Sonoita Bible Church

03/16/2026

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

Exodus 19:9-17 ~ Preparing to Meet God

Theme: God gives explicit instructions on how the people were to prepare themselves to meet with God.

Key Verse: “The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” ~ Exodus 19:10-11

Over the past 2 weeks we have learned about the Israelites arrival to Mount Sinai.

Although they will be here a while, this isn’t where God wants them to remain. They are headed to the land of promise. A land filled with milk and honey!

We learned that Mount Sinai is a significant place. It represents that goodness of God and His desire to have a people who will be His special treasure.

Who wouldn’t want to jump at the chance to be a part of something so wonderful? Yet, complying with the requirements of God will prove to be too hard for them.

We learned that Sinai means thorny and living up to the thorny demands of the law is impossible. That doesn’t mean God has given us something impossible to do, it means He has given us something that only He can do on our behalf. The purpose of the law is to cause us to depend upon Him and not ourselves.

God will not allow anyone with sin into His presence, yet we all know we don’t measure up to His standards. Our adversary will tell us to turn away and stop trying, but the call of God in our lives is contrary to that!

God has done everything on our behalf, that is what the life of Jesus is all about. Living a sinless life and giving up that life as payment for our sins. He gives life to all those that will receive Him, making them worthy to come into God’s presence and live with Him forever!

That is how we establish our life with Him and it also how we live it out. It is established by faith, and it continues through faith.

The good news is that God grants faith to anyone who seeks it. Faith comes to those that hear, and respond, to the word of God (Romans 10;17).

Today, we are going to learn about the time that God was going to reveal Himself to the whole nation. So far, they have had to depend upon Moses as God’s representative to them, and their representative to God.

God wants them to experience Him, just like He want us to experience Him today!

But they had to prepare themselves to meet with God.

Remember, God is holy. They could only approach Him at His invitation, and they had to come to Him with the proper preparations.

Let’s see how God instructed them to prepare to meet Him and see how it might instruct us today.

The message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site

02/24/2026

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

Exodus 18 ~ Jethro’s Visit

Theme: A description of the reunion of Moses’ family, confirmation of Jethro’s faith, and the sharing of some good advice. Revealing some interesting things about Moses.

Key Verse: “So Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods;” ~ Exodus 18:10-11

Last week we learned about the first battle the Israelites have to fight.

The fight with the Amalekites is symbolic of our battle with our fallen nature.

If Egypt is a symbol of our enslavement of sin, then the Amalekites are a reminder of our battle with our old nature, or our flesh.

The first could only be overcome by the mighty hand of God and the second requires our participation.

There are 2 implements needed for this battle.

The first being God’s divine presence in our life. This is demonstrated by Moses holding up his hands as they were in battle. This represented God’s presence and while his hands were lifted up, they were victorious, but when he lowered his hands, they were not.

We can be assured of God’s presence in our lives by being born again and receiving the Holy Spirit as a seal of our relationship with Him.

The second implement is effort. This is demonstrated by Joshua, and the Israelites, who went to battle. The battle could not be won without their effort.

The promise of the ultimate destruction of the Amalekites is a reminder that we will one day have ultimate victory over our fallen nature. We will make progress in the battle as we apply those implements in our life and one day when we go to heaven we will have ultimate victory over our fallen nature.

Notice that God is at the center of both of those implements. He is the focus of our prayer life and He has promised He will be with us until the end of this age.

Even when we rebel, like the prodigal son, He welcomes us back to enjoy full fellowship when we confess our sin and repent of our ways. 1 John 1:9 promises forgiveness and cleansing!

I hope that reality is an encouragement to you today!

The people of Israel are learning how to be God’s representatives in this world. They are being prepared to be a nation with God as their leader.

Today, we are going to learn about the reunion of Moses with his family.

We will get a glimpse into the character of Moses and how God is growing him to be the man that he needs to be.

The message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site

01/28/2026

Something to Think About

Here is a challenging thought from "My Utmost from His Highest" by Oswald Chambers:

Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self–will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self–willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self–respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.

Let me know what you think.

Pastor Mike
Sonoita Bible Church
520-455-5779

01/19/2026

CrossWords with Pastor Mike
Psalm 23 ~ The Shepherd’s Care

Theme: This Psalm outlines the loving care the God provides to those that are His.

Key Verse: “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” ~ Psalms 23:6

Psalm 23 is the most beloved passage in the Bible. Its words bring comfort in times of trouble and confidence in times of confusion.

This Psalm describes the relationship a person has with God through the metaphor of a shepherd and his sheep.

Last week I focused on the Lord as our Shepherd.

The Lord is the Shepherd, that is, “YHWH” is the Shepherd. He is “El Shadai”, or almighty one. The one that created everything, the one that has no limitations, the one that knows all things, the one that is morally perfect, and the one that is defined by love. That is the one that is the shepherd.

Because he is the shepherd, then the sheep have no need for concern. That is the wonderful promise to everyone that is part of His fold.

If you have never joined His fold, then that promise is not yours to claim! You must first acknowledge you are outside His fold and accept His invitation to join His fold. It is that simple and yet, that hard too. You see, when you join His fold, you must turn away from the other fold and follow your new shepherd.

For those that are part of God’s fold, then this Psalm has some wonderful things to fully understand and that is what I want to focus on today.

The Shepherd’s care for His sheep.

The message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site

12/23/2025

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

The Love of God

Theme: Christmas represents the presentation of God’s love in the person of Jesus Christ.

Key Verse: “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” ~ 1 John 4:9

Well, today is the culmination of our advent series, all the candles are now lite!

We began this advent season with a focus on hope. We really need hope, don’t we? Living in this fallen world can seem hopeless at times. So many things rob us of hope, yet when we hope in God we are never lets down. God has always fulfilled on all of what he has said.

The greatest thing He promised was to overcome our adversary for he is the one the misled Adam and Eve causing sin to enter this world. He thought he had succeeded in disgracing God but as it turns out he opened the door for the most glorifying thing which is the demonstration of God’s love.

God demonstrates His love toward us by providing someone who will overcome our ultimate enemy, death!

Because of the wonderful promise from Genesis 3 Adam and Eve, and all the generations to follow, could have hope that the evil of this world will not endure.

The outcome of hope is peace. A peaceful person is someone that has confidence no matter the circumstances because they know who controls their future. They know that faith in Jesus brings about peace because they are no longer at war with their creator but destined to be with Him forever.

As we dwell in peace we have joy. We can rejoice in all circumstances because we are no longer living for victory over
circumstances but the glory of God. God created us for His glory and to fulfil our created purpose is a joyful thing!
All of this comes about because of God’s love which is our focus for today.

I am sure you have heard it said, and you may have even thought, that if God is love then why do bad things happen to good
people? Why doesn’t he prevent natural disasters? Why doesn’t He answer my prayers when I know they are for someone’s good? Why doesn’t He do something about the evil in this world? Why do the wicked prosper? The list could go on and on.

Let’s turn to scripture to an answer to those questions. I think a scriptural understanding of God’s love will help us deal with these challenging questions.

When thinking of God’s love, we must see the distinction between God’s love for the world and His love for His own for they are not the same. And finally, we must see the purpose of His love.

When we understand all those things through the lens of scripture it is my hope that you will appreciate His love even more and
be better prepared to share that love with others.

This week's message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

12/15/2025

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

Joy to the World

Theme: Jesus is the Good News of Great Joy to the World!

Key Verse: “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;” ~ Luke 2:10

Anticipation!

That is what the Advent season is. It is focusing on the different impacts of the birth of Jesus Christ.

We started with Hope. Jesus is the fulfillment of the hope of every generation since Adam. In Genesis 3 God made a wonderful promise:

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat all the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

Eve knew that this wonderful promise would be fulfilled through her seed, and she thought that it was to come through the birth of Cain, but experience demonstrated that wasn’t the case. Cain was a representation of the fallen nature of mankind; he was self- righteous and ended up killing his brother Abel.

This is a dramatic demonstration that the problem of sin isn’t going to be solved through natural means.

Mankind would have to live with the ever need of hope that God would fulfil on his promise of overcoming the sin in this world which was fulfilled when Jesus came to be with us. Jesus is the fulfillment of hope. And yet, He is also the reason for our continued hope for His first coming didn’t fulfil all the promises of the Messiah, the remainder will be fulfilled at His second coming when He establishes His Kingdom here on earth for 1,000 years!

We get to live with the hope that God will continue to fulfil on His promises to us. The hope that He will be with us, the hope that
He will answer our prayers, the hope that He will work out good to us, the hope that one day we will be with Him.

Hope is the outcome of faith and Christmas is a reminder that God is worthy of our faith and hope!

Last week we focused on Peace for the promise of God was that this coming redeemer would be known as the Prince of Peace.
Yet, it doesn’t take much observation to realize that what we see in this world mocks the song that declares peace on earth, and good will toward men!

What are we to think of such a promise as Peace on Earth?

First, we are to see that because of Jesus we can have peace with God.

The reason we don’t have peace in the world is because mankind is opposed to God, our creator. Our sinful condition prevents us from living at peace with God which then prevents us form living at peace with one another.

We need a new nature to resolve that problem and that is exactly what Jesus provides to those that receive Him. We become
born again, obtaining a new nature that is at peace with God.

One day this world will experience the peace of Christ because, as Isaiah said, the very government will be upon His shoulder. That will be when He returns to this earth to rule for 1,000 years.

At the end of those 1,000 years God will establish eternal peace when He brings down a New Heaven and a New Earth where those born again will dwell forever!

Peace is the outcome of our faith in God. Peace because our hope if fulfilled in Christ.

Because of that peace we will experience Joy which is our focus for today.

This week's message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site

10/31/2025

https://youtu.be/JYfa5i3UgR8?si=d1kd_WOU1JB0o36W

A lot of viral science videos mix real discoveries with made-up stories, especially when it comes to the origin of life. In this video, we break down some of...

10/28/2025

What do you this of this comment?

Singing is as much the language of holy joy as praying is of holy desire. (Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary)

10/13/2025

This goes right along with my message from today!

This tried-and-true resource gives you the Bible verses to explain why we need Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross to solve our greatest problem: separation from God. When you're not sure if friends have given their lives to Christ yet, this is a great way to help them make that decision.

Draw this diagram on a piece of paper to walk someone through the gospel step-by-step. It helps to have the verses handy, bookmarked in a Bible or Bible app. The numbers show you the order in which to share.

Download it today at https://navs.me/4qn6RnN/ and ask God to bring to mind someone in your daily life who you could share it with.

10/13/2025

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

~ Evidence of Things Unseen ~

THEME: New life is Christ is something that happens within a person, baptism is a sign of that new life. It is evidence of things unseen.

Key Verse: “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” ~ Romans 6:4

How many of you would believe me if I told you that I am holding a priceless gem in my hand?

Some of you might believe it because you simply believe me because you believe in me and know I would never mislead you.

Some of you might want to see evidence of my claim. Like showing you the gem. Others might want to see the gemology report confirming the accuracy of my claim.

No matter what, some type of evidence would have to be produced for you to believe and that is a good thing. Truth claims should be backed up with evidence!

That being the case, what evidence do we have of our life in Christ? There must be some evidence for such a truth claim!

The new life, or conversion, is received through the faith of the recipient. Even the recipient of the new life can’t see faith but knows it is there!

So, that leads to another question, what is faith? How would you define faith?

For many, faith is that category used for things that cannot be defined.

For others it is a crutch to help deal with the hard things in life.

For the bible believer, it is simply taking what God says as true!

Faith is required to know God. Adam had to have faith even though he walked with God in the garden. It is because of his lack of faith that sin entered the world! Adam doubted what God had told him; he did not trust that God would provide for him. This lack of faith resulted in his sinful choice to eat the forbidden fruit.

That choice changed his nature! He no longer had the nature of life but the nature of death. And this nature of death has been passed down to all of mankind because we reproduce after our kind.

The good news is that God has not left us without hope. God offers restoration. He offered it to Adam, he demonstrated that offer through Abraham, and He continues to offer it to us today.

We experience that good news when we take God at His word through faith.

What evidence do we have of that faith? The bible tells us in Hebrews 11 that faith is evidence itself, how can that be?

Well, faith will have an impact on the person that has it. You can see the faith of a person by the choices they make every day.

Someone should not have to ask if you have faith in Jesus, just a cursory review of your life should lead them to that conclusion.

Today, we are going to see the impact of faith by Tyler & Sarah today. They will be show you an evidence of their faith through the act of baptism. Baptism is a declaration of their faith.

Let me share a few words about how faith is linked to our relationship with God and how baptism is linked with that relationship.

This week's message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site

10/06/2025

CrossWords with Pastor Mike

Exodus 12 – The Passover

Theme: God gives specific instructions regarding how the Israelites can avoid the death of all the first born.
Key Verse: “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD.” ~ Exodus 12:12

You think things are bad now, just imagine living in Egypt at the time of Moses!

You would have been living in the most powerful, and prosperous, nation in the world! You would have enjoyed all the comforts known to mankind at the time.

However, there was an undercurrent brewing in the background. You heard rumors that the despised slaves, the Hebrews, were becoming discontented. You feared them because they were so numerous and wondered just what might happen if they decided to revolt.

You decided to double down on your belief that might makes right, so you exercised more power over the Hebrews. You never doubted yourself because after all, success was confirmation that you were doing the right things.

Your gods were pleased with you, and they were serving you just fine! In other words, what you were trusting in was working out just fine!

Then, all of a sudden, things changed.

A man named Moses shows up. Most everyone, Pharaoh included, thought he was long gone! He goes to Pharaoh and asks permission to let the Hebrews go into the wilderness to worship their God.

Pharaoh decided, and you agreed, that the Hebrews had no right to make such a request, so the request was denied and that is when bad things started to happen.

First the water turned into blood. You had to search far from the Nile, and dig deep, to find water to drink. Then other weird things started to happen. The land was infested by frogs, the people were infested by gnats, the land was overcome by flies, the livestock died, people broke out in boils, a terrible storm of hail, lightening and fire, locusts ate all the crops, and then darkness fell upon the land.

You knew it was caused by the supernature because some of these terrible things didn’t happen to the Hebrews even though they were your neighbors. The gods you trusted in were not sufficient to overcome the God of the Israelites.

You started to esteem Moses and the Israelites above your own Pharaoh! You did what you could to gain their favor, including giving them some of your treasures.

Things were finally settling down, and you would have thought that normality was going to come back but you would have been wrong, the worst event was about to happen!

Unbeknownst to us, the Hebrew God was going to bring about one more terrible event, one so terrible it will break the will of Pharaoh, causing him to drive them out of our land.

Let’s turn to Exodus, chapter 12 to learn more about this terrible event.

This week's message is available at our website: www.SonoitaBibleChurch.org

Hoping your week is filled with God's Grace & Peace.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike Wright
520-455-5779
[email protected]

Sonoita Bible Church"For His Glory And Our Good" - We Are Glad You Have Visited Our Website Today. You Can Learn A Little More About Us From This Site