Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20   Our thought for today: “You are the plan”   You are God’s plan for spreading the Good News of the Gospel. It’s through you that He plans to shower the world with the love and blessings of Jesus Christ, and it is you who will help to build His kingdom on earth. You’re it. You are the plan, and it is for this that you have been set free by Christ.   How does that news make you feel? If you’re like me then you feel unworthy and inadequate. Certainly not up to such a task. What could God be thinking? There must be better ways for Him to accomplish His plan than through an imperfect, deeply flawed, sometimes confused, and often lazy knucklehead like me. If I’m the best plan He has then I’m afraid He has set Himself up to be disappointed.   Fortunately, there’s a little more to it than that. Actually, there’s a lot more to it than that. It turns out that His plan involves us – plus the Holy Spirit. As Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, at the time of your salvation God placed the Holy Spirit in your heart. This is where the power comes from. It’s not you or me, it’s Him living in us and working through us. This is such an important understanding that the subject of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is addressed at least sixteen times in the New Testament.   But what does the indwelling mean, how does it work, and what does it accomplish? It means that the Spirit of God lives within us and works through us. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul painted a picture of the follower of Christ being a walking, talking, mobile temple of the Holy Spirit. Wherever you go, you bring the Holy Spirit with you in a very focused way. If you let Him, He will use your mouth to speak God’s words, and He will use your hands and feet to accomplish God’s purposes.   Jesus taught this truth in John 15:5 in His parable about the vine and the branches. Just as a grapevine lives its life through the branches that grow off of it and produces its fruit through those branches, so too Jesus lives His life through the lives of His followers and produces His fruit through them. In Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul picked up on that analogy and described for us what some of that fruit will look like – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.   As we go through our days, carrying the Holy Spirit of God with us wherever we go, we’re to simply allow Him to use us to accomplish God’s purposes through us. We are God’s plan – but it’s the Holy Spirit who actually accomplishes the results. We just need to let Him.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “We must obey God rather than men!” Acts 5:29 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Your freedom in Christ will sometimes get you in trouble.”   This morning I want to talk about how our freedom in Christ allows us, or perhaps even requires us, to refrain from certain actions, and how the decision to refrain may actually put us crossways with the society in which we live. Christians correctly believe that as citizens of the USA we have all the same constitutional rights that any other citizen of this nation has. That is correct.   However, we don’t have the Biblical freedom to act on those constitutional rights if doing so would in anyway conflict with the law of God. In fact, there are occasions when our freedom in Christ will require us to actively oppose and defy a constitutional right. For instance, legally every woman in America has a constitutional right to an abortion. But it would be wrong for a Christian woman to get an abortion because it would violate God’s Biblical principle regarding the sanctity of human life. So, this is a situation where you might have the constitutional freedom to do something, but you don’t have the Biblical freedom to do it. Beyond that, as Christians we have a Biblical responsibility to actually oppose this constitutional freedom and attempt to get it overturned.   Likewise, the issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Constitutionally every citizen has the freedom to engage in homosexual behavior and to enter into a same-sex marriage if they want to. But even though Christians have the constitutional freedom to do so, they do not have the Biblical freedom to do so because it violates God’s principles of human sexuality.   Just because we have the constitutional freedom to do something doesn’t mean we have the Biblical freedom to do it. We may even find ourselves in the position of having to oppose that constitutional freedom in our society precisely because it does violate Biblical principles. And that of course, will put us crossways with culture. Others will feel that we are attempting to infringe on their liberty. However, our freedom in Christ liberates us from that concern. We are to obey God rather than men and, we are to try to help our society to obey God rather than men too.   However, a word of caution: Before taking such a stand we must be certain that the position we are taking is solidly Biblical and the one we’re opposing is not – and we have to be able to prove it. Be sure there are passages of Scripture and Biblical principles which speak clearly and directly to the situation. Base your actions on clear guidance from the Bible.   Our freedom in Christ gives us the courage and boldness to take stands that might be unpopular, and that sometimes might even get us in trouble.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23   Our thought for today: “Live like this and people will notice.”   We started our study of being set free by considering the similarities and the differences between our constitutional freedoms as citizens of the USA, and our Biblical freedoms as Christians. We also learned that although we have great freedom, both constitutionally and spiritually, neither our constitutional freedoms nor our spiritual freedoms are unlimited. Our constitutional freedoms are necessarily limited and constrained by the rule of law. Our spiritual freedom is necessarily limited and constrained by Biblical principles.   We then spent some days considering what it is we have been set free from, spiritually. We have been set free from the penalty for our sins; we have been set free from living with a pervasive sense of guilt; we have been set free from legalism; and we have been set free from the burden of unforgiveness. Now we will shift our thinking to the impact our spiritual freedom should have on the way we live. In doing so we will also circle back and finish where we began, considering the manner in which our spiritual freedoms and constitutional freedoms overlap, and the ways in which they don’t. Included in that discussion will be the understanding of our being “salt and light”, as Jesus meant it in the Sermon on the Mount.   In Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul gave us what is without question one of the most helpful passages in the New Testament. This passage describes the results of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. Overtime, as the Spirit slowly molds and shapes the individual into the man or woman God intends for them to be, the more the “fruit of the Spirit” will be evident in that person’s life. The more these attributes are evident in the person, the more spiritual maturity the Spirit has been able to bring about in their life. Although it is the work of the Spirit, that work is aided by the cooperation of the individual. Our cooperation includes things like frequent prayer, daily Bible study, fellowship with other Christians, worship, acts of service in the name of Jesus, and the other basic disciplines of practicing the Christian faith.   The character traits of Galatians 5:22-23 then become something of a spiritual marker that help us to assess how we’re doing in our spiritual growth. The more you embrace your freedom in Christ in an appropriate Biblical manner, the better, fuller, and more enjoyable your life will be.   Also, the more the character traits of Galatians 5:22-23 describe you, the more of a positive impact for Christ you will have in the world around you. People will be blessed, encouraged, and influenced in a positive way, because they had an encounter with you. And the more Christians there are who are living like that, the better our society will be.   You have been set free by Jesus to live fully in the Spirit. Do the things necessary in order to cooperate with the Spirit as He cultivates the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Live like this and people will notice.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Set that prisoner free!”   When we placed our faith in Christ, God set us free from the penalty for our sins by forgiving us. Now, for multiple reasons, He wants us to forgive others. For one thing, by doing so, we help to set them free. Let them experience forgiveness, even if they don’t deserve it. Often, unmerited forgiveness extended as an act of grace will have a profound impact on someone. It may soften their heart toward you and towards God. Also, by forgiving them you are setting them free from an ongoing adversarial relationship. Proverbs 17:9 says, “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”   But more often, the one who gains the greatest freedom from the act of forgiveness is the one doing the forgiving. In his book “Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve” author Lewis B. Smedes wrote, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”   What he means is that when we continue to hold a grudge against someone the greatest damage is done to ourselves, not to the other person. Often the other person has completely forgotten about the offense, or seldom thinks about it, or doesn’t care. But if you are holding onto the offense that means you think about it, stew about it, and continue to expend emotional energy on it. When you do that, it will darken your disposition and therefore probably have a negative impact on other parts of your life as well. When you choose to forgive the offense, whether the other person deserves forgiveness or not, you do it more for yourself than for them.   Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that you are excusing or even accepting their offensive behavior. It simply means you are giving it over to God, and choosing to let it go and not think about it anymore. This is what Paul was counseling in Romans 12:18-20 when he wrote, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”   You can help to set others free by extending forgiveness to them – even if they don’t deserve it. But more importantly, the prisoner you end up setting free may very well be yourself.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:1-2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Don’t live in cheap grace”   “Cheap grace” is a phrase that was coined by the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his 1937 book “The Cost of Discipleship”. According to Bonhoeffer, cheap grace is the belief that since as a Christian your sins have been forgiven once and for all and forever, you can live in any manner you like and you will still go to heaven. The concept of cheap grace causes a person to believe they can sin at will and it doesn’t really matter. This is what the Apostle Paul was referring to in Romans 6:1-2 (above). If cheap grace is a legitimate way of thinking and living, Paul sarcastically suggests, then more sin is better than less sin because the more sin there is the more grace there will be to cover over those sins, and that would be a good thing because it would be an even bigger showcase for God’s grace. That, of course, is ridiculous.   Bonhoeffer contrasts cheap grace with “costly” grace. When we understand what a price Christ paid in order for our sins to be covered by the grace of God, we realize that grace isn’t cheap at all – it’s priceless! And therefore, we would never abuse it. Instead, we choose to live in such a way that truly does honor Christ.   Yesterday we thought about how it is that Jesus has set us free from the shackles of legalism. We no longer need an extensive and restrictive set of rules and regulations to govern our every move. Instead, under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, we are to become increasingly spiritually mature, to the point we are living in a way that honors the Lord without having our every move dictated for us.   My favorite illustration of this freedom we have in Jesus comes to us from the Christian philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard. He tells of how when his children were young, he would send them out to play in the fenced-in backyard. While out there they could choose for themselves any number of activities, from playing in the sandbox, to swinging on the swings, to sitting under a tree and reading a book, and many more. All they had to do was behave themselves and stay within the boundaries of the backyard. Dallas said that he didn’t want to have to make their decisions for them. He wanted them to learn to make good decisions for themselves. So he gave then general boundaries they needed to stay within, and he gave them lots of activities they could choose from – any of which would have been fine with him. Then he let them use their good judgment and exercise their free wills.   That’s how God wants to be able to deal with us. In the Bible He gives us general boundaries to live within. But those boundaries are wide, and there are lots of choices we are free to make, any of which are fine with Him. He wants us to become mature enough to use good judgment and make good choices – within the boundaries He has established for us.   We have great freedom in Christ, but there are boundaries we have to stay within. We should not be legalistic and overly restricted, but neither should we live in cheap grace.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “If you died with Christ to the elements of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: ‘Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch’? … they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.” Colossians 2:20-23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Jesus has set us free from legalism”   The concept of “legalism” refers to an excessive preoccupation with rules and regulations (most of them manmade) pertaining to the practice of the Christian faith. What happens in legalistic settings is that they take a basic Biblical principle, standard, or command from God, such as one of the Ten Commandments, and then they add lots of detail to it that goes far beyond what the Bible itself actually says.   As a result, they end up with an extensive, detailed, and often rigid system for how they believe the Christian faith should be lived, but it is much more restrictive than what God Himself requires of us in the Bible. This is precisely what the Pharisees did to the Jewish people in the Old Testament, and it is precisely what many fundamentalist churches and denominations do in our day.   But Jesus set us free from legalism. That’s what Paul was reminding the Colossian Christians of in Colossians 2:20-23 (above). Jesus did away with all of the dietary restrictions set forth in the book of Leviticus; He simplified the Ten Commandments, condensing them into “love God and love others”; and He overturned the manmade rules and regulations that the Pharisees had developed.   So, if we don’t have an extensive list of rules, regulations, and restrictions to keep us in line, how does this work in New Testament times? How can we live in a way that pleases God if we don’t have lots of rules to follow? Well, the answer is simple but the process is hard. The answer is that God has placed the Holy Spirit in our hearts to serve as our personal live-in counselor and guide. Moment-by-moment He speaks to us, guides us, and teaches us, and He also convicts us when we’re in the process of doing something outside the will of God. It’s simple. Just listen to the Holy Spirit and do what He tells you.   But it’s hard because that requires spiritual maturity. It requires us to consistently and faithfully place ourselves in a position before God whereby the Holy Spirit has full access to our heart and mind. In that way we become increasingly spiritually sensitive to and aware of the Spirit’s guidance. We do that through prayer, Bible study, worship, service, fellowship, and all the other ways in which we practice the Christian faith.   But that takes time and it requires effort on our parts. And it’s a lifelong process. The growing and maturing never stops. We never “arrive” at spiritual maturity. So, we need help to keep from going off the rails in life. Not only is there a constant danger of defaulting into legalism, but there’s an equal and perhaps greater danger of lapsing into what is sometimes called “cheap grace”. We’ll continue thinking about this tomorrow. It’s true that Jesus has set us free from legalism. Now have to learn how to handle that freedom.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You take care of others, and God will take care of you.”   In recent days we’ve been thinking about how it is that Jesus sets us free from selfishness. We’ve considered the natural human tendency to be self-absorbed and to be concerned first and foremost for our own well-being. We’ve also learned that Jesus sets us free to focus on others instead and to serve them in His name.   However, the question I posed yesterday was, how can we do that without worrying about our own needs going unmet? If we are focused on looking out for others, who is looking out for us? Well, ideally, if the other Christians in your life are living in the same selfless Christlike manner that you are, then they’re looking out of your interests just as you’re looking out for theirs. But beyond that, and more importantly, God has your back. He’s the One who is looking out for you and making sure that you are taken care of.   That’s what Paul was referring to in Philippians 4:19. We commonly think of the Apostle Paul as having been a great evangelist and church-planter, and he was that. But most of his writings were directed to Christians and were about discipleship – they were all about helping Christians to become more Christlike. In Philippians 4:19 he was expressing His confidence that as we seek to serve God and others, God will take care of us. You take care of others, and God will take care of you.   The Bible is filled with such assurances. Matthew 6:25-34 is of course the classic passage concerning this. In that part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus assured His listeners that God is well aware of all of our situations and all of our needs. Our part is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and then, “and all these things will be provided for you.” You take care of others, and God will take care of you. You work to accomplish His kingdom agenda and bless others in the name of Jesus, and can trust that God has your back.   Here’s another, this one from the Old Testament: “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:15 (NIV). That’s God’s promise. You be generous with your time and efforts and resources for the sake of others, and God will make sure that you are similarly blessed.   It’s liberating to know that God has set us free from worrying about such things. All we have to do is focus on being a blessing to others, and we can be confident that He will take care of us in return.   So, you are free to focus on being a blessing to others, knowing that God will take care of you.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.” John 13:15 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You have been set free to serve”   In John chapter thirteen we find Jesus and His disciples at the Last Supper. It was the night before He would be crucified and they were celebrating the Passover meal. In those days everyone wore open sandals. Foot coverings like socks didn’t exist. The roads were dirt and often muddy, and the streets were filled with animal dung and urine. So, feet got pretty dirty – to the point of being disgusting.   Therefore, it was customary that when people entered a home (their own or especially as a guest in someone else’s), there would be a basin of water and towels so the feet could be washed. The lowest servant would be assigned the task of washing the feet of everyone entering. However, at this Passover feast, no feet had been washed. Everyone was reclining at this low table with their filthy feet splayed out behind them or to the side, and probably in close proximity to other guests. No provision had been made for the washing of dirty feet and, no one was making any effort to address the issue. Remember, washing dirty feet was the job of the lowest servant, and none of the disciples wanted to place themselves in a position of a lowly foot-washing servant.   So, Jesus did it. Jesus got up, got a basin of water and a towel, then went around the room and washed the feet of every person. When He was done, He said the words recorded in John 13:15 “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.” He was teaching a lesson. The reason the disciples didn’t want to be the one to wash feet is because they thought it would lower them in the eyes of everyone else. But Jesus taught and modeled that the greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who has learned to serve others. At least once before He had taught them that same lesson. In Luke 22:23 He said, “The greatest among you will be the servant of all.”   Jesus has set us free from pride, and from the selfishness and self-centeredness that comes from pride. He has freed us to humbly and joyfully put others first and to serve their needs. How can we do this without worrying about our own needs and without feeling as if we have been neglected while others were esteemed and served? God has that covered for us and we’ll address it tomorrow. For now, just know that Jesus has set you free from pride and selfishness so you can serve others in His name. I encourage you to follow His example and be intentional about serving others today.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You have been set free from selfishness”   Human beings are selfish by nature. Whether we admit it or not, we are the most important person in our own life. We live inside of our heads, we think about ourselves constantly, and our thoughts center around what we like, what we want, and how we can get it. We think about ourselves much more than we think about anyone else; we talk to ourselves much more than we talk to anyone else; and the bottom line is, we’re motivated by self-preservation, self-promotion, and self-fulfillment. Not totally, of course. The degree to which those things are true of particular individuals may vary from person to person but still, the truth holds that human beings are selfish by nature.   But Jesus sets us free from selfishness. Instead, He teaches us to be selfless. Jesus teaches us, and the Holy Spirit enables us, to think less about ourselves and more about others. This is a marker in our Christian growth. The degree to which we have learned to take our eyes off of ourselves and to focus instead on others is an indication of how much spiritual transformation the Holy Spirit has been able to bring about in our lives. Being selfish is human. Being selfless is Christlike.   In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul urges his readers to be intentional about this. He tells us to make a decision to resist the tendency to think selfishly and to instead determine to humbly think of others first, putting their needs ahead of our own, and then acting on that decision.   Please note that he does not say that we should neglect our own needs. Instead, he says that as we’re looking out for ourselves, we need to be looking out for others as well. But because our natural tendency is to be preoccupied with ourselves and to put our own interests first, it will happen by default. Maybe to the exclusion of considering the interests of others. Therefore, he teaches us to be intentional about looking out for others first. Do that first. Think of them first. Take action on their behalf first. Then, once you have intentionally done that, look out for yourself too.   Learning to be selfless is an important character trait that we Christians need to cultivate if we’re going to become Christlike. This is important, and so we will come back to it tomorrow. In the meantime, know that you have been set free from selfishness.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “You have been set free”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “You have been set free from guilt”   We began our study this month by considering the strong connection between our constitutional freedoms as citizens of the USA, and our spiritual freedom as followers of Jesus Christ. I made the point that neither our freedoms as citizens nor our freedoms as Christians are absolute; they aren’t unrestricted, or unlimited. There are by necessity boundaries within which we are expected to live. The laws of the land and the laws of God provide that structure. I also made the point that the more people in a society there are who live by and obey God’s law, the less need there will be for civil laws and for government intrusion into the lives of its citizens.   At this point in our study, we’re considering what it is that we as Christians have been set free from. Soon we will consider how we can help others to find that freedom too but for now, we’ll continue thinking about what we have been set free from. So far, we’ve learned that we have been set free from the punishment from our sins and from being slaves to sin. Today we will consider the issue of guilt.   Far too many people go through life living with an overwhelming and debilitating sense of guilt and regret for past failures and for past sins. One psychologist estimated that if he could help people to let go of their unresolved guilt and regret, that alone would cure 80% of all mental illness.   As we have already learned, if you have placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins then God has forgiven you and He has chosen to remember your sins and failures no more. Now it’s time for you to forgive yourself. If God has forgiven you, then you need to forgive yourself. As author Max Lucado says, “Let mercy happen.” God in His mercy and grace has forgiven you, but if you continue to hold onto your guilt and shame, you are resisting and rejecting His mercy. This is what Paul was referring to in Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.   Your past does not have to define you. You can accept God’s forgiveness, draw a line in the sand, and move forward in life from here. The past is past and you can’t change it. Let it go and move on, doing your best to live well and to live right from here on out. No second-guessing. No regrets. Leave the past in the past and move forward into the future. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17. “I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.” Hebrews 8:12.   God let it go and now you need to as well. You have been set free from guilt.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.