DWIRTE

Laurie's Advent Lesson for kids

Spiritual Leprosy, infecting the hearts of believers who justify sin and grow immune to their conscience, is far more insidious than physical leprosy.

For the Sake of the Gospel, preached at First Baptist Church Springfield IL November 27, 2022

Scenes of the hillside treehouse build in Alabama, and a prepper's apologetics explained. The planting areas are taking shape.

This medium-sized tree needs to come down; both to allow sunlight down to the garden area and to get the main beams for the treehouse floor. We couldn't afford to buy such massive wooden beams, couldn't move them here in our pickup truck if we did, and would never dream of trying to drag them up the hill to this site. Fortunately they grow right here.

We need a center post for our treehouse, which will help support the center floor joists and also allow for a canvas roof that peaks in the middle. Raising it proves to take longer than we thought it would.

The treehouse build is uphill from the homesite; it is something we can work on while we wait for the contractors to get the main site prepared. We'll need this to elevate a watertank and get water pressure; also it will house solar panels and give us electricity on the east side, and when we stay here at night it will get us off the ground and away from rattlesnakes, we hope.

The homesite is just beginning to be cleared of trees; the driveway is cut into the hillside, but the topsoil is not yet removed and it will need to be widened.

In WW2, Americans in the Ardennes were thrust into a huge mid-winter battle they didn't see coming. In the Old Testament, Nehemiah in going back to Jerusalem to rebuild a wall suddenly found himself confronted with savage guerilla attacks and economic woes. And we, going about our business as we see it for God's kingdom, can expect no less than sudden and sneaky attacks all through our daily lives.

The role of mental preparation in our spiritual warfare...did David just get lucky when he went out against Goliath? Sometimes the lesson of that fight is presented that way--just jump out there no matter what and God will save you. But maybe that isn't what was going on at all.

If you are in a war, would Jesus send you into it alone and unequipped?

In Acts 1, Jesus tells His church to go out to the ends of the earth...or did He?

We all have a choice in front of us, unless we have made it already. It's a very simple choice, yet very difficult. The right way is hard to find and harsh to walk, but no one who chooses it will fail or go astray.

Why do some who accept Christ come back to church consistently, while others who seem to have sincerely prayed never darken the door again? Could it be they were told something wrong from the beginning?

Something we streamed last year which I thought was well worth posting permanently, although we had some difficulty with the sound. There was a bad hiss that I was able to diminish, but it ended up making a bad mismatch between audio and video. Don't look at it too closely and you'll be ok.

We picked the two coldest days of January to go see if we could do some work outside. It was in the thirties, not too bad, but down below freezing at night so not a good idea to do any mortaring of the rock walls.

What kind of God do you serve? Is he little enough to keep in a box? Are you made in His image, or is He made in yours?

Does being cleansed for a Christian mean the same thing as being transformed? What is our responsibility? How has God enabled us to succeed?

Hannah, mother of Samuel, gives an extraordinary prayer regarding God's blessing to her in the birth, as does Mary in the Magnificat regarding the birth of her son, the Savior.

learning to find the peace of God

Pastor Jim describes one of the last lessons Jesus gave his disciples in the upper room: an enacted parable.

Actually delivered late, as Pastor John was in quarantine for COVID during the last week of Advent, this fourth installment was from the week of Epiphany 2022--appropriate for the topic of wise men.

Our Redeemer comes from a very human family with a troubled past. Matthew's genealogy describes not only David and Jesse, but at least 4 very surprising characters who ordinarily would not have appeared in the official registry. These people's stories describe important aspects in the plan of redemption, as they pass along some very particular character traits to their descendants.

Malachi and Isaiah tell us what to expect of the Messiah.

First time we've gone all the way up to the east property line on our 20 acres. Beautiful views up there.