Mallard Creek Baptist Church

09/09/2026

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

There is little doubt in most people’s minds that Jesus existed. The sticking point for most is whether or not He is the Son of God and rose from the grave. Some claim that the disciples made up the story and stole the body. This overlooks the heavy stone in the way and the guards in front of the tomb. But if we dismiss those two obstacles to their argument, we come down to one that is relevant to our reading in John 20 this week. Skeptics will say that the writings of the Gospels were crafted to match the prophecies in the Old Testament and that the resurrection did not happen.

Look at this verse in John 20. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. (John 20: 8-9). This verse is saying that Peter and John did not have full understanding or comprehension of the Old Testament and how Jesus fulfilled these verses.

Let’s look at that thought for a minute. John the writer of this Gospel stated that he did not understand the Old Testament scriptures to a level that he could make the connection between them and what Jesus’ resurrection meant. He was believing what he saw with his own eyes. That belief was not life changing yet, because they were hiding for fear of the Jews later in the chapter instead of going and proclaiming that Jesus is alive. Jesus when He appears to them commissions them to go into the world and then breathes on them the Holy Spirit. This is the point I believe that the disciples were able to begin connecting dots. Why? Because it is the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth to us. John 16:12-13 says “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

So there is no way that the disciples could have just created a fictitious story about Jesus fulfilling all these Old Testament prophecies. Otherwise, the Chief Priests and Scribes in Matthew 2 would have understood what the Magi were saying and went to investigate to see if it was the Messiah. Otherwise, why would Biblical scholars not go to see themselves the fulfillment of what they had devoted their lives to. It’s because the did not have the Holy Spirit in their lives changing them and motivating them to truly understand the Living Word of God.

Here are a few other verses that show the disciples did not truly comprehend what they were seeing:

John 2:22: "When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken."

John 12:16: "At first his disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him."

Luke 18:34: "But the disciples understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said."

Luke 24:45: "Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Just like the disciples, we can’t understand the scriptures without the Holy Spirit active in our lives. Just as Jesus said in Matthew 13, He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Matthew 13: 11-13).

To those of us who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, it is to us the Holy Spirit has revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom, which includes how Jesus fulfilled the law and scripture. If today you have difficulty studying scripture, ask the Lord for understanding. He promised He would give us the wisdom to understand. I pray that the Lord opens your heart to see the wonder and excitement that the Bible can bring into your life. And this fact is what was in the heart of the disciples and was worth laying their lives down for.
May the Lord Bless You This Week!

09/06/2026

Come Join Us In Worship.

Pastor Daniel BryantMessage Title: Dangers of Falling to Sin: Sam...

09/02/2026

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I have spoken and written before about the mathematical probability of Jesus being the only man to fulfill the hundreds of prophecies about the coming Messiah in the Old Testament. I won’t go into that again, but in our reading this week, we are looking at John’s account of the crucifixion and I wanted to look at these verses that in the grand scheme of Jesus’ death on the cross don’t seem that significant, but are incredibly important.

Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.” (John 19: 31-37)

The preparation day and the high day that is being spoken of is the Passover. The day before Passover is the day that the Passover lamb is to be prepared. Jesus is often described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and in Revelation 5 he is seen as the lamb who is worthy to open the scroll. In the verses above, it talks about how His bones are not broken, which is a prophecy from Psalms 34:20. When you look at this prophesy and line it up with the Preparation Day for the lamb for the Passover you see some uncanny similarities. These are copy and pasted from Google.

Key Similarities
Without Blemish: God commanded the Israelites to choose a year-old male lamb with no defects (Exodus 12:5). Jesus lived a completely sinless and perfect life.

Exact Timing: The Passover lambs were slaughtered at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month (Exodus 12:6). Historical and biblical records show that Jesus died on the cross at this exact time.

No Broken Bones: God instructed that no bones of the Passover lamb should be broken (Exodus 12:46). The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the other men crucified that day, but they did not break Jesus's legs, which fulfilled this rule (John 19:33–36).

Saving Blood: Putting the lamb's blood on the doorposts saved the Israelites from the final plague of death (Exodus 12:13). The shed blood of Jesus saves believers from eternal judgment and spiritual death.

Freedom from Slavery: The first Passover freed the Hebrew people from physical slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:42). The death of Jesus frees people from spiritual slavery to sin.

It amazes me how when God says that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the World (Revelation 13:18), the Bible bears that out. God gave the instructions for the Passover in Exodus 12 and Numbers 9, and while He was doing it, knew that Jesus when He said “It is Finished!” Was fulfilling this part of the Law, just as He said He would. These last couple of years, God has been showing me how the Bible truly fits together jointly and why it is important to preach/teach not just the New Testament but the Old as well. I did not even know how God lined it up even down to the time of day when the lamb was typically slaughtered for the meal. God does nothing by accident. John said that he wrote these things that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30).
I pray that you truly do believe that Jesus is the Christ and that you have believed on His name. If not, I pray that today, is the day you do so!

May the Lord Bless You This Week!

08/30/2026

Come Join Us In Worship.

Pastor Daniel BryantMessage Title: Head or Heart? JephthahcccSc...

08/26/2026

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We in the United States have never lived under a king. The closest we came was right after the American Revolution and the Colonial officers wanted to make George Washington king due to the ineptitude of the Colonial government and the inability to gather resources. There is a famous painting of George Washington presenting his sword to Congress and resigning his commission to avoid such a situation. He is reported to have said that I didn’t fight a war against a king to become one myself. So unlike other countries, we have no frame of reference to how a king operates.

Yet we as Christians do serve a King. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. A king in the traditional sense, not the modern versions in Great Britain or Japan, have absolute authority over their subjects. They have a divine right to rule. They often went as far as to view themselves as divine in nature. Jesus has these qualities and others such as how Mesopotamians viewed their kings as shepherds and Jesus is our Good Shepherd. When we accept Jesus as Lord, we are a part of His Kingdom. We owe him allegiance, fealty, honor, and worship.

Israel throughout its history did not have a king, but they if fact did. God was their King. Isaiah 43:15 says "I am the Lord, your Holy Creator, the King of Israel." Yet Israel did not act that way, in fact they demanded a king like all the other people of Canaan had despite the warnings that Samuel gave about how kings would treat them and their sons, as well as take most of their possessions. Very few earthly kings did right by Israel. But God has a covenant relationship with them and one day will be their faithful king.

Why have I mentioned all this? In John 19 this week, we come to the crucifixion of Jesus and Pilate had proclaimed Him King of the Jews. Yet the Jews would not accept this. Look at these verses. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. (John 19: 13-16).

Notice what the Jews said. They said we have no king but Caesar. The person who views himself as a god. That would later kill Christians because they refuse to acknowledge that Caesar is Lord. Yet the Jews, God’s chosen people, willingly say they have no allegiance or worship but to Caesar. It is no wonder that Jesus spent an entire chapter in Matthew 23 criticizing the Pharisees.

As always, I try to bring this back to us. Think about your life. Are you living your life like you have given your allegiance to the King of Kings? If you were confronted with the idea of accepting Jesus as your King or another entity, what would you declare? I pray that you would do as early Christians did, which cost them everything, and declare Jesus is Lord and King. It is much better to do it now when you can do so willingly, then at the judgment when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.

Think of the words to this worship chorus:
All Hail King Jesus!
All Hail Emmanuel!
King of Kings,
Lord of Lords,
Bright Morning Star!
And throughout eternity,
I’ll sing Your Praises!
And I’ll reign with you
Throughout Eternity.

May the Lord Bless You This Week!

08/23/2026

Due to technical difficulties we are unable to livestream the service today. A recording will be posted on youtube later this week.

08/19/2026

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Do you know people who are or you believe are one way in public and another out of the public eye? We have terms for those people, often calling them two-faced or that they were masks. It is hard to get to know these types of people, even if you want to. You never know what version of the person you are interacting with. As a Christian, we should not be that way, as you never know when opportunities to witness for Christ will arise.

Jesus mentioned this when he was facing trial before the High Priest in John 18. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” (John 18:20-21)

Jesus had just been asked about His disciples and doctrine. These people should know who Jesus was and what He taught as much as they followed around after Him and tried to find things to accuse HIm of. His response is that He spoke openly in the most public of places and that He has said nothing in secret. This was one of the greatest reasons why they could not gather witnesses to speak out against Him or that they ones they did contradicted themselves. This was why they often went after the people Jesus healed or reached hoping to gather things about Jesus. The Pharisees went after the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath in John 9. They questioned him repeatedly, not believing anything he said, going as far as getting his parents and asking him questions again and again. Here was his final response when they wanted him to admit Jesus was a sinner.

30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” John 9:30-33

Even a blind man could see what Jesus was doing and stood for. The question is can the same be said for us. Do we speak openly about what we believe and then our life backs it up. If we are ever accused of being a Christian, would there need to be questions asked or is it as Christ said that it is obvious what we have said and done. I pray that this could be said of me and I pray that we all have this testimony about us.

May the Lord Bless You This Week!

08/16/2026

Join Us In Worship.

Pastor Daniel BryantMessage Title: Do You Have Faith: Deborah an...

08/14/2026

Here is the link for this past Sunday's service from where we had technical difficulties. This Sunday, Pastor Daniel will be looking at Judges 4 and 5 about Deborah and Barak, focusing on the strength of our faith.

Pastor Daniel BryantSunday 8-9-26God Uses Unexpected Things and P...

08/12/2026

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

In today’s world, we often are left wondering what is going to happen next. I heard from someone this past Sunday that they know a couple that watch the news all day and are depressed. Sometimes people may feel that they are in a rudderless ship, in the middle of the fog, with no clue where they are going. That seems like a hopeless situation.

Yet, there is someone who is never caught off guard and is actively wanting to direct our paths, if we would only let Him. Jesus never sleeps and is constantly making intercession for us. In looking at John 18 this week, there is a passage that shows us that Jesus is aware of all things.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” (John 18: 1-4)

Jesus has just instructed His disciples of the situations that were coming at the end of the age. Now He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Judas is on his way to betray him. Yet, tucked amongst that information is the phrase, “Jesus knowing all things that would come upon Him.” Jesus knew what was about to happen. It is another way we see that Jesus was fully God because only God has omniscience. We see this phrase pop us frequently in scripture. I used an example on Sunday about how when Jesus was going to feed the 5000. The scripture says that He knew what He was going to do, but asked in order to test them.

We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus knows all things. What we have to realize is that sometimes we feel like that rudderless ship in order to have our fath testing. Are we going to fully trust in Jesus and the fact that He knows all things? If we do, then while we may be going through a storm, we can have confidence that the boat won’t sink.

The problem is the fact that do we have that experience with Jesus that we can rely on for our faith to grow. If you don’t have a relationship with any person, you don’t know if you can trust them. This is true with Jesus as well. Our past experience with Jesus is what our current walk with Him is based on. The question today is “Do you know Jesus?” If you don’t, then you don’t have hope in this scripture. If you do, then we should be like David when he said what should I fear because what can man do to me?”

So today, I encourage you that if you are feeling adrift without direction, turn to Jesus. He knows the end, because He is as Hebrews says our forerunner and he has laid a trail out for us. That is a promise that should uplift you today.

May the Lord Bless You This Week!