Plymouth Haven Baptist Church

Reject Passivity, Accept Responsibility. Lead Courageously, Receive God’s Greater Reward

Core Truth: “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that He said; if He didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what He said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like His teaching but whether or not He rose from the dead.” Dr. Tim Keller.

Core Truth: In a world increasingly wracked by wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and natural disasters; plagues and pandemics now costing millions of lives, and the raw face of evil becoming rapidly more open and unrestrained, I would argue that the need to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas is greater than it has ever been!

Core Truth: Every father leaves a legacy of some sort to his family and since fatherhood is one of the most powerful forces in our children’s lives, it is a sacred trust - a trust that our heavenly Father stands ready to help us fulfill despite our own inadequacies, failures and limitations.

Core Truth: A “takeaway” from a meeting or an event is the key fact or idea that is to be remembered for future reference or action. Since through our Lord’s grace and mercy we have just been given the gift of another Christmas, what are the “takeaways” that we should carry into the New Year?

Why Shepherds? Because of their lowly status, their strategic place in the redemptive story, and their instant obedience and sheer delight in being privileged like this.

Core Truth: No person or nation can ever be truly free apart from the freedom, which was secured by the sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago – all other freedoms ultimately flow from that divine fountainhead. And it can further be argued that apart from that freedom, no other freedoms can exist nor long endure.

Core Truth: While it is true that a father’s words can either heal or hurt, encourage or discourage, it is the daily life he lives before ever-watching eyes and ever-listening ears that is the most potent force of all.

Core Truth: The mother of our Lord is rightly honored as perhaps the consummate example of what it means to be a good and godly mother as even now, over 2000 years later, we celebrate her life and example as a model for all those whom God has called to serve in one of life’s most holy endeavors.

Core Truth: Though the witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. But if she could have looked a little further back… she would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward. (C.S. Lewis – The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe)

Core Truth:Throughout history it seems that whenever our God is going to do a great thing, He has a delightful penchant for starting small! It is a principle He seems to love to follow - whether among the nations of the earth, in the growth of His church, or in the affairs of our own individual lives!

Core Truth: Regardless of mankind’s claims otherwise, only those who have been set free by the Lord Jesus Christ actually know what it means to be free.

Core Truth: Throughout history, God has intended fathers to be His primary means of shaping their families and cultures, and history is filled with examples of those who have done it well and some who haven’t. At some point every father must decide whether, like Joshua, he will also make the irrevocable decision that he and his house will also serve the Lord, regardless of the counter-culture in which he and those he loves have been called to live.

Core Truth: God’s position over all things gives him clear perspective about all things and He wants to share His position and perspective with us, so that we too can learn to see things as they really are and live our lives accordingly.

Core Truth: Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of the character of her children.(Billy Graham)

Core Truth: God has always delighted in confounding the wisdom of men and acting in ways that challenge human logic and disarming even the wisest so that “no flesh can glory in His presence.”

Core Truth: In the waging of effective spiritual warfare on behalf of our families, the godly leadership of a Christian father cannot be overstated. Toward his wife, he is called to be a loving servant; toward his children, a firm but kind ruler; before the family at large, an example of godly living.

Core Truth: While each Memorial Day it is fitting that we pause to remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedoms, let us also remember the One Who purchased the greatest freedom of all – freedom from the power and the eternal penalty of sin.

Core Truth: Both history and Scripture are filled with examples of the important role mothers have played in teaching the faith to their children, and in today’s message we reflect on “some of the things our mothers taught us.”

Core Truth: God has incredible love for His world and for everyone of us.

Core Truth: God not only usually uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, He also chooses some of the most unlikely places to accomplish His will. As Dr. Francis Schaeffer has written: “With God there are no little people, and as there are no little people in God’s sight, so there are not little places.”

Core Truth: God isn’t looking for extraordinary people to do great things. Rather, He is looking for ordinary people through whom He can do extraordinary things, and a field full of despised shepherds was about as ordinary as you could get!

Core Truth: While some Christians (even some pastors) argue that we should not celebrate Christmas, I am not among them! Instead, in light of today’s materialistic, secularized and self-centered culture the need to celebrate the impact and meaning of our Lord’s birth is greater than ever.

Core Truth: Fatherhood is an identity-shaping vocation. Whether he does so consciously or not, a father tells his child what to become and those who have been given such a great responsibility are wise to learn from the one Who is the Father of us all.

Core Truth: Those who forget the past are very apt to fall into thanklessness. If we forget the value of our heritage and the source of our blessings, it will become very easy for us to take for granted all that we have and all that we are, and begin believing that we can make our own way without God. We will also then find it easier to forget the great sacrifices of those who have given their all on our behalf.

Core Truth: God used a mother’s faith and courage to position her son inside the king’s palace so that one day He could use that very son to save His people from their long years of Egyptian bondage and oppression.

Core Truth: The fundamental truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the irrefutable fact that those who live by faith in Him will never die and the implications of that are profound – both for those who have bowed the knee to Him in repentance and faith … and for those who refuse to do so!

Core Truth: “God did not abolish the fact of evil: He transformed it. He did not stop the crucifixion: He rose from the dead. The empty tomb opens before the world, telling us it is God Who still has the last word, not ourselves, that on Easter Day life looks forward, onward, upward, God-ward.” (Dorothy L. Sayers; Elmer S. Freeman)

Core Truth: “When God wants to do something big, He starts with something very small. When He wants to do the miraculous, He starts with the impossible.” Dr. Ray Pritchard

Core Truth: "Motherhood is more than a stage - it's a lifelong calling from God. With it He gives mothers hearts that love deeply, hands that serve tirelessly, and vision to see His blossoming image in the precious ones entrusted to their care." (author unknown)

Core Truth: Through His death on the cross Christ paid the full penalty for our sins; but through the power of His resurrection He destroyed the works of the devil, including death itself!

Core Truth: Of all the good and bountiful gifts given to us by our Creator none is more significant or to be treasured than the gift of His Presence - the one thing that sets God's people apart from all others on the face of the earth!

Core Truth: "To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love every moment of existence is a grace ... our knowledge of God is perfected by gratitude ..." Thomas Merton

Core Truth: The remarkable story of the Prodigal Son - his rebellion, his years of wasted living, and his eventual return home - would not have been possible without a father who refused to give up on him.

Core Truth: Our Lord Himself said: "Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13). In a day when true patriotism has become suspect in too many people's minds, love of one's country and its cherished freedoms remains a potent force in the hearts of those who from our nation's earliest days have been willing to give their own 'last full measure' that we might be free. And it is their sacrifices and memories that we honor this day, and for which we thank Almighty God!

Core Truth: Prayer is not a trite quick-fix answer, but a conversation with God that unlocks the power of possibility.

Core Truth: Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the life I am now living on this earth has a lasting purpose here and eternal consequence beyond the grave.

Core Truth: "If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that He said; if He didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what He said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like His teaching but whether or not He rose from the dead.” Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Core Truth: In a culture that has largely rejected the real meaning of Christmas, those who follow Christ must resist that pressure and work to sustain the true significance of the season.

Core Truth: A spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving is possible if we understand where such grace comes from – not from within ourselves, but from the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Core Truth: The greatest freedom anyone can ever know is that which comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

Core Truth: A father’s approval is a great gift and no child should ever have to grow up without it.

Core Truth: Whether of men or nations, it is ever true that freedom once secured must be sustained with great vigilance and continued sacrifice.

Core Truth: There are a number of remarkable mothers in Scripture, but none offers a better example of godly motherhood than Mary, the mother of our Lord.

Core Truth: The resurrection issue takes the question, ‘Is Christianity valid?’ out of the realm of philosophy and makes it a question of history. ~ Josh McDowell

Core truth: When God the Father sent Christ into the world He forever removed all doubt as to who God is and what our heart’s response to Him should be.