First Baptist Church-Fairbanks

10/04/2026

Church, after walking through these three moments —
Jesus saying no to Satan’s temptations,
Jesus saying no to misaligned expectations,
Jesus saying no to discipleship on our terms —
we are left with one unavoidable truth:

The “no” of Jesus is one of the most loving sounds in the universe.

We often think spiritual maturity is learning to trust God’s yes.
But real maturity — deep, tested, wilderness-forged maturity —
is learning to trust God’s no.

Because His “no” is never the end of the story.
His “no” is the beginning of protection, redirection, and transformation.

Think about it…
If Jesus had said yes to Satan,
there would be no cross,
no salvation,
no resurrection,
no hope.

If Jesus had said yes to the crowd’s desire to make Him king,
He would have become a political figure instead of a Savior.

If Jesus had said yes to Peter’s attempt to stop the cross,
we would still be lost in our sins.

If Jesus had said yes to disciples who wanted convenience, delay, and divided loyalty,
the church would have been built on sand instead of rock.

Every “no” Jesus spoke was a yes to something greater.

And the same is true in your life.
Some of the greatest blessings you have ever received
came wrapped in the painful paper of a divine no.

God said no to the relationship that would have broken you.

God said no to the job that would have drained you.

God said no to the opportunity that wasn’t His will.

God said no to the temptation that would have destroyed you.

God said no to the shortcut that would have cost your integrity.

And you didn’t understand it then.
You may not fully understand it now.
But one day you will look back and say:

“Thank God for every ‘no’ that saved my life.”

09/27/2026

When Jesus wanted people to understand truth, He didn’t hand them a textbook—He handed them a picture. A farmer scattering seed. A shepherd searching for one lost sheep. A fisherman casting a net. A woman sweeping her house. He knew that the human heart is moved not just by words, but by what it sees lived out.

And the same is true today.

The world is not waiting for another explanation of Christianity.
The world is waiting for an illustration of Christianity.

They don’t need more definitions of faith—they need to see faith in action.
They don’t need more descriptions of hope—they need to see hope embodied.
They don’t need more talk about Jesus—they need to see Jesus in His people.

Faith stands on hope.
Hope grows through faith.
And both become believable when they become visible.

So let your life be the parable someone needs.
Let your kindness be the seed that falls on good soil.
Let your forgiveness be the shepherd searching for the lost.
Let your endurance be the net that pulls someone back to God.
Let your hope be the picture that makes someone believe again.

Because the greatest sermon you will ever preach is not the one you speak— it’s the one you live.

And when the world sees Christ in you, they will finally understand the Gospel you proclaim.

09/20/2026

1 Corinthians 10 is not a history lesson.
It is a wake-up call.

God is saying to His church:

Learn from the past so you don’t repeat it.

See the present clearly so you don’t drift blindly.

Flee from idols so your heart stays fully His.

Israel had miracles but missed God.
They had blessings but lost their way.
They had spiritual experiences but lacked spiritual obedience.

The church today must not follow their path.

We must be a people who remember, who discern, who flee, who cling, who worship, who obey, who stand firm, and who keep God on the throne of our hearts.

Because when God is first—
Idols fall.
Temptation weakens.
Faith strengthens.
And the church shines.

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
This is not just Paul’s command.
It is God’s invitation to freedom.

09/13/2026

When I sit on a plane looking out the window, nothing on the ground had actually changed.

The highways were still crowded. The buildings were still standing. The delays were still real. The problems hadn't disappeared.

What changed was my perspective.

And that's exactly what God wants to do in our lives.

Many of us spend our days staring at the departure board of life, frustrated by delays, disappointed by detours, and confused by changes in the schedule. We keep asking God, "Why is this happening?" "Why didn't this work out?" "Why am I still waiting?"

And often God's answer is not an explanation. It's an invitation. An invitation to trust that He sees what we cannot see.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The God who sees the end from the beginning sees your life from an altitude you cannot imagine.

He sees beyond today's disappointment. He sees beyond next week's crisis. He sees beyond the season you're struggling through right now. He sees the destination while you're focused on the delay.

Church, if God's ways are higher than ours, then we don't have to understand everything to trust Him. We don't need all the answers. We don't need the entire flight plan. We don't need to know every reason for every delay. We simply need to trust the One who is holding the controls.

One day, when we stand in His presence, we'll discover that the things that seemed so confusing from the ground made perfect sense from heaven's perspective.

Until then, we walk by faith. We trust when we cannot see. We obey when we do not understand. We worship while we wait.

And we remember that our God has never lost a passenger, never missed a destination, and never made a mistake.

So when life doesn't make sense from ground level, lift your eyes. Look beyond the clouds. Look beyond the turbulence. Look beyond the delay.

And trust the God whose perspective is higher, whose wisdom is greater, whose love is deeper, and whose plans are better than anything we could ever imagine.

Because when we cannot understand God's route, we can still trust God's view.

05/01/2026

If our live stream fails to start on Facebook, please go to our YouTube channel by looking up first Baptist Church, Fairbanks, Alaska or go to www.fbcfairbanks.com/sermons to watch it live. We are sorry for the inconvenience. 

FBC Home

04/26/2026

I'm not sure why today's service didn't livestream on Facebook. It did on our website and on YouTube. Here is a copy of the message.

I want to bring you back into the wilderness—not the wilderness of Exodus, but the wilderness you may be walking through right now. Because every one of us has one. For some, it’s a wilderness of uncertainty; for others, a wilderness of waiting, grief, fear, transition, or exhaustion. And in that wilderness, the enemy whispers the same old lie: “God has forgotten you.”

But manna stands as God’s eternal rebuttal. Deuteronomy 8:3 tells us that God fed Israel with manna so they would learn that life is sustained not by their own efforts, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Manna was God’s daily reminder: “I see you. I know where you are. I know what you need. And I will meet you there—every morning.”

Lamentations 3:22–23 reinforces this truth when it declares that His mercies are new every morning, not every year or every crisis, but every morning, because God still works on the manna schedule. And Jesus invites us into that same rhythm when He teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” reminding us that God wants to walk with us daily, not distantly or occasionally. He doesn’t ask us to carry tomorrow’s burdens today; He simply asks us to gather today’s manna and trust Him for tomorrow’s.

Matthew 6:34 tells us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself—meaning you don’t need tomorrow’s strength today, tomorrow’s answers today, or tomorrow’s grace today. You need today’s manna, and God has already prepared it.

The wilderness is not a place of abandonment; it is a place of dependence, the very place where God fed His people most faithfully. And the same is true for you. Your wilderness is not evidence of God’s absence—it is the stage for His provision.

So here is the truth you can carry home: God has not forgotten how to take care of you. He has not forgotten how to provide for you, sustain you, lead you, or feed your soul. He still remembers the recipe for manna. And He still remembers your name.

So gather today’s bread, trust Him for tomorrow’s, and walk in the confidence that the God of the wilderness is still the God of your daily bread.

God still remembers the recipe for manna!!

12/14/2025

10/10/2025

The youth and children had a s’mores night at church this month! They made a fall wreath craft, ate smores, and had a special devotional.