Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

God has declared his love for his people. But that doesn’t negate their responsibility to obey him. This text exposes the attitudes and actions behind compromised worship, and it is as relevant today as it was when Malachi first preached it to the people of Israel.

This week we begin a new series through the Old Testament book of Malachi. This prophet proclaimed God’s message to his people at a time when their complacency had led them into compromise. They had returned from exile, rebuilt their Temple, city, and walls, and had settled into a comfortable existence. Their preoccupation with life overshadowed their allegiance to God, and it showed. Once again Israel was in a downward spiral. But God had an answer, and it was his man with his message. We can’t help but feel as though Malachi’s audience was just like us. We are greatly blessed, comfortable, and the temptation toward complacency and compromise is very strong. After all, things are good! But as Moses warned in Deuteronomy 6, it is at times like this we most need to be diligent, lest we forget our God and the fact that it is only by his love that our lives can have any purpose and satisfaction.

It shouldn’t surprise us that a big God has a big plan. He has had that plan since He created the world to glorify Himself - He will be worshipped by grateful, redeemed men and women from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. The gospel is the tool that will make that plan possible – and WE are the means through which He chooses to make the gospel known around the world! That is why we are serious at Grace about making and multiplying Christ-followers all over the world.

When we consider local outreach in our context, we need to ask: How important is Grace Baptist Church in the setting of Santa Clarita? Outreach was a “come and see” operation in the Old Testament, but now because of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit outreach is a “go and share” operation. We as Christ-followers are distinct members of this world; and when we assemble, we represent the body of Christ to Santa Clarita. How well is Christ known in this valley as a result of our presence?

Last weekend we were reminded that the mission of the church has already been established by our Lord Jesus to whom has been given all authority in heaven and on the earth. Our mission is simple: Go make Christ-followers of all nations. Here at Grace we say it this way: We exist to make and multiply Christ-followers who magnify the glory of God. Today we take the next step and, recognizing that our mission determines our message, consider the primary ministry task we must do well in order to accomplish the mission of Christ through Grace to the world. We say it this way: To accomplish our mission, we must teach and model God’s Word in the power of the Spirit engaging our world as agents of transformation.

It is always important to reconsider the fundamentals. This month we take time to remind ourselves of the mission of Grace Baptist Church. Of course, we are not at liberty to design our own mission, values, and central ministry tasks. Those all have already been determined by our Lord Jesus Christ. This weekend we look at the reason we exist, and next weekend we consider the primary ministry task we must do well in order to accomplish the mission of Christ.

All around us we hear society is forsaking “organized religion.” There are reasons for this, but the most telling one is the failure of the church to be an authentic, shining example of God’s truth and love. This week we end our Real Questions series and transition into a month-long reflection on the mission and ministry of Grace Baptist Church. Over the next 5 weeks we’ll ask and answer these questions: Who are we? Why are we here? What are we doing? How are we engaging our world locally? How are we engaging our world globally?

Does God care about our work? Is work a result of the fall? And how do we balance work with family obligations, church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, and a bunch of other things we ought to be doing? Given that we’re all involved with work of some kind, it is ironic we hardly ever talk about God’s view of it. After all, God was the very first worker, and it turns out he has very specific guidelines when it comes to the work we do and the way we do it.

: One of the hardest questions to answer has to do with the presence of evil in our world. But what do we really know? What is “evil”? Who gets to decide? Most importantly, what is God’s relationship to evil, and how are we to understand the presence of evil in the universe over which our God is in charge? Does the presence of evil mean God isn’t strong or good? Let’s look at it together …

The Big Question we'll address this week is perhaps the most sensitive issue facing the church today. Homosexuality is normative in main stream America. Much has changed in the past 20 years; the face of the American landscape is not what it used to be. How should the "prophetic minority," the church, now respond?

Does God still speak to us today? And if so, how? Why do some people say “God told me to …” or “I heard the voice of God directing me to …”? Is this something we all want but only a few experience?

It seems like everyone wants more if it, and even when you have much of it, it rarely feels like enough. Wealth is a driving focus of our culture, the acquisition of it often being seen as the definition of success. As Christ-followers, we need to look to God’s Word to define success, and to take to heart what it says about the dangers and the benefits of wealth. Whether God gives us much or relatively little, we are wise to ask Real Questions about what He wants us to do with our riches.

Poverty is a problem, and when we see someone struggling to meet life’s basic necessities, we know that this isn’t the way God intended the world to work. But what is the church’s role in interacting with the poor? Is caring for the poor always helpful? Hopefully, as we formulate a biblical understanding of poverty, we will be able to walk winsomely in a broken world by caring for others as God has cared for us.

The subject of “justice” is often in our conversations these days. What is right and fair? Who decides? What about all those who seem to suffer unjustly? And where does God stand in all this? And most of all, how can a just God accept us who sin?

Among the many challenges we face as Christ-followers is that of our “dual citizenship.” We are, first and foremost, citizens of heaven as those who have been redeemed in Christ. But we are also citizens of our country, which brings with it certain privileges and responsibilities. How do these relate? And more importantly, how can we avoid the perils of allowing our passion for this world to override our kingdom focus?

What should we think about tradition? Is it good or bad? Can we change some things while others must never change? How do we know the difference? Can the Bible help? These are important questions, especially when our fast-moving culture collides with our biblical worldview. Fortunately, our worldview and the Scripture it is built on give us all we need to consider and practice change in ways that are pleasing to God and necessary to the advancement of his kingdom.

Just how are we to think of Jesus? Is he the ultimate life-coach, financial planner, health care professional, butler and fixer? Is his role to fit into our lives or do we largely have it backwards? This weekend, we’ll sit in the audience as Peter declares Jesus to the stunned Pentecost crowd of Acts 2. And as telling as what he says is what he seems to leave out regarding Jesus. Apparently, following Jesus Christ is much more about how we fit into his plan than how we can get him to fit into ours.

In the ancient world, identifying with Christ would often bring adversity. This kept all but true Christ-followers from entering the water. Today the same cannot be said. Baptism has become a fad in some respects, as churches and even Hollywood promote spontaneous baptisms of those whose lives may never have demonstrated the fruits of repentance and saving faith. This raises questions: Just what is baptism anyway? Why do it? What does baptism signify in the life of the one being baptized? Is it merely personal or is there an element of community with the local church?

“Don’t judge me!” Have you heard that lately? It seems that living above anyone’s assessment or condemnation is fast becoming part of the Bill of Rights. But what does the Bible actually teach? Are we prohibited from assessing sinful behavior unless we are “without sin”? Thankfully, the New Testament is not confused on this subject, so we don’t have to be, either. The message is clear that Christ-followers are to recognize sinful behavior and respond to it in truth and love with both compassion and courage.

This weekend we begin our Summer Series: Real Questions. First up is this concept we keep hearing about … a “worldview.” But just what is one of these? And if there is a biblical worldview, what is it?