Agape Baptist Church

05/08/2026

Good Morning Agape,
As we start the day today, let’s offer a word of thanks to our Lord for the blessing of rain we had yesterday. He is faithful, He is good and He is worthy of our praise.
Song is a great way to offer praise to our God, and song is one way in which our God expects us to offer Him praise.
This morning I am going to do something different. I am going to share a hymn with you, but I am going to do it in two parts. This morning I want to introduce you to the hymn writer and share a little hymnal lesson with you. Then, next week we will look at another hymn by this author and I will share a common story behind both hymns.
Philip Bliss was born on July 9, 1830 somewhere in Pennsylvania. Some sources say he was born in Rome, Pennsylvania which is in Bradford County, in the northeastern part of the state. Others claim he was born in Clearfield County of Pennsylvania, closer to the western side of Pennsylvania. The one thing we can be certain of is that Philip Bliss was born… somewhere.
His first career was working as a music teacher but he later, following encouragement from D. L. Moody, he became an itinerant evangelist. Soon after this career change, Bliss wrote both the words and the tune for “Man of Sorrows” in 1875. This hymn is also known as “Hallelujah, What a Savior!.
Now, when you look at an older hymnal, up at the top of the page, just above the hymn scales you see two names. The name on the top left, that is the author of the words, the name on the top right is the composer of the tune. Modern hymnals place the names at the bottom of the page following the headings “TEXT:” and “MUSIC:”. As I said earlier, Bliss is credited with writing the words and composing the music for “Man of Sorrows.”
There is another hymn, very well loved by our church, for which Bliss wrote the tune; “It is Well.” Horatio G. Spafford wrote the words to “It is Well”, but Bliss composed the tune, and what a masterpiece that we have in that great hymn. In 1876 Bliss actually published “It is Well” along with Ira Sankey in Gospel Hymns No. 2.
Our hymn this morning, “Man of Sorrows” was the last hymn Ira Sankey ever heard Bliss sing. To borrow a line from Petar Nenadov, “The words and the tune came from him (Bliss). The focus, however, is entirely on Jesus.
“Man of Sorrows” was the last hymn Ira Sankey ever heard Bliss sing. Bliss’s name is on the top left and right of this hymn. The words and the tune came from him. The focus, however, is entirely on Jesus.
Man of Sorrows, What a Name
Man of Sorrows! What a name�For the Son of God, who came�Ruined sinners to reclaim:�Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,�In my place condemned he stood,�Sealed my pardon with his blood:�Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile and helpless, we:�Spotless Lamb of God was he;�Full atonement! Can it be?�Hallelujah, What a Savior!
Lifted up was he to die�“It is finished!” Was his cry:�Now in heaven exalted high:�Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When he comes, our glorious King,�All his ransomed home to bring,�Then anew this song we’ll sing:�Hallelujah! What a Savior!
For the story that is behind this great hymn, and ties it to another, you will need to wait until next week. And, just a warning, bring your tissues.
https://youtu.be/77iI6wXsJqk?si=dv3aMUSxthMfgxE_
I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

Provided to YouTube by DistroKidMan of Sorrows, What a Name · Capitol Hill Baptist ChurchHark, I Hear the Harps Eternal℗ 4868933 Records DKReleased on: 2014-...

05/07/2026

Good Morning Agape,
I hope that you were able to lay down in peace and sleep well last night. And that you have woken up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to live for the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is hard for us to lay down in peace. Life brings so many things into our lives and we have to worry about them, so we lie awake thinking, planning, and oftentimes dreading what is coming, or at least what we fear could be coming.This morning I would like to encourage you to read Genesis chapter 37. Just a brief summary before you read it. First we read about Joseph bringing a bad report to his father about his brothers. Then we see that Jacob shows his favoritism of Joseph by giving him very nice tunic. We often say this was a multi-colored tunic, but there is some real question as to the exact meaning of the Hebrew word “passim.” It could mean multi-colored, it can also mean long sleeve, or just long. Whatever the meaning of the word, the robe was very nice and demonstrated Jacob’s love for his favorite son, Joseph. That is the exact message his brothers took from this tunic being given to Joseph. We also read about Joseph’s two dreams in which his brothers and his parents bow down in submission to him.These things together form a receipt of disastrous jealousy. So, later, when Joseph is once again sent to check on his brothers while they are tending the flocks his brothers plot against him, stripped his tunic from him, threw him in a pit, and then sold him to some Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar. And this is just the beginning of hard times for Joseph. He will be lied about, put in jail, and forgotten. Yet at every turn Joseph demonstrates great faith and trust in God. All this faith in God and all Joseph had were two dreams. Two dreams that told him that one day he would be a ruler, that he would be in some kind of authority over his father, mother and brothers. Those two dreams sustained Joseph in the pit, during the betrayal of his brothers, and in prison. Those two dreams allowed Joseph to lay down and sleep well in all of this.You and I have something far superior to two dreams. We have the complete Word of God. We have all of His works and promises in ink, readily available to us. We have the opportunity to read about our great God and His works and to have our faith strengthened as we read and trust His word. The same God that gave Joseph two dreams has given us one book. And what a book He has given us.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

05/06/2026

Good Morning Agape,
Wipe the sleep from your eyes, stretch and let’s get going.
I’m not sure if it is a blessing or a curse (Pam would say a curse) but my head is full of song lyrics and movie/tv quotes. Many times those lines cause me to think about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject in the song, movie or show. For example, I am reading through The Valley of Vision and recently read a prayer titled DIVINE MERCIES, and while reading it, a line from the movie “National Treasure” came to mind. There is a scene where two of the main characters are having a deep conversation and one replies to the other, “People don’t talk that way, you know.” To which the other replied, “I know, but they think that way.”
As I was reading this prayer I thought, “people don’t pray that way! But we should!” We should think and pray like this.
Today, I want to share this prayer with you and challenge you to look at your own prayer life and maybe seek to model your prayers after those of the Puritans. �As you read this prayer you will notice praise to God, expressions of gratitude, confession of sin and proclamations of devotion.
(If you don’t have a copy of The Valley of Vision I encourage you to get one and use it as part of your own prayer life)

DIVINE MERCIES
O Eternal God,
Yours is surpassing greatness, unspeakable goodness, super-abundant grace;
I can more easily count the sands on the ocean's shore than number your favors towards me;
I know only a part, but that part exceeds all praise.
I thank you for personal mercies, a measure of health, preservation of body, comforts of house and home, sufficiency of food and clothing, continuance of mental wellness, my family, their mutual help and support the delights of domestic harmony and peace, the seats now filled that might have been vacant, my country, church, Bible, faith.
But, O, how I mourn my sin, ingratitude, vileness, the days that add to my guilt, the scenes that witness my offending tongue;
All things in heaven, earth, around, within, without, condemn me - the sun which sees my misdeeds, the darkness which is light to you, the cruel accuser who justly charges me, the good angels who have been provoked to leave me, your face which scans my secret sins, your righteous law, your holy Word, my sin-soiled conscience, my private and public life, my neighbors, myself - all write dark things against me.
I deny them not, offer no excuse, but confess, "Father, I have sinned";
Yet still I live, and fly repenting to your outstretched arms;
you will not cast me off, for Jesus brings me near, you will not condemn me, for he died in my place, you will not mark my mountains of sin, for he leveled all, and his beauty covers my deformities.
O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging to his cross, hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

05/05/2026

Good Morning Agape,
I hope you are all doing well this morning. It is my prayer for you that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will not only be with you but provide all you need to get you through this day. �Let’s start our day by looking at a short passage in Genesis 35. The first three verses God calls Jacob to leave Shechem and move to Bethel and to live there. Jacob’s first action was to go to his family, servants and all those with him and to tell them to, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garment.”
Jacob has been called to follow God and he understands this call extends to his family, so he desires to “start fresh” and to “start right.” In order to follow God, all other gods must be put away. Jacob takes all these gods and hides them under an oak tree and then they move to Bethel.
Sometimes it is a good idea for us to take stock of our hearts and lives to see if we acquired any other gods. I think I’m pretty safe in saying none of us have a carved idol set up in our homes some place that we go to, bow down, pray to and worship, But, it could be that we have taken a job, hobby, relationship, our children, or maybe even our church (the list is endless) and placed it on a pedestal. Perhaps we have allowed this item to take God’s place. We are giving it the attention and thought that only God deserves. Maybe we are placing more importance, by action if not by intent on this item. When that happens, we have made ourselves another god.
Let me challenge you to do an examination of your heart just to see if you have put anything before God. If so, follow Jacob’s example and put it away.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

05/01/2026

Good Morning Agape,
I hope you slept well and that you are eager and excited to get this day started in order to bring honor and glory to Christ.
Before we get too involved with the activities of the day, let’s put a song in our hearts.
This morning I want to share a story about a song we sing together. I believe knowing the history or specific story behind a hymn gives us a greater understanding of the lyrics and makes a greater impact when we sing it. This song has an extremely powerful story behind it.
O The Deep Deep Love, hymn 352 in The Celebration Hymnal was written by Samuel Trevor Francis in 1875.
Before telling you the story, I wanted to share a wild tale about the tune to which we sing this song. Originally this hymn was sung to the tune EVENING BLESSING composed by Thomas John Williams. But, it is more commonly set to the Welsh tune EBENEZER (as in our hymnals). Sometimes you find it listed as EBENEZER (TON Y BOTEL) which means “tune in a bottle. This refers to a legend about how this tune was discovered. The legend says that Gwenlyn Evens published a tune named TON Y BOTEL after hearing it being hummed by a group of people at a music festival. He then told everyone that he found it in a bottle that had washed up on the shore. Not long after he published it, Williams realized it was actually EBENEZER and confronted Evens about stealing it. Evans apologized and negotiated a royalties agreement with Williams.
Now, let’s get to the story behind the actual hymn. When Samuel Francis was a teen he was walking home from work in London. As he crossed over the River Thames on the Hungerford Bridge he stopped to look into the flowing water below. Francis was in the midst of a deep bout of depression. (Something he would struggle with his entire life). As he looked into the water below, he considered jumping into the ice cold river and putting an end to his misery. Instead, Francis asked himself a question, “Do you believe in Christ?” He also answered his question with a resounding, “yes I do, with all my heart!”
From that moment Francis devoted his life to writing poetry and lyrics and to open air preaching. �This hymn is based on the apostle Paul’s words in Eph 3:18-19 “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”
As you read/sing this great hymn, I encourage you to take special notice of; the expressions of the love of Christ along with the phrases that focus on water, rivers, oceans and currents, and then reflect on this story. Perhaps you will gain an understanding of what Francis was thinking and feeling on that cold winter's night on the Hungerford Bridge over the River Thames.
O The Deep Deep Love
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus�Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free�Rolling as a mighty ocean�In its fullness over me�Underneath me, all around me�Is the current of Your love�Leading onward, leading homeward�To Your glorious rest above

CHORUS�Oh the deep, deep love�All I need and trust�Is the deep, deep love of Jesus
�Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus�Spread His praise from shore to shore�How He came to pay our ransom�Through the saving cross He bore�How He watches o’er His loved ones�Those He died to make His own�How for them He’s interceding�Pleading now before the throne
�Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus�Far surpassing all the rest�It’s an ocean full of blessing�In the midst of every test�Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus�Mighty Savior, precious Friend�You will bring us home to glory�Where Your love will never end
https://youtu.be/VqTMJxSA7EM?si=jsNbUE8A4mcNmo4c
I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

This is track 4 of Come Weary Saints by Sovereign Grace. As Christians, we know that our greatest problem—separation from God—has been solved. Jesus Christ, ...

04/30/2026

Good Morning Agape,
Grab your coffee, grab your Bible, take a seat and let’s look at some Scripture!Let me ask you a question, how did you sleep last night? Well I hope.This morning I would like to spend a little time looking at Psalm 4. This is one of David’s many Psalms, and in it David calls on God to hear his prayer and he recounts God’s gracious love toward him. Then David turns his attention to his enemies. He is not praying for their destruction, nor does he threaten them. Instead, he calls on his enemies to turn from their wicked ways, turn their hearts from wicked desires and turn to God.David faces many enemies and those enemies all mean his great harm and they cause him great distress, yet David is not overcome by fear. David has found peace and gladness in God and the final verse highlights just how much peace David has in the middle of all his enemies. “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”Sometimes sleep escapes us because of fear. We don’t have enemies like David did, but we have circumstances and situations that can rob us of peace. Our thoughts can be consumed with the difficulties we face in life. We can learn a valuable lesson from David here. David’s faith in God’s protection was greater than his fear of man. We should pray for faith like David’s so that we can lie down at night and sleep well, trusting in our God to sustain us through any and all of life’s difficulties.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

04/29/2026

Good Morning Agape,
Our gracious God has given us another day. We have fresh opportunities to serve Him and to grow in our understanding of Him and His way. Let’s go out today and seek to bring honor and glory to the great name of Jesus Christ.
Not so fast… before you run out of the door, let’s open our Bibles. Let’s go back to the book of beginnings, Genesis 25. Because of his deception, and stealing Esau’s blessing (Chapter 24) Jacob’s life is in danger. Esau is threatening to kill him so Rebekah goes to Isaac and asks him to send Jacob away to get a daughter from her people. Jacob leaves Beersheba and makes it to “a certain place” before spending the night. While he is asleep he dreams about a ladder reaching to the heavens with angels ascending and descending. The Lord speaks to Jacob in this dream confirming His covenant with Abraham saying He would bring it about through Jacob. When Jacob wakes the next morning he makes a statement that sounds very strange to our ears, saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
In Jacob’s day, each city/nation/kingdom/family had a local deity, and their god’s power didn’t extend beyond the city gates or the boundaries of the “nation,” or the walls of one’s home So, when a person traveled away from home, they were going without their god. This belief had some influence on Jacob. It appears that Jacob may have believed that when he left home, God stayed with Isaac. Then Jacob encounters God in this dream and God tells him “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob wakes up, he has learned a lesson you and I know; God is God over all.
We need never fear getting too far away from God. When we walk out of the doors of our homes this morning, God is with us. If we travel to foreign lands, God is there. Our God is not bound by walls, gates or national boundaries. Since we are His children, we have the promise and assurance that He is always with us.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

04/28/2026

Good Morning Agape,
I hope you had a great night's sleep and I pray that our great God would provide for you your daily bread.
Let’s take a moment this morning and examine some Scripture. Let’s go back to Genesis, Genesis 25:29-34. This is the record of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Moses tells us that Jacob had cooked some stew and that Esau came in from the field and was famished. Esau was physically and mentally exhausted, and this exhaustion was exasperated by hunger and thirst. He comes in, sees this “red stuff” that Jacob had cooked and says; “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff, for I am famished.” The Hebrew is a little more graphic, “let me gulp some of that….” It is an expression of greed… give me give me give me. He really doesn’t care what it is, he just wants a gulp. He is being driven by his physical feelings at the time, and for Esau, that is all that matters.
Jacob responds, “First sell me your birthright.” Now, Esau and Jacob were twins, but Esau had been born first and that gave him the birth right. When their father passed on the things of his estate, Esau would receive double, and he had the right of head-ship over the family. It was a great honor bestowed on the first born. It was a valuable “right” that belonged to the first born, that belonged to Esau.
But, Esau was so caught up in the “here and now,” he was so driven by feelings, physical and emotional, he cared very little for what would be his. He wanted satisfaction RIGHT NOW. He was so blinded by his wants, he responded to Jacob, “Behold, I am about to die, so of what use is the birthright to me?”
Esau was exhausted, but he was nowhere near death. He is drastically exaggerating the truth, and he is doing so for a swallow of soup. Moses tells us in verse 34 that “Esau despised his birthright.”
There is a valuable lesson in Esau actions for us. We must be very careful how much value we place on immediate gratification. When we get so focused on the here and now and we allow ourselves to be driven by feelings (physical or emotional) we often choose things that don’t matter over things of significant worth.
I hope you all have a great day.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

04/24/2026

Good Morning Agape,
By God’s great grace we have made it to the end of the work week. And, personally, I think the best thing about that is that Sunday’s getting closer, which means, we will be gathering for worship of our great God and King.
So, as you get your day started, I encourage you to go ahead and seek God’s face and the Spirit’s moving in your heart to prepare you for Sunday.
And, let me help in that preparation by helping you put a song in your heart and on your tongue.
Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah was written by William Williams. A man that many consider to be the father of Welsh hymnody. Williams was greatly influenced by a sermon preached by Howell Harris in 1738. Harris fiery preaching awoke in Williams a desire to enter the ministry. His pursuit lead him to the Anglican Church where he became a deacon in 1740. He soon discovered that his heart wasn’t in the pastorate, but instead, he longed to be with the traveling Methodist preachers like Harris. So, he left the Anglican Church and joined himself with Harris.
Harris had long believed that the Welsh needed good hymns to sing in worship. They were still singing metrical psalms, so he instituted a “hymn-writing competition” among the traveling preachers. Williams who was a natural in poetry and verse-writing one easily and so he devoted much of his time to writing hymns.
In 1745 Williams wrote Guid Me. O Thou Great Jehovah. In 1771, at instigation of Rev. Peter Williams, William Williams translated it into English. (Peter Williams translated the first verse, William Williams translated the rest.)
William Williams life as a traveling evangelist wasn’t easy. In his day, there were no rail roads, so most travel was by foot, horse back or on one of the very few stage-coaches. It has been estimate that over his 43 years as a traveling evangelist, Williams covered over 2200 miles a year. When we consider all of William’s travels we agree with Tim Challies when he says, “the greater part of his life was spent, not in the preacher’s study, but in the great world of out of doors….”

Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,�Pilgrim through this barren land;�I am weak, but thou art mighty;�Hold me with thy powerful hand:�Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven�Feed me till I want no more., Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain�Whence the healing stream doth flow;�Let the fire and cloudy pillar�Lead me all my journey through:�Strong deliverer, Strong Deliverer, �Be thou still my strength and shield, Be thou still me strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,�Bid my anxious fears subside;�Bear me through the swelling current
Land me safe on Canaan’s side:�Songs of praises, songs of praises�I will ever give to thee, I will ever give to thee.

There are two additional verse that are not included in our hymnals: One of them, (Musing on my habitation) added by Williams when he translated it into English, the other, the source is unknown.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,�Wondrous are Thy works of old;�Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,�Who for naught themselves had sold:�Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,�Sin, and Satan and the grave,�Sin, and Satan and the grave.

Musing on my habitation,�Musing on my heav’nly home,�Fills my soul with holy longings:�Come, my Jesus, quickly come;�Vanity is all I see;�Lord, I long to be with Thee!�Lord, I long to be with Thee!

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

04/23/2026

Good Morning Agape,
As we all begin to get up and get going, let’s take a moment and: thank God for the rest we received, seek His guidance and provision for the day, and set out hearts and minds to do all we do today for the glory of Jesus Christ.
As you grab your morning beverage of choice, grab your Bible too, and let’s look at another passage in Genesis.
This morning I want to get you to notice something in Genesis 24. This is a very long chapter and many of the details are repeated. They are first given as instructions, then they are recorded as the events unfold, and then we read about them one more time as they are given in the form of a report.
The chapter revolves around a task that Abraham gave to his servant to find a wife for Isaac. He was to find Isaac a wife from Abraham’s country, and from his relatives. Abraham forbade his servant to get Isaac a wife from among the Canaanites.
Having received his instructions Abraham’s servant sets out and seeks God’s help to make his mission successful. By the hand of God, he is led to a well where he encounters Rebekah. Rebekah was a beautiful girl who was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. After making arrangements through both Rebekah and her brother Laben to stay at father’s house, there is a meal prepared for the servant and the men that are with him. �What I want to point out to you this morning is what the servant does before eating that meal. In 24:33 we read, “But when food was set before him to eat he said, ‘I will not eat until I have told my business.’” This servant had been sent on a mission. It wasn’t his mission, it was his master’s mission, and for this servant his master’s mission was the top priority. He would not even eat, an act that would have been beneficial to himself, before making everyone there aware of what he was there to do.
There is a lesson in this servant's actions for believers today. We are servants of our Master Jesus Christ. He has sent us on a mission and we, like Abraham’s servant, should seek to make our Master’s mission our top priority. Let us remember that whatever we are doing today, we have been given a task, and it must be our main priority.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike

04/22/2026

Good Morning Agape,
I hope you slept well and that our Lord has refreshed both your body and soul. I pray that He will lead you through this day, keeping you safe and secure in His abundant love and mercy.
Yesterday we spent our time together looking at one phrase from Genesis 22; “after these things.” There is another phrase in this chapter I would like for us to turn our focus on today. This one is in verse 3. But, before looking at the phrase, let’s set the scene. God has come to test Abraham. The test, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you” (Gen. 22:2).
Woah! What a test. God is asking, no, God is telling Abraham to take His son, the very son that God has promised multiple times to give to Abraham. God has promised to make a great nation to come from Abraham. He has also had Abraham send away Ishmael and God has told Abraham very clearly that Ishmael is not part of the covenant between them. This covenant included descendants, land and that God would be their God, but Ishmael was not included in this covenant. Isaac was the son of promise. Isaac was the son through which this covenant was to be fulfilled and now, God is telling Abraham to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering.
Now, the phrase I want us to consider this morning, verse 3, “So Abraham rose early in the morning….” The verse goes on to tell us that he saddled his donkey, took two men and Isaac, and split the wood for the burnt offering. The implication in the phrase “So Abraham rose early in the morning,” is there was no delay, there was no debate with God as he had done on behalf of S***m and Gomorrah. There was no hesitation. God told Abraham to offer his son, and Abraham responded with a resounding “okay, here you are.”
Abraham doesn’t question God about how the promise and the covenant would then be fulfilled. He doesn’t accuse God of being unfaithful to His word. He just gets everything needed to offer his son as a burnt offering and sets out for Moriah.
What great faith. The author of Hebrews tells us Abraham “considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead,” Abraham didn’t question God, he simply responded, “If that is what You want from me, that is what I will give You.”
Let us seek to have that type of faith. Let us pray that God helps us be that quick to obey even when it doesn’t make sense.

I love you all. Go in the grace and peace of Christ Jesus and be Agape,
Mike