First Baptist Church Celina

06/04/2026

And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a clear conscience void of offense toward God and man.
(Accts25:16)

What a goal or mindset! It's so easy to let our emotions dictate our responses. But when we get before God, He shows us what actions we must take to clear any discords we have with others.
In order to walk with God, we must make all relationships as right as possible. Withholding forgiveness or having unconfessed sin in our life breaks fellowship with God. A clear conscience is a wonderful thing. Fellowship with God is wonderful. Tot relief from guilt frees us to serve God.

Pastor Bud

06/03/2026

"My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O, Lord; in the morning will I direct My prayers unto Thee, and will look up."
(Psalm 5:3)

Although everyone is a morning person, certainly each of us begin our day at some time. Beginning our day with prayer prepares us for what is coming. After a night's rest, our problems have not went away, but usually take on a different light. It is truly amazing what happens when we sleep. God gets to work on our problems without our interference.

David knew how to walk with God and what it was to not walk with God. He knew well that he needed God's direction, protection, and provisions. Because he walked with God, he saw God's mighty power and workings.

What better way to start the day than with the mighty power of God. How much better off we are to have sought God before a situation happened. That changes everything.

Pastor Bud

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06/02/2026

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable, in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
(Psalm 19:14)

Read that verse one more time, slowly. What a request, what a goal, what a job to take on! All our words and thoughts to be acceptable in God's sight? Not sure we can always live up to that, but that sure needs to be our goal. That attitude is not easy when the store clerk is rude, when another driver pulls out in front of us and we nearly wreck, when we are accused wrongly, when we or a close friend has just gotten the "C" word, or when we have waited on the phone for ten minutes, went through twenty menu's, of which none of the selections are what we are calling about. Let's face it, it isn't always easy to be pleasing to God, but indeed it should be our objective. If we memorize and keep this verse forefront in our minds, we will be more godly, but if we just let human emotions reign, we will not be pleasing to God.
Let's not forget, He is our strength, and we are His representatives.

Pastor Bud

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06/01/2026

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
(Psalm 1:1)
Talk about a recipe for being blessed! How simple! Don't take the advice of ungodly people, Don't purposely sin, and don't follow those who are disrespectful and overly critical.

Look at verse number two, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law he meditates day and night."

When you look at it from that perspective, why would anyone want to pursue ungodliness? Well, I'll tell you why. First of all, man's heart is sinful. Then secondly, old Satan disguises sin as appealing and non-consequential. Satan does not reveal to you beforehand the cost, destruction, and consequences of sin. The only way to keep our bad choices down is to keep our eyes as closely on God as possible.
It is much better to be blessed than to be chastised. God has never promised us a trouble free life, in fact, quite the opposite. We are always in a spiritual battle and often in a physical battle, but as we trust in the Lord, we can always enjoy the blessings He brings.

Pastor Bud

05/31/2026

05/30/2026

But this I say, "He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
(II Corinthians 9:6)

About three weeks ago, I plowed up my garden, but because of frost and freeze warnings, I had been unable to get it planted. Finally warm weather has arrived and now planting is possible. The day before yesterday, I reploughed and managed to get most of my plants out. I had to stop after a while, all energy gone. The repeated bending, stooping, etc,, got to this 77 year old body. So, I finished it up yesterday. I used to think nothing about plowing and complete planting in one day. My, my, how time and age changes things. Then when fresh vine ripened maters, peppers, beans, corn and peas come along, it makes the work of planting all worth while.

Paul speaks about sowing and reaping because, in his day, everyone could relate. Not so today. The grocery store is as close to farming that many people get. When it comes to sharing our faith, many make it too difficult. We do not have to have a Phd. in Theology to share Jesus. All we need is our initial testimony of when we accepted Jesus as Savior and then additional testimonies of His work in our life. If we just use the occasions that God brings our way to share what he has done for us, we will be planting seeds. No one wants to hear a "canned" come to Jesus approach, but no one can dispute a real life testimony of how God came through in our time of need. That gets peoples attention.

Spiritual planting as with physical planting, nothing sowed, nothing reaped, except weeds. But a seed planted produces many seeds.
The value of our shared testimony is phenomenal.

Pastor Bud

05/28/2026

"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has ought against you, leave there your gift before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.'
(Matthew 5;23-240

Christians do not have the luxury nor the right to harbor unforgiveness. The offense is not the issue, our relationship with God is. The Christian is not to seek revenge nor hold a grudge. Yes, others will do us wrong and it bothers us, but we must place the offense in God's hands. To hold on to unforgiveness only creates bitterness. Hebrews 12:15 states, "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."
Psalm 66:18 states, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." To not forgive is sin and sin separates us from God.
So, to hold on to unforgiveness breaks our fellowship with God and then spews bitterness out on undeserving people.
"At the altar" refers to a time and place where God gets our attention and we realize our errors. Responding as God leads restores fellowship, but failing to heed God only leads us further away and a harder heart.
What can we possibly gain by holding on to unforgiveness?

Pastor Bud

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05/27/2026

Simon Peter said unto them, I'm going fishing." The other disciples said to him, "We are going with you." They went, got into the ship, and that night caught nothing.
(John 21:3)

With Jesus gone, the only thing the disciples knew to do was fish. They had left fishing when Jesus called them. He had told them that He would make them fishers of men. For three years, they had followed Jesus. Although fishing would continue to be their livelihood, they were the starters of the early Christian churches.

Fishing has changed a lot since then. I bet they did not have to have a fishing license. Mine expired and the place where I have bought them in the past no longer sells them. I called a sports store and they didn't either. They said, "You can do it online." So, a few minutes later, I'm printing out my license, I was legal to fish. I'm not a very good fisherman, but I do like to fish and that's what I'm going to do after Bible study tonight.

Peter and the other disciples never gave up fishing, either way, for fish, or for men. The principle is the same. You use bait to catch fish and you use Jesus to catch men. While fishing, you may even catch men, and while trying to catch men, you might catch fish. One thing for sure is, if you don't fish, you don't catch.

Pastor Bud

05/26/2026

Man's goings are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24 KJV)

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 29:24 NLT)

As long as we live here on this earth, we will never understand a lot of things God does and allows. Why does God allow a faithful servant to lose his job? Why does a faithful marriage partner lose their mate? Why does God allow a follower to get cancer? Why does God allow one of His to get in a car wreck?
By the same token, why does God bless us even when we are disobedient? Why does He give us more than we deserve at times?
God is God and there's no sense in wasting our time trying to figure out God's workings. We must just trust God and follow His leadings. He will take us down the path that He wants and what's best for us. Our job is not to be as good as we can be so as to accumulate blessings. Our job is not to clean our act up, God will take care of that. We have one job and one job only, that is to be rightly related to Jesus. Then, everything falls in line. Forget trying to understand God, and just surrender to Him, You'll be much happier.

Pastor Bud

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05/25/2026

When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.
Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments----------Then it shall be, if you, by any means, forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I shall testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
(Deuteronomy 8:10,11,19)

Today is Memorial Day and is the day set aside to honor our soldiers who have fought and died for our country. Even though that is the intent, for many people, it's just a holiday, off work, and the beginning of summer. Most of the younger generation could care less about the price soldiers have paid that they may enjoy freedom. Sadly, a love for and allegiance to our country is at an all time low, no thankfulness for the liberty that we enjoy.

Another area that is forgotten or pushed aside is God. If we don't take time to acknowledge God, worship God, praise God, thank God, and ask to serve God, then He becomes forgotten just like our soldiers. The consequences of forgetting God are the lack of His presence, protection, guidance, provisions, and power. And, of course, failure to accept Jesus as Savior results of an eternity in hell.
Give God the glory that He deserves.

Honor our fallen soldiers,
Honor our heroes in Christ, and
Honor our Lord.

Pastor Bud

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