Church
What is the truth about Jesus?
Posted on March 9th, 2011
By Mike Salch, Pastor
Orchard First Baptist Church
In the apostle John’s letter, which is called 1John in the Bible, he talks about testifying and testimonies. Testimonies are a great part of the foundation of any good legal system. People are sent to prison or set free based on the testimonies of others. Some people testify as eye witnesses, so they tell what they saw, heard, felt or otherwise experienced. Others testify as expert witnesses, so they give their opinions based on their knowledge of the case or their extensive knowledge of a particular field of study. The purpose of testifying is for evidence to be brought forth.
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Love is shown through actions or it is not love
Posted on February 26th, 2011
By Pastor Mike Salch
In the letter the apostle John wrote, which is named 1John in the Bible, he reminds us that God loves us. He reminds us there is no doubt that God loves us. As humans, we may say we love someone, and yet there are no actions which prove we have love for that someone. Love is a verb. Love is shown through actions or it is not love. Simply saying to another that you love them, in and of itself, is meaningless. John, in his letter, reminds us that God has shown us that He loves us because He sent His only Son, Jesus, to suffer and die on the cross in our place. The apostle Paul wrote, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind – God loves me.
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Use the Bible to examine the truth before you believe it
Posted on January 19th, 2011
In the second chapter of the book of 1John, John gives us a warning to be careful whom we choose as teachers. Each of us listens to someone. We give our ears and our attention to those on the TV, or those on the radio, or those in places where we gather. We listen to their ideas and often make their ideas our own. Especially when it comes to our beliefs about God, we must be extremely careful.
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What will this year bring for you?
Posted on January 4th, 2011
By Pastor Mike Salch
First Baptist Church, Orchard
What will this year bring for you? None of us knows for sure. There are things which will happen to you which are totally out of your control. But, for most of you – most of the time – what this year brings will depend on you. This year will be what you make of it. Even when something happens which is out of your control, you will decide how you will respond to it.
The key to your year will be your discipline. The word discipline comes from the word disciple, which means “one who learns”. When you think of the word disciple, you may think of those who followed Jesus when He walked this world. We call those who followed Him his disciples because they followed His teachings. They learned from Him and lived their lives obeying His teachings.
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Act the way Christ wants you to act —not just at Christmas
Posted on December 27th, 2010
By Pastor Mike Salch
Many people feel different during the Christmas season. They leave a little bigger tip. They put some money from their pocket in the pail on the way into the store. They cut others more slack than they usually do. Maybe they let someone merge into their lane ahead of them on the freeway rather than defend their right to their space. They volunteer their time to do an act of service to help out others. They give some thought to people who are in need. Maybe they buy a toy for a child they don’t even know.
In other words, during the Christmas season, they are giving and forgiving. During the Christmas season they sacrifice some of their time and some of their money. Those people really like the person they become during the Christmas season. For a season, it’s not all about money. For a season, it’s not all about them.
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A Pastor’s Perspective
Posted on September 14th, 2010
By Mike Salch, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Orchard
In his first letter, the apostle John wrote that there is a difference between those who are followers of Christ and those who merely claim to be followers of Christ. The difference is that followers of Christ “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).
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Easter Isn’t Over
Posted on April 6th, 2010
I hope you had a wonderful Easter, and I hope you attended the church of your choice. Easter is a wonderful reminder to us that God is in the “raising from the dead” business. God does things all the time which we think are impossible. Even those who were closest to Jesus and had devoted years of their lives following Him did not expect to see Him alive again after they saw Him die on the cross. (more…)
Be determined. Be confident. Do not lose courage.
Posted on March 23rd, 2010
By Mike Salch Pastor
First Baptist Church
There are times in the life of all of us who are Christians when we know in our heart there is something God wants us to do. We know it is our duty to obey our Lord, but we have a difficult time moving forward and completing the task. We wonder how things will work out when we take that step of faith. We wonder what the future holds, and we have an amazing capacity to imagine all the worse things that could happen and few, or none, of the great things that could happen as a result of our obedience.
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Seek and ye shall find
Posted on January 14th, 2010
A Pastor’s Perspective
By Mike Salch, Pastor
First Baptist Church, Orchard
The Bible says, “Seek and you will find.” There is such a depth of meaning in those five words. God tells us we are to seek Him. “Seek” means different things to different people. Seek may mean to search for; to ask for; to desire; or to be in pursuit of. The meaning for each person comes from where they are in their spiritual life.
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“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory”
Posted on November 12th, 2009
We come to the end of The Lord’s Prayer with the phrase, “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” Some Bibles will have this phrase included in the text. Some Bibles do not have this phrase included. And, some Bibles do not have the phrase shown in the text, but they have it as a footnote at the bottom of the page. (more…)
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