Good morning, and a blessed Thursday morning to you!

Would you open your Bibles with me, please, to Titus, chapter 3? For our time in God's Word today, I'd like us to consider the wonderful gift of baptism.

When a baptism occurs in the life of a congregation, it is always a wonderful event, isn't it? I think of the baptism last Sunday.

That is a time of communal joy. It's a time of individual joy.

Well, this coming Sunday is also going to be a day of joy. A group of young peop

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Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

I want to share with you from Oswald Chambers’ devotional My Utmost for His Highest. There was a reading on October 7 that was absolutely stunning, and I want to share some of his thoughts with you because, as you know, anytime I come across something that seems very profound, I always want to share it with you.

So I’m going to read an excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

He writes:

“Sin is a fundamental r

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Good morning and a blessed Thursday to you.

I need to share with you something that happened. It was—well, it was traumatic for me.

If anyone knows how much I love apples, then you'll understand why this was traumatic.

I love apples. I love a good, crunchy apple. And oftentimes, you'll find that I peel my apple, or at the very least slice it into quarters, so that I can see if there are any bruises.

Because there is nothing worse than taking a bite into an apple and seeing a b

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Good morning and a blessed Thursday morning to you.

Would you open up your Bible, please, for our time in God’s Word, to Ephesians, the first chapter? Ephesians chapter 1.

It’s called the Rule of Three.

And it’s the understanding that people understand concepts or ideas or situations, and they become more memorable if they’re grouped in a grouping of three.

For example, the good, the bad, the ugly, or stop, look, listen, or even snap, crackle, pop.

It’s the Rule of Three.

We see

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Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you.

I am currently reading the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, which is one of our current small groups that is taking place on Sunday evenings via Zoom. If you would like to participate in that, it’s not too late. You certainly are able to do so. Just let me know, and we’ll get you hooked up with the link and the book, and you’ll be good to go.

But aside from that, I was reading the book—or actually listening to it on Audible—

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Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you!

In our time of devotion together this week, I’d like for you to open up to the book of Hebrews, the tenth chapter. We’re going to look at a couple of verses beginning in verse 19:

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the ho

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Good morning, and a blessed Thursday morning to you.

Would you open up your Bibles, please, to Romans, the 15th chapter? Romans chapter 15 for our time in God’s Word today.

I’ve always found it interesting that when you look at the Scriptures and ask yourself the question, “What does a pastor need to be competent in?”

Did you know that there’s only one thing that’s listed? That’s in 1 Timothy, the third chapter: an apt teacher. That’s the only area of competency that a pastor

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Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

As I was traveling over the past couple of weeks, one of the things I really enjoyed—especially in the airports and in the various places I visited in Florida—was people watching.

It was absolutely incredible to hear the various languages being spoken and to see the different cultures represented. Everywhere I looked, there were people from different places and backgrounds.

And I thought, This is amazing—the incredible variet

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Good morning, and a blessed Thursday to you. Would you open your Bibles, please, to 1 John, the first chapter? 1 John, chapter 1, for our time in God's Word today. Let's pick up in verse 1:

“We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.”

This life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it and declare to you the eternal life that was

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Good morning, and a blessed Thursday to you!

For our devotion this morning, we'll be looking at Exodus 20 and Matthew 19.

Let's begin in Exodus 20, where God gives His people the Ten Commandments.

Please open your Bibles to Exodus 20, beginning with verse 1.

"Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery..."

God then gives the Ten Commandments:

You shall have no other gods before Me.You shall not...

Good morning, and a blessed Thursday morning to you.

Would you open your Bibles, please, to Psalm 103 for our time in God's Word.

Here's a question: Do you ever talk to yourself?

Don't worry—that's perfectly normal. All of us do it from time to time. We might say, "What did I do with those keys?" or "Where did I put that?" Even when those thoughts remain silent, they're still a form of talking to ourselves.

In Psalm 103, we find a wonderful example of this kind of self-talk.

Le

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Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

I am so excited for our devotion time this morning because we're here in the sanctuary. It's 7:00 a.m., and it is simply beautiful. The morning light is streaming through the stained-glass windows, the cross stands behind us, and this sanctuary is filled with such peace. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have our devotion together in this beautiful place.

The other day, I was listening to the Gospel of Matthew, and I came

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Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

As we are just a couple of days away from our nation's 250th birthday, I'd like to talk about freedom.

It is such a blessing to live in a nation that values freedom and liberty—a nation founded upon those principles. We are truly grateful for the freedoms we enjoy. But regardless of the freedoms we have in this world, they ultimately depend on what earthly governments choose to grant, because every government is made by man.

T

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Good morning and a blessed Thursday morning to you.

Would you open up your Bibles, please, with me to First Thessalonians, the fifth chapter. First Thessalonians chapter 5 for our time in God's Word today. I'd like to start in verse 16 of the fifth chapter. There the Apostle Paul writes this:

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

This is really a trifecta with regard to God's will, isn't

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Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you.

In our time of devotion together today, we are going to talk about giving our hearts to Jesus. What does that actually mean when we say, or when we're asked, if we have given our hearts to Jesus?

I'd like to begin with an excerpt from a wonderful book called The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz. This is a fictional book, but it has such amazing theological depth. If you've never read The Hammer of God, I cannot recommend it highly e

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