Bible Baptist Church of Galway

Sermon Introduction: GREETINGS FROM CORINTH! (Romans 16:2124) I love how Paul ends the book of Romans! You get to chapter sixteen, and we are introduced to Phoebe, who is described as a servant of the church of Cenchrea. She is bearing a letter from Christians in nearby Corinth in Greece to the Christians in Rome. Then the greetings come. Paul mentions several people in Rome. Say Hi! to Priscilla and Aquila, to Mary, to Andronicus and Junias, to Rufus . . . and the list g...oes on. He then stops and gives a warning. There are some people that should not be welcomed. Some that you should avoid . . . those who are out to wreak havoc in the church, smooth talkers, who would like you to think they are your friend, power-hungry individuals with selfish motives, Keep away from them! After dictating that solemn bit of news, Paul is at it again. His is cheerfully in the greeting sending business. This time he is relating the greetings of Christians in Corinth to the church of Rome. He starts, Timothy sends his greeting! Then, Lucias, Jason, and Sosipater join in with greetings of their own. The next thing revealed lets us know what is going on, I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. What was Tertius doing? He was taking dictation from Paul. Paul is speaking. Tertius is writing, when he writes and no doubt said, I, Tertius, greet you in the Lord. Can you envision the scene that I am seeing? Paul has been dictating the epistle to the Romans. He gets to the place that he relays Timothy’s greeting. And another, Lucias speaks up. Include me in the greeting! Me too! says Jason. Then a cascade of well-wishers’ desire that their sentiments be made known as well. This is a band of brothers. Brothers united in a common sense of mission that has captivated Paul’s heart for the people of Rome. We are going to stop and ponder just who these well-wishers were from things we can draw from the text. We will review their situation by reading Paul’s account of his ministry in Corinth (found in Acts and 1 Corinthians). Then, realizing that these people were the joyous fruit of Paul’s labors in that wicked city, is bound to cause a sense of wonder. They are trophies not of Paul’s evangelistic abilities, but they are the product of God’s amazing grace. The story of God’s work in Corinth is sure to be an encouragement to those who minister in a dark and ungodly place. Outline: What the Well-Wishers Were Like Paul’s Ministry in Corinth Lessons for Us Today Would you like to hear more? We would be delighted to have you as our guest. The service starts at 11 am at the Bible Baptist Church of Galway, 2095 East Street, Galway, New York. We hope to see you there.

Sermon Introduction: DO NOT LET HIM CROAK IN THE CHURCH (Romans 16:1720) John Bunyan has an illustrative poem concerning a real threat to the wellbeing of any church. The danger is a kind of person, who, if left unchecked, can wreak havoc. Paul in the closing chapter of Romans wants his readers to be wary of the same type of individual. Bunyan paints him as a frog.... UPON THE FROG The frog by nature is both damp and cold: Her mouth is large, her belly much will hold; She sits somewhat ascendingloves to be Croaking in gardens, tho’ unpleasantly. Comparison The hypocrite is like unto this frog As like as is the puppy to the dog. He is of nature cold, his mouth is wide To prate and at true godliness to deride; And tho’ the world is that which has his love He mounts his bed as if he liv’d above; And though he seeks in churches for to croak He neither loveth Jesus nor his yoke. Now listen to Paul I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people (Romans 16:1718). As you can surmise, this is just the first two verses of a passage that contains four, so there will be more in the sermon than this. However, the way to deal with a subversive individual with a selfish motive in the church is the same way a young woman protects her chastity and reputation from a smooth-talking young man. Both the church and the young lady must be aware of what is going on and deal firmly and decisively with the pretended lover. Today’s message will help you identify a serous threat to the well-being of the church and how to effectively handle it. For those who are not aware of the danger, like a wildfire, a spark can become a smoldering fire which can explode into a raging inferno. Disaffection, division, and desolation can come to any church not aware of the dangers. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Learn what to do. Do not give this person an opportunity to croak in your church! If he does not have a platform, he will go elsewhere. Would you like to hear more? Please join us for worship tomorrow. The service starts at 11 am at the Bible Baptist Church of Galway, 2095 East Street, Galway, NY. Please use the back door as we are in the process of building a new front deck, ramp, and steps. We hope to see you here.

Sermon Introduction: GREETING FRIENDS! (Romans 16:116) Paul, in our present journey through the book of Romans, has finished a theological masterpiece! We have studied grand themes such as sin, faith, imputed righteousness, Christ, God’s electing grace, how to live the Christian life, and how to handle doctrinal differences between true brothers in Christ. The reading of this book has had a powerful impact upon the Christian church. From reading these pages Augustine and Ma...rtin Luther were converted to Christ. They were made alive to the glorious Gospel, of which Paul was unashamed. This is a weighty theological treasure rich with profound truths about God and man. How does Paul end this book? In the last few sermons, I spoke of his missionary report to the Christians in Rome. Now, as we are at the end (in essence) he writes say hello to my friends. Did you hear what I just said? He closes his masterpiece by writing say hello to Rufus, to Mary, to my dear friend Persis, and Ampliatios, I just love that guy! In total, Paul greets 26 individuals and four gatherings of Christians (churches). There are no wasted words in the Bible. Why did the Holy Spirit want Paul to include his greetings to friends? Could it be that when all is said and done, when the last theological proposition has been examined, when the lecture has come to an end, and the books are closed, the bell rings, and class is dismissed, these greetings shout out loud and clear that everything we learn in the school of faith is to be used in our ministry to people. To love learning is not enough. Those of us with a scholarly bent need to ask ourselves, do we love people!? Do we really love those whom God has called us to serve? In this sermon, we are going to look at what Paul has to say about his friends. We will also look at a controversial verse. In the beginning, he has a few words to say about Phoebe, a servant (in Greek diakonon) of the church in Cenchrea. Was there an office of lady deacons? Phoebe is not part of the list of people Paul greeted because she is the one carrying this letter to the Romans. However, she is greatly esteemed by Paul. At first glance you might think there will be slim pickings from this section on Paul’s greetings, especially for a sermon. You are in for a feast. There is a lot of meat on these bones. Would you like hear more? You are invited to this message on friendship. The service starts at 11 am at the Bible Baptist Church of Galway, 2095 East Street, Galway, NY. We hope to see you there.

Sermon Introduction: MOSES ON THE RESURRECTION (John 1:4351) Meeting Jesus, Phillip runs home and excitedly tells Nathaniel, We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (John 1:44)... Moses knew about Jesus? Look at the Law (the Torah), the first five books, the Pentateuch, and Christ can be clearly seen in the imagery. Did not John the Baptist point to Jesus and say, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). John the Baptist did not say it once. He said it again in John 1:36, Look, the Lamb of God. Look! Look! Look! Do you realize who this is? This is the Lamb of God! Warren Wiersbe, in his excellent book on preaching, "Preaching and Teaching with Imagination, wrote, More than one expositor has pointed out that the lamb might well be called the theme of the whole Bible. Isaac asked, Where is the lamb for the burnt offering? (Gen 22:7), and his question was answered by John the Baptist, Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29, 36) . . . The word lamb is used twenty-eight times in the Book of Revelation. (p. 104) The followers of Jesus were people of the book, and the book was the TaNaK, The Law, Prophets, and Writings (the Old Testament Scriptures). When they searched the Scriptures, they were not reading Paul, Mark, and Matthew when Jesus walked the earth. The New Testament was not written yet. They were studying the Old Testament! Moses knew about Christ’s death, did he also know about Christ’s resurrection? Yes, and we are going to talk about it. We are going to talk about Moses and the Resurrection as framed by the story of Phillip bringing Nathaniel to Christ. Text: John 1:43-51 Introduction John 1:4346 Philip tells Nathaniel about Jesus Moses and the Resurrection Jesus is the One Moses wrote about Conclusion John 1:4751 Nathaniel meets Jesus What about angels ascending and descending on Jesus in verse 51? There is a tie with Jesus calling Nathaniel a true Israelite. The whole passage is saturated with Old Testament imagery! Now here is a sermon for Easter Sunday! Would you like to hear more? Join us for our Easter Sunday Service, 11 am at the Bible Baptist Church of Galway, 2095 East Street, Galway, NY. We hope to see you there!

Sermon Introduction: PAUL'S MISSIONARY LETTER, PART 2 (Romans 15:2333) We have all had our plans thwarted from time to time. We plan our work, then work our plan. Hopefully, each one of us knows that God has given us our life and we want to make it count for Him. Aimless living, drifting along wherever the current takes us, is not the way we want to go. Sometimes we may be called to even swim against the current. Yet, how do you feel if something does not go as planned. Are ...you able to roll with the punches, Take what comes your way? Such expressions are a realization that things often do not turn out the way one expects, as expressed in contemporary idiom. Today as we come to the next passage in Romans, Paul lays out his missionary plans to his readers. Knowing what is to befall him as recorded in the rest of Scripture, we are aware that Paul’s plans are not going to turn out as he expected. The prayers he is asking his Roman readers to pray are not going to be answered in the way Paul envisioned. Therefore, there will be a two-fold lesson in today’s sermon. The text reveals Paul’s resolute desire to live purposefully and his understanding that he needed the prayer support of God’s people if anything of value was to be accomplished for God. This is the first lesson of our text. We need to do the same. There ought to be no loafers in the church. The second lesson surfaces by going beyond the passage to what we know will happen to Paul. We will learn that events do not always unfold according to our plans and our prayers. What should we do then? Maybe, your plans have been frustrated. Perhaps you are in a current situation where you are saying to yourself, This is definitely NOT what I expected! If you would you like a Word from God in such a time as this, then you are not going to want to miss today’s sermon. Therefore, join with us this morning at the Bible Baptist Church of Galway, 2095 East Street, Galway, NY. The service starts at 11 am. You will find a warm welcome. We hope to see you there!