First Baptist Church of Clemson

09/08/2026

09/06/2026

Worship for the Members and Friends of First Baptist Clemson September 6, 2026

09/04/2026

New sermon series begins this Sunday!

08/31/2026

Along the Way…Learning to Live Free
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭2‬ ‭‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

‭When you hear someone reference the Ten Commandments, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think about God’s list of rules, the “Thou Shall Not’s” of faith. Maybe you picture an image of Moses holding up two stones tablets while standing above God’s people. Maybe you think about the debates over whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed in government buildings or public school classrooms. My guess is, whatever thoughts or image the Ten Commandments invoke, it’s probably not the most positive or freeing. ‬‬‬
But what if the Ten Commandments weren’t read as restrictions but as instructions for how to live a more freeing life. God gave the commandments to the Israelites after delivering them from slavery in Egypt. The commandments weren’t given as a way to earn freedom; they were given to people who had already been set free. That should change the way we understand them.
The Ten Commandments are not simply a list of restrictions. They are God’s invitation to discover what life looks like when we are no longer enslaved to false gods, destructive desires, dishonesty, resentment, or the need to control everything around us. God’s commands are not intended to take life away from us. They are intended to teach us how to live life well.
In our upcoming sermon series, “Learning to Live Free,” we will revisit these familiar commandments and discover how remarkably relevant they remain. We will consider questions such as:
• What does it mean to have no other gods in a world filled with competing loyalties?
• How can we keep God at the center of our lives?
• What does honoring God’s name look like in everyday conversation?
• Why does Sabbath matter in a culture that never seems to stop?
• How can honoring our parents shape the way we treat others?
• What do commandments about murder, adultery, stealing, and lying reveal about the condition of our hearts?
• And perhaps most challenging of all, what does it mean to be free from the endless desire for what someone else has?
The Ten Commandments remind us that freedom is not the absence of boundaries. Sometimes the right boundaries are precisely what make freedom possible. For example, a river needs banks to give it direction, and a road needs boundaries to keep us from danger. Likewise, our lives need spiritual boundaries to help us become the people God created us to be.
I hope you will join us for, “Learning to Live Free.” Together, let’s rediscover the Ten Commandments—not as a burden to carry, but as God’s wisdom for a life of freedom.
Grace,
Rusty

08/30/2026

Worship for the Members and Friends of First Baptist Clemson August 30, 2026

08/29/2026

See you there!

08/25/2026

We are starting our new small group bible studies tomorrow! Hope to see you there!

08/24/2026

Along the Way…Fellowship

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship…”



This coming Sunday we will be focusing on, The Healing Power of Fellowship as part of my current sermon series on God’s Healing Power. As I began reflecting on the importance of Fellowship, I found myself singing the hymn, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” This hymn begins with, “What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms.” One of the joys and strengths of First Baptist Clemson is our Fellowship. For example, our First Sunday Lunches have become central to our gathered community. Likewise, I believe our Affirmation of Faith, that we recite each Sunday in worship, unites us as a family of faith as does coming forward to receive communion, gathering at the front when we celebrate baptisms, and sharing our welcome time and passing of the peace at the beginning and the end of the service.

Fellowship is central to the life of the church because it helps a crowd become a community. As the early church demonstrates in Acts 2:42-47, they worshiped together, learned together, ate together, prayed together, shared their resources, and cared for one another, and in doing so, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved, those who were coming to Christ.”

Fellowship isn’t just a “church word” for eating ice cream. It’s a descriptive word for how a group of believers becomes the body of Christ. Fellowship is the ligaments that connect all the parts to form one body. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “Just as a body has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”

So, as the body of Christ, let us lean on the love and grace of Christ, so we can lean on and support each other while all moving in the direction of a deeper faith.

Grace,
Rusty

08/23/2026

Worship for the Members and Friends of First Baptist Clemson August 23, 2026