Central Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

As you set up your nativity scene this year. There is of course Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. Then, looking on are those nice shepherds dressed in robes with staffs in hand. We’re familiar with the Christmas story; we like them in the scene. However, if we were living in first century Bethlehem, we wouldn’t have wanted them there – not at all. Join us this Sunday as we discuss the shepherds and how their inclusion in the Christmas scene reminds us that the good news of Jesus is for all people.

In our world people pick sides. The latest headlines reveal division across the globe. Let’s face it if we were God, we’d come to rescue some, but not others. However, the angels announced that the birth of the Messiah would be good news of great joy for all people. Jesus came for the Jew and the Gentile. He came for the down and out and the up and out. He came for the moral and the immoral. He came for you and me. This Christmas season we will celebrate with a series titled, For All People. We’ll see how the reality that Jesus came for all people affects how we see and interact with people.

Have you ever been lost? It’s a disorienting feeling. Seconds can seem like minutes, minutes can seem like hours. When you are lost what you really want is to be found. The Bible speaks of people who are not in right relationship with God as lost. Jesus came for the lost and he commissioned his followers to go to them as well. As we continue our Key Questions series, we will be asking the question: Who are you sharing Jesus with?

Living life alone on a desert island may sound romantic at times, but if you’ve ever seen the movie Castaway you get an idea as to just how lonely you’d be. The reason is we were created to live alone. Just as God exists in community (He’s triune) so He designed His people to exist in community as well. As we continue our key questions series, we’ll be asking the question: where are you experiencing life-giving community? We see that type of community modeled for us in the early church.

Have you ever met someone who has it all together? The truth is we are all in process, growing to become more and more like Jesus. That’s what our series the key questions is all about. Asking key questions that help reveal where we are and spur us toward spiritual growth. This week we’ll be asking the question "Who am I discipling?". 

Throughout our lives we ask and are asked countless questions. Sometimes those questions can be silly other times serious. Some questions are trivial others are critical. There are several questions for the life of any Christian that are critically important because they are so clarifying. During our next series, our aim is to equip you with 5 questions that will help propel your disciple-making mission. These questions work best not merely for self-reflection but in the context of missional groups.

Most of us have had dreams about what life would be like without the limitations of time, space, or gravity. The thrill of fling around the universe is captivating. That dream of life without limits has made it’s way to many parts of our culture. We are living in a time when many of the limits that were in place for marriage have been abolished. Perhaps, that’s why the need for godly marriages are more important now than ever. We’ll look at what Peter says about marriage this week.

This last week we’ve seen the atrocities that took place in Israel. I have been diligent in praying for the people there, and I hope you have as well. The hostility of the world has been on full display. There are certain wars that are just. Jesus will execute a just war to rid the world of sin and evil. He is our ultimate authority. Unfortunately, in this life sometimes we are under the authority of those who are unjust. So, while we won’t be talking about just wars this Sunday, we will talk about authority and the effects of being under the authority of King Jesus.

Know Your Identity

A Healthy Appetite

The idea of judgment usually doesn’t get people excited, usually judgment produces at least some fear. Peter connects fear and judgment for the believer as he writes. So, what does the coming judgment for the believer entail? Why is fear connected to it? We’ll talk about those topics and more as we continue our study through 1st Peter.

The world teaches us that what we do defines who we are. The Bible flips that around and says who we are ought to define what we do. As we continue our study in 1st Peter we’ll see that a firm understanding of our identity gives us the confidence to live right side up in an upside down world.

How do you react to thought of more pain or suffering? Many of us try to avoid that as much as possible. We place a high value on safety and comfort. While we know we are empowered to make disciples sometimes that calling seems too messy and makes us uncomfortable. Peter wrote two letters to encourage the church that there is strength in the face of trouble, that those troubles are temporary, and that we can have confidence while living on mission. This next year we are going to do a deep dive into 1st and 2nd Peter. Our theme will be Confidence. Through it, my prayer is you will press on, living the life God made you to live. It is in the darkest times that the collective light of the Jesus’ church shines brightest.

This Sunday we are wrapping up our Defining a Disciple series. We’ve defined a disciple based on how Jesus called and then commissioned his disciples. So, we’ve said a disciple worships Jesus daily, is consistently being changed by Jesus, and is increasingly committed to the mission of Jesus. This week we’ll discuss how to move from a clear definition to a practical plan for being the disciple-makers we were saved to be.

The Bible tells us that we were saved for good works that God prepared for us. Chief among those good works is the disciple-making mission that we’ve been called to. It’s really the Jesus mission. This week we’ll see that a disciple is increasingly committed to the mission of Jesus, and we’ll explore some strategies to increase our commitment to his mission.

You’ve probably heard the joke never pray for patience, because then God will give you situations that will really test your patience. The truth is we all have areas in our life where we need to grow or where change needs to take place. One of the marks of a disciple is that we are consistently being changed by Jesus. This week we will study from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy some common areas where Jesus changes all of us.

Dr. Ron Minton, a missionary to Ukraine and Bible scholar, will be leading a seminar titled, How We Got Our Bible.

As followers of Jesus, the command we are perhaps most familiar with is the great commission. We know that as we go, we are to make disciples. However, as energizing as that is, so few Christians actually make disciples. One of the reasons for that is if you ask 20 different people what makes a disciple – you will probably get 20 different answers. During our next series, Defining a Disciple, we will partner clarity with strategy so that we can all take the next step as effective disciple-makers.

We’ve all had times when we know we should do something, we even tell ourselves we’re going to do something, but for whatever reason we don’t do it. As we finish our series, In Between, we will be talking about living in between knowing and doing. We’ll discover that while that’s a dangerous place to live there is a key that takes you from one place to the other.

God is our ultimate authority, but we live with worldly leaders. Often times earthly leaders and God have entirely different world views. How do we live between God and Caesar? We’ll explore what Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel to gain a healthy perspective on this important topic.