First Baptist Blowing Rock
Episodes
597 episodes
"Whose Approval do you Seek?" Behold He Comes Series from Thessalonians #4
All of us struggle with peer pressure or seeking the approval of others. It is part of our human nature - we want people to like us. What happens when that "want" becomes a "need" that we use as validation and identity? What happens when our de...
"Failure is not an Identity" Behold He Comes Series from Thessalonians #3
When you look at the Apostle Paul's initial visit to Macedonia on his Second Missionary Journey it might be easy to label his efforts a failure. He was whipped, beaten and jailed in his first town Philippi. He was forced into hiding and snuck o...
"A World Without Hope" Easter Message 2026
As we celebrate Easter, we discuss what "Silent Saturday" must have been like for those early followers of Jesus. Imagine the pain, struggle, suffering and utter hopelessness that must have filled their hearts after watching Jesus be tortured a...
Preparing our Hearts for the Lord's Table
This is the message Pastor Rusty gave to prepare for Communion on Palm Sunday 2026. It includes the presentation of the bread and drink. From 2nd Samuel 9:1-13.
"Becoming a Model for Others to Follow" Behold He Comes Series from Thessalonians #2
In 1st Thessalonians 1:7 the Apostle Paul calls the Thessalonica Church a "model" church. As a new church with recent converts, what were they doing that led him to describe them this way and what does "model" mean? This message unpacks not onl...
"Paul's First Words to the Church" Intro to new Series "Behold He Comes" Series from 1st Thessalonians
In this introduction to our new sermon series from 1st and 2nd Thessalonians we look at the context of the Apostle Paul's visit to Thessaloniki from Acts 17 and how that relates to the letter. As one of the oldest books in the New Testament, an...
Three Dangers Facing the Church in 2026
In this message, Pastor Rusty identifies and breaks down the three greatest dangers facing the church in the coming year and to follow. Jude 3 tells us that one of our responsibilities as Christians is to "contend for the faith" yet so many in ...
A Warning to the American Church?
This is the short Pastoral Prayer time before the message "Three Dangers Facing the Church in 2026" where Pastor Rusty sets the stage for the message but also offers a warning about judgement that could befall the American Church if we do not g...
"Why Baptist?"
In this message we examine what its means to be part of a "Baptist" church. What we believe and why and what makes us distinctive from other denominations and groups. We look at church history from the early church in...
Love American Style 2026 - Rediscovering Biblical Marraige
In this message we examine the state of families and marriages in American today and discuss the importance of having a marriage based on a Biblical worldview. We look at the foundation of a Biblical Marriage and talk about why marriages dissol...
"A Place to Believe, Belong and Become"
In this message we examine the purpose statement for First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock. We discuss what people should be looking for in a church family and how we should fit into that search. We describe and discuss what our goal is as a loc...
"This Little Light of Mine" The Second Mile Sermon Series #11
We wrap up our series on living in the second mile by looking at the second metaphor that Jesus uses to describe his follower - Light. What did he mean by calling us light and how does that impact not just our own personal lives but the influen...
"A World of Flavorless Followers" The Second Mile Sermon Series #10
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls his followers "Salt". Of all the metaphors you could think of to describe Christians, salt does not sound like much of a compliment. What did he mean by describing Christians as salt and how does that relate to the ...
"The Blessing that No One Wants" The Second Mile Sermon Series #9
While most Christians strive to actively pursue all of the characteristics we have discussed for living in the second mile from Jesus's teachings on the Beatitudes, there is one that we actively avoid - persecution for being a follower of Jesus...
"A Resolution that Matters" The Second Mile Sermon Series #8
The Bible talks a lot about purity and being pure at heart but what does that mean? Is that something that God does for us or do we play a role in it - or both? Join us for this message on another characteristic that is evident in the lives of ...
"Where are the Peacemakers?" The Second Mile Sermon Series #7
When do we most resemble Jesus? When do our actions and behaviors cause others to see Jesus in us the most? While Jesus tells us that the world will know we are His disciples "by our love", in Matthew 5, he identifies another characteristic tha...
"A Christmas Gift with Eternal Rewards" The Second Mile Sermon Series #6
In today's culture we once again find the idea of being merciful or offering mercy to be politicized and considered a weakness - the same was true in the 1st Century during the life of Jesus Christ. That is one of the reasons that the "Good Sam...
"Your Eyes are Bigger than Your Appetite" The Second Mile Sermon Series #5
Here we examine what it really means to "Hunger and Thirsty for Righteousness" by breaking down what each word means and what that means for our Christian walk. Are we really hungry for the presence of God or are we hungry for what God can do f...
"Power for the Second Mile" The Second Mile Sermon Series #4
When you think of the most powerful people on earth, meekness is not one of the character attributes we would usually use to describe them. Yet when Jesus is listing character traits that a Christ Follower will need to live and operate in the s...
"Finding Comfort in the Second Mile" The Second Mile Sermon Series #3
At the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus follows up his call for those who want to follow him to be "poor in spirit" to promise for those who mourn that they will be comforted. It is easy to read this as meaning "mourn" in a sense of our ...
"The Beat of a Second Mile Heart" The Second Mile Sermon Series #2
When we realize how difficult it is for us to follow Jesus by living in the second mile, we come to understand it is only through the help and power of the Holy Spirit that we might accomplish it. It is easy to live in the first mile in our own...
"Learning to Live in the Second Mile" The Second Mile Sermon Series Introduction.
As we start this new sermon series, we will be exploring what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:41 when he encourages his followers to "go the second mile" and what that might look lived out in our everyday lives. We explore the context and history rela...
"Tag, You Are It!" They Had Been with Jesus Sermon Series #20
We close out our sermon series on those who had encounters with Jesus with probably the most relatable character in our entire series. He is the only one who was already a Christian and had probably known Jesus and followed him in his early min...
"The First Christian Killer" They Had Been with Jesus Sermon Series #19
In this encounter with Jesus, we look outside of the Gospels for the first time to the book of Acts as we meet Saul the Pharisee. Introduced to us at the murder/stoning of Stephen, one of the first deacons in the new Jerusalem church, by the Ph...
"O To Grace How Great a Debtor" They Had Been with Jesus Sermon Series #18
In this encounter with Jesus, we look at the dinner party thrown by Simon the Pharisee that was crashed by an unnamed "sinful woman" with an alabaster jar full of perfume. While it is actually two encounters, both reveal something about worship...