Pastor John D Jakes

A Serious Mission

God’s Word says, “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15) …

Pastor John

March 30, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Acts 14, Baptist, Barnabas, Calvary, church, compromise, convictions, cross, crucifixion, disciple, God, gospel, indianola, Jesus, love, Paul, political, salvation, save, sinners, social, universalism

On Mission With God

In Acts 13 we see Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. On Sunday, we did not focus on Paul and Barnabas’ success. Instead, we focused on their response to opposition and resistance. It is there that we see Paul and Barnabas’ character shine through. We do not see them grow frustrated or hopeless. …

Pastor John

March 22, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Acts 13, Baptist, Barnabas, Calvary, character, church, convictions, disciple, faith, feelings, God, indianola, Jesus, Judges, knowing, love, military, morality, Paul

Faith in the Trenches

Sunday, we looked at the deliverance of Peter from Herod in Acts 12. It is an amazing passage of Scripture highlighting the power of God. It is also a profound example of fervent prayer. Yet, the part that I personally find so instructive is the response of the people. Acts 12:5 says, “So Peter was…

Pastor John

March 14, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

actions, angel, Baptist, Calvary, church, disciples, discourage, doubt, encourage, exercise, faith, free, God, hope, indianola, Jesus, love, Peter, prayer, prison, stretching

Faith that is Self Evident

Last Sunday we looked at James 2:14-26. James has some hard words for those who do not live out their “faith”. He calls it dead. He asks if such faith can save anyone. He declares that such faith is useless. These are hard words. It gets even harder when he says that a person is…

Pastor John

March 8, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Baptist, bubble, Calvary, church, demonstrate, evidence, faith, hope, indianola, life, lived out, love, self-evident, works

Walk through the valley

Mountains and valleys. We seem, as spiritual beings, to desire the mountain top experience with God. In Acts chapter, Peter has quite a mountain top experience with God. Not only does he have a vision, but God also changes his understanding of the gospel message. That’s quite a mountain top! Then comes chapter 11. He…

Pastor John

February 23, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Baptist, Calvary, church, exiles, faithfulness, famine, gentile, God, indianola, Iowa, Jesus, Jewish, live, mountains, pastor, Pentecost, persecution, Peter, prayer, schedule, sermon, valleys, yes

Touching the Throne of God

Revelation 4:8 declares that the four living creatures say “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Have you ever thought about what that would be like? What would it be like to just say, all the time and without stopping, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord…

Pastor John

February 8, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Baptist, Calvary, Christ, Christian, church, distractions, flesh, focus, God, hope, indianola, Iowa, Jesus, lethargic, love, power, worship

Desiring God Conference on Prayer

This week I went to a conference that dealt with the prayer life of a pastor. Since the conference speakers quoted the reformers quite liberally, I thought that it would be appropriate to put a quotation on prayer in this week’s devotion. This is from my favorite preacher of the 1800s, C. H. Spurgeon: “Continue…

Pastor John

February 3, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Baptist, Calvary, Christ, church, continue, hope, indianola, Iowa, joy, life, living, love, pray, prayer, Spurgeon

Choosing to Stand

Consider this thought: An amazing Christian is just a normal Christian who keeps saying yes to Jesus. What do you think? We studied the testimony and martyrdom of Stephen last Sunday. The only description of him that we have before his witness is that he was a deacon who was full of the Holy Spirit.…

Pastor John

January 24, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

amazing, Baptist, Calvary, change, church, indianola, Iowa, Jesus, love, martyr, normal, obedience, obey, Stephen, submission

Where are We Going

Last Sunday’s message was intended to lay out a continuing vision for this new year. We looked at how God has blessed our church and its efforts to reach out to our community with the love of Jesus. Wow. God has worked! Yet, I don’t want anyone to think that projects are the vision of…

Pastor John

January 15, 2011

Salvation, Uncategorized

Baptist, blessing, Calvary, Christ, church, faith, God, growth, hope, indianola, Jesus, joy, Lord, new year, priorities

Christmas Shadows

I was thinking last week about the dark things that we sometimes miss seeing when we talk about the first Christmas. We overlook that Joseph was about to abandon Mary. We tend to not talk about the babies that were killed by Harod. We gloss over Simeon’s blessing in the temple that includes declaring that…

Pastor John

December 27, 2010

Salvation, Uncategorized

babies, Baptist, Calvary, Christmas, church, despair, discouragement, faith, hope, Jesus, Joseph, joy, love, Mary, pain, salvation, shadows, trust, wait on the Lord, worry