Central Fellowship Baptist Church Macon / WR

#TrustGod

“When you try to figure out God, you will always come to a dead end using human reasoning, and you will always be baffled. Always when you try to figure out God. You cannot trace his steps. You cannot understand the way he maneuvers through history, but he gives us markers throughout history, that he's gonna do that which will confound the mighty, the intellectuals, people high in society, he will confound them by using weakness.”

#ForgivenessAndHealing

“Isn't it strange how that sometimes what we thank God for and hold to, we don't want other people to get it or to experience it or to be blessed by it. You know, those people that you have a seething anger because of them. Now let's just stop for a moment. Who are you angry with? Who is that person that you cannot talk to anymore? It could be a family member, maybe a brother or sister where there's been a breach in your relationship and there's anger, and you have nothing to do with them.”

#InstrumentOfMercy

“And so we close it, chapter three, by looking at this, that Jonah is an instrument through which God's mercy is being proclaimed. If God's not the one changing, and Jonah was the one rebelling and being a knucklehead, not wanting to go and give these people the mercy of God, Then we see that Jonah is the ordinary means in which God is bringing about his purposes. Jonah is the deliverer of God's mercy, even in spite of himself. He brings the word of the Lord that not only functions as a warning, but it functions as an instrument of salvation.”

#ScriptureInTheStorm

“But notice what happens when Jonah hits absolute rock bottom. He runs out of his own strength, his own plans, his own words. And what does he do? Well, many commentaries say that throughout this prayer, Jonah's actually quoting or alluding to 20 different Psalms. So Jonah's default at rock bottom, his default is the revealed word of God. He's squeezed by the pressure of the deep and what comes out of Jonah is scripture.”

#JesusSaves

“Jonah was sent with a message of salvation, but Jonah ran from his mission. Jesus was sent with a message of salvation, and he willingly gave himself up. Jonah's rebellion brought a storm upon those around him. Jesus entered the storm and demonstrated his authority over that storm. Jonah was cast into the sea so that sailors might live. Jesus willingly gave himself over to death so that people might have life. Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish and was delivered. Jesus spent three days in the grave and conquered death itself. Jonah was a rebellious prophet who needed God's mercy, but Jesus was the obedient son who accomplishes God's mercy for us.”

#UncreatedSon

“It's to keep us from understanding that the sun was created at some point. That there was a time in which the sun didn't exist. And in real practical matters, what does this actually mean for you and I? Why does it matter? It's the difference between somebody who just did something aspiring and he was rewarded for it and God himself who willingly came from heaven to die in our place.”

#TrustGodsPlan

“I promise you at the end of the day, and I'm preaching this even to myself, at the end of the day, what is unknown in God's providence is always going to equal our good in his glory. always going to. It may be painful, and it may not feel good, and we may be confused, and there may be a mystery of it. But at the end of the day, here's the promise that he always gives. The redeemer has taken responsibility of all things that we might fear in the providence of God. If Jesus died and rose again, what is there to fear?”

#CreedAsStartingPoint

“So, again, as we look at the Nicene Creed, there's some things that may be confusing to us. Here's a promise I can't make to you. I can't guarantee you're gonna understand everything at the end of this. And the goal is not necessarily to labor over it until we have complete understanding. It's really for us a starting place to begin to understand what do we know about God, how do we understand him.”

#FaithInGodsGoodness

“Naomi is only focused on herself, while Ruth is focused on what god has provided. Naomi's theology is good. Her interpretation of what God is doing is off. At the end of the day, the bible is the only inherent word of God. Your interpretation of what he's doing is not. It's very possible that in your misery that you can have joy, not because you've just figured out what God's doing and you say, okay, if if it's for that reason, then I'm okay with it. But it's trusting him. So at the end of our day, our faith is not that God is going to provide a good outcome. Our faith is that God himself is good.”

#KeptByGod

“So the psalmist is essentially pointing us to this. Though the path may be difficult, those kept by God will not fall away. Though the path may be difficult, those kept by God will never experience a moment outside of his care. Though it may seem like it at times. Though the path may be difficult, those kept by God will never be snatched from his care. There's never gonna be a moment at which God just loses the battle.”

#GodsSteadfastLove

“Now I think we have to balance that. That's not for us to leave today thinking so pitiful about ourselves. I think it actually makes us leave here and say how gracious god is. If not for god's redeeming, we're no different than the grass. But because of God, because of who he is, it changes everything. Again, the comparisons. God is eternal while we are temporal. God is infinite while we are finite. God is immutable while we're ever changing. God is omnipotent while we are weak. God is omniscient while we are limited in knowledge. God is sovereign while we are dependent. God is holy while we are sinful. God is righteous while we are unjust. God is faithful while we are forgetful. God is steadfast while we are fleeting. God is merciful while we are undeserving. God is gracious while we are needy. God is the creator while we are the creatures. God is king while we are dust. And yet, this great and glorious God has set his steadfast love upon us.”

#TheologyForWorship

“But if I can, the solution to a cold faith and even the solution to a new faith is not less truth of God, but more. A dying church does not need less theology. It probably needs more theology. A a suffering saint does not need less theology. They need more theology. An unreached people group doesn't need less theology. They need more. But in every circumstance, it's theology aimed at worship. The more you and I worship, the more joy we experience in God because that's how we were created. So God is the destination of all theology. Worship is the proper action of all proper theology. Doctrinal truths are the means to get there. That's how we get there. That's how we make disciples.”

#ForeverLearningAboutGod

“``There's a phrase that's often used in theological world, that god is incomprehensible yet knowable. I don't know if we really fully recognize this or not, but when you and I reach eternity, Through the blood of Jesus, we will spend eternity with God, and yet we will never fully understand him. That's a humbling thought. If you have that thought, there's no way to not have the posture of David here. Who are you to puff out your chest at the thought that even in eternity when you will be glorified, you'll always forever be learning more of who God is? Who am I to act as if I've mastered the knowledge of God? Instead, it is the humbling act of steadily sitting at the feet of Jesus. Who are we to be prideful of knowledge that was a gift in the first place? The goal is not to master truth of God's revelation, but to sit at its feet and glory in it.”

#FromMannaToMilkAndHoney

“What was the promise about the promised land? It was a land flowing with milk and honey. Remember the rebellion in the wilderness when God's people said we're sick of eating this manna. We're tired of it, this was a picture of the Lord Jesus, the bread from heaven. Jesus tells that in John chapter six that I am the bread from heaven. God gave them supernatural bread to feed them, but yet some of those said, we loathe stuff, this manna. And of course, God sent judgment because of that, but God told them, be patient. I'm taking you to a land that flows with milk and honey. You're not gonna eat manna for the rest of your life. Be patient.”

#TrustTheShepherd

“``We are not called to count the sheep. We are called to trust the shepherd. The Lord never commanded Elijah to calculate the size of the remnant. He simply revealed that he had preserved it. And the same lord who knew every one of those 7,000 knows every one of his sheep today. Not one has escaped his notice. Not one has slipped from his hand. And not one has been forgotten by the good shepherd. So to that I say, beware, lest your grief gives over gives over the sins of the visible church become greater than your confidence in the head of the church.”

#EmptyCross

“``What's the most important message? ground being dried up at the Red Sea or the ground being dried up at the Jordan River? That's miraculous. But what's the main message? The cross. Mama, daddy, why don't we have a man on the cross up here? We see other crosses and there's a man on the cross, which is a type of Jesus hanging on the cross. Well, we don't have Jesus shown on the cross because he did not stay on the cross, but he was raised from the dead. There's an empty cross.”

#ObedienceOverFear

“``What a wonderful picture here. This is is a picture for us, but it was a reality to them. It's a picture for us that God demands obedience of his people and he will drive out these enemies that we're scared of. They might just be more scared of you. Just go and possess. What did God say? Place, every square inch of where your feet, the sole of your feet shall tread, I will give to you. Go in and possess the land. But what did the people say on several occasions? We can't do it. We're afraid. They're bigger than us. They're people of warfare, and we're not. You see all of those things through these pages to come in the book of Joshua.”

#LifeOverPossessions

“Excuse my English, but there ain't nothing in this world worth living for. Whether it's homes, whether it's automobiles, whether it's your stocks and your four zero one and all of these different things, anything that you possess, you're leaving the moment you die. What kind of grasp do you have on things? Are you holding them tight? You better have a loose a loose handle on them. I mean, we're to be good stewards of what God has given us, but it's not to dominate us, it's not to control us. And all the worldly pleasures, all the worldly schemes, all the worldly people, all of this. Don't know how it fit into Demus' life, but he having loved this present world.”

#GodsPassiveWrath

“``You know what the active wrath of God is? Bringing fire and brimstone down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. That's active wrath of God. You know what the passive wrath of God is? Letting people have what they want. Letting them have their way. But God says there's gonna be stumbling blocks every which way you go in your path, and you're gonna trip all over. What does it say in the New Testament? In Zion, I have given a rock. That rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. But because you have refused, I'm gonna make the rock, Jesus, to be a stumbling block to you Jews, and you will perish.”

#HolinessFromLove

“``The motivation for holiness is a love for God. Not an earning of love, not even a careless love. We simply do it because we love him. Oftentimes, I think our pursuit of holiness is driven by guilt. I think it's driven maybe by an earning of God's love or maybe it's even because we want something from God. Right? If we ever prayed that prayer, Lord, I've got a big prayer request. I'm gonna read my bible every day this week. I'll even tithe twice this week, and I'll be in prayer three times a day if you'll just answer my prayer. He's not a wagering God. He's a holy God.”

#StandAndFight

“When the enemy came, who was to fight the enemy? Act like a man and get your sword and get out there and fight the enemy. The man acts courageously. The man, if an attack is taking place, a man puts himself between the attacker and his family or even a stranger. Well, you say, he's got a gun, and he's gonna shoot whoever get what do men do? They act courageously.”

“But he says that there are things on the dark side or the other side of the contrast that are unprofitable. You wanna stay away from anything that is unprofitable. That's not good. That's a minus. You want a plus in your life, not a minus in your life. Here he says that foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, quarrels about the law, they are unprofitable worthless. So which do you want? Which do you want in your ledger? That which is plus or that which is minus?”