First Baptist Nixa Podcast

All of us know prodigals, those who used to be among us but departed to run after false gods. How should we approach them? What should we do?

What is it that clouds your vision of God, undercuts your faith in Him, and makes it seem as if your world is caving in? Is it a marriage crisis? A job crisis? A financial crisis? A family crisis? A crisis of your own making, the result of your own sin? Or a crisis which has been foisted upon you through no fault of your own? Psalm 3 enters the real world, and leads us back to bright confidence in the covenant promises of God.

We can rebel against God and face His wrath, or we can submit to Christ and be blessed. Either way Jesus is LORD!

Throughout Scripture, humanity is divided into two groups – the saved and the lost, the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the sheep and the goats. These two groups tread two very different paths leading to two very different destinations. Psalm 1, the gateway to the Psalter, calls us to the way of God which leads to life.

Most evangelical scholars do not believe Mark 16:9-20 belongs in the Bible. Why is this, and what should we do about it?

If there is no resurrection, there is no gospel. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the core of the gospel, the central hope of the Christian faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote that the word of the cross is a "stumbling block" - literally, a scandal - to unbelieving people. But to those who are called, the word of the cross is the wisdom and power of God. Why? What is so wise and powerful about the cross of Christ?

Blasphemy was a not a crime under Roman law. Therefore, if the chief priests and scribes and elders wanted to see Jesus put to death, they needed to come up with a different charge that would get Rome’s attention. The charge they settled upon was treason. They accused Jesus of claiming to be the King of the Jews.

Chapter 14 of Mark's Gospel teaches us three truths: 1) The only way to overcome temptation and to confess Christ by word and deed is to watch and pray. 2) For the true believer, the shame of denying Christ is infinitely worse than the pain of confessing Christ. 3) Grace will have the final word in the life of every disciple of Christ.

To whom does God grant "all things that pertain to life and godliness?" It is not to everyone, but only to those who have been justified by faith in the righteousness of Christ. Before we receive the power for godliness, we must receive the pardon for sin.

In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam said, "Not Thy will, but my will be done," and all humanity was plunged into ruin and separation from God. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the second Adam said, "Not My will, but Thy will be done," and a new humanity was redeemed and will be gathered into the blessing of eternal fellowship with God.

God Himself inaugurated the very first Passover Meal as a permanent reminder - that He Himself rescued Israel from the bondage of Egypt. In Mark 14:12-26, Jesus inaugurated a permanent reminder that He Himself is the Passover Lamb.

Jesus ordained that this woman's act of love be proclaimed along with the gospel because it is a beautiful expression of what real love is and what real love does. You cannot believe in Jesus without loving Jesus, and sometimes that love is expressed in extravagant ways.

When The Master returns, will He find you awake, alert, and faithful about His business of proclaiming the coming judgment and the kindness of God? View your life through the lens of this chapter and ask yourself, are you ready?

What the biblical prophets saw as a single event often has multiple fulfillments in the history of redemption, with each fulfillment making up the whole. Jesus issues an exhortation - be ready.

In Mark 12, three groups representing the Jewish Sanhedrin put Jesus to the test in an attempt to trap Him in His teaching and discredit Him in the eyes of the Crowd. Each test provides Jesus with an opportunity to silence His opponents and instruct His disciples.

Mark 12:13-44 contains three encounters with three groups, all of whom comprise the Jewish Sanhedrin – the ruling council of Jerusalem. Each encounter ends with Jesus silencing His opponents and instructing His disciples.

Rejecting God's Son results in God's judgment; accepting God's Son results in salvation. That is what the majority of Israel failed to see, and what we must see today.

When a culture is filled with people who claim to be Christians but are not, and churches which continue to gather but have long since abandoned the authority of Scripture and one true gospel of Jesus, it breeds confusion as to what Christianity actually is. Our aim is to clear up that confusion.

The wind blows where it wills; it cannot be controlled; it cannot be coerced; it cannot be constrained. But Jesus does not tell you to call forth the wind. He tells you to look at the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, and live.