By God’s design, the local church is to be led by elders. Other names for that role are pastor, shepherd, or overseer (see Acts 20:28). In 1 Peter 5:1-5, Peter provides instructions and exhortation to the elders of the church; we can all learn from these leadership lessons. The Role of the Elder Jesus bought the church with his own blood. Although …

In the year 304, Emperor Diocletian declared that he had destroyed the Christian church. Today over two billion people identify as Christians, and few people remember the emperor. Over 200 years before Diocletian’s Great Persecution, Peter wrote to the early church to prepare them for extraordinary persecution. He warned them that even though perse…

Healthy community is a goal for every church, but cultivating it is challenging. Even the first century church that the Apostle Peter wrote to in 1 Peter had to be encouraged to work towards a healthy community. Watch and Pray In 1 Peter 4:7, Peter writes, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sak…

Everyone goes through suffering; no one is exempt. As Christians, we can be assured that God uses every moment of our suffering for a greater purpose. In Chapter 4, Peter encourages the believers to endure suffering because there is a purpose in it. He reminds them and us that while Jesus lived on the earth, he was a man of sorrows (see Isaiah 53:3…

Over the last few decades there has been a lot of discussion about the separation of church and state. While I don’t believe a pastor should direct the congregation to vote for a specific candidate, I also don’t think that the church should stand idly by and allow corruption and immorality to govern our nation. Dr. Adrian Rogers once said, “the chu…

The Solution for a cold heart. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that the "love of many will grow cold" The answer for that is found in another end time scripture of I Cor 15. Paul says at the end of the chapter to be "steadfast, Immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord - Knowing that it is NEVER in vain. What we do for God counts when done …

This passage is one of the more challenging portions of Scripture to understand, but it declares wonderful truths. Glorious Access Baptism and Communion are the two ordinances that Jesus gave to the church. Two seemingly simple activities, but they proclaim the reason why we exist as believers. This is the Gospel, the good news about what Jesus has…

Today over 365 million believers are persecuted for being a follower of Jesus. Some estimates state that 1 in 7 believers face physical persecution. In 1 Peter, the apostle is writing to the persecuted church in modern day Turkey, preparing them for more extreme persecution. In America, we are blessed to be able to worship freely without fear of pe…

Who doesn’t want to live a meaningful life full of peace and joy? The Bible gives a prescription for us to live life to the fullest. Peter is preparing the church for further suffering, preparing them to be strong and healthy as they endure hardship. The Western church is not familiar with persecution, but that may change soon. For a church to rema…

The Glory of Marriage The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:1, “…wives, be subject to your own husbands.” This is a topic that most people in Western culture would say is irrelevant and out of touch. But this verse is only contentious because the more we drift from Biblical morality and authority, the more foreign and out of date the Bible seems to…

God designed the human body with incredible detail. Each part relies on and connects to the rest of the whole for a specific purpose. When one part fails or becomes disconnected, the entire body is aware that something is wrong. In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul uses the human body as an illustration for the church. The picture of the church as…

To play on a sports team, you must have the talent and the skill required to play a particular position on the team. If you don’t have the talent or skill set, you might not be chosen for the team, and you will have to become a spectator. However, if you are a follower of Jesus, you have been chosen to be a part of the Body of Christ; you are alrea…

Who is our enemy? The media is very good at focusing our attention on the enemy. It may be China, Russia, Islamic extremists or even a political figure. But as Christians we are already engaged in a very real war against a vicious enemy who is actively pursuing our destruction. Many Christians are not even aware of the reality of the spiritual warf…

Living to Retire The modern concept of retirement is relatively new for mankind, and it is not healthy for us. Research has shown that if we stop working and do nothing with our time, we will die sooner than if we are active in society. There is the misconception that retirement is when we stop working, but I would like to propose that for the Chri…

My father was a pastor who faithfully served several churches in the years up until his passing in 2013. I am blessed to have had a father who was a man of conviction and a man of prayer. I am so grateful that I frequently caught him in prayer. He was leading by example and teaching me valuable disciplines. Parents do you lead by example in your ho…

As we saw last week, everyone is capable of influencing others; everyone is a leader in some capacity (see Matthew 5:13). However, as we all know, every leader is imperfect. Every leader is prone to making rash decisions, communicating poorly, getting angry or frustrated, and making many other mistakes. Every leader is a fallen human needing a savi…

“Leadership is influence”, John Maxwell Moses was arguably the greatest leader in the Bible aside from Jesus. And when it comes to leadership, we can learn much from Moses. As you read the books of Moses, from Exodus to Deuteronomy, there is one phrase that is hard to miss: “And God said to Moses…” This phrase appears well over one hundred times in…

This past Friday our small team arrived home from Morehouse, MO. Where we served the local First Baptist church and the pastor Jason Crow. Jason is a bi-vocational pastor who is married to Amber. They have six children, some adopted and two special needs children. His life is full and challenging. The church is struggling. Half of the congregation …

This is a very challenging passage. How do we respond to our leaders when they promote immoral things and even use our tax dollars to pay for things that we don’t approve of? As Christians who stand for the truth of God’s word, we must not be surprised by the resistance and even persecution from the world around us. In 1 Peter, the apostle is writi…

There is power in personal testimony. Doctrine and theology are extremely important, but people are drawn to the reality of God’s supernatural activity in the world (see 1 Corinthians 2:4-5). This past Sunday we remembered the Lord’s supper as a testimony, we heard a powerful testimony of healing, and we witnessed someone testifying to their salvat…

Identity is a complex thing. We identify ourselves by many different criteria, none of which fully explains who we are. If you are a Christian, you have an identity that is supremely more important than any other title or identifier. As we saw in 1 Peter 2:1-3, these new believers were maturing through suffering. Suffering can produce spiritual mat…

If you have lived for any length of time, you have realized by now that life can be unfair. Sometimes we get attacked, violated, and humiliated, even by those we trusted and befriended. Psalm 35 is a prayer of David crying out for vindication and relief from his attackers. Maybe you can identify with David today; perhaps you are experiencing injust…

Christians, like babies, are expected to grow. When one is born again, there is an expectation that the young believer will grow into spiritual maturity. Satan and his demons have many weapons that they use to prevent a new believer from becoming all that God has called them to be. One of these tools is complacency, settling for the status quo and …

Whenever I can offer Bibles at outreach events or to people on the streets, people eagerly jump at the chance to have the Word of God in their own hands. They have a hunger for this book that is supernatural. But yet in the church, where we proclaim the Word and stand on it as a pillar of the church, the Bible seems to be less valued, or at least l…

Have you considered how much time you waste in a day? In today’s passage, the apostle Peter reminds us that we are judged impartially by God, ransomed from futility, and set apart for God’s glory. Judged Impartially Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:17, “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselv…

It has been said that the theme of 1 Peter is, “The Christian’s hope in times of trial”. In the first section of chapter 1, Peter emphasized walking in hope; but now his emphasis is walking in holiness (see 1 John 3:3). 1 Peter 1:13 reads, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that wil…

Jesus is alive! Throughout the pages of the Bible, we see prophecies and their fulfillment hundreds of years apart. Notice that when Jesus revealed himself to his disciples, he referred to the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms containing information about himself (see Luke 24:44). The entire Bible points to Jesus (see Isaiah 53 and Psalm 2…

Sight is one of our most valuable senses, but there is a blindness that is worse than physical blindness: spiritual blindness. Physical blindness, even though it could affect one’s entire lifetime, is not as bad as spiritual blindness that can lead to an eternity separated from God. This week we remember Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusal…

How does God heal when we feel betrayed? How does He heal Peter who betrayed Him? This is a sermon on the effects of betrayal trauma and how it has come up in our own community at large and what it is and how God might want to heal it in our lives. Video played at end of sermon by Common Hymnal called "He has Time" from YouTube: https://www.youtube…

Recently I had the privilege of traveling with a team of missionaries to South Africa, taking the Gospel message to the public schools. The message was powerfully received and changed thousands of lives. The Gospel is incredibly powerful and yet seemingly simple to proclaim. The Apostle Peter, writing to exiled Jewish believers, wrote the book of 1…

Pastor Athol Barnes 1 Peter 1:1-9 Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/Av Grace Point Baptist Church

Athol and Adam Report Back TX and South Roots Outreach to South Africa 2024 Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/Av Grace Point Baptist Church

When Jesus Spits... Teacher Eric Spady 2.11.2024 Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/Av Grace Point Baptist Church

In Luke 18, Jesus was walking with his disciples heading to Jerusalem, teaching them as he went. In the first section of chapter 18, Jesus tells them a parable to teach them about prayer, encouraging them in verse 1 to, “…always pray and not lose heart.” To pray is like breathing for a Christian, it is essential for our life. Without prayer, we wil…

In this day, when there is so much attacking the truth and the enemy is ravaging families inside and outside the church, we need to get serious about prayer. It is our primary source of power. It is an invitation from the Lord. We have an invitation from the Lord to come into His presence. He invites us to bring our praise, thanksgiving, confession…

Pastor Athol Barnes Don’t we all desire to live a life of eternal impact and to finish well for the glory of God? Ultimately only God defines our impact; as a result, a life of impact for God must come out of a life of intimacy with God. Sadly, so many people who start out well in life don’t finish well. So how do we finish life well? The Apostle P…

1: Fellowship with Jesus In his time on the earth, Jesus trained twelve men to go out and train others. He was equipping and sending them. He started by building a close relationship with them. In our busy culture, we wrestle with this. In our minds, busyness equals effectiveness, but that is not the way of the Kingdom of God. Fellowship comes befo…

Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/Av Grace Point Baptist Church

A sermon by Travis Hamm delivered at Grace Point Baptist Church on 12.31.2023 Read More and Discover More Sermons at https://gpchurch.us/Av Grace Point Baptist Church

The waiting is over! It’s Christmas. Two thousand years ago, the nation of Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds of years. The waiting was over, the Messiah was born. Living in the church age we miss the significance of what it meant to wait for Jesus. For us it is a historical fact. But when Jesus did arrive, many people missed him.…

Do you like waiting? Waiting can often be painful, in fact, some of the greatest pain we face in life is because we are waiting. Waiting for dreams to be fulfilled, waiting for God to break through and answer our prayers. But God is never in a rush, He is always on time, and we struggle with that. Maybe you are in a season of waiting, and it seems …

As we celebrate this Christmas season, we celebrate our savior who took on flesh to free us from sin. But more than freeing us from the bonds of sin, Jesus also came to bring healing and restoration. Healing for the sick, the broken hearted, and the abused. God sent His son to provide a way for sinners to be forgiven and for those who have been sin…

Do you remember a time in your life when God felt distant. A season when you were tempted to wonder if God was even concerned about the things that you were struggling with. Maybe you are there right now. The Bible frequently deals with the theme of God’s perceived absence. Many times, in the Bible, people wondered if God’s promises to them were st…

Several years ago, I read a book that really challenged me regarding experiencing joy in life. According to the author, Andy Andrews, a grateful spirit is a powerful deterrent against self-pity, writing, “the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart.” Often, we find ourselves complaining about seemingly mundane aspects of life when …