazzed about Jesus because He was alive from the dead. Why pray? 1. Prayer is required. 2. Prayer is relational. 3. Prayer is refining. How to Pray? 1. Pray the Bible. 2. Disciple’s Prayer (Luke 11:2-4) 3. Look for good examples. Our prayer

When we gather, we not only hear from God, we hear from one another. Why do we often think we can regularly miss out on the teaching and encouragement of other Christians and still be prepared for everything life throws at us? There is God-ordained value in coming together as a church body regularly that we shouldn’t want to miss out on, because it guards our souls from frustration and despair. When we gather and hear from one another, we shouldn’t hear anything that God hasn’t already revealed to His people in His Word. God’s people can only do good in this world through the Spirit by the indwelling Word. God has always created & sustained His people by His Word. His words are the ones to be concerned with and not our own, so this is why we preach when the church gathers. We want to hear from God. We want to hear from God Himself, but not just hear – we want to be changed. The hopeful and expectant result of the preaching in our church is changed lives. Why Do We Preach

Ephesians 5:25-27 reminds of why Jesus died: for the Church. A person can't truly love God and avoid the church (1 John). The book of Acts reveals a couple of patterns concerning the early church: 1. The early church was passionate about spreading the Gospel. They prayed about it and participated in spreading the Gospel, and we also see that the church was persecuted for it. Even in the face of indifference, rejection, and persecution, the early church continued to pray for boldness in preaching the Gospel regardless of other people's response. 2. The early church genuinely cared or one another. We even see from the creation of Eve that companionship conquers loneliness, and community/relationship is better than independence. Christians enjoy God to the fullest in community with one another. As the new and permanent High Priest, Jesus cleanses sinners by His blood and removes the stain of sin through His sacrifice. Because of this wonderful news, Christians are

Notice the terms that Paul uses in the text about every Christian's identity: - no longer strangers or foreigners - fellow citizens with the saints - members of the household of God - joined together as a part of a holy temple whose cornerstone is Jesus - being built together in Him into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit God always designed Christians to participate in the life of the Church because Christians ARE the Church. You were not saved to be a lone-ranger Christian, on a spiritual island of just you and God, in isolation from other believers. You were saved out of your sin and into a family. Instead of seeing church life as just another ball to juggle in life (like kid's activities, job responsibilities, family schedules, leisure time, etc), it would be helpful to look at it as a wheel. The hub of the wheel is the starting point for every spoke in our life. You can’t drop your identity with the Church any more than you can drop your identity

Ramsey Creek Baptist Church

Ramsey Creek Baptist Church

In this text there is a command ("make disciples of all nations"), the rationale for the command ("all authority has been given to [Jesus]", and clarifiers that explain how the command is to be fulfilled ("go, baptize, teach"). The Great Commission is what drives our mission efforts and is primarily a call to disciple-making. So the end goal of missions is making disciples who are passionate for the glory of God. Characteristics of a genuine disciple: * True disciples will hold to His Word and grow in grace as a result of it. (John 8:31-32) * True disciples will have noticeable, lasting, and genuine love for one another. (John 13:35) * True disciples will ultimately and obviously prove their allegiance to Jesus by how they live. (John 15:8) Every Christian is commanded to not only be a true disciple, but to make more true disciples.

Our culture is increasingly intolerant of people who claim that absolute truth exists. For many, God/religion is just a matter of opinion or preference, not something to build a life around. We don’t like being told absolute truth exists because if it does then we will be held accountable for knowing it and listening to it. But we we can’t believe things or refuse to believe things simply on the basis of how they make us feel. There is ample evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus, and if the resurrection is true then every one of us has an extremely important decision to make: believe and submit to Jesus as Lord, or reject his rule and perish in our sin. Jesus’ resurrection validates everything He said, taught, and He came to do. The resurrection confirms the bold promises of the cross (like the forgiveness of sin, a new life, a new heart, peace with God, victory over sin & death, etc). Without Jesus being raised those are empty promises, but because He has conquered d

God’s sovereignty is not outwardly spectacular at Jesus’ burial, but He is working in and through the details and circumstances of ordinary people, often over long periods of time, to accomplish His will. The religious leaders cared more about appearances, but Joseph and Nicodemus cared more about the Savior. They saw Him for whom He was and believed, even when it wasn’t popular with people in their “circle”. They risked their very way of life to identify with Jesus. Is that how you follow Jesus? Are you willing to give up family, friends, careers, luxuries, comforts to follow Him? Or are you content to watch from the sidelines, occasionally dipping your toes in the water of “church-life” while remaining dead on the inside? Pride will keep you from Jesus. We serve a sovereign God who orchestrates all the details and circumstances of many lives – including those of His enemies – to achieve His will. Even when

Jesus willingly endured the suffering and went to the cross because of His love for the Father and His love for all those who would believe on His name. The death of Jesus was a monumental event not just in the timeline of redemptive history, but in its physical effect on the earth itself. How could the physical world NOT be affected by the death of its Creator? When Jesus’ body was torn on the cross, the curtain was torn in the temple. When His body was broken on the cross, the rocks were broken in the ground. The grave that held dead people in and the one who held the power of death itself (the Devil) would very soon have a new Master! When Jesus died, He killed death. The curtain was a constant reminder that sin makes us unfit for the presence of God. "Because of our sin, you can’t come in." But it was God who tore the curtain. So what does this mean? It's God who initiates a relationship with us (Eph 1). Christian: you have hope of new

The physical death of Jesus is not something we typically like to think about; it was a bloody and disturbing act that is difficult to read and hear the details of. But the pain Jesus endured He did so for a reason - because of His love for the Father and His love for all those who would be given to Him, all those who would believe on His name. 2,000 years later our response to Jesus' death should be something much more than pity - our response should be faith.

Pilate knew Jesus was innocent (Matthew & Luke's gospels make this clear), but the crowds were loud and insistent, so he caved and agreed to release Barabbas and send Jesus to the cross. Barabbas' connection with Jesus can't be a coincidence. His name means "son of the father", while Jesus is the Son of the Father. One tried to take the throne by force, while the other is the actual King of all. The people freed the wrong "son", but this was God's plan from the beginning. You and I are clearly the ones guilty and deserving of condemnation (Romans 3:23 & 6:23), but we are set free because of the willing substitution of the Son of God in our place. As we more greatly understand the depths of our sin, we can all say, “I am Barabbas.” And as we understand more the incredible sacrifice of Christ we will say, “All I have is Christ!”. (Audio is from the video found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX_EpNR4CA&t=244s)

Peter's heart was broken after realizing his sin - same as Judas - but the way they responded couldn't have been more different. Guilt and sorrow drove them both to death; one was in despair but the other was in dedication. There’s a kind of sorrow/grief that leads to repentance and life and there’s one that leads to death (2 Cor. 7:8-10). Godly grief is a good thing because it calls us back to the Savior and not ourselves. Godly grief ultimately produces real repentance that leads to a change of purpose and life. Worldly grief produces crushing sorrow that ends in death. What is the sorrow in your life producing? Crushing despair? Or repentance and life?

The entire arrest and trial in the life of Jesus was ordained, orchestrated, and completed by a sovereign God who really truly loved His Son. God’s plan to bring us into a love relationship with Him took Jesus to the cross. While we may not understand all that God is doing in our circumstances, there is a purpose & there is a design. Our lives are also ordained, orchestrated, and completed by a sovereign God who really truly loves us. Caiaphas' solution to the Jewish leader's problem was just to kill Jesus. "It’s better that one person die so the whole nation won’t" (v. 50). "We'll kill him so that the Romans won’t kill us", Caiaphas thought. This reminds us that the heart of the Gospel is substitution. God substituted His Son for you. Romans 8:1-4 tells us that God condemned our sin in His Son. Because of this wonderful doctrine sinners who put their trust in Jesus never need to fear being condemned by God. We are now welcomed into His family by grace

Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew Himself, which is why Jesus prayed for him (John 17). Were it not for Jesus’ intercession on our behalf, every one of us would abandon the faith when times get tough and be content to chase after the lesser things of this world. Jesus helps us see & understand that we cannot do what He’s called us to do in our effort and ability alone. What was the "cup" Jesus was referring to in His prayer in the garden? The cup Jesus was going to drink was the cup of God’s wrath against sin. How can God tell rebellious sinners that they are right before Him and not become detestable to Himself? Through Christ's perfect sacrifice on the cross. There Jesus absorbed God’s righteous wrath so that sinners might actually become sons and daughters of the Father. He drank the cup of God’s wrath for us so that God could extend the cup of His fellowship to us.

As Jesus sat down with His disciples, He instituted the New Passover. This was pictured in the similarities between Christ and the passover lamb. But unlike the firstborn sons in Egypt at the first Passover, Jesus is the Son whom God did not spare so that we may be spared. This is the point of the new Passover Jesus introduced – that those who believe in Him may be forgiven through His sacrifice.

The religious leaders hated Jesus, but they were ruled by the fear of men. They cared more about what other people thought of them than what God did. The religious leaders literally buried the Truth to try to retain their reputation. Oftentimes we are so worried about what other people think that we are also willing to bury truth in order to maintain a lie. And so the religious leaders found someone who loved money as much as they did - Judas. Despite Judas' scolding of Mary, it's evident that the use of her own hair on Jesus' feet was an act of incredible humility and deep devotion. - Mary anointed Jesus with oil that was worth a year’s wages. - Judas sold Jesus for four months wages. This highlights a truth: What we value most is most precious to us. Magnifying Christ with your very best is always an appropriate act for a Christian.