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Wednesday 6:30pm - 8pm Sunday 9:45am - 11:45am

Maranatha Baptist Church, 1800 N Ware Road, McAllen, TX (2026)

06/04/2026

Freely, Freely

06/03/2026

Title: The Profit in Trials

Series: The Practice of Genuine Religion

Text: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2–4).

Scripture Reading: James 1:1–5

We will examine our day-to-day behavior in light of the principles delineated in the book of James with an eighteen-part series called “The Practice of Genuine Religion.” This series will run through September.

Introduction

Something that has irked me throughout all my years as a student is tests. Teachers used to infuriate me by coming to class, tests in hand, and say with a smile, “This is not intended to discourage you or to make you nervous—it is simply to see what you know. It is a learning experience.” Actually, the only questions I remember are those that I then missed. James draws a close parallel to this illustration with his view of tests. James does not say we should seek out trials. Knowing our weaknesses, we may fervently and appropriately pray that God may be pleased to exempt us from them. Regardless, Christians should know that trials are a spiritual discipline essential to the maturing of the Christian life. They are designed to purify our faith, produce patience, and perfect our character.

I. Testing Purifies Faith

A. James begins with a vivid picture in verse 3 to describe a purification process. Metal in those days was purified by heat. The metal would melt and impurities would float to the surface. Our faith, according to James, undergoes much the same process under the heat of testing. The test may be painful, but impurities are removed. Our profit is that we learn in whom to believe.

B. In the late 1960s, one of the women nominated for an Academy Award was Patricia Neal, for her performance in The Subject Was Roses. It was thought to be the high point in movie history when the spotlight focused on her, for her history was so moving. In 1960 she was wheeling her baby son in a carriage across a New York City street when a car slammed into the carriage. The baby lived but endured several operations and months of hospitalizations. Two years later Patricia’s daughter got the measles and died unexpectedly. Then in February 1965 Patricia herself almost died of massive hemorrhages. Her speech, vision, and mind were impaired, but she fought back. As if to culminate her victories in these tragedies, she won the Oscar. One press writer asked her the key to her courage. She pointed to a plaque that read: “Fear knocked at the door. Faith in God answered. No one was there.” Fear is dissipated by faith when put to the test.

II. Testing Produces Patience

A. A major problem we all have with testing is dealing with the time factor. We know good will come of an unpleasant circumstance—we just wish it would hurry up. For this we need patience.

B. Patience is the second result of testing. But patience is not simply the ability to endure until our hopes are fulfilled. It is that steadfastness, that endurance, that fortitude that conquers the problem. It does not just wait for something else to happen.

C. Patience is what gave life to the testimony of the martyrs. Some Christian martyrs have died with smiles on their faces—that reflected the words of one martyr who said, “When I looked into the fire, I saw the glory of the Lord.” This is not a shallow victory; it is a meaningful victory in the most profound sense. Spiritual trials become spiritual victories in just that same way when patience is allowed to have its perfect work in us.

III. Testing Perfects Character

Patience is sometimes hindered from exercising its influence and achieving its crowning triumphs in our lives. This happens when we grow weary of trials and resort to questionable ways of extricating ourselves. But if permitted to run its full course, patience, through the trials of life, will do two things for a person.

A. First, it will make a person perfect. James does not use the word to imply sinlessness. The thought is one of maturity, or of being fully developed. It is reaching the end for which one is created. For Christians it refers to a spirit mature in judgment and in understanding.

B. Second, patience will make the person complete. This completion refers to being perfectly equipped. The same words are used in the Old Testament of an animal completely fit to be sacrificed. It was blemish-free. Such constancy gives us a growing strength that we might conquer old sins. We become entirely fit to serve—fully grown, fully equipped, deficient in nothing.

Conclusion

By our persevering in trials, God completes a remarkable work in our lives. If through these trials we depend on the grace of God, we become entirely fit to serve, fully grown, fully equipped, and deficient in nothing. Let us then turn to him as our source of strength.

06/01/2026

Near the Cross

05/31/2026

Title: Living in a Haunted House

Series: Enriching Marriage and Family Relationships

Text: “Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation” (Matt. 12:45).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 12:43–45

Introduction

Many of you have probably visited the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland or Disney World. At one place the trolley passes a mirror, and as you and your fellow rider look into the mirror, you are startled to discover that another ghostly occupant is sitting between you. Or maybe you had a “haunted house” in the neighborhood you lived in as a child. It seems that every community has an old, abandoned house about which scary stories are told.

Jesus told an interesting parable about a haunted house. The application of the parable focused on good and evil. If you want to reform, it is not enough to rid yourself of evil; you must also fill yourself with goodness. Otherwise, the evil will not only come back but will increase. Using the house metaphor, then, we see it is not enough to empty the house of evil, for then it will be haunted. We must pack the house to the rafters with God. That is the way to destroy haunted houses. But how many of us are living in haunted houses even now? Many of us are. It’s a sad truth but a truth nonetheless. Our individual lives and our family lives are empty. So let us take this parable of Jesus and apply it to ourselves and to our families.

What exactly does it mean to live in a haunted house?

I. You live in a haunted house when you try to be neutral about religion.

A. There is no neutrality in life. This parable teaches that there is no neutrality in life. The evil spirit was driven out, but nothing else was added. Empty houses never remain empty. Dust and cobwebs gather in the corners and mice and rats move in.

B. Particularly, there is no neutrality about faith. We sometimes hear about people who try to be neutral about religion. They do not want to force their children to go to church. They do not want to influence them toward any particular expression of faith. Usually this is accompanied by a story of how they were forced to go to church when they were young and how they reacted against it. Of course, this approach actually turns children against the church and God. It is an undisciplined, godless life. There is no neutrality when it comes to faith: either one accepts and serves God or rejects and opposes God.

Some years ago the New York City Youth Board did a study related to juvenile crime. They sent experts into the homes of five hundred six-year-old boys. These social workers and psychologists tried to make an estimate of the potential of each of these young people. The basis for their estimate was the quality of family life in the home, the style of supervision, attendance at church services and other religious training, and the type of discipline used.

The children from homes deficient in each of these areas were forecast as potential delinquents. The children from homes with good parental attention and basic religious training were forecast as potential good citizens. The records of these children were then watched for ten years.

The experts found that by the time the children without supervisory structure from the parents and church had reached sixteen years of age, 85 percent of them were in serious trouble with the authorities, many of them repeat offenders. On the other hand, 95 percent of the children from the homes that provided training and discipline and religious life could be described as good citizens. The predictive value of this variable is utterly amazing.

II. You live in a haunted house when you are negative in spirit.

A. Some goodness is only a negative goodness. The house of which Jesus spoke was only negatively good. The evil spirit had been swept out, but nothing good had replaced it. Many people practice a negative goodness. It consists only of the command “Do not.” The Pharisees were “good,” but they were not doing anything positive to bring about goodness.

1. Look for good in attitude. What has been said and done positively in your home this week? The one thing children need from their parents is love. Is love the overriding attitude toward your children? Have you—particularly you fathers—given your children enough time to let them see your attitudes?

2. Look for good in the home. What has been emphasized in your home? Some homes emphasize only what a person is not and what that person has not done. How about putting a positive emphasis on what the person is and what he or she has done?

B. Much can be accomplished by a positive goodness. The positive goodness that gives a positive witness can accomplish much. A boy on a cross-country motorcycle trip returned home to tell his parents that his most impressive experience was the night he had spent in a country home in the Midwest. Caught in a rainstorm, he had stopped at the farmhouse to ask if he could spend the night in the barn. Instead, they invited him to spend the night with them. At the breakfast table the next morning, the family read the Bible together and prayed for him by name. That positive witness was the most impressive experience of his trip across the nation.

III. You live in a haunted house when your life is empty.

A. Houses, while filled, can still be empty. The life Jesus mentioned in the parable was empty, terribly empty. A lot of houses that are filled with fine furniture—costly antiques, matched sets, color-coordinated rooms—can be terribly empty. They can be empty of love, mutual concern, kindness, Christian teaching, acceptance, trust, and confidence. This is the worst kind of emptiness.

B. A home, or a life, without Christ is hopelessly empty. Mrs. Ethel du Pont Warren was once described by artist Dan Flowers as the most beautiful and eligible woman in the United States. As the oldest child of Eugene du Pont, she was the heiress of one of the world’s largest fortunes. Her subsequent marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. was one of the great society events of the century. However, by the age of 49, she hanged herself from the bathroom shower fixture by the belt of her bathrobe. Beauty, fame, fortune, social prestige, and everything else did not meet the longing of her heart. A life without Christ is empty, hopelessly empty.

Conclusion

We have been talking about empty, haunted houses. Is there any way to change? The answer is to fill life with something positive. The ultimate positive element is Christ. We need to fill our houses with Christ and seek his will as a family.

05/31/2026

Title: God Has a Plan for the Home

Series: Christ, the Church, and the Enrichment of Family Life

Text: "Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:4-5).

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Introduction

The home is battling for its life today. People are searching for fulfillment outside the home because their homes are unstable, lacking the foundation of principles that will guide the affairs of a family .. More than half of all marriages end in divorce, and as a result, single parents are overburdened with the tasks of raising a family and working to provide for the family. This is not God's will for the home. God has a plan for the home just as he has a plan of redemption and a plan for every person's life. Let us discover some aspects of God's plan for the home. Deuteronomy 6 is one passage that reveals God's plan for our homes.

I. A Place of Spiritual Strength

God intends for the home to be a place of spiritual strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 tells us that we are to found our families on love for God and a spiritual relationship to him. God loves us, and we return his love toward us obediently. This is truly the beginning place, yet many forget, reject, or ignore God in their lives and homes. A pastor recalls that one summer in England he visited the house of a lovely English couple. The husband was a pastor in the East End of London. All around their house and church was evidence of the destruction of war, but the couple themselves revealed the peace and assurance of a deep faith and devotion and love. The motto over the entrance to the house was "Lord, make my house Thine until Thine shall be mine."

In contrast, he described another house-a beautiful, modern dwelling with lovely landscaping in a fine residential section. To look at it, you would think it must surely be the dwelling place of a happy family. But he remembered that he had seen two unhappy couples live in that home, and he had watched both couples break up. What was the difference between the two homes? The family in the war-torn neighborhood had a personal relationship with the Lord that resulted in fellowship and great spiritual strength.

II. A Place for Divine Truth

All of the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the Lord are to be observed and taught to each generation. Verse 6 refers to the "words" that are so important, and verse 7 says that we are to "teach" them to our children. Not only is God to be loved and worshiped, but his words and commandments and faith are to be taught in our homes. At stake is the faith of the living God in the lives and homes of our nation. The word "teach" means to whet, to sharpen. As a man sharpens a knife to make it more effective, so teaching sharpens the minds, hearts, and character of our children with divine truth. We parents must accept this responsibility! It cannot be shifted to another without serious trouble. Someone has said, "Modern parents have become adept at the art of delegating. We send our children to a school to get their education, to the library to get their books, to the park to get their recreation, to the movies for their entertainment, and to the church for their religion. But there are some responsibilities that cannot be delegated. These belong fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the parents. The teaching of religion is one such responsibility." It is our responsibility to teach God's Word consistently for our children's spiritual awareness.

III. A Place for Christian Character

God intends for the home to be a place to develop Christian character, as seen in Ephesians 6:4, "Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Character development demands training, and the home provides it from infancy to maturity. I understand now why my dad sent me to the garden regularly. It was not just to hoe potatoes; rather, it was to build in me a sense of responsibility. I fussed and fumed within myself, but I learned something of character I could have learned in no other way. Character development demands discipline. Verse 4 includes the idea of correction as well as instruction, and this is vitally important to a family. There can be no sense of direction for a child unless discipline is practiced. This is where respect for authority is learned; and this is where we learn to accept and understand one another and how to get along with one another.

God's Word is clear about the need to practice discipline. Proverbs 13:24 says, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Proverbs 29:15 says, "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." Verse 17 says, "Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." Children need the security that discipline gives, and parents need the fulfillment that such leadership provides.

IV. A Center of Creative Fellowship

God intends the home to be a center of creative fellowship. When we talk about fellowship and, specifically, Christian fellowship, it is best described as "family spirit." Where such exists, there is love and forgiveness and understanding. It is a place where patience and kindness and courtesy thrive. It is the place of warmth and oneness of spirit. It is the oasis of fellowship in a world that starves for someone to care.

Conclusion

If we respond to God's Word as he calls to and leads our families in the light of his love and Word, we will experience the joy of God's plan. A pair of farm parents were thrilled over their son graduating from a university.

Uneducated themselves, they had sacrificed much to keep the boy in college for four years. At commencement time they were privileged to attend. Although the parents were poorly clothed and unlettered in education, the son welcomed them gladly and proudly presented them to the faculty and his classmates. On commencement day, the son gave the class address, and his listeners were moved by his message. As the boy returned to his seat, his father wiped a tear from an eye, and leaning toward his wife, he whispered, "Ma, that's the best crop we ever raised."

God does have a plan for your home if you will let him help you find it.

05/28/2026

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

05/27/2026

Title: What Is It Like to Die?

Series: Questions by the Psalmist

Text: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Ps. 17:15).

Scripture Reading: Psalm 17:1–15

Introduction

Several times a ten-year-old boy had asked his mother, “What is it like to die?” She prayed to have wisdom to give her son the right answer to this important query; one day the answer came.

The next time he asked, she replied, “Do you remember when you were very small that we would visit at your grandmother’s house until late in the evening? We would put you to bed at Grandmother’s, but you would awake at home the next morning in your own bed. Your father had picked you up in his arms, placed you in the car, and put you in your own bed when we reached home. You didn’t even know until you awakened.

“This is what it is like to die. One day we will go to sleep down here, Jesus will take us in his strong arms to our real home, and we will awaken in the Father’s house.” The boy was satisfied with that answer. We should be too.

“What is it like to die?” Here are three descriptions.

I. The transition from this life to the next will be made in the arms of Jesus.

Not believing in the return of Jesus to this earth denies the promises of Scripture and robs the Christian of great hope. Jesus’ return is assured, bringing with it comfort for every Christian. That last night with his disciples, Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). When Christians die, they die knowing that Jesus will conduct them safely into the land of the beyond. Only the love and power of God could and would do this.

II. The awakening will be to a conscious existence.

“Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man,” Paul tells the Corinthians, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49). This echoes the creation story, where we are told that God created man in his own image (Gen. 1:26–27). This means that the essential elements of personality will survive the transition. Our rational nature, our spiritual kinship to our Maker, and our moral nature as a responsible being—all of these will enhance the unmarred fellowship we will have with our Redeemer and with the redeemed saints, giving us a glorious eternity.

III. This existence will be eternally satisfying.

A. We will be with him. Jesus reassured his disciples by saying, “that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). We don’t know much about heaven, but we do know that Jesus will be there, and that is enough.

B. We will be like him. John says in his first epistle, “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (3:2). Then Paul’s dream, shared with the Ephesians, of coming “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), will come to fruition.

C. We will be at home. “In my Father's house are many mansions,” Jesus said (John 14:2). Christ has prepared a home for us. Home is the fulfilling place on earth; it is also in heaven.

Conclusion

We have a secure position under the auspices of a powerful King who loves us and has given us a piece of his kingdom. When we die we will go to our place in his kingdom; this will be our home. There is nothing to fear in this destination.

05/25/2026

Jesus Strong and Kind

05/24/2026

Title: Jesus Is Better

Series: The Superlative Christ

Text: “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Heb. 8:6).

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8:1–9:14

Introduction

One of the prominent words in the letter to the Hebrews is superior.

The author compares Jesus Christ’s character with the character of angels and Old Testament heroes and with the nature of the sacrificial system. He affirms, “Jesus is better.” He is better than the prophets (1:1–4); he is better than the angels (1:5–2:18); he is better than Moses (chaps. 3–4); and Jesus’ work on the cross is better than the Old Testament sacrificial system of the sanctuary (8:1–10:18).

I. Jesus is Better Than the Old Sanctuary

The author of Hebrews starts (in 8:1) to use figures from Jewish worship. He begins with the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the temple. He acknowledges the great majesty and the great purpose of the sanctuary yet affirms that Jesus is better.

A. Jesus is the reality behind the shadow. The tabernacle and the temple were constructed according to a great architectural plan. The design of the temple had significance in the worship of God.

We must keep in mind that the tabernacle and the temple represented a greater reality. “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount” (Heb. 8:5). The writer of Hebrews says the layout of the sanctuary and the ministries conducted there were designed according to the real but unseen world.

B. Jesus is the remover of barriers. In the temple and the tabernacle the ordinary Israelite could come only to the gate of the tabernacle court. The priests could go farther, and only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies. This hierarchy of barriers portrays the reality that ordinary people were barred from the presence of God. Jesus took away the barriers. He is a better sanctuary.

II. Jesus is Better Than the Old Priesthood

The author of Hebrews chooses another factor in the Jewish religion. Not only is Jesus seen as superior to the sanctuary, but he is also shown to be better than the Old Testament priesthood.

A. Jesus is the master in majesty. No one can compare to the majestic character of Jesus. Jesus belongs to a priesthood founded on personal greatness rather than human appointment. He is a priest who offers sacrifice for sins, but he does not have to offer sacrifice for his sins, for he has none. Only Jesus is able to offer a sacrifice that never has to be repeated. “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1). There is no greater glory than the glory of the ascended and exalted Lord. Jesus, the priest, possesses the majesty of God.

B. Jesus is the master in ministry. No priest can perform the priestly ministry better than Jesus, “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2). “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (v. 6). Many priests of the Old Testament rendered their service with great skill. But when you examine the priestly ministry of Jesus, you discover a superiority.

Jesus is better than the Old Testament priesthood.

III. Jesus is Better Than the Old Covenant

After discussing the Old Testament sanctuary and priesthood, the author then turns to the Old Testament concept of covenant. The covenant described the relationship of God with his people. The author affirms that God’s relationship with people through Jesus is better than the old covenant.

A. Jesus brought a covenant that every person on earth could enjoy. The Jews developed classes of people. Some of these classes, such as the Pharisees, were observers of the law and could keep the details of the law. Most of the ordinary people could not observe all the ceremonial laws. Consequently, the common people were despised. But in Hebrews we read, “And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” (Heb. 8:11).

In the new covenant in Jesus, classes of people do not exist. All people—wise and simple, small and great—can relate to the Lord. The new covenant in Jesus is better because of its universality.

B. Jesus brought a covenant that is written on the heart. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Heb. 8:10). The law written on the heart means that people would relate to God, not just laws. People would obey the Lord not because of the dictates of the law but because of their desire to obey him. Jesus is better, for he indeed brought a better covenant.

IV. Jesus is Better Than the Old Sacrifices

The author continues with his comparisons of Jesus with Judaism. He turns to the Old Testament sacrificial system and proceeds to show that Jesus is better.

A. The sacrifice of Jesus is an unrepeatable sacrifice. The priests had to make many sacrifices on many different days. The most significant sacrifice took place the day the high priest had to enter the Holy of Holies and make atonement for the sins of the people. All the sacrifices had to be repeated each year. There was no final sacrifice until Jesus came. When Jesus sacrificed himself, he made the final sacrifice for sin. No other sacrifice was needed. This element of finality proves further that Jesus is better.

B. The sacrifice of Jesus is a more effective sacrifice. The superiority of Jesus’ sacrifice may be seen in its effects. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). Jesus’ sacrifice cleanses the conscience of a person. It releases one from the slavery of sin to become a servant of the living God. The animal sacrifices could not change a person’s heart. For this reason, Jesus’ sacrifice was better.

Conclusion

Many religions exist in today’s world. Take the time to look at Jesus. You will discover that Jesus is better. Give your life to someone superior.

05/24/2026

Oh How I Love Jesus

Maranatha Baptist Church

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