Comparing the Acts 6 Church to Today’s Church

Sermon Notes | Episode 23

As we continue our sermon series on Origins: The Beginnings of the Local Church, we dive into Acts 6 and discuss the importance of delegation and multiculturalism in leadership.

The passage in Acts 6 talks about the friction happening inside the church because some individuals feel like their group is not getting their share of the pie. The Hellenistic Greek speaking widows in particular were being neglected, and the apostles delegated the task of attending to them to the Church. This was not only a racial issue, but it also speaks to the importance of delegation as a leadership skill.

Leaders are not perfect, and it’s essential to understand one’s limitations to learn how to delegate tasks to others. In this passage, it’s evident that the apostles understood their role and unique position as eyewitnesses and leaders of the Church. They did not think serving tables was beneath them, but they understood their calling and role in preaching, teaching, prayer, and discipleship.

Delegation of tasks such as serving the widows gave more opportunities for people to serve and lead. The seven men chosen by the Church to attend to neglected widows were selected based on their good reputation, fullness of wisdom, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. This process identified leaders who were ready to serve and lead, and it also gave the apostles more time to focus on their specific calling.

The Church at Woodbine is a great example of how delegation and multiculturalism are vital in leadership. The church celebrates cultures and diversity by having flags of different countries represented, starting with the five countries where they had congregants or missionaries from.

As a multicultural church, The Church at Woodbine recognizes the importance of having leaders who can speak the heart language of those worshipping with them. For example, Noel was designated to serve Spanish speaking church members. They are mindful of how people from different backgrounds and languages will interpret the sermon and ensure everyone feels included and part of the family.

The Church at Woodbine also offers a Discover US, Discover You membership process that helps members identify their gifts, passions, and experiences to encourage them to use their skills and try new things. This process identifies leaders and empowers them to serve and lead in their respective areas of ministry effectively.

In conclusion, delegation is an essential leadership skill that is necessary for effective service and ministry. Woodbine Church is a great example of a multicultural church that recognizes the importance of delegation and leadership. In Acts Chapter 6, the apostles’ delegation of tasks not only solved a racial issue but also gave more opportunities for people to serve and lead. As we continue to serve and lead, let us remember to delegate tasks to others and empower leaders from different backgrounds and cultures.

The post Sermon Notes | Episode 23 | Doug Jones appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Introducing Our Newest Campus Pastor…

Sermon Notes | Episode 22

Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast! In this installment, we are excited to feature an insightful recap of Jay Strother’s recent sermon on the importance of unity within the church. In today’s culture, it’s more crucial than ever for Christians to come together and support one another. Jay highlights the reasons why this is so crucial and shares his experiences of witnessing this in action at Station Hill.

In addition to discussing unity, Jay and Brandon also talk about how God called them to launch a new campus in Columbia and how God is already working in that community.

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Put Up or Shut Up: Why Christians Need to be Bold Now More Than Ever

Sermon Notes | Episode 21

Welcome back to Sermon Notes podcast! In this episode, we’re joined by Mike Glenn, senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church.

During our conversation, Mike shares some insights into the rich history of his church, as well as a recent conversation with the governor of Tennessee. But the real highlight of the episode is when Mike takes us through his recent sermon on Acts 4, where he urges Christians to be bold and fearless, just like Peter and John after their arrest.

So whether you’re a long-time member of Brentwood Baptist or simply looking for some spiritual guidance in your life, this episode of Sermon Notes is not to be missed. Join us as we listen to Mike Glenn’s powerful words and learn how we can all become bolder, more courageous Christians in our daily lives.

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Ministry in the Mess | Gospel in Action

Sermon Notes | Episode 20

Get ready for an insightful and inspiring episode of the Sermon Notes podcast! Join hosts Amy-Jo Girardier and Garrett Gregory as they sit down with the dynamic and engaging Matt Pearson, Campus and Teaching Pastor at The Church at West Franklin, to delve deeper into the captivating book of Acts.

In this exciting episode, Matt shares his unique perspective on ministry in his neighborhood of Franklin and how it differs from other areas. He also reveals three powerful ways to pray for his campus, and highlights some of the incredible ways they have seen God move. With Matt’s passion for sharing his faith and serving his community, you won’t want to miss this inspiring conversation! Tune in now to the Sermon Notes podcast.

The post Sermon Notes | Episode 20 | Matt Pearson appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Authentic Faith That Leaves the Church

Sermon Notes | Episode 19

This week on the Sermon Notes podcast Aaron Bryant, Campus and Teaching Pastor at The Church at Avenue South joins Darrel Girardier and Hunter Melton to continue the discussion on the book of Acts. Aaron talks about the Holy Spirit, and why it’s important that we take our faith outside of the walls of the church.

The post Sermon Notes | Episode 19 | Aaron Bryant appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

We Don’t Believe In Prayer

Sermon Notes | Episode 18

This week on the Sermon Notes podcast David Hannah, Campus and Teaching Pastor at The Church at Lockeland Springs joins Garrett Gregory and Amy-Jo Girardier to discuss his sermon on prayer from Acts 1 – and why he doesn’t think we truly believe in prayer like we should.

The post Sermon Notes | Episode 18 | David Hannah appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

The Benefit of Burnout

Sermon Notes | Episode 17

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How Do I Become a Christian Coach?
As a branch of Middle Tennessee Leadership Institute, the Center for Christian Coaching provides ministry leaders with training in coaching skills and competencies to help them engage in Christ-centered, empowering, and actionable conversations with those they lead. The Center for Christian Coaching offers a certification program designed to help leaders develop and master Christian coaching competencies useful in church ministry. This program is recognized and accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the global body which determines ethics and standards for the professional practice of coaching.

How Can These Skills Benefit You in Ministry and Life?
In our classes, you will explore how to offer a safe place for someone to talk through life’s issues. You will learn how to provide a setting where the person being coached can verbally process toward solutions and actions.

Through the practice of skilled listening and asking powerful questions, Christian coaches can walk alongside people who want to work on areas such as:

• Practical spiritual growth and disciplines
• Self-awareness, purpose, and identity
•  Premarital, marital, or family matters
• Relationships
•  Important life decisions
•  Developing a vision or calling for their lives
• Leadership development

How Can I Become a Certified Christian Coach Through the Center for Christian Coaching?

• Christian Coach Certification Requirements: 32 hours (2 classes) of in-class coaching instruction
• CCC301-Coaching Foundations (16 hours)
• CCC302-Coaching Relationships (16 hours)
• Three hours of coaching mentorship provided by a certified coach
• 10 hours of earned practicum hours
• Coaching Certificate Application
• Exam

For more information about the Center for Christian Coaching click here.

The post What Is Christian Coaching? appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Master’s Level Seminary Courses

Through our partnership with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and other educational institutions, we offer master’s level courses. Leaders choose between auditing the course or taking it for credit toward a master’s degree or certificate. Staff members with the appropriate credentials teach these classes, typically at the Brentwood campus. These seminary courses are a great opportunity to train leaders for ministry.

Ministry Residency

Each year, we bring on about five Ministry Residents who spend two years with us doing full-time work. These are men and women who feel called to vocational ministry and often have some theological training and ministry experience. Our residency program prepares the next generation of Christian leaders (i.e., church planters, pastors, worship leaders, missionaries, and disciple makers) to lead the church effectively through cohort learning environments, mentored supervision, and experiential ministry.

Internships

We offer part-time internships at many of our campuses in a variety of ministry areas. People who wish to serve the church in a specific ministry area or are exploring a call to vocational ministry benefit greatly from becoming an intern. Internships provide leaders with new ways to serve the church while developing ministry skills and participating in hands-on ministry.

Timothy and Titus

TNT is a one-year intensive course offered to leaders in the church. The course covers such areas as biblical studies, Christian theology, ministry, personal assessments, and spiritual leadership. Participants engage in reading assignments, essays, interviews, assessments, reports, and are expected to give a ministry presentation of how they will serve Christ and His Kingdom.

Christian Coaching

The Center for Christian Coaching provides ministry leaders with coaching skills to help them engage in Christ-centered, empowering, and actionable conversations with those they lead. Coaching trains leaders in the arts of skilled listening and asking powerful questions. Developing these abilities enables people to walk alongside others and help them work on improvement in various aspects of their lives such as spiritual growth, relationships, making important decisions, or personal development

For more information on these 5 ways to train leaders, go to www.mtli.org

The post 5 Ways to Train Leaders appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Devotion

Written by Patty Taylor

Have you ever received a special gift on Christmas morning that came as a complete surprise? Did the magnitude of the moment have an impact on you? Sometimes a new birth and new life can bring a special kind of joy to families at Christmas.

Think back to the world of AD 3. Could humanity have realized the importance of the unusual birth of Jesus? What a surprise gift! God’s loving plan blessed a young virgin named Mary with a miracle child. During her pregnancy, Ceasar Augustus decreed that his whole empire must be registered. This necessitated each man traveling to the city of his birth. Mary’s betrothed, Joseph who was a descendant of David, traveled to Bethlehem with her to obey this decree. This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

An Unusual Birth

How unlikely was it that the Savior of the World and God’s only Son would be born in an out-of-the-way town with only animals and a dark night surrounding Him? He had no crown, no royal robe, nor pomp and circumstance; just an anxious young pregnant woman and the man to whom she was engaged. They had no doctor, no miracle drugs, no cradle, no layette. Surely Mary was apprehensive as she knew her the time for childbirth drew near, yet she followed in obedience in order that God’s plan could be accomplished.

After the Baby came, imagine Mary’s surprise when shepherds from the nearby hills appeared with their sheep to inquire of this event. These men, considered unclean by the Jewish ritual standards, came telling of an astonishing, blinding star that appeared in the sky followed by a multitude of angels who encircled them and began singing.

A Birth to Remember

Mary and Joseph must have known this was no ordinary delivery. Despite the mundane and commonplace surroundings, the angels and shepherds hinted at a bigger story. This birth was extraordinary; an event which brought new birth, new life both to Mary and Joseph in the form of the Child and to the whole world through His ministry.

Never again in the history of the world would a birth have such everlasting consequences and eternal significance. Hallelujah! What a Christmas to remember!

What Now?

Have you given thought to the significance of Jesus’s birth – born in the humblest of circumstances to a poor couple; born to pay the staggering cost of your sin? This Christmas, let Him bring new birth and new life to you. Hold loosely to the things of this world and cling to the One who came to offer you eternal life.

The post New Birth and New Life appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 62:10-11

Go out, go out through the city gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples. Look, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, his wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him.”

Devotion

Written by Heather Davis

We live in a noisy world. Every day, we are inundated by messages from our social media feeds, email, billboards, and even video advertising at the gas pump. Each voice vying for our attention promises its product will be transformational. The cries escalate to cacophony as the various platforms strive for your attention, claiming they have the best message you’ll ever hear. It’s arguably worse at this time of year when companies clamor for your hard-earned dollars, promising a Christmas to remember if only you will buy their product.

Are you also tired of the ceaseless, empty promises broadcast by manufacturers, political candidates, and others? Maybe you, like me, long for some truly good news; a message of genuine hope and truth that stands out from the rest.

A Message of Hope

Friends, this message of hope and truth exists. It’s the best message you’ll ever hear, and its promises outlast even the most stalwart human commitment.

In today’s passage, God speaks through Isaiah, informing His beleaguered people that salvation is on the way, bringing His wages and His reward with Him. Even better, the message is for all peoples “to the ends of the earth,” meaning not just for the descendants of Israel alone. This salvation is for you and me, too.

But wait – what does it matter if salvation comes along with its own wages and accompanied by its own reward? How do someone else’s earnings and compensation benefit us?

I’m glad you asked.

The Best Message

Our salvation is not a thing – it’s a Man; specifically, Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man. He comes to bring good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, give freedom to the captives and prisoners, and to comfort all who mourn (see Isaiah 61:1-3). And friend, we are all poor, brokenhearted, captive to sin and imprisoned by our own evil desires. If we are wise, we all mourn our hopeless state because “the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).”

This means that by our insistence on doing things our way; by rebelling against our Creator and refusing to submit to His design, we have earned death. Yet Jesus brings His wages with Him, not to flaunt His dearly-bought Life before us as a tease but with an offer for us to share in it.

If we submit to Jesus’s Lordship, then He covers us in His righteousness. In love, He graciously shares the abundance of His recompense with us. In Him, we find abundant, everlasting life! If you really want this to be a Christmas to remember, celebrate the Christ who gave all so that you can share in His reward. His is the only Christmas message you’ll still remember a hundred or a billion years from today.

What Now?

If you haven’t truly submitted to the Lordship of Jesus, why not do it now? He’s given you a choice – life and blessing or death and curse. Choose life and find out how marvelous the Savior really is!

The post The Best Message You’ll Ever Hear appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Why Do We Have Hope This Season?

Sermon Notes | Episode 16

The post Sermon Notes | Episode 16 | Doug Jones appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.

Devotion

Written by Janet Waters

I’m sure you know the Christmas melody, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Take a moment and think about what makes this season wonderful. Is it the gift giving, decorating the Christmas tree, holiday parties, or spending more time with family and friends? Or do you celebrate that Jesus is our King?

As Christians, our focus should be on the baby born to Mary and Joseph. They were a poor couple who traveled to the city of David to register for the census decreed by Caesar Augustus. But because there were no guest rooms available, Mary gave birth where animals were housed among smells intertwined with hay. She lay her newborn child in a feeding trough to rest. Yet despite this humble beginning, angels announced His birth, shepherds came to see Him, and Magi from the east eventually visited with elaborate gifts. Who is this baby?

Jesus the King

Being God in flesh, Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and our Prince of Peace. We all know that a king has a kingdom. Scripture tells us Jesus spoke of His great Kingdom that would have no end. Before His crucifixion, He told Pilot, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus meant His kingdom is spiritual, not physical.

Why Jesus Came

Jesus came to restore the relationship between God and His fallen Creation. He is the only way to this restoration. After Jesus was crucified and buried, He rose from the dead on the third day. Jesus is alive! He has conquered death and now sits with His Father in heaven as King Jesus.

Truly believing Jesus is God’s one and only Son leads to repenting of sin and confessing that Jesus is now Lord and Master. The new believer’s public profession of faith is baptism; a symbolic burial into a watery grave and rising to walk in newness of life. This serves as a public declaration that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Through His Son’s obedience, God plucks those who trust in Him out of a dark world and transfers them into the Kingdom of Light.

Now What?

Make this a Christmas to remember by resolving to focus your heart, soul, and mind on King Jesus. Give Him first place as your King of kings, and Lord of lords. After all, He deserves all glory, honor, and He is worthy of praise.

The post Jesus Is Our King appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Luke 2:8-10

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. . .

Devotion

Written by Meredith Moss

Every year as the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season ramps up, it’s easy to lose sight of what we are really celebrating. Traditions form, memories are made, and the sentimentality tied to these patterns we’ve created can cause us to lose focus. Maybe as you are reading this devotional, your mind is distracted by all the sights and sounds of the holidays, the crazy schedule to follow, or the never-ending list of last-minute chores to complete. There are gifts to buy and special meals to prepare. No matter where your mind is taking you, today’s Scripture passage is a powerful reminder to hit the reset button, be still, and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Take a Break from Busy

Sure, a majority of us know the true meaning of Christmas, but how quickly we forget to act like we know it. Let’s stop and rest in Luke 2:8-10. If you have a quiet place you like to sit and read your Bible, go there. Or find a spot nearby where you can relax, take a few deep breaths, and ponder the scene and message of this first Christmas night. Whether you’ve read this passage hundreds of times or this is your first time, let’s be still together and relish the joy. Read the verses above, then close your eyes and let it soak in.

It was a quiet night. The only lights twinkling were the stars. The shepherds were doing their job caring for the sheep. It was just like any other night on the job—until it wasn’t.

An angel of the Lord came before the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone around them. This angel had a message to share, a life-changing message: “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. . .”

Receive the Joy

Can you imagine? The glory of the Lord coming to you right where you are and lighting up your life with the best news you’ve ever heard! Hopefully you can, because this good news is for us, too. The angel said this great joy will be for ALL the people. Luke 2:11 tells us this good news is the birth of Jesus our Savior. The shepherds did nothing to earn such a gift, and neither have we. Jesus came for all of us. Anyone can freely accept Jesus’s gift of joy and salvation right where he or she is. That’s the best news EVER!

So, when you start feeling yourself getting pulled into the holiday crazy, remember the first Christmas and what it’s really all about. There were no Christmas traditions, extravagant decorations, or long lists of gifts to buy. It was quaint and quiet. The shepherds, doing what they always did, were changed forever by the Lord and His love. Now that’s a Christmas to remember.

Now What?

Prayerfully examine your Christmas to-do list. How much of it brings glory to the name of Jesus? Do you celebrate His birth by giving Him gifts, or have worldly traditions crept in to replace Him? Ask the Lord how to make changes that bring the focus back on Jesus.

The post The True Meaning of Christmas appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Matthew 1:20-25

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

Devotion

Written by Heather Davis from the Station Hill Campus

I’ve often seen Joseph as the unsung hero of the Christmas story. Read Matthew 1:18-19 and just imagine his incredulity when Mary assured him her pregnancy was an act of God and not of her sin! But when God confirmed her story in a dream, Joseph quietly obeyed. As a righteous man, he would have been familiar with the Messianic prophecy of Immanuel, quoted from Isaiah in verse 23. I wonder if he clung to that name for courage as a Divine reminder, “God will go with you.”

Great Courage

Make no mistake, Joseph needed courage to wed Mary. The culture they lived in was deeply committed to the Laws of Moses, and the religious leaders had added strict parameters in interpreting that law. Premarital sex was strictly taboo. As her belly swelled before the wedding date, Joseph’s reputation likely diminished.

I can only imagine the scornful jokes made about his lack of self-control. Worse, his tarnished image probably affected his business. If the townspeople decided another carpenter had a better moral center, providing for his wife and child would be difficult. Then there’s the daunting task of raising a child miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit. How do you parent the Son of God?

Pure Obedience

All this was just the beginning. Joseph’s faithfulness continued, as we can see in the rest of Matthew 1 – 2 and in Luke 2. Unusual events abounded: an inconvenient and probably unsanitary birth, a murderous king, a middle-of-the-night flight to Egypt, and more. Through it all, Joseph never wavered in trusting God and responding in prompt obedience.

Joseph’s life may have been filled with terrifying challenges, but it was equally full of incredible adventure. Visitation by shepherds who spoke of angelic choirs, extravagant gifts from foreigners, and further angelic messages must have filled him with awe.

Obedience brought challenges, but it brought wonder, too. Joseph lived in trust that where God calls, God also equips and supplies.

God’s Promise

That promise is no less real for you and me. God’s call is still for prompt and unflinching obedience, even when the tasks seem impossible. Without Him, they are.

No matter how formidable the task or perilous the journey God may call you to, obedience comes with this promise: God will go with you. When He calls, He still equips and supplies.

Make this a Christmas to remember by changing the holiday paradigm. If Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’s birth, let’s give Him the gifts. Let’s give Him our complete surrender and total obedience. Give Him our whole hearts, souls, minds, and strength. After all, that’s what He wants, not only for Christmas but for always.

Now What?

Take time to prayerfully assess your walk with the Lord. Are you afraid to take the steps of obedience He is calling you to? Remember that His call always comes with a promise of His presence. Take that step, remembering that God will go with you. Even if hard times come, I can promise obedience to the Almighty God will be worth it in the end!

The post God Will Go with You appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 9:2-5

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian. For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

Devotion

Written by Rodney Taylor

Rejoicing in the Light

What Now?

The post Here’s a Reason to Rejoice appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 7:10-17

Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the LORD.”

Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey. For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”

Devotion

Written by Sheila Painter

Ahaz Instructed to Ask for a Sign

The Sign is Given

                    “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

                    And ransom captive Israel

                    That mourns in lonely exile here,

                    Until the son of God appear.

                    Rejoice! Rejoice Emmanuel

                    Shall come to thee O Israel.”

The Sign of God’s Sovereignty

What Now?

The post Are You Asking for a Sign? appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 35:5-10

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy, for water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the parched ground will become a pool, and the thirsty land, springs. In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs, there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.

A road will be there and a way; it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path. Fools will not wander on it. There will be no lion there, and no vicious beast will go up on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk on it, and the ransomed of the LORD will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

Devotion

Written by Brian Ball

Barrenness Before Hope

Jesus Is Our Hope

The Way of Hope

Now What?

Where is your hope found? Is it in your bank account, your job, your marriage or relationships, or health? All these are temporary and can vanish in the blink of an eye. Only Christ offers true and lasting Hope that will endure longer than the ground we stand on.

The post Jesus Is Our Hope appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

Isaiah 35:1-4

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower. It will blossom abundantly and will also rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, steady the shaking knees! Say to the cowardly: “Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God’s retribution is coming; he will save you.”

Devotion

Written by Thomas Rauter

Restoration

Have you ever visited Israel? Visitors to the modern nation marvel at how the Israelis have transformed some of the most arid and desolate regions of their country into highly productive agricultural land. Restoration of a land laid waste is the theme of Isaiah’s prophecy in verses 1-4 of Chapter 35. It’s a foreshadowing of the Messiah who will bring us hope in the wilderness of our desolate spiritual landscape.

The Messiah is Coming!

Bible scholars have long recognized Isaiah 35 as Messianic prophecy written 700 years before the first Christmas. In the first four verses, the prophet describes the coming of the Messiah as a life-giving, joyful, glorious event. He personifies nature, saying the desert “will be glad” and “will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower” at His advent. The land “will also rejoice with joy and singing.”

Isaiah reminds his people that their land will see “the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” Echoing the words of the Lord to Joshua (Joshua 1:6-7, 9, and 18), Isaiah urges his people, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God!”

Our Hope in the Wilderness

The vivid imagery of Isaiah’s prophecy presents a word picture of what occurs when the rebellious human heart responds to the gospel. Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, has come to save not only the Jews but anyone and everyone willing to trust in Him as Savior. The saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is proof of God’s grace – His unmerited favor making a personal relationship with Him possible for every human being.

Jesus is unique. He has come to make the sin-parched aridness of our souls “rejoice and blossom like a wildflower.” While other religions claim to offer ways to find God, the Bible asserts that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, has come to find us. He is Immanuel – God with us. Isaiah assures us today, “Here is your God!” and “He will save you!” Jesus is our only hope in the wilderness of sin.

Writing in the early 18th century, Bible scholar and commentator Matthew Henry commented on Isaiah 35:1-4. “Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness to rejoice with joy and singing and to blossom abundantly. . . The more we see by faith of the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God, the more joyful and the more fruitful shall we be.”

What Now?

Take a moment to assess your own life in light of Isaiah’s prophetic words. Is your life like a desert—dry, arid, unfruitful, and devoid of abundant life? The Messiah, the One whose coming Isaiah foretold, can transform your life and bring you joy and fulfillment. Jesus, offers you an invitation to follow Him. Will you accept His “converting grace” and seek Him in the pages of the Bible? Jesus fulfills the two-fold prophecy of Isaiah: “Here is your God” and “He will save you!”

The post Hope in the Wilderness appeared first on Brentwood Baptist.

The True Meaning of the Advent Season

Sermon Notes | Episode 15

Welcome back to Sermon Notes, a podcast that dives deeper into the sermons of each of our campus pastors. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Jay Strother from the Church at Station Hill. We’ll start off with a fun Christmas game, and then dive into Jay’s sermon on Isaiah 35:1–10.

Jay unpacks the meaning of the advent season, which marks the first-coming of Jesus, also known as His birth. Lesser known is the second advent – where Jesus will make His second-coming. Jay shares his insights on how Christians live in the tension of the two comings of Christ.

We also hear from Jay the true meaning of the word “Shalom,” and how Christians can experience this true peace and carry it into their homes. We are called to bear God’s kingdom in any circumstances He places us in.

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