Three Groves Baptist Church

11/17/2025

Today (or at least this month) marks 20 years since God called me in my second year of seminary (November 2005) to be the pastor of Three Groves Baptist Church. Every Sunday, I pray that I would preach and teach the Word of God truthfully, boldly, accurately, and passionately, and that God would open up our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds so that we can take in the message. If you have learned anything, have grown spiritually, or have been encouraged by listening to my sermons, that's all God; I just do the typing.

12/03/2024

In Matthew 9:9, Jesus tells Matthew, "Follow me." The Greek word "follow" means "to follow as a disciple; imitate."

POINT: If you are a true follower of Jesus, your goal everyday should be (must be) to IMITATE Jesus, to BE LIKE Jesus. If you look nothing like Jesus, how are others supposed to see Jesus in you?

APPLICATION: Followers of Jesus FOLLOW Jesus.

December "Be Like Jesus" Challenge:
Each day, rate YOURSELF (be honest) on how well YOU imitate Jesus in the particular area Jesus talks about.
3-That's me
2-Sometimes me
1-Not me

December 1: Matthew 6:43-44
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.'"

December 2: John 13:34-35
"A new command I give you: 'Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.'"

If you need help, encouragement, or prayer, leave a note in the comments, or stop by our worship service; we would be glad to have you!

09/15/2024

"He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8

1. THE DISTRACTION FROM BEING A WITNESS.
As followers of Jesus, it IS NOT our job to know when Jesus is coming back, what day he is coming back, or what time he is coming back. Sometimes we get distracted by doing the wrong things, by asking the wrong questions, and by focusing on the wrong things.

2. THE DESIGNATION OF BEING A WITNESS.
Jesus said, "...you will be my witnesses..." As followers of Jesus THAT is our job: to be a witness for Jesus. To represent him, to tell others about him, to direct others to him, to show others him. Those who claim to follow Jesus ARE a witness for him...either good or bad.

3. THE DESCRIPTION OF BEING A WITNESS.
As followers of Jesus, OUR job is to be his witnesses. What does that mean? Witnesses simply tell: 1) what they have seen, 2) what they have heard, and 3) what they know. That's it! They don't make things up, they don't speculate, they don't exaggerate...they just simply tell it like it is. As Walter Cronkite once put it, "And that's the way it is." The message NEVER changes, the story NEVER changes. The Good News NEVER changes!

4. THE DESTINATION OF BEING A WITNESS.
We are to tell 1) what we have seen, 2) what we have heard, and 3) what we know to those WE KNOW (Jerusalem, in our immediate vicinity), to those WE DON'T KNOW (Judea, a little further out), and to those WE DON'T LIKE (Samaria). Jesus came to "seek and to save the lost" and followers of Jesus follow Jesus. We cannot save anyone, but we can tell them about and point them to the one who can save them.

09/15/2024

What is faith? What does it mean to have faith? How do I strengthen my faith? How can I show my faith? Why do I struggle with my faith?

If you have ever asked these questions, join us at Three Groves Baptist Church for a NEW SERMON SERIES starting in October!

"FAITH"
October 6: "The Basics of Faith"
October 13: Just Say the Word"
October 20: "Taking Jesus at his Word"
October 27: "Whose Hands are You In?"
November 3: "Faith and Works"

01/21/2024

Have you ever been anxious? Have you ever had anxiety? In Philippians 4:4-7, the Apostle Paul gave us 3 steps for overcoming anxiety.

Do not be anxiousPhilippians 4:4-7

12/26/2023

"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

GOOD NEWS! You do not have to live in darkness anymore if you do not want to!
"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." John 12:46

GOOD NEWS! You do not have to live in the lie anymore if you do not want to!
"You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37

GOOD NEWS! You do not have to live lost anymore if you do not want to!
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10

GOOD NEWS! You do not have to live in sin anymore if you do not want to!
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

08/21/2023

What do you do when you are faced with an impossible situation?

In John 6:1-15, Jesus presents his disciples with an impossible situation: feeding the crowd of 5, 000 people (perhaps as many as 25, 000 people)! In this passage, we learn 4 actions we can take when we face impossible situations.

When I am faced with an impossible situation, I must:
1) GIVE THE PROBLEM TO JESUS.
"When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?'" (John 6:5)

Instead of asking Jesus what HE would do, the disciples used their own limited knowledge and understanding to conclude that financially, logistically, logically, mathematically, practically, and physically there was no way it could be done. They were trying to figure it out on their own instead of including Jesus! By responding this way, the disciples revealed the insufficiency of their faith.

Jesus was testing them, for he already knew what he was going to do (John 6:6)! Jesus ALWAYS knows WHAT to do, and HOW to do it! When you are faced with an impossible situation, do not use your own resources to try and figure it out (because you can't). Instead, give the problem back to Jesus and ask him what HE would do!

Join us tomorrow as we will talk about the second action we can take when faced with an impossible situation.

02/11/2023

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:25-27

12/25/2022

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'" Luke 2:8-14

The angel told the shepherds the Good News:
The Light was born so we do not have to live in darkness!
The Truth was born so we do not have to live in lies!
The Peace was born so we do not have to live in worry and fear!
The Savior was born so we do not have to live in sin!

QUESTION: Now that you know about the Good News, what do you do with that information?

"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.' So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." Luke 2:15-16

Just like the shepherds (and later the Wise Men) if you look for Jesus Christ the Savior, you will find him!

08/27/2022

"Keep me safe, O _________, for in you I take refuge."

QUESTION: What word do YOU use to fill in the blank? (a political party? a person? power? position? popularity? money? job?)

In Psalm 16:1, David filled in the blank this way: "Keep me safe, O GOD, for in your I take refuge."

If you filled in the blank with anything or anyone other than GOD, you will be disappointed. If you take refuge in anything or anyone other than GOD, you will be let down. Political parties come and go, people fail us or leave us, power and position goes away, popularity fades, money and jobs can be lost, but GOD never fails; GOD never leaves us; GOD never leads us astray.

God loves you and he will take care of you. Have you placed your hope and trust in him today?