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Baptism - Shannon
Baptism is an ordinance of the New Covenant ordained by Jesus Christ, administered by immersion to those who actually profess repentance, faith, and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Drawing from chapter 29 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, this administration of the ordinance situates believer's baptism within the broader Reformed confessional tradition, noting the Baptists' deliberate alignment with Presbyterian and Congregationalist Brethren on the doctrines of justification, the Trinity, and much else, while differing on the proper subjects and mode of baptism. The outward sign of immersion into water visibly expresses Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, grounded in Romans 6, as the candidate publicly professes faith in Christ alone for salvation.
The Covenant Ceremony With Abraham
Genesis 15 records the covenant ceremony by which God confirmed his promises of seed and land to Abram — not with a bilateral oath, but with a unilateral, self-maledictory act in which God alone passed between the divided animals. The sermon traces Abraham's justification by faith alone in verse 6, examines the ancient covenant-ratification ritual as a type of Christ bearing the covenant curse, and shows that the smoking oven and burning torch passing through the pieces preaches the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The application presses believers to rest their assurance not in their own covenant faithfulness but in the faithfulness of the God who swore by himself and sealed that oath in the blood of his Son.
Of the Duties of the Priests and Levites
Numbers 18–19 belongs to a literary unit stretching from chapters 16 through 19, all of which works to vindicate Aaron's God-ordained priesthood in the aftermath of Korah's rebellion. Chapter 18 defines the distinct duties and the provision of both priests and Levites, while chapter 19 supplies the purification rites that answer Israel's terrified cry in chapter 17 — 'shall we all utterly die?' — by providing a lawful way of drawing near to a holy God. The regulative principle of worship stands at the centre of these chapters: God alone determines who may approach Him, by what means, and under what conditions, and the death penalties attached to violations are not capricious but reflect the consuming holiness of the Lord. These Old Covenant arrangements point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great High Priest who is also the Lamb, the one who both provides atonement and promotes and protects true worship under the New Covenant.
Sons and Daughters of God
What does it mean that sinners dead in trespasses can be called children of God? Expounding 1 John 3:1, this sermon works through five elements of the verse: the imperative weight of 'behold,' the immeasurable and immutable love of God rooted in his own essential being, the unmerited bestowal of that love upon the undeserving, the Christian's status as adopted sons and daughters in union with Christ, and the world's consequent ignorance and enmity toward believers. The sermon grounds adoption in the eternal predestinating love of the Father, the incarnation and obedience of the Son, and the indwelling of the Spirit — and closes with a call to behold these realities with eyes of faith as the only ground of encouragement for a church opposed by the world.
2LCF Chapter 28 - Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
2LCF Chapter 28 presents baptism and the Lord's Supper as two ordinances of positive and sovereign institution appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ, the only lawgiver, to be continued in His church until the end of the age. This session traces the confessional groundwork laid in 2LCF chapters 8, 14, 17, 22, and 26 before examining Chapter 28's two brief paragraphs in detail. The particular Baptist choice of 'ordinance' over 'sacrament,' the exclusion of 'seal,' and the inclusion of 'positive' are each shown to be polemically deliberate — asserting that baptism and the Lord's Supper are divine commands to be obeyed only by those who can render obedience, that is, regenerate believers. The session closes by grounding lawful administration of the ordinances in Matthew 28 and the commission given to qualified, called ministers of the gospel.
The Vindication of the Aaronic Priesthood
Numbers 16:41–17 records the immediate aftermath of Korah's rebellion: Israel accuses Moses and Aaron of murder, God's wrath breaks out in a plague, and Aaron runs into the congregation with a censer to make atonement, standing between the dead and the living until the plague stops. Chapter 17 then confirms the Aaronic priesthood definitively when Aaron's rod alone buds, blossoms, and produces ripe almonds, functioning as a perpetual sign against any future usurper of the priestly office. The typological weight of Aaron's intercession in verse 48 points forward to Christ, who stands between dead sinners and the wrath of God, propitating that wrath by his blood. The sermon calls hearers to recognize both the sinfulness of Israel's hasty accusation and the glory of the priestly atonement that alone grants the unholy access to a holy God.
The Requirements for Priesthood and Sacrifice
Leviticus 21–22 sets out strict requirements for both the priests who offer sacrifice and the animals brought to the altar: wholeness, purity, and freedom from defect. These ceremonial regulations are not arbitrary exclusions but typological anticipations of the one perfect High Priest and the one perfect sacrifice that God himself would provide in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sermon works through the four sections of the passage — practical restrictions on priests, physical requirements for priests, regulations concerning priestly food, and physical requirements for sacrificial animals — before turning to Hebrews 7–10 to show how Christ fulfills and surpasses everything the Levitical system could only shadow. The conclusion calls the congregation to the Lord's Supper with eyes fixed not on themselves but on the one who offered himself once for all and sat down.
2LCF Chapter 26 - Of the Church
What is the church, who belongs to it, and how is it governed? Working through 2LCF Chapter 26, this session surveys the doctrine of the church from its universal and invisible reality in Christ to its visible, local expression — arguing that the church is constituted exclusively of regenerate believers, is headed solely by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is rightly governed by elders and deacons within an independently organized yet associationally connected congregation. The session highlights the sharp departure from the Westminster Confession's inclusion of covenant children in the visible church, grounding the Baptist position in a proper doctrine of covenant theology, baptism, and regenerate church membership.
The Gospel's Liberty
Galatians 1:1–5 introduces an epistle written in urgent opposition to the Judaizing error that was perverting the gospel of justification by faith alone among the southern Galatian churches. Working from the historical setting of Paul's first missionary journey and the impending Jerusalem Council of Acts 15, this exposition traces how Paul's apostolic greeting — his assertion of divine authority, his benediction of grace and peace, and his compressed account of Christ's self-giving — is deliberately shaped to lay the theological foundation for the entire letter. The sermon argues that every element of Paul's opening salutation serves the polemic purpose of the epistle: to cast down the error that adds Mosaic ceremony to faith in Christ and to anchor the believer's peace and joy exclusively in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Ask FGBC #13: Is there a difference between our temptations and what Jesus faced?
The question at hand is whether the temptations Jesus faced were different in kind from those faced by fallen human beings. The discussion distinguishes between the sinless nature Christ assumed — not fallen, yet genuinely human — and the far harsher conditions under which he was tempted compared to Adam in paradise. Drawing on the Adam-Christ typology found in Luke 3–4 and Matthew, the speakers explore why the Son of God's obedience in a fallen, hostile world makes his conquest of temptation more weighty than Adam's failure in paradise.
The Intercessory Prayer of the Apostle
Paul's intercessory prayer in Philippians 1:9–11 reveals what the apostle most deeply desires for the church: not comfort or relief from suffering, but abounding love anchored in knowledge and discernment, sincere and blameless conduct persevering to the day of Christ, and good fruit borne entirely by the agency of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. The sermon works through two main petitions — the disposition of the heart (vv. 9–10a) and the actions of the life (vv. 10b–11) — showing that love divorced from sound theology produces sentimentalism, while theology divorced from discernment produces loveless pride. The whole is framed by the Pauline conviction that from justification by faith alone flows the life of sanctification, and that every fruit of righteousness is not the cause but the consequence of God's grace, rendered ultimately to the glory and praise of God.
The Testimony Concerning Christ
John 15:26–27 presents the Holy Spirit as both sent by the Son in a temporal mission and as one who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son — the filioque. This sermon works through the distinction between God's eternal processions (theology proper) and his temporal missions (economy), arguing that the Western church's confession of the Spirit's double procession preserves both the consubstantiality and the personal distinction of the three persons of the Trinity. The apostolic witness of verse 27 is grounded in and empowered by that same Spirit, whose singular purpose in both the sending at Pentecost and the inscripturated Word is to testify of Christ — and that testimony calls sinners to receive eternal life by faith in him alone.
The Reconnaissance of the Land
Numbers 13 records the reconnaissance of Canaan, in which twelve tribal leaders are sent to survey the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ten of the spies return with a report grounded not in the word of the living God but in an appeal to fear, functioning as anti-prophets who slander the land and paralyze the congregation — while Caleb calls the people to immediate, faith-driven obedience. The chapter exposes the difference between faithless fear and faithful courage as the decisive interpretive divide among those who witnessed the same evidence and held the same promise. The narrative calls believers to ground their courage not in the absence of obstacles but in the sovereign faithfulness of God, who has promised, guided, and proven himself in redemptive history.
The Gospel of Christ in the Valley of Elah
David's victory over Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 is not merely an episode in Israelite history but a Christological shadow pointing forward to the greater conquest of Christ over Satan at Golgotha. This sermon works through twelve points of typological correspondence between David and Christ — from Bethlehem's birthplace, to the shepherd-king, to vicarious representation, to the skull motif of Genesis 3:15 — demonstrating that the whole of Scripture is organically unified around the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The exposition serves as a Lord's Supper meditation, calling believers to rejoice in their conquering substitute and urging the unconverted to flee to the champion who uses death itself to destroy death.
Gospel Treasure in Human Weakness
Gospel ministry is defined by the preaching of Christ alone, not the self-promotion of the minister. Expounding 2 Corinthians 4:5–7, this sermon traces four marks of faithful gospel ministry: the obscurity of the minister who refuses to preach himself, his bondservice to the congregation for Christ's sake, the divine illumination that enables true proclamation, and the humility of an earthen vessel that magnifies the treasure it carries rather than the vessel itself. The call throughout is for preachers to disappear so that only Christ is seen, and for congregations to demand nothing less.
The World's Greater Liability Before God
Jesus declares in John 15:21–25 that the world's hatred of his disciples flows from a deeper hatred of himself and the Father who sent him, making the rejection of Christ not merely a moral failure but a compounding of guilt before God. Increased revelation brings increased liability: those who witnessed Christ's word and works have no excuse for their unbelief, and their rejection of the Messiah is simultaneously a rejection of the triune God. The sermon argues that right Trinitarian theology is therefore not an academic luxury but a matter of eternal life and death, since to deny the Son is to deny the Father. Believers are called to stand fast in the word of God, rejoice in suffering as those united to Christ the master, and proclaim the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ without apology.
Departure from Sinai
Numbers 10:11–36 records Israel's long-awaited departure from Sinai, the first movement of a covenant community organized around the visible presence of God. The passage is examined under three headings: the ordered departure of the tribes, Moses' invitation to Hobab as an exercise of providential wisdom, and the petitionary prayers at departure and rest that frame the entire march. The sermon draws out a sustained tension between the ideal covenant life depicted in the legislation of Exodus and Leviticus and the realistic failure narrated immediately in Numbers 11–12, pressing the parallel to New Covenant believers who are fickle yet sustained by a faithful God and the advocacy of Jesus Christ.
The Believer's Commitment to the Lord
Proverbs 3:5–6 issues three demands upon the believer: an entire commitment of wholehearted trust in the Lord, an exclusive commitment that repudiates reliance on one's own darkened understanding, and an exhaustive commitment that acknowledges God in every circumstance and station of life. The sermon traces the doctrine of total depravity as the necessary background for the prohibition against self-reliance, exposing three characteristic expressions of that self-reliance — autonomy, rejection of godly parental counsel, and reception of ungodly influences — before concluding with the promise that God will direct the paths of those who acknowledge Him. The practical summons is to employ the ordinary means of grace — Scripture, prayer, corporate worship, and family instruction — as the concrete shape of a life committed to trusting the sovereign God.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
The Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1–14 sets the rejection of Messiah by old covenant Israel within the full sweep of redemptive history, showing that their unwillingness, indifference, and violent opposition to Christ fulfilled the covenant-curse terms announced in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The second invitation extends the gospel indiscriminately to Jew and Gentile alike, yet the man without a wedding garment — representing those who lack the imputed righteousness of Christ — is cast into outer darkness, demonstrating that entrance to the marriage supper of the Lamb requires being washed in Christ's blood and clothed in his alien righteousness. The closing verse, 'many are called but few are chosen,' is read as a specific condemnation of first-century Israel rather than a general statement about the smallness of the elect. The sermon closes with a call to receive the general and effectual calls of the gospel in gratitude, and transitions into the Lord's Supper as a foretaste of that feast.
The Love of Christ and Love to One Another
John 15:9–11 presents the love of Christ for his disciples as the pattern, precept, and purpose of the Christian life. The Father's love for the Son — infinite, eternal, and unchangeable — is the very measure of Christ's love for his people, a love that is not conditional upon the disciples' obedience but is rather the ground from which obedience springs. Keeping Christ's commandments is not the cause of the disciple's acceptance before God but the consequence of justification freely received: the blood and righteousness of Christ alone secure standing with the Father. The sermon closes with an urgent call to unbelievers to cease searching for joy in creatures and to come to Christ, in whom fullness of joy is found both now and in glory.
The Anatomy of a Benediction
The closing verses of Hebrews unfold one of the most theologically dense benedictions in the New Testament, packed with titles, covenantal language, and christological weight. This exposition works through six elements of the apostolic blessing in Hebrews 13:20–21: the divine title 'God of peace,' the mediatorial title 'great shepherd of the sheep,' the covenantal foundation of Christ's blood, the petition for completeness in obedience, the doxology rendered to Christ, and the necessity of divine enabling for every good work. The sermon draws together the covenant of grace, the resurrection as the divine vindication of Christ's atoning work, and the believer's dependence on God's working in them both to will and to do — all to the end that glory be given to Christ forever.
The Apostle Paul, Part 3 - His Ministerial Character
Paul's ministerial character and doctrinal legacy in Philippians 3:1–11 are examined through four defining characteristics: his zeal for the centrality of Christ crucified, his ardent defense of the truth, his strong opposition to error, and his earnest desire for the salvation of both Jew and Gentile. The juxtaposition between Paul's former confidence in fleshly privilege and his post-conversion boast solely in Christ exposes the bankruptcy of all self-righteousness before the alien righteousness received through faith. The sermon closes with a Spurgeon quotation calling every Christian — not only ministers — to have the cross as their philosophy, tradition, gospel, and glory.
Ask FGBC #9 - How is Jesus the greater fulfillment of the Old Testament Israel?
How does the New Testament present Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament Israel? This question-and-answer exchange traces the biblical-theological thread from Adam as 'son of God' in Luke 3:38, through Israel as God's firstborn son in Exodus 4, through the Exodus typology developed by the prophets, to Jesus as the obedient new Israel and last Adam who accomplishes what both God's first son and corporate Israel failed to do. The discussion concludes with the observation that the apostles read the Old Testament through Christ because he is their Lord — what one participant calls 'lordship hermeneutics.'
The Believer's Race, Part 2
Hebrews 12:2 presents Jesus as the supreme object of faith for the believer running the Christian race. This sermon examines five dimensions of Christ to which the runner is directed: His person, His work as author and finisher of the faith, His mission under the covenant of redemption, His suffering and shame on the cross, and His exaltation to the right hand of God. The central pastoral application is that the believer neither enters nor sustains the race by personal effort, but by faith in Christ alone — and that the pattern of the cross preceding the crown should brace believers for mounting opposition to their identification with Jesus.
The Believer's Race
Hebrews 12:1 commands the people of God to run with endurance the race set before them — a race marked by real obstacles, both the weights that encumber and the sins that ensnare. The sermon works through the broader perseverance theme of Hebrews, identifies the duty, obstacles, and manner of the Christian race, and then turns to the cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11 as the primary incentive: not spectators watching the runner, but testimony from Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the judges, David, and the prophets that God is faithful in every conceivable circumstance. The appeal is not to muster willpower but to look by faith at those who have gone before, hear their unified witness that God upholds his people, and so press forward in the joy and gratitude that belongs to those justified by grace through faith in Christ.
2LCF Chapter 20 - Of the Gospel and of the Extent of the Grace Thereof
The gospel was not discovered by human reason but revealed by divine initiative — beginning with the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15 and unfolding through progressive special revelation. This session works through Chapter 20 of the Second London Confession of Faith (1689 LBCF), examining the promise of the gospel, the insufficiency of general revelation for salvation, the sovereign freedom of God in spreading the gospel, and the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit's effectual work upon sinners dead in trespasses. The doctrinal stakes are practical: a right understanding of general and special revelation is the indispensable foundation for evangelical and missionary enterprise.
The Vine, the Vinedresser, and the Branches, Part 2
John 15:3–8 sets forth the doctrines of regeneration, justification, and sanctification through the metaphor of the vine and branches. The passage establishes that union with Christ — not moral resolve or covenantal externalism — is both the ground and the sustaining power of the Christian life. The sermon refutes paedo-baptist readings of the text and the health-wealth distortion of Christ's promise of answered prayer, arguing instead that fruitbearing flows necessarily from a living faith-union with the true vine. The exhortation to abide is therefore not a condition of salvation but the calling of those already justified freely by grace.
2LCF Chapter 19 - Of the Law of God
2 London Baptist Confession of Faith Chapter 19 sets forth a comprehensive doctrine of the law of God, tracing its origin in the covenant of works given to Adam, its threefold division into moral, ceremonial, and judicial law under the Mosaic economy, and its continuing role in the life of the New Covenant church. The moral law, rooted in creation and specially revealed at Sinai in the Ten Commandments, retains its binding force for all persons, while the ceremonial law finds its divinely designed terminus in the person and work of Christ, and the judicial law expired with the dissolution of the Israelite state. The sermon closes with a christological summary: Christ alone actively obeyed the whole law in the room and stead of the elect, bore the law's curse in his passive obedience, and now governs the hearts of his people by his Spirit according to that same law.
The Vine, the Vinedresser, and the Branches
John 15:1–8 presents Christ as the true vine, his Father as the vinedresser, and his people as the branches — a passage that answers the question of who constitutes the true Israel of God. The sermon argues from Jeremiah 31 and the New Covenant's own terms that the New Covenant knows no externally connected members, and that the unfruitful branches of verse 2 refer to apostate Old Covenant Israel and to those who counterfeit saving faith, not to baptized infants as some paedo-baptist readings propose. The pruning of living branches is shown to be the Father's gracious work of conforming his people to the image of his Son through affliction and discipline. The sermon closes with a double application: unbelievers are called to look to Christ in faith, and believers are urged to receive God's chastening as the evidence of his love and the means of their growth in grace.
The Righteousness of David
David's declaration in 2 Samuel 22:21 — 'The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness' — presents an apparent contradiction for anyone who knows his history of adultery, murder, and failure of justice in his own household. This sermon works through that tension by examining the theology underlying David's claim: his righteousness is not a personal moral achievement but the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone, the same doctrine Paul draws from David's own Psalm 32 when arguing for justification in Romans 4. The sermon concludes with a call to imitate David not merely in doctrine but in appetite — in his fierce love for public worship, the means of grace, and the presence of God.