Stoney Run Missionary Baptist Church

11/11/2025

We hope you can join us for Sunday Morning Worship Service.
Sunday School: 10:00am
Sunday Worship Service: 11:00am

03/30/2024

It’s Saturday.

A dark day. A day of grieving. Mourning.

The religious leaders pay another visit to Pilate.

They remind him that, before Jesus died, he told them he would rise from the dead after three days.

A request is made for Pilate to send guards to protect the tomb. They’re afraid Jesus’ disciples will steal his body and falsely claim he rose from the dead.

Pilate grants their request.

They arrive back at the tomb, seal it, and post guards to protect it.

But what they don’t know just yet is -

A stone can’t stop the rock.

It’s Saturday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton

03/29/2024

As we get closer to Good Friday, it’s the perfect time to repost this graphic for reflection ❤️
“Here we commemorate the greatest and deepest demonstration of true love the world has ever known. For God looked down upon sorrowing, struggling, sinning humanity and was moved with compassion for the contrary, sheep-like creatures He had made. In spite of the tremendous personal cost it would entail to Himself to deliver them from their dilemma He chose deliberately to descend and live amongst them that He might deliver them. This meant laying aside His splendor, His position, His prerogatives as the perfect and faultless One. He knew He would be exposed to terrible privation, to ridicule, to false accusations, to rumor, gossip and malicious charges that branded Him as a glutton, drunkard, friend of sinners and even an imposter. It entailed losing His reputation. It would involve physical suffering, mental anguish and spiritual agony. In short, His coming to earth as the Christ, as Jesus of Nazareth, was a straightforward case of utter self-sacrifice that culminated in the cross of Calvary. The laid-down life, the poured-out blood were the supreme symbols of total selflessness. This was love. This was God. This was divinity in action, delivering men from their own utter selfishness, their own stupidity, their own suicidal instincts as lost sheep unable to help themselves.”-Philip Keller



Shared from Mrs.JGarwood

03/29/2024

It’s Friday.

Jesus is in custody.

Judas is ridden with guilt. He returns the silver, his betrayal payment, and hangs himself.

Religious leaders deliver Jesus to Pilate, the governor. Each Passover, Pilate releases one prisoner to the crowd. Barabbas, a prisoner guilty of theft, insurrection and murder, is brought in.

Pilate asks Jesus - are you the king of the Jews? Jesus confirms.

Pilate asks the crowd who to release. Barabbas.

He asks what he should do with Jesus, they shout - Crucify him. Crucify him.

Jesus is delivered to the soldiers. They place a crown of thorns on his head. They mock him, beat him, strip him of his clothes.

They head for Golgotha. Jesus bears the burden of carrying his own cross. He is too weak. Simon, a passerby, takes the cross and carries it on Jesus’ behalf.

Jesus, spotless and innocent, is hung on the cross. A nail in each hand and a nail in his feet. A sign is placed above his head reading - King of the Jews.

They mock him, insult him, spit on him, pierce his side with a sword.

Hours of agony pass. Jesus cries out - Father, forgive them. Jesus, in his final moments, prays mercy over his enemies that they may come to know and believe in him.

With one final cry Jesus proclaims - it is finished.

Jesus hangs his head. He gives up the ghost. The veil of the temple is torn, top to bottom, in two.

Joseph takes Jesus’ body. He wraps him in clean linens. He places him in a tomb, a borrowed tomb, belonging to Joseph. He seals the tomb with a stone.

With that, the plan for salvation is complete.

Sin, paid for. Debt, paid for. A promise of hope, mercy, forgiveness, eternal life. Free, if we’ll just trust him. Believe in him.

It’s Friday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton

03/29/2024

It’s Thursday.

Jesus gives instructions to the disciples on where to prepare the Passover.

It’s evening, supper time. The last supper.

They begin to eat. Jesus reveals that one of the disciples will betray him. They all ask individually if it is themself. Judas asks last. Jesus confirms.

Jesus knew, but Judas ate too.

He breaks bread and gives to them to eat, a symbol of his body. He gives them a cup to drink, a symbol of his blood that will be shed for the forgiveness of sin.

My sin. Judas’ sin. Your sin. All sin.

They head for the Mount of Olives. Jesus predicts that another disciple will betray, deny him. Three times. Peter insists he never would.

Now in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays. He asks God - if possible, take this cup from me. A second time He prays - if possible, take this cup from me. He calls upon God for once more but this time He prays - if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.

Soon after, Judas shows up with a crowd of men. And with a single kiss, Judas follows through. He commits the ultimate betrayal.

Arrested and in the hands of the enemy, Jesus is brought back to town. Religious leaders again try to find fault in Jesus, even seeking false witnesses. They deliver an unjust verdict - guilty.

Jesus is beaten, spat on, mocked.

Peter is found. He is asked if he knows Jesus, he denies. He is asked again, he denies. And for a third time, just as predicted, Peter denies knowing Jesus.

Betrayed again.

It’s Thursday. But Sunday is coming.

Share from Courtney Melton

03/29/2024

Thursday: Peter Denies Jesus

Jesus gathers the twelve disciples together for the last supper.

He gives them bread to eat, representation of his body.

He gives them wine to drink, representation of the blood he will soon shed on Calvary.

Jesus warns Peter that he would deny him, and deny him three times at that.

Peter is shocked and insists he would never.

After all, Peter was the first disciple called by Jesus.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is praying and the soldiers arrive to take Him away.

Judas has officially committed his plan of betrayal.

They take Jesus before the court and Peter sits watching, later approached three separate times and asked if he knew Jesus.

And all three times, he denied.

He immediately goes to the courtyard and weeps.

But I wonder –

Being so faithful to Him for so long, the first disciple called, why?

I truly believe that Judas was always one foot out the door and doing the hokey pokey daily.

But Peter, he was all in. Steadfast in his following.

He’s known to be one of the most faithful, always there to stand up for Jesus and protect Him.

Was he afraid there was no one to protect him if he said yes?

Afraid of the consequences because of those around him?

Would it have made things worse for Jesus in that moment if Peter had said yes?

Just in distress at what his friend, his master is enduring?

How was Peter feeling in that moment?

From what we read we was in his own personal anguish because of what he’s just done.

I imagine He had a hard time getting up, for awhile.

In disbelief, full of disappointment and pain for what He had just done.

What would have happened if Peter stepped in or spoke up for Jesus?

Just as we all put on Judas’ shoes and betray Him, we also all put
on the shoes of Peter and deny Him.

My first thought of a denial of Jesus is the denial to accept Him.

Did you run when He first came calling? Are you running now?

Did you struggle and wrestle with it or just fall into the arms of the Lord as soon as conviction hit.

But then there’s denial as a believer.

Our consequences of proclaiming Jesus and publicly declaring Jesus most likely aren’t the same as the punishment Peter would’ve been given then.

But we still do it.

We deny Him.

And sometimes denial isn’t saying the words out loud.

Sometimes its when we don’t say anything at all when we should.

We deny His voice, His instructions –

To pray with that coworker having a hard time, to talk to that stranger in the parking lot, to give to the homeless man on the side of the road, send that message, call that person.

When we don’t listen, we’re denying Him.

And sometimes we’re afraid of rocking the boat, of people being mad at us.

Especially those closest to us.

We unfortunately risk our jobs, our friendships, our relationships, etc. when we proclaim Jesus publicly.

A conversation about Jesus isn’t always received well.

Sometimes it feels easier to just leave Jesus on the shelf or put Him in our pocket in certain situations to save face, to keep the peace.

We shouldn’t let those things stop us but the honest truth is that we do.

And the bigger truth is, that’s just fear.

If we’d just obey Him, speak the name of Jesus, He’ll take care of it all after that.

But no matter the denial -

Forgiveness is always there.

We learn later that after the resurrection and before Jesus ascends into Heaven he has a chat with Peter again.

Peter denied three times so Jesus confirms Peters love three times.

“Peter, do you love me?”

I truly believe that Peter’s three reassurances of “yes” to that question served as his testament of his true faith in Jesus and that
forgiveness was given to him just as it is us today.

In a world as cruel and ugly and evil as ours has become, sometimes it’s easy to just sit back and be quiet.

Someone else will speak up but not me, Lord.

And sometimes denying Jesus isn’t denying that you know Him, but denying what He’s asked of you.

Disobedience. Denying his request, His call for you.

Sing that song. Announce your call to preach. Take that Sunday School position.

Our choice to be obedient or disobedient ultimately determines who hears the gospel.

How a backslid believer or nonbeliever could or could not come into contact with Jesus through us.

Despite the way in which we deny Him, because we all do it in some way at some point..

Forgiveness is still there.

Just as He did Peter, and just as I believe He would’ve done Judas, He’s always ready to forgive and welcome us back into His arms.

I wonder – what was it like to be in the shoes of Peter?

Shared from Courtney Melton

03/29/2024

Think about this for a second.

Jesus knew.

He goes into that room with His disciples. He knows He is going to be betrayed. He knows it is Judas who will turn against him. He knows that He has been sold out for a handful of silver. Stabbed in the back by one He has poured His life into.

Yet, in that room, hours before the death of Jesus, Judas ate too. Jesus fed Judas too. Jesus prayed for Judas too. Jesus washed Judas’ feet too. I struggle to fathom that kind of love. A love that would feed the mouth that deceived you. A love that would wash the treasonous feet of the traitor. A love that could forgive even the vilest of betrayals.

I honestly struggle to comprehend it.

And then, suddenly, I realize that I’m Judas. And in that moment, I’m so thankful & altogether overwhelmed that Judas ate too. ❤️

Shared from God’s Amazing Grace

03/29/2024

03/27/2024

It’s Wednesday.

Jesus is still teaching.

It seems as though things are quiet around town. But that isn’t the case.

Plots and schemes are made. The chief priests and the elders devise their plan to arrest Jesus and kill him.

Back in Bethany, in the home of Simon, Jesus is sitting at the table. A woman arrives and pours ointment, perfume, on Jesus’ head.

The disciples are angry. They question why she would waste it by pouring the entirety of it on His head. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.

Jesus calms them, assuring them that she is doing a beautiful thing, preparing his body for burial, and that wherever the gospel is preached, what she did will also be told in her memory.

Back with the chief priests Judas, a disciple of Jesus, has arrived. Negotiations are made. Judas is desperate, greedy. He agrees to deliver Jesus to the chief priests in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Betrayal.

It’s Wednesday. But Sunday is coming

Shared from Courtney Melton

03/27/2024

Wednesday: Jesus is Betrayed

Things were kind of quiet, Jesus was still teaching.

The final plan has been devised to arrest and kill Jesus.

Enter Judas –

A long time disciple of Jesus, one of the chosen, one of the “insiders” closest to Him.

He’s followed Jesus all this time but a switch flips and he turns on Him.

We all know that the story goes on to the last supper and Jesus makes it known that one of them will betray Him.

And here comes Judas playing dumb like “is it me?” So Jesus confirms. He's caught.

Not only did Judas make a deal to hand Jesus over to them, He approached them.

He wasn’t conned into it, he wasn’t coerced.

He chose to betray Jesus.

And for thirty measly pieces of silver, what’s said to be a price equivalent to the price of a slave.

The story continues, Judas stays true to his deal.

Trading in the Savior of the world for worldly things.

He ends up so guilt ridden and remorseful that he hangs himself in the very field he bought with his dirty money.

But I wonder –

Why did Judas all of a sudden flip on Jesus?

Was he struggling before this week began?

Was he just desperate?

But what is there to be desperate for when Jesus is always with you.

What was so strong that overpowered Judas’ faithfulness to Jesus that he switched up on Him so quickly?

Jesus already knew, called him out, he had the chance to change his mind. But he didn't.

Why?

Did he continue out of spite or anger that he was caught?

What became bigger?

Was he angry at Jesus for something?

But I’m shrinking in my seat as I write this because I’ve been Judas.

I’ve been walking right along with Him and out of nowhere it’s like I’m in left field, off on my own path again.

We betray Jesus anytime we choose something over Him or the path that follows Him.

And that’s a hard realization to come to.

Some things, some missteps, are easier to recover from but other times, though its usually not intentional, all of a sudden we’re so far gone and we’ve not even realized that we’ve turned our backs.

The world makes it so easy to trade Him in.

Evil is hidden in plain sight so well that we've turned on Him before we even know it.

And its human nature, it’s woven deep within us.

But nothing of the world will fulfill us like Jesus will.

And just like Judas, sometimes Jesus checks us real quick.

He warns us of what we’re about to do.

Almost like a way out, like Judas had a way out.

He was busted already, the perfect opportunity to turn back to Jesus before it gets worse.

But Judas chose to continue, and sometimes so do we.

We see the trouble coming from our own actions but we do it anyways.

Our fleshly desires, longing to feel fulfilled, overpower our faithfulness to Jesus.

We’re so tangled in the midst of our sin and our distractions from Jesus that we just keep doing it.

Or we’re so far down our path of desperation or destruction that we can’t see the way back.

Here’s the fun part –

Not so fun for Judas though, he couldn’t stand himself and the decision he’d made so he chose to end it all.

But I firmly believe, I KNOW, that Jesus would have welcomed him right back.

He didn’t need to do what He did.

And the same for us today.

We’re never too far gone.

We betray Jesus daily, big or little its all the same. Betrayal.

Sin creeps in, mental illness creeps in, relationships creep in.

All kinds of distractions, desperation and wedges planted between us and the Lord.

That’s the enemy.

But with arms open wide, as soon as we turn back around, there’s Jesus.

Ready, willing, and ecstatic to welcome us back.

I wonder – what was it like to be in the shoes of Judas?

Shared from Courtney Melton

03/26/2024

It’s Tuesday.

Jesus is teaching.

He passed by the withered fig tree he had cursed the day before and taught of faith.

Back in town, Jesus has made it clear who He is. The King of the Jews. Lord. Savior. Messiah.

The Pharisees are angry. They want to discredit Jesus. They question him, interrogate him. Tried to trap him in his own words, catch him in a lie. They fail.

He teaches again. Of hypocrisy, being a hinderance to the kingdom of Heaven, spiritual blindness - the seven woe’s.

Jesus heads to the Mount of Olives with his disciples. He teaches again. Of the end times, of the second coming of the Lord, of judgement day.

Jesus is still teaching. We just have to listen.

It’s Tuesday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton