Judson Baptist Church

Judson Baptist Church A friendly church with ministry to our neighborhood and world. Part of American Baptist Churches USA

06/24/2026

Our Good Fortune to Give (part 3)

All we have belongs to God, but He stipulates at least 10%. It sure sounds like anything less takes a thief. "Will a man rob God?" (Malachi 3:8)

Ever been robbed? One time when I met a fellow for lunch, I came out of the restaurant, and the rear window my Jeep was in pieces. My case was gone. I replaced most of the papers. But a pair of surgical scissors my in-laws gave me as a graduation gift were gone. (I wasn't doing surgery, just clipping notes and articles.)

It's one thing to rob me, but what if his other mark was God? What if he was a non-tither? Oops.

Bring the whole tithe, and I will open the windows of heaven
(Malachi 3:10).

Our Lord, thank You for the things You give me, but may those things never cloud our vision of You. Amen.

Pastor John

06/24/2026

Our Good Fortune to Give (Part 2)

Here's the premium God puts on giving, even under the Old Covenant.

Will a man rob God?
Yet you are robbing Me!
But you say, "How have we robbed You?
In tithes and offerings...
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse...
(Malachi 3:8ff)

Why do you suppose God chose 10%? As a money maker for the Kingdom? Probably not, since He already owns everything (Psalm 24). And He can fashion anything He wants.

Why 10%

---The math is easy. No calculator required.

---All can participate. With watchful spending (stewardship) and God's promised blessing (Malachi 3:10), all can tithe.

---10% is your weekly declaration that you will not be ruled by your possessions. That you agree with Jesus: "You cannot serve God and money," (Matthew 6:24).

Our God, if we have been allowing our possessions to control us to the point that we have lost sight of the fullness of grace, please forgive us. Amen.

Pastor John

06/23/2026

Our Good Fortune to Give

Some think that tithing is too rigid. They say tithing was started under the Old Covenant, the Law. We are under the New Covenant, the age of grace. Now we have freedom from the rigidity of giving 10%.

That's right. We do have freedom. Freedom to give from a new motivation -- grace. Grace is costly. It always demands more than law. Since grace is greater than law, our motivation to give is of love and not rules. Freedom to excel and to exceed.

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law
or the prophets,
I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
(Matthew 5:17).

Our God, may the grace that purchased salvation be the grace by which we live, move, and give. Amen.

Pastor John

06/19/2026

Look Harder

Last Sunday, we were at the First Baptist Church of Canton, Kansas for their 150th anniversary celebration. My father served as their pastor for sixteen years after his retirement. For that reason, they asked me to preach. As a young man, I remembered a sermon my dad had preached. He titled it, "What's Right with the Church." I honored his title. I intended to borrow his sermon, but I could not find it. As I began my message, I told the people that since I could not find my father's sermon, I had to write my own. I proceeded to say that after I finished, I did not want them to say to me, "You should have looked harder!"

The Bible says that when we seek God, we must seek Him with perseverance, with a whole heart.

O God, You are my God;
I shall seek You early;
my soul thirsts for You,
my flesh yearns for You,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water (Psalm 63:1)

Our God, may all the world's distractions be cast aside. Amen.

Pastor John

While it was good to be in Canton and to recall Dad's ministry there, it will be good to be together with our Judson family on Sunday. We will gather at 10:30 in the sanctuary, or you can join us on Facebook Live as we celebrate Father's Day in the house of our Father. Ruth

06/18/2026

Peter Saved

I wonder if every time he heard a roosr crow, Peter thought of the fire pit in the courtyard of the high priest.

The disciples were claiming swagger. Jesus had told them they were in for a long night. They weren't buying.

"You will all fall away," He said. (Mark 14:27).

Peter corrected,
"Even though all may fall away, yet I will not," (29).

And Jesus said to him,

"Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a c**k crows twice, shall deny Me three times," (Mark 14:30).

Peter had been emphatic. Now the Lord more so. It's you, Peter. It's you, yourself (not these other men) tonight (not next month).
Peter followed to the courtyard as an anonymous bystander, but a girl called him out. And then she did it again. And then some other folks piled on. They all agreed. Peter had been "with Jesus, the Nazarene". Peter denied it and shut them down. Three times. Just as the Lord had said.

Guess who was keeping score. That's right. The community rooster.
And then, the rooster sang twice.

The rooster was Peter's anonymous friend. No one else, only Peter knew the significance of the rooster's wake-up call. And had it not been for that call, Peter would not have stopped with three. he would have gone to thirty.

In Jerusalem is a church called St. Peter in Gallicantu. The name compounds two Latin words -- "Gallus" meaning "rooster" and "canere" meaning "crow".. The Church of the c**k's crowing. Poor peter. A church named for your greatest transgression.

But it's not named for his transgression. It's named for God's love in calling us from our sin to life.

Our Lord, when it comes to sin, we need Your stop signs. The kind with blinking lights. "...save me, O my God," (Psalm 3:7). Amen.
Pastor John

06/16/2026

Trouble at the Fire Pit

You know that old hymn by F***y Crosby, "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus."

I love Jesus, and I love His stories. But I also love Peter and his stories. Mark 14 lays Peter bare. Most believe that Mark was the earliest of the four Gospels. Most also believe that Mark received much of his info from Peter. (And that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source.)

Here's what I love about Peter. His authenticity. He could have held back the fire pit episode, but he didn't. He knew his story was not really his or even about him.

It was about God's grace.

Here's my fire pit story. Except this was no fire pit, just a TSA conveyor belt at the airport.

I don't warm up to the idea of un******ng to get on an airplane. (For the last 18 months, I have not been tested. Our biggest trip was to Grove, Oklahoma.). It's not modesty. It's fear.

I'm afraid I'll forget something. Belt, watch, wallet, shoes, phone.

Four years ago we were heading to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where a cruise ship waited. It was cold in Kansas City. We wanted to thaw. But first, we had to run the TSA gauntlet. I was whining before we even got to the terminal door.

I pushed my pile of stuff up to the x-ray belt, held my hands high, and passed through the people scanner, and stood waiting at the end of the conveyer.

"Sir, is this your binder?"

A uniformed TSA man held my planner.

I confessed.

"Sir, we discovered a knife attached to the zipper. You are not allowed to carry a knife in the cabin of the plane. I'm sorry, but we had to confiscate the knife."

I was warming my hands by the fire.

But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." And they were all saying the same thing, too, (Mark 14:31).

Our Lord, we thank You for grace and the stories that teach us "for by grace we are saved." Amen.

Pastor John

06/15/2026

It Had to Be Grace

Outside Kearney, Missouri is the historic Watkins Mill Farm. A museum commemorates the lives of Wiltus and Mary Ann Watkins. While two of their children died in infancy, nine survived to adulthood. These nine are pictured in separate frames in one long line, in birth order. The eighth frame carries a picture of a son, his name inscribed below: Adoniram Judson Watkins.

In the 1800's the name, Adoniram Judson, became household. News of his and Ann's work, suffering and dying returned to America. Mothers borrowed his name for their sons.

A young college girl overheard Ruth's and my conversation at the museum. In tones of a seasoned teacher, she came over and told us about Judson and his wife in Burma, thus, the name of his son. She concluded, "He went by 'A.J.'"

A fantastic moment.

I should have worn black dress shoes.

Four years prior we had stood at the site of the Let Ma Yoon prison where Judson and his fellow prisoners were beaten, shackled and tortured. Where his wife Ann came almost daily trying to lessen his suffering.

For a more "restful sleep," each man's feet were bound tightly at the ankles. Lying on the ground, a pole about ten feet long was then threaded through the legs of four or five men. Long ropes were tied to either end of the pole, thrown over the rafters. The pole was hoisted to the ceiling. Each man's feet, legs and torso hung vertically from the pole. Only the upper shoulders and the back of the head touched the ground.

When Jesus said to the disciples, "...they will deliver you up to the courts, and you will be flogged..." (Mark 13:9), He was only hours from His own appointment. Set "from the foundations of the earth." The most horrific, most egregious demonstration of suffering in all of history (Mark 19).

Speaking of shoes. We really need to remove them. The Father turned the place into holy ground.

Our Lord, For all Your saints who suffer, driven by love for You, we pray. Amen.

Pastor John

06/12/2026

Draw Us Nearer

Sometimes we keep God at a distance. If we get too chummy, He might make us do something weird, like go to Burma. We love Him but treat Him like our crazy uncle in the basement. When Uncle Joe bangs on the floor we open the basement door and take him some supper. We love him. He's kin. But we don't invite him to the table.

Jesus spoke the words of Isaiah:

This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me, (Matthew 15:8).

If you would have asked Adoniram Judson, the young college student,

"Do you love God, Adoniram?"
"Yes, as much as is possible to love God."
"And, do you know God?"
"Yes, as well as I need to know God."
"But, Adoniram, do you seek God?"

Adoniram would have said, "No, I do not seek God. I have no desire to seek God, and He has no desire to be found."

He probably had such leanings before he ever went to Brown University, but they coalesced around his friend and fellow student, Jacob Eames. He was an avowed deist, and Judson willingly joined his circle of influence.

God is out there somewhere. Someone is, no doubt, responsible for the physical world. But, God has no interest in that which He created.

Fresh out of college, Judson went to New York City. For six weeks, he lived to the fullest. On his return, he stopped to find rest at a road side inn.

Someone was banging on the floor. Must be that crazy uncle.

But no one was banging.

It was Jesus knocking -

This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me, (Isaiah 29:13).

Our God, give us a desire, an even greater desire to come near and trust You. Amen.

Pastor John

A lady told me this week that she was signing up for her work shifts and realized, to her dismay, that by the time that schedule was completed, her children would be back in school! How quickly the summer flies by. I hope you are taking moments for recreation and rest. We are praying for Mang as he shares on Sunday. We will be at the First Baptist Church of Canton, Kansas this Sunday as they celebrate their 125th anniversary. John's father served as their pastor for nearly 15 years -- after he retired! We are honored to be part of their special service. Blessings as you join together in the sanctuary or on Facebook Live at 10:30 this coming Sunday. Ruth

06/11/2026

Close Alignment

The night before last, the weatherman told us that the planets Venus and Jupiter were ready to participate in an unusual alignment. The time to take a look was 9:30 he said. I went outside. He said to look up and look west. Due to trees blocking my view, I walked to the end of Webster Avenue. And there they were. I had binoculars but did not need them.

Spectacular.

As our weather prompter said, these two planets appear to be in close proximity, but, truth be told, they are separated by a distance of 400 million miles.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands
(Psalm 19:1)

Our God, as the expanse of the heavens delare Your glory, may we declare Your glory in what we do and say. Amen.

Pastor John

06/10/2026

To Be Like Jesus

I laughed. My wife Ruth and I were driving home from East Texas. She said, "You sounded like Tim."

Tim is my brother. We had seen him at our family reunion.

When a younger fellow, people sometimes volunteered, "I just heard your dad when you said that."

I smiled, nodded and dismissed it as nonsense. No way. Our voices were pitched in opposing octaves. He was a tenor, I a baritone. But as I have gained years, a strange thing has happened. Other people don't tell me I sound like my dad. They don't need to. I hear it myself. Spooky. I've never attempted to imitate my brother or my father, but often, in a word or a phrase, I hear my dad.

When you meet your seeking friend at a coffee shop to talk about discipleship, you will sit across the table, but they will hear and see Jesus. Some call it incarnational discipleship.

The Lord said to Philip, one of the Twelve, "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father," (John 14:9).

Jesus, the Word, was the bodily manifestation of His Father. His work was to do the will of His Father. (John 17:4). All that He said and did was in response to His Father's prompting, (John 14:10).

Discipleship is imitating Jesus. Purposely. Acting like Jesus and speaking like Jesus. Loving like Jesus. Incarnationally. Your friend across the table will be drawn to the Savior by the Life in you.

I believe the Spirit speaks best if only we settle to hear. This season, listen well. He will give you stories to tell.

Take notes.

And be a part of:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, (Mark 1:1) for a friend.

Our Lord, may the light of Your presence within us shine forth. Amen.

Pastor John

Address

8300 State Avenue
Kansas City, KS
66112

Telephone

+19132998335

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