Plymouth Haven Baptist Church

Core Truth: Seldom if ever will God do things the way we would expect or prefer. In fact, it seems that most of the time He does the very opposite, and it is at those times in particular that He calls us to just trust Him and not waver in our faith.

Core Truth: While Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday was met with great joy by only a few genuine worshipers who saw Him for who He really was – their long promised Messiah – a much larger crowd of religious leaders who were also there saw Him as a very serious threat to their own positions of power, and soon made sure that He was nailed to a cross in hopes of settling that issue once and for all.

Core Truth: The question is not IF the storms of life may come at some point into our lives, but rather it’s simply a matter of WHEN, and waiting until that moment to discover whether we have built our lives on the right foundation can be a fatal mistake. The wise person decides well ahead of time to build on the only foundation that is sure to last – the decision to follow Christ and Him alone.

Core Truth: The storms of life in which we may find ourselves always reveal at least two important things: one, how genuine the quality of our trust in God and His work in our lives really is… and two, how absolutely sufficient Christ is in bringing us to safe harbor, even when it means passing through some of the most difficult and treacherous storms we may be facing, because His own ironclad promise is “and behold, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually – regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the very end (consummation) of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

We must accept Jesus’ terms of surrender

Core Truth: As with Israel at a most critical moment of their national life, so today both nations … churches … and even individuals are ever in danger of missing God’s blessings and grace by failing to recognize the time of His divine visitations.

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!

We should defend the persecuted because:
1. Because we want to be where Jesus is working
2. Because the Bible commands us
3. Because defending religious freedom is essential to our mission strategy
4. Because the persecuted deserve our help
5. Because we can make a difference.

Core Truth: How long have we "lived in the Father's house and failed to understand His heart?" The more we recognize how much we ourselves have been given by sheer grace the more patient, generous and forgiving we will find ourselves able to be toward others.

Three reasons why this “darkest day in human history” deserves to be called Good Friday.

Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully man. He was born and lived a sinless life. He died, was buried, and He rose again from the dead. He will come again, in glory, one day to judge the living and the dead. Who do you say that Jesus is?

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: The life and ministry of John the Baptist is nothing short of a watershed moment in human history and speaks at once of the faithfulness of God as well as of His absolute sovereignty in all matters pertaining to mankind in general and to God’s people in particular.

Core Truth: Trusting God and continuing to serve Him patiently in the face of prolonged delays is certainly a virtue to be desired all its own. However, continuing that same level of faith and obedience when all the evidence says that all hope is now gone is an even greater measure of our trust in the One who “does all things well” and whose “ways are always perfect.” (Mark 7:37; Psalm 18:30)

Core Truth: Christ set the example for all who would follow Him. It was an example of resolute obedience to the Father’s will, and a refusal to compromise or seek an easier way out, no matter what that cup contained.

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: “Christian discipleship is a decision to walk in His ways, steadily and firmly, and then finding that the way integrates all our interests, passions, and gifts, our human needs and eternal aspirations. It is the way of life we were created for.” (Eugene H. Peterson)

Core Truth:How often must our Lord still be surprised and saddened by the ingratitude of those for whom He has done so much, while those who understand how desperate their need was and how graciously He has met that need can never thank Him enough.

Core Truth: It is possible that the future that is about to unfold before us may turn out to be one of the most exhilarating but also costly times we have yet experienced as followers of Christ. However, if that be true, it is also true that the Gospel’s power to change lives, reshape cultures and even alter the course of nations will be, as it always has been, in direct proportion to willingness of God’s people to actually begin to obey Christ’s radical demands.

Core Truth: Until Christ personally opens our eyes and touches our hearts with the burning coals of His resurrection power, we really have no idea what happened that first Easter morning!

Core Truth – Everything that was done our Lord on that darkest of all days was done in our place and on our behalf – all the injustice, betrayal, scourging, mocking and death on the cross belonged to us but He lovingly took it all because of His and the Father's great love! “For He made Him to be sin for us Who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor.5:21)

God came to us!

Core Truth: True Christian stewardship is far more inclusive than just our money and our checkbook; our Lord’s example makes it clear that everything – even the very breath we breathe – is His gracious gift to us and is to be used for His purposes while we are here on earth.

Core Truth: While it is quite possible to find ourselves in the middle of storms of our own making, it is also true that some of life’s worst storms come to us not because we are out of God’s will, but rather because we are in it.

Core Truth: Our position as a believer is based upon His position of authority.

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

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: We need to be as quick to thank God for His blessings as we are to ask Him for His help.

Core Truth: “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area his life.” Billy Graham

Core Truth: In the confusion and uncertainty of today’s world, we can learn to rest in the certainty of our hope in Christ and in the fact that God has already given His final word on all things pertaining to this life to come!

Core Truth: “If you want to make a powerful and lasting impact on the culture, you’ve got to do more than just consume it, critique it, condemn it, or copy it. The only way to truly change the culture is to create something new for it – something that will inspire people enough to reshape their world.” Whitney Hopler

Core Truth: Nothing could be worse than to one day stand before our Lord and discover that because we have made room for excuses, we failed to fulfill our divine destiny and thereby limited the rewards He had prepared for us.

Core Truth: Scripture says of our Lord, “A bruised reed He will not crush, and a smoldering wick, He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.” This parable has been rightly called “The Gospel of Another Chance and the Threat of the Last Chance.”

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: While young Mary might have been excused for doubting the angel Gabriel’s incredible words to her, she said what the aged Zechariah should have said – “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord: may it be done to me according to Your Word.” And because he permitted his doubts to short-circuit his faith he had to sit in muted silence for nine long months.

Core Truth: This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us.

Core Truth: The purpose of Christ’s disturbing words about the end of his age was never to frighten us as His followers. Rather, it was to prepare us to live our lives in ways that can offer real hope and deliverance to a troubled world.

Core Truth: Christian discipleship requires a clear understanding and acceptance of our role as stewards rather than owners of all that God has given us in life, and that our sole purpose in life is to glorify Him and advance His kingdom on the earth.

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: While the crowds on that first Palm Sunday were filled with joy over the arrival of their King, Nature and its Creator both knew that within a matter of days they would reject Him and suffer consequences beyond their imagining.

Core Truth: According to the clear teaching of Scripture, every human being is subject to influence and even control by ungodly spirits. However, our freedom in Christ enables us to choose to reject such control and live under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Core Truth: As was true of Israel two thousand years ago, so today God providentially schedules times of divine visitation for nations, individuals and even churches. Those who are wise will recognize such times and not allow them to be missed by carelessness or unwillingness to accept His will.

Core Truth: When I tell God I am ready for Him to do a new thing in my life, I had better be ready for Him to take me at my word.

Core Truth: It is never God’s intention that we live our lives in fear and defeat. Rather, He wants us to learn to walk in high victory through the power and blessing of prayer.

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: What has always been does not always have to be. Our disappointments can be turned into great successes when we let Christ become part of the situation.