Garland Community Baptist Church Youth

06/16/2025

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).

The parable of the sower is recorded in Luke’s gospel as well as in Matthew and Mark, and here in Luke the Lord Jesus speaks of those who keep the Word with “an honest and good heart.” However, in Jeremiah we are told that our hearts are “desperately wicked.” How then can some people have an honest and good heart?

The answer is that when we receive the good seed, which is the Word of God, the Spirit of God uses that Word to give us a new life in Christ. That new life gives us a new heart—a heart that wants to please the Lord, and will bring forth fruit for God. We still have the old sinful nature, and it will struggle to display itself in our lives, but God is there to help us to keep that old nature in the place of death. The old nature can never be improved; it remains desperately wicked, but we can be thankful for our new life in Christ—an honest and good heart.

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Saturday, May 31, 2025. Used with permission.

06/09/2025

“I watch and am…alone” (Psalm 102:7).

I am writing this page while on the train from Menen, Belgium to the airport in Brussels. There are three of us traveling together, including my wife and another friend. We have had a happy time in western Europe, and have visited some isolated Christians whom we have come to know and love in the Lord over many years. Many have very little Christian fellowship as they live in areas where the light of Christianity is almost non-existent. In a real sense they go on alone with, and for, the Lord.

I have often wondered what it would be like to have to go on alone for the Lord, or with very little encouragement, even from close family. The Lord knew what it was to be alone. Many Christians are put to that test every day, and we need to pray for them. It is possible to live for the Lord even under those kinds of conditions, and just being with a large number of other Christians is no guarantee that we will continue on in the path or be kept pure. Solomon said, “I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.” (Proverbs 5:14).

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Sunday, April 28, 2015. Used with permission.

06/02/2025

[A few weeks ago] we considered the question “What think ye of Christ?” raised by the Lord Jesus as He addressed the Pharisees. But there is another very important part to that same question. The second part of the question is, “Whose son is He” (Matthew 22:42)? The answer that the Pharisees gave was, “The Son of David.” But the Lord went on to show them that He was far more than just the Son of David. He was the eternal Son of God.

Earlier in Matthew Peter declared, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). It is not only important, but imperative that we hold on to the truth that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. When the Lord was on earth there were many who saw Him as simply being a good man, a prophet, and a great teacher. But, while it is true the Lord was all of those things, yet, He was more. John said, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Sunday, April 27, 2015. Used with permission.

05/30/2025

It's hard to believe that summer is starting soon and the end of the youth group season is upon us! With that in mind, we will have two more meetings...

Sunday, June 1, from 4-5:30 - wrapping up our No Ordinary Story booklet and celebrating spring birthdays!

Saturday, June 7th, from 2:45-5:30 pm - closing party. Please contact us for details on plans and location!

Send a message to learn more

05/26/2025

Technology

“They that use this world, as not abusing it”
(1 Corinthians 7:31).

Technology can be a good servant, but also a hard master!

I am thankful for the technology that God has allowed man to develop, and it can be used to spread the gospel and the truth of Scripture in wonderful ways. In that context it can be a very good servant. Through technology the Bible is getting into dark corners of the world where it has never been before. Missionaries and servants of God are able to travel distances and to places that were unheard of a few years ago. So we use it, but we don’t abuse it.

However, the great danger with technology is that we become a slave to it, and that it becomes a hard master. It is good to stop and assess the situation from time to time, and ask ourselves, Am I using it for the Lord’s glory, and to simply get me through this world in the everyday circumstances of life, or am I letting it control my time and drain my spiritual energy? To a certain extent we need to keep up with technology for school and work, but don’t let it rob you of the enjoyment of your relationship with the Lord.

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Thursday, April 30, 2015. Used with permission.

05/19/2025

The Entrance of the Word

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

A poor man who had been deprived of a Bible all his life, because of the cost, was at last given the opportunity to secure one.

He read it daily with growing interest until one evening he said to his wife, “Let us read a chapter or so together, aloud every night.”

This they did. In about a week, during the reading session, the man suddenly stopped, and said, “Wife, if this Book is true, then we are wrong.”

A couple of evenings passed by when again the man stopped reading and said, “My dear, if this Book is true, then we’re lost.”

Now deeply anxious, he continued reading. By and by he stopped again, but this time his face lit up with joy and he exclaimed, “My good wife, if this Book is true, then we are saved.” He had experienced the truth of the verse, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light” (Psalm 119:130).

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Saturday, April 25, 2015. Used with permission.

05/12/2025

Christ

“What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42).

The Psalmist said:
“Thou art fairer than the children of men” (Psalm 45:2).

The Bride said:
“He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend” (Song of Solomon 5:16).

Peter said:
“Lord…Thou knowest that I love Thee” (John 21:17).

Paul said:
“Christ is all (everything)” (Colossians 3:11).

What is your estimation of the Person of Christ? How much does He mean to you, and how deeply do you love Him? As you are occupied with His qualities and attributes, and as you remember and consider the work of Calvary today, your appreciation of the Lord Jesus will deepen. Then, as you go forth this week, the answer to the question, “What think ye of Christ?” will be found and seen in your everyday life and testimony.

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Sunday, April 26, 2015. Used with permission.

05/05/2025

Eating

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).

The more we eat, the more we want!

With our natural appetite, the more we eat, the less we want. It is quite different with our spiritual appetite — the less we eat, the less we want; and the more we eat, the more we want.

The less you read of Scripture, the less appetite you have for it. Habitual reading of the Word of God will give you a greater appetite, and will cause you to “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9). The Lord’s desire for us is that we would have a craving for the Word. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). The Bible is the only spiritual food that satisfies the spiritual appetite while we are here in this world. Let’s be like Job who said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Wednesday, April 29, 2015. Used with permission.

04/21/2025

“And His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face” (Revelation 22:3-4).

It will be a wonderful day when the Lord comes, and we are taken home to be with Him. In that eternal day, there will still be service that we can do for Him, but most precious of all is that we shall see His face. In that connection, here is the last verse of a hymn that I have often enjoyed—

In the light of that heavenly place,
Light from His face, beautiful face:
In the light of that heavenly place,
I’ll wish I had given Him more.
More, so much more,
Treasures unbounded for Him I adore,
By and by when I look on His face,
I’ll wish I had given Him more.

Grace Reese Adkins

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Thursday, March 27, 2025. Used with permission.

04/14/2025

“Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him” (Mark 16:6).

As we have seen in our verses the past few days, resurrection is a wonderful thing, and it began with the Lord Jesus. He suffered for us on Friday, and was buried that day by Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus. During all of the next day, the Jewish Sabbath, He lay in the grave. But then, on the first day of the week, He rose from the dead. That is why Christians gather together on the Lord’s day, and not on the Sabbath, as did the Jews. That is why we remember the Lord on His day—the day of His resurrection.

The women to whom the angel spoke in our verse had come to embalm the Lord with spices, and it is nice to see their desire, but those spices were not necessary. The Lord had risen from the dead, and instead of being sad, they could now rejoice.

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Sunday, March 23, 2025. Used with permission.

04/07/2025

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king…Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:16,18).

Previously, these three young men had always been in Daniel’s company, and it is clear that he took the lead in being faithful to the Lord. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego followed his good example, and were faithful too. But now a new test occurs, and for some reason Daniel was not around. Now they had to face a severe test on their own, and they did so. We all know how their refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image resulted in their being thrown into a furnace of fire. Yet the Lord preserved them in a wonderful way, and showed the king the power of the true God.

It is often the same for us today. As young people, we may look up to someone older who is faithful to the Lord, and who encourages us in our Christian walk. But the time comes when the Lord wants us to rely totally on Him, and not on some other person, no matter how godly he or she may be. When that time comes, we will find that the Lord will never fail us, but will honor our faith, and help us with whatever test He may send us.

From the Young People's Blog by Bible Truth Publishers. Originally published Saturday, March 26, 2025. Used with permission.