Berea Baptist Church

06/05/2026

Day 156 Today’s Reading – Luke 6
Devotional:
It’s just so frustrating. We’ve all come home after a trip to the grocery store ready to dig into our favorite bag of potato chips. It seems like the price went up a little this week, but at least we know that the deliciousness of empty calories awaits our soon-to-be powdered finger tips. Upon opening the bag there is a pop and a disappointing realization, the bag is only half full. Why is that? A Consumer Reports investigation brought this answer from Frito Lay: “Delicate items pose several challenges. Chips can be broken by rollers on the packing line or pressure from machinery that seals the bags. Extra air limits pressure on chips when bags are stacked. Even altitude matters. If a bag lacks the "headspace" to accommodate pressure changes when a truck passes through high-altitude regions, for example, the seal could break.” Whatever the reason it’s still frustrating.
God’s blessings, however, have nothing in common with potato chips (thank goodness). If we will follow Jesus’ teachings to act like we should, no matter how those around us respond (love enemies, don’t judge, don’t condemn, forgive, give, etc.), then blessings will follow. But not just any kind of blessings, it’s talking about abundant blessings. Blessings like two bags of potato chips poured into one bag. Blessings stuffed like a neglected trash can that has taken its last piece of garbage. Blessings like a drawn bath that was forgotten and flooded the room. Blessings that have been “pressed down, shaken together, and running over” (6:38). It is impossible to out-give God. Think it’s not true? Go ahead and give it a try. His blessings are bountiful and beyond our comprehension!
Note: The term apostle is from the Greek word apostolos (ἀπόστολος) and is obviously a transliteration (see Day 108 – Year 2). The term may generally refer to anyone who has been sent out as a messenger or ambassador. Following this broad definition, its Latin translation (mission) is where we derive the English word “missionary.” The Biblical concept of an apostle follows a more narrow definition, restricting an apostle to one who was specifically called and sent by Jesus Himself. This requires a personal physical encounter with the Christ. Therefore, in the Biblical sense there have been no new apostles since Paul (his apostleship was authenticated by his Damascus road experience – Acts 9:1-9).


Pray For: Peoples of Central West Bengal, India

(beng-AHL) – There’s a church of several dozen women meeting in a yard. Their husbands are cultural Christians and don’t attend church. Some mature believers, Ben and Tina, were invited to teach them. Across the pond is a village that’s home to an unengaged, unreached people group. Two of the women at that service are from that village. (Although a believer, one woman’s husband forbids her from being baptized.) Ben and Tina taught these women the true gospel and how to discern false teaching. They asked to be invited back to teach them how to share the gospel and their testimony, why they should share the gospel, and whom they can share with. They hope to teach this congregation to go into that lost community across the pond with the gospel. Pray that these women will be ready to learn and excited to go. As they practice sharing in their homes, pray that their husbands will come to saving faith, too. Ask Jesus to start working in the hearts of the unreached people. Pray for Ben and Tina in this hard-to-reach area as they teach and lead these women to walk in obedience by making disciples, baptizing, and teaching them to observe Jesus’ commandments (Matthew 28:18-20).

06/04/2026

Day 155 Today’s Reading – Luke 5
Devotional:
God has a purpose for each of our lives. There is more to His reason for putting us on the earth than to live out our days awaiting the heavenly bliss of the future. He has put out a call for each of us to answer, a job for us to do, a way to serve Him that no one else can, people that only we may reach. For some this calling is to be the very best construction worker God could ever make. For others it is to be a light in an office complex. Still others have been called to be the repairmen who strike up Christian conversations while on the job. These individuals have an incredibly important job, but today we focus on another kind of calling.
While many of us are called to serve God where we are, others are called to move. There is worth in being a Godly fisherman or tax collector, but that is not what Jesus had for Peter or Matthew. Instead, Jesus called these men away from their jobs and their lives to follow Him. No longer would they earn a secular living. Instead they would forever be employees of God’s kingdom and He would provide for them. It was an incredible step of faith, and it was more rewarding than any other profession could have been.
The most important aspect to their change is that they surrendered to God’s call on their lives. Each of us must consider what God’s call is for our lives. We need to take dedicated, intentional time to seek God’s will for our professional life. We need to be open to change and we need to be so surrendered to God’s leadership that if we feel Him calling us to give up everything to follow Him, we’d do it.
While some may be called to remain exactly where they are with a renewed calling to reach the lost right there, others will be called out to Christian service. There is a shortage of most every vocational job of ministry today. Dare we even consider that God has not adequately called people to serve Him? Of course not. The fact is that the people God has called to do incredible works for Him have not responded. Take time today to consider your call and see exactly how God wants to use you in His kingdom. Each of us has a special place in His service, to do a job no one else can do. Let’s surrender to His call.


Pray For: Pregnancy Center Project, Chiang Mai, Thailand

(chee-ang MY) –

“In March, the ELM Pregnancy Ministry in Thailand welcomed a lactation nurse from the United States. She came through a Health Strategies initiative that the IMB promotes. What a great joy and huge blessing she has been for the team! One struggle the ELM Team has is new moms not knowing how to keep their milk and giving up for the easy – but expensive — option of formula. Care Teams have been praying about how to support new moms so that they continue nursing. Praise God the volunteer lactation nurse not only taught at each of the three ELM locations in Thailand, but she also connected with one of the moms who recently had twins and had stopped nursing. With her help, this new mom successfully started lactating again which is a huge answer to prayer. We praise God for her expertise in this area. The team feels more equipped to help moms in Thailand which is one way the gospel is then advanced!”

06/03/2026

Welcome to as we continue our by studying Luke…

06/03/2026

Day 154 Today’s Reading – Luke 4
Devotional:
Jesus was unwilling to bow down and worship Satan. No surprise there. But read a little closer the scripture He used as reasoning: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” Jesus understood that there is only One who is worthy of our worship. All of our time needs to be focused on worshiping Him, and there just isn’t enough time to worship anything or anyone else… ever.
Those who question the Deity (God-ness) of Christ use this verse (from Deuteronomy 6:13) as their defense. They argue that only God should be worshiped, and since Jesus was on earth while God was clearly still in heaven He could not be God.
The passage actually affirms the exact opposite. Jesus’ quotation of this important piece of the law represents the priority He put on His own worship of God the Father. He was so conscientious of worshiping anything or anyone else that He was unwilling to momentarily bow to Satan’s power, even if He could win the entire world over in that moment. This would suggest that Jesus would actively stop anyone else from worshiping falsely as well, but Jesus was worshiped. The l***r (Matthew 8:2) and Thomas (John 20:28) both engage in unhindered worship of Jesus. If Jesus was not part of what we call the Trinity, making Him wholly God while also being wholly man, He would have stopped their heresy. He would have put them in their place and turned their worship heavenward. But, He was and is God in the flesh. Jesus is God, and therefore He allowed them to worship Him.
The Saturday synagogue service was not as scientifically regulated as our Sunday variety is. There was not nearly as great a push to make it out “on time” and so, after the regular events of the service were taken care of, any qualified man was given the opportunity to take a scroll, read from scripture and give a homily (sermon) to explain its meaning. Jesus’ acceptance this invitation fulfilled a portion of the book of Isaiah. They say: “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That means that the first impression is very difficult to change. This was true for Jesus as He came to His childhood synagogue and stood before the people who had known Him His entire life. They thought they knew everything there was to know about this boy named Jesus. How often do we fall into the same trap?


Pray For: Sub-Saharan African Peoples

Last fall, you were asked to pray for some global missionary partners (GMPs) serving among a people group in Sub-Saharan Africa who were having to get new visas. Living and working among this people group, this couple faces daily unknowns, a common plight for foreign workers. Recently, the wife received a three-year work permit so that she can work in the country and help provide income for her family. The husband, at the same time, submitted papers to renew his one-year work permit. This couple has found obtaining work permits stressful over the years. With the wife getting a job and a three-year permit, the family’s stress can decrease. Join them in giving thanks to God for providing them more income and a longer legal status in the country! Pray that God will make it easier for the husband to get his work permit processed and approved quickly. Pray that the permits will help this couple share about Jesus and teach Scripture to more people. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9 ESV).

06/02/2026

Proud of our 4!!!

Our staff had a great time worshipping with Woodland Pathway Community Church on Sunday!

06/02/2026

Day 153 Today’s Reading – Luke 3
Devotional:
When Mary found out that she was to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, she ran away. It was a natural response, both because of her embarrassment and because she wanted the confirmation of the angel’s words. She ran to her relative (likely cousin, but the Greek wording is unclear) Elizabeth. The angel had said that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. When Mary had spent just enough time with Elizabeth to regain her confidence and see that Elizabeth was about to have John, she returned home. It would be a natural assumption then to think that John and Jesus had met in their childhood years. It is likely that they played together and that they grew up seeing each other, at least at extended family functions.
If John and Jesus grew up with their mothers continuing to visit on occasion, they probably had heard the stories of their births. They probably were aware that they both were born under miraculous circumstances, and may have even suspected that they were going to be used together by God in a mighty way. Then came the special day. John was in the river baptizing, and Jesus is one of the many who appear. What Luke passes by quickly, the other gospel writers emphasize. How can John baptize the One for whom he prepares the way? But, he does and heaven rejoices.
While Matthew gave Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham and David, Luke goes the whole way back to the beginning of time, to Adam. Luke highlighted the fact that Jesus was the start of something new. In the same way that Adam was created and given the responsibility to produce the entire human race, Jesus was sent to earth with the responsibility of saving that same race. Adam brought sin into the world while Jesus brought forgiveness. Jesus had come as a second Adam, with the power to restart the human race with the rebirth He worked to bring.
Once again we see a genealogy in which we share common ancestry. From at least Noah back to Adam we have the same family tree as Jesus. This is what makes us the same. Jesus is human just like us. It is because of His being fully man that He is able to redeem us. When Adam sinned mankind was doomed, but way back then, God was already making preparations for the redemption of mankind through His Son. The Son of Adam, Jesus Christ. Thirty years after Bethlehem, it begins.


Pray For: South Asian Peoples

Please pray for some believing college students as they labor in the harvest fields of South Asia this spring. Ask that they will have quick cultural acquisition and good health and that they will boldly share the gospel as they engage the largest concentration of lostness on the planet. Pray that the seeds they sow will bear much fruit in the coming weeks and months!

06/01/2026

Today, we joyfully mark the 12th year of God’s faithfulness, grace, and love poured out upon our church family, by Pastor Charlie Troxell and his family for Berea Baptist Church.
A Churchiversary is more than a date on the calendar—it’s a testimony of answered prayers, lives transformed, and hearts united through Pastor Charlie’s service to Berea Baptist Church. We celebrate the countless moments of fellowship, the laughter and tears shared, and the unwavering commitment to serve both God and our neighbors.
As we look back with gratitude, we also look forward with hope—believing that the best is yet to come. May Pastor Charlie and his family continue to be a light in our community, Berea be a place of refuge for the weary, and may God be a beacon of truth and love to this world.
“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” – Psalm 126:3

06/01/2026

Day 152 Today’s Reading – Luke 2
Devotional:
How could anyone read today’s passage without hearing Linus’ voice echoing in the background? He was the one who, in Charles M. Schulz’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” brings his friends back to reality by quoting verses 8-14 of today’s passage, ending by saying: “that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” The commercialism and misinformation about the Christmas holiday may be more widespread than we think. Consider that, after Linus’ recitation, the Peanuts kids hummed “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” but today’s passage witnessed angels “saying” (2:13) not singing.
Another common conjecture is the role of the innkeeper. Many Christmas musicals have given him a large role, some have even made him into a lead character, but today’s passage doesn’t even mention a keeper of the inn. Actually, the Greek word used for “inn” (kataluma) simply means “lodging,” and could refer to any number of alternate locations.
This is not said to curb our enthusiasm about Christmas, nor does it intend to criticize plays built on such assumptions, but it should help us read the passage a bit more carefully to fully ascertain what really happened that first Christmas. For example, notice how little time the shepherds spend around the feeding trough. They hear from the heavenly host, hurry to Bethlehem, tell Mary and Joseph about the angels and leave just as quickly to share the good news with others. When was the last time that the choir’s cantata led us to go out witnessing?
“Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them” (2:19). It seems like such a sweet moment. We picture a young mother holding her tightly swaddled infant, pondering the meaning of it all, but Mary was clearly confused. She didn’t completely understand that her Son was really the promised Messiah. She was pondering, but she didn’t completely understand. Instead, she was surprised that He stayed back at His “Father’s house” (at age twelve Jesus was an adult and would not have been disobedient to take a bit of independence). Wasn’t His father Joseph? In the twelve years that separated the “feeding trough” from His “Father’s house” Jesus understood much more about His purpose and paternity. He gained wisdom that would lead Him to surrender His life on our behalf. He was growing up. Have we “increased in wisdom and stature” (2:52) lately?


Pray For: Riverside People of Northern Africa

Noura is a single mother seeking refuge in a foreign land with her son, who has a disability. She encountered the Lord during a food distribution hosted by a local church. Since then, she has developed a growing awareness of the deep thirst in her soul for the Living Water. Praise the Lord for drawing Noura to Himself! Pray that she will grow in her faith and that she will trust and take refuge in the Lord in all seasons. Pray for physical healing for Noura’s son, and pray for her sisters to come to know the Lord.

05/31/2026

Welcome to Berea! We are delighted to join with you in worship. Today's scripture is found in Mark 14:12-42.