SALEM Baptist Church

03/31/2024

Easter reminds us of:

PRIORITIES
Easter reminds us of what is really important.

GOSPEL
Easter reminds me of the deep and wide Gospel—the whole Gospel.

STABILITY
Easter reminds me, us, that God can be trusted no matter what we face in life.

SALVATION
All is grace, and Easter reminds us even as we fail, that He will never fail us.

EVIDENCE
Easter reminds us that we’re not foolish in following Jesus, and actually, that we would be foolish not to.

SCRIPTURES
Easter reminds us that God’s Word never fails.

PAST
Easter reminds us of our past and the new life and freedom that we now have.

IMPACT
Easter reminds us that grace raises the dead and stirs the world through them. Grace creates risk takers with nothing to lose and nothing to prove.

LOGIC
Easter pulls us out of a this only life into an eternal future that kills the despair of “is this all there is?”

HOPE
Easter reminds us to hope, and pulls us into hope over and over and over again.

03/20/2022

So once again the people going to Salem Baptist Church has changed the name to Salem Church.
I’m not sure why people feel the need to change the name of this church.

02/26/2022

09/28/2020

For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

Colossians 2:9-10 (NLT)

Most people have no idea what success really is. Some people think it means you make a lot of money. But you can make a ton of money and be an absolute failure. Some people think it means being famous. But you can be famous and totally miss the point of life. So what is real success?

The Bible says real success is being who God made you to be. It means you’re not trying to be somebody else or what your parents wanted you to be. You’ll only find real success when you spend your life as the person God created you to be.

If you try to be somebody else in life, you are absolutely going to fail, because you can’t be anybody but you. Be who God made you to be. Be who you are in Christ.

When you understand that a successful life is being who God made you to be, then you will be amazed at the things God will do through you!

You lack nothing to be a success in life because success is being you. In other words, being successful in life means you are being yourself, the person God made you to be. Don’t get hung up on what other people think about you and instead focus on your audience of one: God. God shaped you and equipped you and, in Christ, has given you everything you need to be successful

02/19/2019

1977 November 13th and 14th

04/16/2018

When you fully trust someone without any doubt, you finally get one of two results: A person for life or A lesson for life

03/22/2018

Galatians 3:28 New International Version (NIV)

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

01/13/2018

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).

The difference between faithful people and unfaithful people is that faithful people don’t give up at the first sign of difficulty. They keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined. Faithful people are diligent. Faithful people are persistent. Faithful people don’t know how to quit. You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.

I’m not that smart, but I do know one thing: It is always too soon to quit. You are never a failure until you quit, and it’s always too soon to quit. God uses tough times to test our persistence.

12/23/2017

Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin” (Romans 3:24-25 The Message).

The greatest gift you’ve ever been given wasn’t bought in a store. No cash exchanged hands. It wasn’t even wrapped.

12/04/2017

“My heart rejoices in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5b NIV).

If you’re a follower of Jesus, joy should be a way of life.

Why? You’ve been completely forgiven—no guilt, no shame, no remorse, and no regrets. God has wiped them all out.

Sounds like a good reason for joy to me.

The Bible says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV).

The word “no” in the original Greek is the strongest possible negative in the Greek. It’s as if God was saying, “No, no, no — not in a thousand years, not in a million years, not a chance in your lifetime.”

That’s important because one of the biggest reasons people lose their joy is guilt. Guilt and shame have the power to steal your joy.

All of us make mistakes. We have legitimate reasons to feel regret and guilt. But God doesn’t want us to live in constant self-condemnation, constantly telling ourselves, “I should be better,” “I should be different,” etc.

How does God want you to handle your guilt? By coming clean and confessing your wrong. Go to God and say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” And then he’ll wipe away your sin.

That’s why Jesus Christ died on the cross! And he didn’t just die for the sins you’ve already committed. He died for the ones you haven’t even committed yet. They’re all covered under the cross.

Jesus took your condemnation. That’s why he died. Your sins have been paid for. You don’t have to pay for them again.

That’s salvation, and it’s your most important reason for joy. It’s the joy of a clear conscience.

11/23/2017

04/28/2017

Our natural tendency is to hate our enemies or at least to avoid them at all cost. But if you run from conflict, you’re going to be miserable most of your life. Jesus calls us to a higher standard. He calls us to be peacemakers — not peacekeepers. There’s a huge difference. Peacekeepers avoid conflict and pretend it doesn’t exist. But peacemakers resolve conflict and reconcile relationships.

The Bible promises this: “Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness” (James 3:18 TLB).

When you plant a seed, you always get back more than you started with. If you plant an apple seed, you get a whole tree full of apples in return. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. If you plant a seed of conflict, you’ll wind up with a lot more trouble than you bargained for. But the Bible says if you plant seeds of peace, you will reap a harvest of peace, kindness, and goodness in return.

So how do you do that? One of the most important life skills that you will ever learn is conflict resolution. Over the next two devotionals, I’ll share with you seven keys to becoming a peacemaker in the midst of conflict. Here are the first three.

Make the first move. Don’t wait for the person to come to you. You take the initiative. Buy that person a cup of coffee or go to lunch together. Jesus took the initiative to show mercy to us. The Bible says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us .... While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:8b, 10a ESV). Jesus didn’t wait for us to apologize. He didn’t even wait for us to feel bad about our behavior. Jesus made the first move. And he wants us to do the same thing.

Ask God for wisdom. God is always glad to help you when you’re doing what he says. The Bible says, “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you” (James 1:5a TLB). Ask God to help you decide the right time and the right place to plan a peace conference. Ask him to give you the right words to say and the right way to say them. The Bible says, “The right word at the right time is like precious gold set in silver” (Proverbs 25:11 CEV).

Start with your own confession.