First Baptist Owasso

Chris Wall • Luke 1:1-4 The Christmas message is not a “once upon a time in a land ‘far’ ‘far’ away”. The Christmas story is not just speculative legend; it is true. In fact, because the Christmas story is an event in history, it confirms that fellowship with God is possible. Christmas reveals the literal incarnation of God. Incarnation describes the supernatural act of God the Son taking on a human nature. This supernatural event shows us that fellowship with God is possible for you and me. Salvation has really been made available to us. Today, we are beginning the Christmas season by unwrapping the gift of HOPE The gift of Christmas is not just about a baby in a manger—it’s about the transforming hope that changes lives, beginning with people like Luke and continuing in us today.

Chris Wall • Matthew 25:14-30 The physical second coming of Christ is a hard date on the human calendar. God is faithfully preparing His people for this moment by entrusting each of us with resources, opportunities, and abilities. He expects us to use them faithfully for His purposes, not to bury them in fear. His goal in providing for us is not for us to be fully funded, but fully faithful. Faithfulness leads to greater kingdom responsibility which is exactly where we want to be on the day we see Him face to face.

Chris Wall • Ephesians 3:14-21 Our mission as a church is to know God and help people follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere. A key core value to living out this mission involves learning to think generationally. We live today standing on the shoulders of believers who came before us. God brought to us the message of salvation and moves us to intentionally pass on our faith to those who come behind us. A generational mindset fosters spiritual growth helping enabling a believer individually and corporately learn from the past, connect in the present, while preparing for the future.

Chris Wall • Philippians 1:1-11 It is right to understand that every believer is part of something much larger than themselves, the global body of Christ. Yet, it is equally right to see that God has placed each of us right here in this church family where our faith is formed, love is practiced, and lives are transformed. In Philippians 1:1–11, Paul reminds us that the local church is the place where God’s people experience the greatest spiritual growth and the deepest unity. Our church provides the greatest opportunity for your life to make the greatest difference. God’s plan has never been for isolated believers but for a connected body, standing firm like a mighty army, advancing the gospel in our city. When we stay unified in our mission, to Know God and help people follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere, we will certainly live well and enter heaven with no regrets. Today, we will see that the church that lives unified becomes unstoppable for the glory and praise of God.

Chris Wall • Philippians 1:1-11 Our mission as a church is To know God and help people follow Christ here, there, and everywhere. This mission is grounded in the core value of living every day as AMBASSADORS for Christ. The Ambassador call moves our church to represent Christ in every circle of our lives. We represent Christ to our families, neighbors and co-workers. We represent Christ as we engage in our hobbies, sports teams, and our day-to-day shopping.  And of course, we represent Christ to the strangers who cross our path. God’s people representing Christ is the historic plan for the spread of the gospel. It is the one on one, life on life, day by day gospel adventure set apart for Christians in every generation. By the time Paul wrote the letter to the church at Philippi, it was established and growing. The beginning of this letter is filled with a great deal of gratitude and joy because this entire church partners in the gospel. This is the essence of being an Ambassador for Christ. Followers of Jesus

Chris Wall • Galatians 5:16-26 One of our core values as a church is to be led by the Holy Spirit daily. Walking by the Spirit is not a one-time event but a lifelong journey of continuous spiritual growth. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit not only saves, but seals, teaches, and moves the believer to live in step with God’s will. This work moves us to starve the flesh and feed work of the Spirit. This is evident both individually and as a church body. Surrender to the leadership of the Holy Spirit moves us to recognize His voice, follow His Word, and join God where He is working. This core value calls us to embrace the blessing of conviction and pursue life in step with the Spirit so that together we can KNOW GOD and HELP PEOPLE follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere.

Chris Wall • Colossians 1:24-29 We are a church devoted to reading, understanding, and meditating on God’s Word. Scripture is our guide for life, shaping both how we think and how we live. We view the world through the lens of God’s revealed truth. The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and the perfect revelation of God to man. It is a divine treasure—with God as its author, salvation as its goal, and truth without error in every part. Therefore, God’s Word is trustworthy, eternal, and remains the unchanging standard for our lives. The Challenge today is grounded in these questions: Do you understand God’s Word? Are you taking intentional steps this week to go deeper in study. Are you living it? Are you surrounding yourself with godly people who will help you apply His truth every day.

Chris Wall • James 1:1-4 James opens his letter with a bold challenge: “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.” He’s writing to believers who are scattered and suffering, yet he calls them to see trials not as interruptions, but as invitations. God uses hardship to grow us up in Christ. Trials test our faith, but they also produce endurance, shape our character, and forge a deeper trust in God. This passage invites us to re-focus our view of hardship, not as something to escape, but as the very workshop where Christ builds us into people who are mature, complete, and lacking nothing.

Chris Wall • John 15:1-10

Chris Wall • Acts 1:1-11 The writings of Luke makes up up over one-fourth of the entire New Testament when taking both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Luke gives a vivid description of the the radical life-change that took place among the post-resurrection disciples. Acts specifically fills in the gap between the Gospels and the Epistles. This revelation of God provides the transition of the gospel becoming a world-wide faith. This first chapter in Acts portrays the power of God at work in the church through the Holy Spirit delivered to the world after the ascension of Christ into heaven. This work of the Holy Spirit continues until His glorious return that it certainly on the horizon.

Chris Wall • Ephesians 6:10-13 Our Mission to KNOW GOD and HELP PEOPLE follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere puts us right in the middle of the spiritual battle in Tulsa. We have to be aware of the spiritual battle. In fact, living our lives unaware of the spiritual battle around us is dangerous. Jesus taught us to not only be mindful of the spiritual battle, but we are to take our stand against the schemes of the devil. This week part of our RE-FOCUS is learning to STAND TOGETHER against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6 teaches us how to do that well.

Chris Wall • Matthew 9:35-38 As we Re-focus, the revelation of salvation and God’s purpose of grace is critical to keep the MISSION in our SIGHTS. We believe that a person is made right with God by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. This describes the experience of being BORN AGAIN. Saving faith is not just mentally agreeing that Christ, the Cross and the Resurrection took place in history. Saving faith occurs when one is born again. This is the moment of transformation. When God brings about a sanctifying life, guided and empowered by the HOLY SPIRIT resulting in a relying on Christ work on the cross. Every person must face the reality that no one can meet God’s standard on their own, no matter how moral they may be. The narrow gate cannot be entered by partly trusting ourselves and partly trusting God. The gospel calls us to depend completely on Christ alone for salvation. This summarizes the MESSAGE and MISSION God has entrusted our church here, there, and everywhere. Nearly 2,000 years after Jesus’

Chris Wall • Matthew 16:12-20 This church was God’s idea and He is the one who called us together. It is Christ who made us…A light to the Word. (Matthew 5) Like a city that is on a hill that cannot be hidden. He calls us a body working together in unity. (1 Corinthians 12) He told us in John 17:20-21 – that it is in our unity that the world would believe that God the Father sent Him. It is the unity of the church that helps the world recognize Christ is Lord (John 17). It is the gathered church where the only hope for the nations is found (Matthew 28). It is the gathered church the gates of hell will not defeat (Matthew 16). It is the church where Jesus builds a living body put into action impacting society (1 Corinthians 12)

Chris Wall • Matthew 7:24-29 Here Jesus wraps up His Sermon on the Mount with a crystal-clear illustration of two builders, two houses and a certain storm. Certainly, hearing His words and putting them into practice reveals wisdom because rain is coming. We can’t just listen to Jesus, we have to put His words into action. Your eternal destiny will rests on how you respond to Jesus. The wise hear and obey, securing life on the unshakable foundation of Christ. The foolish dismiss His authority, building on sand, and face inevitable collapse. Are you experiencing the unparalleled construction of your life? It is available to you.

Chris Wall • Matthew 7:13-23 Most people who live in the world think they are going to heaven when they die. The sad truth is that most will walk through the door of death only to discover they were wrong. In this sermon, Jesus makes it clear that the path to destruction is wide and the path to eternal life is narrow. Though there are many false teachers who are gifted with the art of confusion, God has clearly revealed this narrow path to eternal life. In this sermon, Jesus reveals this narrow path while simultaneously exposing the way to recognize false teachers. Today, will you wisely examine your life to see if you are on that unparalleled narrow way to eternal life.

Chris Wall • Matthew 7:7-12 One of the key aspects of our unparalleled life as a believer is the benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit. When Christ saves you, His Holy Spirit indwells you providing an interactive relationship extending through heaven. In this incredible sermon, Jesus unveils the benefits of this interactive relationship that is unparalleled in every season of life. Is the Holy Spirit indwelling in you? This can start today.

Chad Balthrop • Matthew 7:1-6 It’s the most misquoted verse in the Bible. We live in a generation that rightly rejects and ridicules judgmental people, yet struggles to practice good judgment. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls out hypocrites, holds the Scribes and Pharisees accountable for manipulating people, and calls some people dogs and pigs. In the middle of all that name-calling, He reminds us, “Judge not lest we be judged.” In His unparalleled way of living, Jesus teaches us how to practice good judgment without becoming judgmental.

Andrew Wade • Matthew 6:19-24 Worry is not going away. But could we begin to look at a couple of areas in our life that this passage speaks to directly and start to loosen our grip on them? Could we begin to become more dependent on King Jesus and less consumed about building our own kingdom that leaves us exhausted? Too often when we do finally recognize we need to stop worrying about something, it turns into another to do list instead of turning our hearts to God and relying on Him. This week, let's look to the author and perfector of our faith and truly be dependent on Him.

Chris Wall • Matthew 6:16-18 Every one of us are experienced fasters. Maybe not this discipline of going without meals for the purpose of prayer, but all of us have fasted in daily life. Did you ever miss a meal in school because you were focused on a test. Did you choose not to watch a certain show because work required some extra time. At some point, you had to get up early to make an appointment or lose some sleep to get a job done. When the church was younger, fasting was much more common for followers of Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us about Fasting and He did not say, “if you fast, but “when” you fast. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that God calls us to experience because it produces incredible power in your life. This week, give up something that matters to you for the sake of turning your face to Christ in prayer.