Goldston Baptist Church, Goldston NC

09/13/2026

Sep 13th The question of suffering 1st Peter 3:13-22

09/13/2026

Sep 13th The question of suffering 1st Peter 3:13-22!

09/11/2026

Success is losing all

“When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” Luke 5:11

For most of us success is a sign that we are on the right track in life. If you are successful in your business or your profession or in management or a trade it is usually a sign that you should continue in it. For the disciples of Jesus, however, the opposite was true. In our text for today, Peter, James and John had just hauled in the largest catch of fish in their many years as fishermen. They were at the pinnacle of their fishing career when Jesus called them to leave everything and follow Him. They didn’t become His full-time disciples because the fishing business was slow or erratic. They left it when they were the most successful in it. They followed a course of life that almost every other man would counsel them not to do. They left a successful business to follow a then little-known man and His mission.
How would you determine your calling in this life? Would it be what you seem to do best, or would you seek to know what Jesus would have you do? Would you weigh out how much money you can make or how many souls you can affect for His kingdom? Are you willing to pay a high price to follow Jesus or do you look for the most comfortable path in being His disciple? Peter and friends had been comfortable being fishermen, but Jesus called them to be fishers of men. Their talents and training had not been in soul-winning but in fish catching. Jesus called them and would train them in a totally new venture.
Success can be deceptive in deciding what to do in following the Master. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, was told by everyone in the restaurant business that his intent to close on Sundays was an economic doomsday plan. Sunday was the day of highest volume at restaurants and owners would need that revenue to make it successful. Cathy however chose obedience to God’s word over potential future prosperity, and his restaurants are everywhere, highly successful and still closed on Sundays. Jason and David Benham are twin brothers who left the real estate business and started flipping houses. They were very successful and they also possessed a good on-screen presence, so HGTV approached them about hosting a show called Flipping it Forward. They’d finished a few episodes and were ready to go on air when an atheist organization published an article revealing that they were outspoken Christians who supported natural marriage and were pro-life. HGTV backed down and cancelled their show. Their almost certain future success was terminated before it got started. Disappointed but not discouraged the brothers have gone on to become spokesmen for biblical values and now have a very successful business.
The Bible speaks of success not being what the world views it to be but in following Christ at any cost. “For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church

09/04/2026

The exact truth

“So that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:4

There is a candidate running for the U.S. Senate that is also the pastor of a church. He has given many sermons in his church and now he is on the campaign trail speaking about social and political issues. I have heard excerpts from some of his sermons as well as from his speeches on the campaign stump and I must say that when he speaks about the Christian faith, he says a great many things that just are not true. He often seems to be making it all up as he goes along. I assume that when he is preaching it is to a congregation with some knowledge of the Bible, but what they are hearing from their pastor is very far from the exact truth about what Jesus said and the Bible records. His congregants need to leave and go to a church where they will hear exactly what the Bible says. Luke wrote to a man named Theophilus who had heard a lot about Jesus, but Luke wanted him to know exactly what was said and what happened. No second-hand stories that were embellished or twisted and turned every which way.
I have heard a lot of people say, “Jesus would” or “Jesus wouldn’t” yet they have not investigated the divinely inspired record of what Jesus did and what Jesus didn’t do. They play fast and loose with the facts when the 27 books of the New Testament are available to study and see what the eyewitnesses wrote. Ask any reputable historian about how he teaches history and he will tell you he depends largely, almost entirely upon primary sources. History books are replete with secondhand information and interpretation of events but the people that lived through those events and saw them with their own eyes and heard them with their own ears are reliable sources of information. In a court of law hearsay is not permitted as evidence, only eyewitness accounts. Luke wrote his gospel after investigating everything carefully and interviewing the eyewitnesses who were there at the beginning. What he put down on parchment was the exact truth. No embellishment, no interpretation, no skipping significant details that could color what really happened. He wrote the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who inspired all of his account.
When you read your Bible, and I truly hope you read it every day, do you read it with the understanding that every word of it is true? Do you know that the Bible speaks the truth of all that occurred many years ago? Do you believe it is literally true and interpret it as such? The 66 books that we call the Holy Bible is the word of God and “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training in righteousness.” It is the EXACT truth.

Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church

08/30/2026

In His Steps 1st Peter 2:21-25 Aug 30, 2026, is out now!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

08/28/2026

To whom are you listening?

“They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.” 1 John 4:5

Have you ever wondered how it is that so many people could entertain beliefs that make absolutely no sense? There are a significant number of people who believe that two men or two women can constitute a marriage; that a sane person can believe they are a woman trapped in a man’s body and vice versa; that the universe came into existence by chance without the external direction of an intelligent designer; that socialism works and benefits all of society; that the Bible is a book of fiction, myths, legends and fairy tales and shouldn’t be taken as divine truth from which all mankind can benefit…I could go on.
How is it that such beliefs can be held by so many people with rational minds and largely good intentions? Our text for today gives the reason for this, “they are from the world; therefore, they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.” The next verse clarifies this, “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” When John speaks of the world, he has in mind the prince of this world who is Satan and he is a deceiver. He blinds the minds of the unbelieving (2nd Corinthians 4:4) and everyone not endowed with the Spirit of God is susceptible to the lies of the world and the one behind it!
We who know the truth, not because we are more intelligent or wiser but due to the Spirit of truth within us, will be less frustrated by the craziness of those who are of this world, if we remember they listen to lies because they don’t have the Spirit of God and cannot understand the things of God (see 1st Corinthians 2:6-16 and John 16:5-15). Although those without Christ cannot understand spiritual things they can be persuaded to believe in the Lord Jesus when you proclaim the truth and point to where you got it! There is power in God’s word whenever it goes out.
If you are saved in Christ Jesus you should spend a lot of time in your Bible and in a Bible preaching church so as to better know the truth and more easily recognize the lies of this present age. I often tell my congregation to read their Bible every morning because the minute they close their Bible and walk out the door, they will be lied to the rest of the day.
The Bible speaks of the deceitfulness of those who speak from a worldly mindset and the true wisdom that comes from God. To whom are you listening?

Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church

08/23/2026

"Whose you are" 1st Peter 2:1-12 will be out soon.
https://youtu.be/WS6qIxaB_0g

08/22/2026

The same faith as Peter

“To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” 2nd Peter 1:1b

Every born-again believer in Jesus shares with Peter and Paul, the same kind of faith. However, there is a tendency among even the faithful to think of themselves as having a less personal and less dynamic relationship with Jesus than these men had. Peter dispels that false belief in this opening verse of his second letter.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8); the Holy Spirit has not lessened in strength and God’s purpose, and plan never changes. Therefore, the faith of the Christian in 2026 should be the same as Peter’s and Paul’s. If it’s not, the problem is not with the provider but with the possessor. The faith he speaks of is the same of which Jude mentioned, “the faith once for all delivered to all the saints.” (Jude 3)
There are two main reasons that Peter’s words are doubted or unfulfilled. The first is that there are those who don’t have the same faith because they have never received Christ, they’ve only believed the right things about Him. They know OF Him, but they don’t KNOW Him. I recently spoke to a young woman who said she believed in God and Jesus, but when I spoke of being born again and having a daily, dynamic, life-changing relationship with Him, she was clueless. She had religion but not a relationship.
The second group of those to whom Peter’s kind of faith seems out of reach are genuinely born again but their relationship with the Lord is not one of daily conversation, strong influence and a steady maturation in the things of God. They are like a man who says “I do” at the altar but is never home except for a short time or an occasional Sunday. He’s legally married and is faithful to his wife but the relationship is distant and shallow.
It is true that Peter, James and John saw Jesus daily, walked and talked with Him, observed first-hand the many miracles and heard the Father’s voice from heaven say, “this is My beloved Son, listen to Him.” It cannot be denied that such first-hand experiences tend to make faith seem easier, yet it also cannot be denied that some disciples still “doubted” even after seeing Jesus risen from the dead (Matthew 28:17). We who have believed have what those “doubtful” disciples didn’t have. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ in us. We have the complete Bible which gives us the knowledge of Him which multiplies grace and peace within (see 2nd Peter 2:2). We have the blessing of Jesus who said to doubting Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are they who believe and do not see.” (John 20:29)
The Bible speaks and tells you that you have received the same kind of faith as Peter and the rest. You don’t need to ask for more. Avail yourself of what you have. It’s the same kind!!

Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church

08/16/2026

Today's sermon "Who are you?" is out now.

08/13/2026

Excuses, excuses, excuses

“And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23

Having been in pastoral ministry for a long time I think I have heard about every excuse in the book for not attending church. Whether it’s a sick dog or company or a chance to get in a round of golf with out of town friends, there seems to be no limit to the excuses that people make for not doing something for their soul. Today’s text tells of a man who had invited many to his lavish dinner only to hear from each one the reasons they could not come.
One man had bought a piece of land and needed to check on it, so he could not come. Another had just made a sweet deal on some oxen and wanted to test them out, so he asked to be excused. A third had recently gotten married and chose to spend time with his bride instead of coming to the dinner. Each of them had worthy activities to attend to but by declining the invitation they were saying the dinner was less important or less desirable than what they had planned. They could say they really wanted to be there, but actions always speak louder than words.
When you miss church, you are revealing what is most important to you at the time. If you had an exhausting week and didn’t want to get out of bed Sunday morning you are valuing your rest over the worship of your Lord. When you have out of town company in for the weekend and you skip out of the worship to spend time with them, you are placing time with your company over time with the Lord’s people. You can protest that you truly want to be there, but no one is stopping your attendance except you and your choice to be absent. Each of the dinner invitees in Christ’s story were ABLE to come but chose to tend to other things.
I was at a church in Jamaica many years ago and the pastor recognized one of the elder members who had just buried his wife of over 60 years the day before. The pastor said that he was impressed that the man came after such an emotional day, but the man rose to his feet and said, “Why did you think I would not be here? Isn’t it Sunday?” Though grieving the loss of his wife, he still had much for which to thank the Lord and would not make an excuse to be in His house on His day.” After all, it was Sunday.
The Bible speaks of excuses as being nothing more than priorities by which we make decisions about what is important. If Christ is truly first in your life, show it by worshiping Him on the first day of the week in His house. That is, if He truly is more important than your excuse.

Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church