First Baptist Church, Mount Gilead NC

First Baptist Church, Mount Gilead NC With outstanding people, music and facilities, join our welcoming CBF congregation.

06/07/2026

Genesis 13:5-9
Titus 3:8b-11

06/05/2026

Pastor’s Column

A church does many things, and one of those things is marking rites of passage and change. As a family of faith we celebrate and grieve together through births, baptisms, graduations, marriages, and deaths. Life is a process of changes, but some are bigger than others.

The birth of a child is a big one, and as Baptists we recognize this moment with an infant dedication. Other Christian churches celebrate infant baptism (sometimes called a christening, because the service may include anointing with oil), but for us Baptists baptism is reserved for when one is of age and can take baptismal vows for oneself. An infant dedication is not an ordinance/sacrament of God. Instead it is a space in our worship service where we ask the parents to take vows for raising their child, and we pray God’s blessing upon them. It will be a lovely moment this Sunday to mark this with Jaron and Kendall Strom. It has been a joy to have Bowie be part of the life of our church.

Another big moment in our lives is graduation. This is a time of moving out of high school and into adulthood – entering college or employment and starting to live on one’s own. (Or conceive of living on one’s own!) A church family recognizes and celebrates this moment. We are very proud of Kalyn and all her accomplishments and talents. We have seen her grow up into adulthood, and we will pray God’s blessing on this time of transition in her life.

Life is change, and in all those changes we share our joys and hurts with one another, and with God who is without change, God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8), who is "a wheel revolving uniformly … the Love that moves the sun and the other stars” (Dante, Paradiso canto 33).

06/05/2026

For Sunday

Sermon Title: “Let Them”
Choral Anthem: "In the Hands of the Lord" (Pepper Choplin)

Genesis 13:5-9
Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, and the land could not support both of them living together because their possessions were so great that they could not live together. Thus strife arose between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me and between your herders and my herders, for we are kindred. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

Titus 3:8b-11
I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverse and sinning, being self-condemned.

05/30/2026

For Sunday

Sermon title: "Itching Ears”
Solo: “Fill My Cup, Lord” Nancy Swan, Soloist (Blanchard)

1 Kings 18:17-22a
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD.”

2 Timothy 4:1-8
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

05/24/2026

a

05/24/2026

1 Timothy 1:1-7

05/22/2026

Pastor’s Column

Pentecost! The one Sunday a year when the paraments of our church go to red. Poor red – so unloved.

Pentecost is the Greek name for a Jewish harvest festival, but it also celebrated the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai to Moses and the early Israelites. (Note “pente,” meaning 5, as in a pentagram). As Christians, the day commemorates an event in Acts chapter 2 – the disciples had gathered for the festival (they were Jewish, after all) when the Holy Spirit came upon them with the image of fire. This is why the paraments at our church are red.

Side note: an old tradition in England was to call this White Sunday, or Whitsunday, probably because those joining the church on this day back in the medieval church wore white robes. So in England the churches often use white instead of red for Pentecost Sunday. Additional side note: some Protestant churches use red for Reformation Sunday around Oct 31, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door. Catholic and Episcopal churches use red for Good Friday or a saint’s feast day. But it’s still pretty marginal usage overall.

After Pentecost we will go to green and the “usual Sundays,” called Ordinary Time in the church calendar. Just the usual stuff till Advent comes around November 29th.

I like how First Baptist keeps the church year and traditions without being too fussy about it. These traditions are not directly Biblical – nowhere in the Bible does it say to observe Lent or Pentecost Sunday – but they connect us to the wider church and to special events in the Bible. We don’t observe saint days or feast days as they do in some churches, and we aren’t fussy about it. What we do is keep a general, Biblical awareness of the Western liturgical tradition. I think that’s a nice spot to be in: somewhere in the middle.

05/22/2026

For Sunday

Sermon Title: The Goal Is Love
Choral Anthem: “Be Present, Spirit of the Lord” (Beall, Dudley-Smith)

Jeremiah 31:31-34. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

1 Timothy 1:1-7. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different teachings and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

Address

133 S Main Street
Mount Gilead, NC
27306

Opening Hours

Wednesday 1pm - 5pm
Friday 8am - 12pm
Sunday 10am - 12pm

Telephone

+19104396474

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when First Baptist Church, Mount Gilead NC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to First Baptist Church, Mount Gilead NC:

Shortcuts

Share

Category