Love Your Enemies

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Clark Bunch

February 21st     |     text: Matthew 5

This is the first sermon in the Things Jesus Said series. We will study some of the parables, teachings and sermons of Jesus for the next four weeks leading up to Palm Sunday and Easter.

Matthew 5, 6 and 7 are most familiar to us as the Sermon on the Mount. A recurring theme throughout most of Matthew 5 is Jesus telling his listeners to step it up a notch. Listen to what the Law requires and what the scribes and Pharisees have been teaching then go above and beyond. God desires more than the bare minimum of what is required of everyone. Think of it in terms of taking a class. Meeting the minimum requirements will earn you a passing grade but it won’t be an A. If we can’t be satisfied with minimum wage earnings, dial-up internet and standard definition tv, why offer God the least amount we think we can get by with?  Continue reading →

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Empty Boxes

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Clark Bunch

    Screenshot 2015-09-23 at 2.19.54 PM - EditedValentine’s Day is coming up this weekend. At our house that means markers, scissors, glue, stickers and oddly cut scraps of colored paper and cardstock. It’s the same at Easter, Christmas and birthday parties as well, and not just the week of those days either. Johannah has been making Valentines since the first week of January. Continue reading →

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God’s Great Love

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Clark Bunch

Screenshot 2015-09-23 at 2.19.54 PM - EditedValentine’s Day is coming up in about a week. Like Halloween, it’s one of those non-holidays that different churches will handle differently. Some will have a Valentine’s banquet or a “True Love Waits” event for their youth, while others will simply ignore it completely. Our own church does not have anything planned but my wife and I met on Valentine’s Day so it will always be special to us. February 14th will be on a Sunday this year so like or it not there may be no escaping it completely at your Sunday church services. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are always on Sunday, and church folk sometimes disagree on how much of an effect those days should have on worship. Whatever you add to the program, I always encourage pastors to make sure they preach the Gospel. Even if your allotted time is shortened, that’s all the more reason to make it count. Continue reading →

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The Heart of God

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Clark Bunch

February 14, 2016     |     text: Luke 15:11-32

heart of GodLast week we examined the heart of man. There are many references and examples from scripture, we read a few and mentioned some others without turning to them. To say “the heart of man is corrupt” is like shooting fish in a barrell. Jesus did not have to ask what is inside of man and neither do we. We each carry such a heart inside of us, and even the Christian believer with the indwelling Holy Spirit  has only to look around to see what a world looks like wrought by cold hearts of stone. Regardless of personal religious beliefs, most people realize there is something wrong with the world. Many agree what’s wrong – it’s us.

The heart of God is going to be a little harder to pin down. Such great love may surpass our ability to understand. But we are also a little resistant. Even though we try to comprehend the God that loves us, our natural heart and mind resist believing that such a love can be real. The logic centers of our brain push back. So let’s go to the scriptures and ask God to open our eyes and ears to Spiritual understanding. Continue reading →

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North Georgia Men’s Conference

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Clark Bunch

 

 

Screenshot 2016-03-02 at 2.47.19 PM

UPDATE: The speaking lineup has changed slightly, as reflected in this updated poster.

North Georgia Men’s Conference will be hosted by Trinity Baptist but is the collaborative effort of many area churches. Individual tickets are $30, $25 each for groups of 15 or more. You can register for the event by clicking here. Continue reading →

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The Heart of Man

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Clark Bunch

February 7, 2016     |     text: Jeremiah 17:5-10

heartWe use the illustration of the heart to describe the core of our being, what lies deep inside of us. We talk about heartache or heartbreak when we lose someone that we love and use terms such as heavy hearted or lighthearted to describe how we feel. The mind and the heart are very closely related, so much so that a great loss may indeed cause the heart in your chest to actually hurt. Our hearts really do beat faster when we are excited and a shock may be enough to literally stop a heart. The Bible has a lot about the heart of man and if you will excuse just one bad pun, let us get to the heart of the matter. Continue reading →

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All the World’s a Stage

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Clark Bunch

Published in The Calhoun Times Saturday, January 30

Screenshot 2015-09-23 at 2.19.54 PM - EditedExperiencing God author Henry Blackaby says that God speaks to us in many different ways, including through His Word the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church. Some of those seem obvious. The first thing one would do if interesting in knowing what God has to say is pick up a Bible. Prayer can be more than talking to God. When we stop doing other things and focus our attention toward God to pray, that makes us receptive to also hear what God is saying through the Holy Spirit. “The church” is made up of many individuals, and God could use the preacher’s sermon, the words of a hymn, a Sunday school lesson or the kind words of a thoughtful brother or sister to get his message across. For me, hearing God speak through circumstances is the most difficult to grasp, at least in a way that can put into words. God has ordained the events of history and he works things together for our good (Romans 8:28). We know from reading Ephesians 6 that spiritual warfare goes on around us, and in heavenly places, unseen in the natural world by physical eyes. There is so much going on that we are oblivious to, and in this case I believe an extended metaphor will help. Continue reading →

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God Wants to Hear From Us

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Clark Bunch

January 31, 2016     |     text: Leviticus 26:11-12, Revelation 21:1-4

God wants to speak to us. Last week we looked at ways he does that; through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church. God also wants to hear from us. His desire is to be with us.

We all know to some degree what that’s like; if you have children or grandchildren that live in another state, or maybe it’s your parents that have moved. You may have plans to see them next Christmas but in the meantime you make do with a letter, a telephone call or an online chat. We get busy and sometimes those calls get few and far in between. I live in the same house as my wife and daughter but some days we don’t see each other. I come home from work after being gone 10 or 12 hours and if it’s Girl Scout night Johannah comes home and goes straight to bed. Or if I have class and go straight there at the end of a long day, Johannah is already in the bed asleep when I get home. Those things are important but we have to manage how many “important” things we fill our lives with or we end missing a thing or two that should have been of most importance. Continue reading →

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It Says So in the Bible

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Clark Bunch

Published in The Calhoun Times Saturday, January 23rd 

Screenshot 2015-09-23 at 2.19.54 PM - EditedIt’s been cold lately, maybe you’ve noticed. The spring-like weather that lasted into December, and the daily highs in the 70’s the week of Christmas, stand in stark contrast to the upper teens we had earlier this week. Enjoy the weekend while it lasts, this should be the exception for a while and not the rule.

I remember my grandmother making a comment about the weather many years ago, mentioning how the Bible says that someday you won’t be able to tell summer from winter. She didn’t cite a verse of scripture as much as vaguely stating “it says in the Bible… “ before dispensing her prophetic wisdom. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it turns out the Bible says quite the opposite. When God made his covenant with Noah to never again strike down every living thing, he went on to say “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) God has actually promised that the seasons will always keep changing! Continue reading →

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God Wants to Speak to Us

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Clark Bunch

January 24, 2016     |     text: 1 Samuel 3:1-11, 19-21

Ever play phone tag? Not the telephone game where you whisper a message to the person sitting next to you, then they repeat the message to another. That’s a fun little game we play to teach a lesson. Phone tag is much more frustrating. That’s where I call and leave you a message, you me back and leave another message that you’re returning my call and so forth. Even if we both wish to open the lines of communication it can sometimes be difficult to make a connection. Samuel was a prophet of God in the Old Testament. It is unlikely we will hear God speak in an audible voice but we are much more likely to hear from God than the people of Samuel’s day. The real question is if we will respond the way Samuel did when called.

God speaks to us in many different ways. Continue reading →

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