First Baptist New Orleans | Sermons

Don’t picture a smooth field full of tall grass. I saw no such fields around Bethlehem. In fact, I saw most rocky fields that no implement on earth could plow. The grass and shrubs that the sheep would eat grew in patches and clumps here and there...

Trying to date the birth of Jesus is hazardous business. The Bible does not give us a date. We celebrate Christmas at a time set by the church back in the 4th century. Recently I read an article about Zachariah and his priestly order. This article...

This is how. This is the Genesis (Matthew 1:1, geneology; 1:18, birth). The goal with the genealogy of Jesus is to confirm him as a descendant of Abraham and David and therefore qualified to be the Promised One.  Last week we read Luke’s introductory...

Someone asked me this week if I believed in angels. I told them, “Yes, I do.” Why would God not create powerful creatures to do his bidding? He made us. Angels do not appear throughout scripture anymore than they appear throughout our lives. But they...

I have enjoyed our time in the Letter of Colossians. We wrap it up this morning with another look at the introductory comments of Paul, particularly verses 6 and 10.  The Gospel Goes Where You Go: “The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout...

The family unit is considered by many to be the most important social unit of society. I want to illustrate to you the change in the family unit through getting you to think about the evolution of the family through television shows. Some of you in...

We are going to do something vitally important on this Lord’s Day before the election. We are going to come to the table and observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. This ordinance of remembrance is centered in the death of Christ. Three of the...

The Prayer For Devotion: "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." - Colossians 4:2. Prayer is an essential part of following Jesus. Jesus prayed often as recorded in Scripture. He prayed when he was in crisis, when he...

See Culture as God’s Gift of Grace: "All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." - Colossians 1:16-17 Christ is Supreme. He reigns over all. All things were created...

We have three paragraphs here in the NIV. They talk about three different things. The lead sentence of each paragraph is a faithful summary of the entire paragraph.  Arise to an Upward Focus: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your...

Last week someone said to me, “The first time I made a profession of faith I was just trying to get out of the house. I actually trusted Christ as Savior later in life. So I would like to be baptized, making my declaration of faith in Christ.” Is...

This simple outline was passed on to me by my good friend, Mike Keppler, in Illinois. But it was not original with him. In fact, this outline has been around a long time. What’s Yours Is Mine, and I’ll Take It: “A man was going down from Jerusalem...

Proverbs 3:19-20 are a crowning truth—wisdom made this world. They provide a climactic note to the ten verses that begin with God’s discipline (Proverbs 3:11-12). And they provide an introduction to the quiet integrity of these verses we have...

The wisdom of God reaches a crescendo in the verses we read the last two weeks—these five couplets that give us a spiritual discipline and the return that it brings to us. It ends with “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your...

Believe and Receive Better Returns: Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. - Proverbs 3:13-14 I am curious to know if you believe this ancient...

Christi sometimes talks about how we want you to move from rows to circles. I often talk about the table as a piece of furniture and how it makes us sit face to face, creating a circle. They are “sitting around him” in this passage. The word “around”...

We conclude the book of 2 Peter this morning. Just to give you a heads up of what will be happening over the next few weeks. Next week we will be having a small group emphasis in our worship services. We are encouraging everyone to visit a small group...

The Word Has Come: “I have written both of them to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” - 2 Peter 3:1 Pokémon Go really stirred up the world. Millions of people are wandering around the planet capturing these creatures in the world of virtual...

Have you ever seen a mother pig? They can be huge, you know, 600 or 800 pounds even. I was astonished to see their size in a tour of a pig farm in Illinois. Have you ever washed a sow? The sows and their little pigs actually lived in a pristine...

Pastor Peter is deeply troubled by teachers in the church who are telling the church members things that are not true. Pointing this out in his letter is difficult because it indicates that there is a schism in the teaching of the church. But Peter is...