First Baptist Church, Atwater, California

05/31/2026

Exodus: Have Faith, Seeing ComesExodus 6:1-9, 1 Corinthians 13:11-...

05/29/2026

Welcome To Worship for Sunday May 31, 2026
I look forward to discussing this with you further!

One failure, one extreme setback, one “broken spirit and harsh slavery” has challenged the faith once on full display. From now on, Moses and Aaron are going to have to deal with leading a hurt people who have a hard time believing God again after their pain, when they attempt to do everything God calls them to. Leading these people will also become more of a challenge because this same doubt also rises up inside Moses and Aaron. The most important fact for the people of Israel is that God has made a covenant with them and in Christ, God has made a covenant with us. The covenant God has made with us, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, His son, is the most important fact about our lives as well. Even in our doubt, even in our failure, and especially in the bumps and bruises brought on as we walk in Christ the covenant of grace still stands. In order for it to fall someone would have to overthrow God Himself from His glorious throne, for He is the one who has written the terms and paid the price for the terms to stand, and no one will ever overthrow God or furthermore, ever pluck anyone who has been forgiven out of His hand (John 10:28). Anyone who truly and humbly calls on the name of the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ and repents of sin is not only heard, but also forgiven, blessed, redeemed, and adopted as sons and daughters of God. Brother and sister, if this humble call to the Lord comes from a place of deep “groaning” in suffering, be encouraged all the more because our God hears the groaning of His people.

05/24/2026

Exodus: "God is with you in the Ups and Downs" Part 2Exodus 5:2-24, Mark 6:1-6, Romans 8:18, 1 Peter 1:3-9

05/22/2026

Welcome To Worship for Sunday May 24, 2026
I look forward to discussing this with you further!

The main point offered to us in Exodus chapter 5 is simply this; even in the Truth of Christ visiting us, delivering us of our sin, and leading us toward righteousness, disbelief and sin still reign all around us and far too often, even inside us. Our God is meticulous and all powerful. Not to always keep these things and their effect from our experience in life, but to use these things in powerful ways to strengthen and grow the little faith we have. It is through the trial and the suffering God does His best work on growing the faith inside us because in suffering we are forced to exercise the faith we have making it stronger. That means at any given point we may doubt our Lord, we may give in to temptation, we may even cry out in anguish toward God speaking things we will later regret, but what matters most in all of this is our God is never changed by such things. He is always by our side and He reigns and rules over our lives guarding us with His grace the whole time. Due to this fact, and only because of this fact, for those who truly believe in Christ and who truly worship our Triune God, we will once again at some point be reunited with the experience described in Exodus 4:31. Oftentimes we will be led by God through circumstances that He knows ahead of time far outweigh our faith, yet through the guidance we receive in the middle of these times God also accomplishes the strengthening of our faith He intended all along. Let us move forward even in our struggles and doubt trusting the one who is perfect and who offered the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. How glorious is our sovereign, mighty God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Worthy is His name!

05/17/2026

Exodus: "God is with you in the Ups and Downs"Exodus 4:27-31, Exodus 5:1-23, Genesis 50:24-25

05/15/2026

Welcome To Worship for Sunday May 17, 2026
I look forward to discussing this with you further!

The verses we read in Exodus 4:24-26 present several difficulties of translation and interpretation. Furthermore, these verses seem to be out of place and make the reading of the story a bit awkward. They do however make one very specific point clear, and I believe fully that this is why they are written here. These verses clearly show us following God’s purposes and plans for your life is in no way disconnected from an active pursuit of holiness through obedience. Moses should be commended for his steps of faith following the calling of God, and yet it is also true that a leader who has not circumcised his firstborn son as God commanded in relationship to His covenant would not be tolerated. What does it mean to worship God? Disciple of Christ, commit yourself to study and obey the decrees of God, fully believe all that has been revealed to us about our God, and stand in awe of what our God has done on our behalf even though we have sinned against Him and deserve none of it, and you will have your answer regarding worship. It flows from your heart, it transcends any emotion or feeling, and it is pure, rooted in the Truth. Worship is not confined to mere religious practice contained in four walls. It is not held captive to emotion or “warm feelings”, worship is the constant, humble, and respectful action of one committed to following Christ and living their lives in light of what is seen and believed about our God. Our God has “visited” us, He has put on human flesh and has come to our rescue. The one who made the heavens and the earth has been put to death and has risen on the third day in order to secure the victory for all who believe in His name and repent of their sins. Nothing and no one is more worthy of our honest, humble, worship!

05/10/2026

05/10/2026

Exodus: Pharaoh, The Firstborn Son, and The Righteous Judgements of GodExodus 4:21-26, Genesis 15:1-6, 17:1-14, John 3:16-17, Romans 8:32

05/08/2026

Welcome to Worship for Sunday May 10, 2026
I look forward to discussing this with you further!

We have read in Genesis 22 the story of God requesting the sacrifice of Abraham’s firstborn son, only to stop the sacrifice at the last minute and provide a ram to be sacrificed instead. We are told ahead of time at the beginning of this story in Exodus 4:23 the “wonder” that will finally move the heart of Pharaoh will be when God kills his firstborn son, yet the firstborn sons of the Israelites will go free. Our God is always governed by righteousness. All his works perfectly pass through the test of what is right without any flaw or failure. From our perspective this can be an impossible thing to comprehend because many times God acts in a way contrary to how we would do something, but we must remember at these moments, we are not the omniscient ones, we are the limited ones. God has wrath, He gets angry, the Scriptures are full of stories depicting God’s judgements, and yet in each and every one of these things He never crosses the line into unrighteousness, actually at times the unrighteous thing it seems God is guilty of most is letting certain things go unpunished even when it is obvious justice is due. How do we explain this? All of the stories in this section of Scripture with reference to the firstborn son being killed point to the amazing Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. For Him there was no substitute, no way out, no chance of rescue. This is because He is the substitute for us, He is the way out of the righteous wrath of God we deserve, He is our rescuer. God has poured His wrath for sin upon His firstborn Son so that all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be eternally saved.

05/03/2026

May 03, 2026 - Exodus: You, Your Rod, Your Staff are with Me