Posts by Andy Baker (Page 5)

I want to be a person who prays more, but I just don’t know what to pray for! The truth is that nobody except Jesus is an expert at prayer (Luke 11:1; 18:1). Yet, there are a number of helps that can cause us to think more about the blessings God gives us—as well, the opportunities we have to ask God to make a difference in our world. Consider this old illustration of just using your hand to remind you…

With the departure of the Albers family, there is a hole left in the work of Graeber Road. While we pray for Troy, Amy, and Remi in their new home in Sunray, we also need to be praying for the work and the next associate preacher of Graeber Road. Consider that we are now in an interim time period. Interim means temporary/provisional. How long that may be is not known, however, what we can do in this interim is absolutely…

How one will answer this question WILL mold and shape their view of life, for the rest of their life and usher them into eternity. If God does not exist, then our lives will cease to have meaning outside of ourselves and there will be no absolute standard of right or wrong for us. On the other hand, if one comes to know that there is a God, then determining His will and His revelation He has made becomes an…

Your gadgets will be worthless. “In a moment,” the Bible says, “in the twinkling of an eye” the end will come. There will not be time to call friends or loved ones. There will not be time to send one final email to say goodbye or “prepare to meet thy God.” Our cell phones, our laptops, and our gadgets which now seem so powerful and time-consuming will all be rendered useless with the coming power of an omnipotent God! For…

“Daddy, you said a bad word when you were preaching,” he whispered to me. Immediately, I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him to give my full attention. “What did I say, son?” He turned away from me and said, “you said the word, ‘gee’.” It is true that sometimes I’m given to filler words that creep unaware into my speech. I have no excuse for saying it and I certainly didn’t try to justify it to…

I wish I could share effectively all of the positive feedback that I have heard from members based on the evangelism workshop we had last weekend. Very little of it had to do with Rob and Nicole, and the majority of it had to do with members who have had their eyes open to the fact that they have a part to play in the growth of the church (Acts 8:4). The excitement is palpable and we will say and…

Reflections on Proverbs 23:23: Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. I have the choice to buy the truth. Buying and selling is as natural as breathing in the consumer-driven culture of America 2021. Advertisements and appeals bombard the average American from all over with one message: “buy this to be happy!” Solomon says in Proverbs and throughout Ecclesiastes, “Buy the truth,” and accessorize it with “wisdom, instruction, and understanding” in order to…

Jesus gave some of the most coveted compliments to the most unlikely of people. In Luke 7, a centurion discovers Jesus and implores Him to come and heal his dear servant. The account ends with the servant healed but Jesus making the comment to the following crowds, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Luke 7:9). What types of qualities characterized this centurion’s faith and made it great in the eyes of…

People in the valley often have little perspective on how big the mountains really are, how long the range is, or what is waiting on the other side. Isn’t it wonderful to know that whatever valleys life tries to shove us into, God has provided perspective we badly need, yes, even crave? What really gets you down? Maybe economy, politics, sorrow, trouble, rumors, falsehood, families, wars, persecution or simply dread of the future? What valley are you walking through? The…

The holidays are almost over. Everyone will soon be settling back into a rhythm that will take most people through the remainder of the winter and through the first part of spring. However, every day I check my “junk email” account, I see hundreds of email subject lines from hundreds of different companies such as this: “Christmas sale! You don’t want to miss this event.” “Treat yourself NOW!” “Don’t miss an EXTRA 40% off year end.” After months of Christmas…

It was a plethora! In fact, the two lead craftsmen of the tabernacle said that they had, “more than enough for doing the work of the Lord” (Ex.36:5). What a statement to be made about God’s people. There was work to be done, there was a godly plan to be executed, and the people were right there with what was, “sufficient to do all the work, and more” (Ex. 36:5). How does that happen? The Lord committed a charge. Through…

“You have no desire to help anyone as a preacher. You just want to get rich off of us!” As a preacher, the apostle Paul had to defend himself against those who accused him with words like the above statement. As a preacher, it hurts when accusations are made like that. In fact, he had to confirm his work and apostleship again to some of the very people he had helped and converted (2 Corinthians 2:14 -3:3)! Notice some things…