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In this sermon from 1 Tim. 4:6-16, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a personal story about taking his physical health seriously after turning 40 — changing his diet, joining a gym, and committing to a sustainable, long-term plan. He draws a pointed parallel to the spiritual life, noting that Paul uses the very language of athletic training to challenge Timothy: "Train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way" (1 Tim. 4:7-8). The central question Pastor Jared puts before the church is a convicting one: if we're willing to invest serious time, money, and energy into our physical health, are we equally willing to make that same investment in our spiritual health? Pastor Jared walks the congregation through a four-part spiritual training plan that Paul lays out for Timothy — eat, train, coach, and endure. Spiritually eating means returning daily to the Word of God, which Scripture itself compares to honey, bread, and milk, because as Jer. 15:16 reminds us, God's words are found and eaten, becoming joy and delight to the heart. Training means intentionally working out godliness in specific areas of life — speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity — not passively waiting to become like Jesus, but actively engaging the Spirit's power to close the gap. Coaching means investing in others the way we have been invested in, recognizing that the call to disciple isn't reserved for pastors alone. And enduring means persisting in all of it, even when the work is hard and the finish line feels far away, trusting the promise that faithfulness in this work will be used by God to save both ourselves and those who hear us. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Drawing from 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a deeply personal story of a young man who once served faithfully in the church but eventually walked away from the faith entirely — a grief, Pastor Jared notes, that still lingers a decade later. This kind of departure, he reminds us, shouldn't surprise us. Jesus himself warned of it in the parable of the sower (Mark 4), where some soil receives the gospel with apparent joy but never produces the enduring fruit that Marks genuine saving faith. The church in Ephesus was facing the very same heartbreak, and Paul writes to help them understand both what is happening spiritually and what their responsibility is in response. Pastor Jared pulls back the curtain on what he calls the "false church" being formed in Ephesus — one fueled by deceitful demonic spirits, facilitated by teachers whose consciences have been seared through persistent sin, and characterized by a distorted, behavior-based religion that adds burdens God never intended. Against this, the true church is called to stand firm — fueled by the Holy Spirit, anchored in Christ-centered teaching, and Marked not by joyless restriction but by grateful enjoyment of God's good gifts. As Paul makes clear in verse 5, everything God has created is made holy by the Word of God and prayer, received with thanksgiving. The sermon closes with a stirring call to faithfulness. The true gospel is not a burden that enslaves — it is good news that sets us free to know and enjoy the living God. Christians, Pastor Jared urges, should be the happiest people on the planet, and that joy itself becomes a witness to a watching world striving after satisfaction in all the wrong places. The church's responsibility is not to compromise the truth for the sake of inclusion, but to hold fast to Christ, pray for those who are deceived, and trust that the same Savior who saved us is the One who holds us and will bring us home.  WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

In this sermon from 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Pastor Patrick Austin examines the office of deacon and makes the case that godly, faithful deacons are not a luxury for the church — they are a necessity. Using Acts 6 as a backdrop, he shows how the early church's rapid growth created real, practical needs among its people, and how the appointment of seven Spirit-filled men to meet those needs allowed the apostles to remain devoted to prayer and the ministry of the Word. The result? "The word of God continued to increase and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem" (Acts 6:7). The lesson is timeless: practical care, coupled with faithful preaching and prayer, leads to flourishing in the life of the church. Pastor Austin walks through four aspects of a deacon's calling. First, their character — deacons must be dignified, not double-tongued, not ruled by substances, and not motivated by money, but must hold "the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience" (1 Tim. 3:9). Second, their service — deacons should be tested before they serve, and their primary tasks are to care for the practical needs of the church body and to promote unity when conflict begins to stir. Third, their family — deacons are called to be faithful to their wives and to lead their households well, and the women connected to the deacon ministry are likewise to be women of dignified, sober-minded character. Finally, their reward — 1 Timothy 3:13 promises that those who serve well gain both honor from the church and a growing boldness and confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Pastor Jared Richard opens with a striking illustration from his early days in ministry — a half-finished, weed-surrounded concrete structure in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, left abandoned after the moral failure of a once-influential pastor. His mentor's words have stayed with him ever since: "It doesn't matter how much talent you have. What matters most in ministry is character." That story sets the stage for a careful walk through 1 Timothy 3:1-7, where Paul lays out the qualifications for overseers — the men called to lead and shepherd the local church. Pastor Jared works through three guiding questions: What is the work of an overseer? What are the qualifications for that work? And what is the congregation's responsibility toward those who serve in that role? He emphasizes that while the ability to teach is the one skill Paul names, the overwhelming majority of the qualifications are matters of character — being above reproach, faithful in marriage, sober minded, hospitable, gentle, and well-managed in the home. A gifted man can preach a powerful sermon, Pastor Jared reminds us, but if his character doesn't match the gospel he proclaims, his life will eventually undermine it. Turning to 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Pastor Jared closes by calling the congregation to take seriously its own role in this process — carefully discerning who is called, honoring those who serve faithfully, and protecting them from baseless attacks while holding them accountable when sin is verifiable. The ultimate hope, he reminds us, is not in leaders who never need grace, but in the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who continually and lavishly gives it.   WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Continuing his series through First Timothy, Pastor Billy Driver opens 1 Timothy 2:8-15 with a simple but weighty question: not what we think or wish God had said, but simply, what has God said? He establishes the foundation early — that men and women are equal in dignity and worth before God, yet distinct in the roles He has given them. This is not a tension to be resolved but a design to be celebrated, one that stretches all the way back to Genesis 1 and 2, where both male and female equally bear God's image, even as God establishes a created order within that equality. From there, Pastor Billy draws out three movements in the text. First, true strength is displayed in men who pray — not with clenched fists full of anger and quarreling, but with holy hands lifted to a holy God. Second, true beauty is found in women who pursue godliness, adorning themselves not primarily with outward appearance but with the kind of good works that reflect a heart fully devoted to God. Third, God's church flourishes through distinct roles, as Paul grounds his instruction not in first-century Ephesian culture, but in the order of creation and the order of the fall — making clear that these roles remain authoritative for the church today. Pastor Billy closes with a pastoral and Gospel-centered appeal: because grace restores nature, the church can now live increasingly within God's good design. Men and women are not competitors but complements, and together — as spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers — they have much to accomplish for the glory of God. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Drawing from 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a pointed and convicting question: do we actually value prayer, or do we simply say we do? Much like a gym membership that never gets used, many believers confess the importance of prayer while their lives tell a different story. Paul's charge to Timothy — "first of all" — was not merely the beginning of a to-do list, but a declaration of priority. Prayer must come first because the work of gospel ministry is spiritual work, and no amount of human effort, strategy, or cleverness can tear down spiritual strongholds. As Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." Timothy needed to armor up before stepping into Ephesus, and so do we. Pastor Jared then expands the content of faithful prayer, urging the church to pray not just for personal needs, but for the salvation of all kinds of people — neighbors, enemies, people of every nation, ethnicity, and political persuasion — because the gospel is radically inclusive in its audience even while it is exclusive in its claim. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:5). This truth gives us every reason to pray with confidence: God desires all people to be saved, and Jesus is at the right hand of the Father right now, interceding on our behalf. Prayer, then, is not where ministry ends — it is where ministry begins, fueling the proclamation that follows. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

In this sermon drawn from 1 Timothy 1:12-21, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a tender illustration about whispering "Dad loves you" into his children's ears — not because they don't know it, but because he wants that truth pressed so deeply into their hearts that it carries them through their hardest moments. In the same way, Pastor Jared reminds us, the gospel is something we need to hear again and again — not because it changes, but because we do. Familiarity with the good news can breed a dangerous numbness, and when that happens, we must stop and let the eternal weight of this message sink in once more. Following Paul's gospel journey through the passage, Pastor Jared traces three movements: the gospel humbles us, the gospel moves us to worship, and the gospel commits us to faithful service. Paul, once a blasphemer and violent persecutor of the church, is arrested mid-letter by the memory of the mercy that found him. As 1 Timothy 1:15 declares, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." That remembrance doesn't pull Paul off course — it fuels everything he's about to charge Timothy to do. Pastor Jared closes with a call for the church to hold faith and a good conscience together, just as Paul charges Timothy in verse 19, because these two things build on one another. When they are separated — when belief drifts from behavior — faith is shipwrecked, as it was for Hymenaeus and Alexander. But when the gospel is kept before us, it keeps us humble, stirs us to worship, and commits us to waging the good warfare for the glory of God and the good of those around us who still need to hear that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Pastor Jared Richard launches a new series through 1 Timothy by grounding the church in a simple but weighty truth drawn from 1 Timothy 3:15 — that the church is "the household of God, a pillar and buttress of the truth." The local church, he argues, is not merely a gathering of people who enjoy one another's company. It is the place where the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, protected, and passed on. That is what makes the church irreplaceable, and that is what must be guarded with diligence. To make his case, Pastor Jared walks through 1 Timothy 1:1-11, where Paul writes to Timothy about a serious crisis in the church at Ephesus — false teaching. The false teachers were internal, intriguing, and yet ultimately empty of any godly power. Paul had warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28-31 that "fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock," and from among their own leadership no less. Now that warning had come to pass, and Paul's apostolic solution was faithful leadership — leaving Timothy behind to evaluate and restore the eldership so that the church could once again be a faithful witness to the gospel. Pastor Jared closes by reminding Bay Leaf that the reason all of this matters is the gospel promise of transformed lives. The gospel is the only message to which God has attached his transforming power. False teaching, whether it comes from a pulpit or a worship song laced with prosperity gospel theology, puts the burden back on the people and distracts them from the completed work of Christ. The aim of the charge, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:5, is "love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, a sincere faith" — and that kind of love only grows in soil that has been cultivated by the faithful, Spirit-empowered proclamation of the gospel. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Jonah 4 hits like a speed bump we didn't see coming. After the remarkable repentance of Nineveh in chapter three, we expect a celebration — but instead we find a rage-filled prophet shaking his fist at God. Pastor Patrick Austin unpacks the deep heart issue beneath Jonah's anger: Jonah believed that mercy should only be extended to those who are deserving of it. He despised the Ninevites, and rather than rejoicing that God's mercy had reached his greatest enemy, he wished he could die. Like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, Jonah looked at the lost and said, they don't deserve this. But as Pastor Patrick reminds us, God shows mercy to the undeserving — and that includes every one of us. In the second scene of Jonah 4, God teaches Jonah an intentional, hands-on lesson. He appoints a plant to shade Jonah, and Jonah is exceedingly glad — the very same degree of gladness that mirrors his earlier rage. Then God appoints a worm to destroy the plant, and Jonah is devastated. The contrast is striking: Jonah pities a plant more than the people of Nineveh. But God's heart is the opposite. The Hebrew word for "pity" in Jonah 4:11 literally means to have tears in one's eyes, painting a picture of God weeping over the lost state of 120,000 souls. This same heart is seen in Luke 19, when Jesus wept over Jerusalem — broken over people who were missing the very source of life standing right in front of them. Pastor Patrick calls the church to answer the book's final, unanswered question: Should I not pity Nineveh? — and to let that question reshape our hearts. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Preaching from Jonah 3, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a striking observation — the greatest miracle in the book of Jonah may not be the great fish at all, but the repentance of Nineveh, one of the most wicked cities in the ancient world. Drawing on the deliberate literary parallels between Jonah 1 and Jonah 3, Pastor Jared shows that God's second call to Jonah is more than a plot device. It is a picture of mercy — the same mercy God has extended to all of His people, and the very reason we go to the lost. Just as God gave Jonah another chance to rise in obedience, He has given us, through new birth in Christ, not just a second chance but the Spirit-empowered ability to take advantage of it. From there, Pastor Jared turns to what we trust in as we go — the Word of God. He points out that from Jonah 3:5 forward, Jonah himself virtually disappears from the narrative, and it is the Word that does the work. Even with a divided heart, Jonah spoke what God gave him to say, and God used it mightily. Drawing on Philippians 1:15-18, Pastor Jared reminds the church that the mission of God does not depend on our eloquence, our apologetic skill, or even the perfect condition of our hearts — it depends on the faithful declaration of God's Word and trust in the power of His Spirit. Finally, the repentance of Nineveh — believing God, humbling themselves, crying out to Him, and turning from their evil ways — gives the church a clear and compelling picture of what Biblical repentance looks like. And because we carry a greater message than Jonah ever did, the incarnate Word of God Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, we go with even greater confidence and an even greater promise to offer the lost. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

In this sermon on Jonah 2, Pastor Jared Richard draws a compelling parallel between Jonah and the prodigal son of Luke 15, calling Jonah "the prodigal prophet." Like the younger son who wanted the blessings of the father without the father himself, Jonah fled the presence of God, convinced that life in Tarshish would be better than obedience in Nineveh. But God, like the waiting father in the parable, graciously allowed Jonah to discover exactly where that road leads — not to freedom, but to death. Every step of Jonah's journey was downward: down to Joppa, down to the ship, down into the sea, down toward Sheol. And it is in that descent that God gets Jonah's attention, using the very real prospect of death to awaken the prophet to his desperate need for the only One who can truly save. Pastor Jared traces three movements in Jonah's journey — from life to death, from the ship to the fish, and from west to east — each one carrying a lesson God wants not just Jonah, but all of us, to learn. The fish was not a punishment; it was a rescue. And the three days Jonah spent inside it were not wasted — they were sanctifying, humbling the prophet and preparing him to embrace the mission he had been running from. Jonah's psalm ends with the declaration, "Salvation belongs to the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), a truth that cuts both ways: we cannot save ourselves, and we cannot withhold from others the grace that has been so freely given to us. Pastor Jared closes with a challenge to the church — having received the grace of God, will we now declare that same grace to the broken world around us? WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Pastor Jared Richard opens Bay Leaf Baptist Church's new series through the book of Jonah by grounding the entire story in who God has revealed himself to be — "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love" (Exodus 34:6-7). Against that backdrop, Jonah's shocking rebellion becomes all the more striking. Called by God to arise and go to Nineveh, the great and wicked Assyrian city, Jonah instead flees west toward Tarshish — as far from God's presence as he can get. His resistance is both personal and national: he fears for his life among a brutal enemy people, and he simply does not want God to show mercy to those he considers undeserving of it. Yet even in Jonah's running, God is relentlessly at work. He hurls a great storm upon the sea, and through a series of providential events, the pagan sailors end up hearing about the one true God, crying out to him, and worshiping him — the very thing Jonah was commissioned to bring about in Nineveh. Pastor Jared uses this irony to press a convicting question upon the congregation: are we, like Jonah, willing to receive God's mercy but reluctant to declare it to others? As those who have been rescued from the storm of God's judgment through the death of Christ — the greater Prophet who willingly offered himself and was thrown into the sea of condemnation so that our waves of judgment might cease — we have been commissioned by the Word himself in Matthew 28:18-20 to go and make disciples of all nations. The call to saturate North Raleigh with the gospel is not a program; it is obedience to the same commission Jonah tried to outrun. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Pastor Patrick Austin brings Leaf's journey through the Book of Exodus to a close with a message centered on Exodus 40:34–38, titled "The God Who Dwells With Us." From the very beginning of Exodus, God's people were suffering under the crushing weight of Egyptian slavery, crying out in darkness and despair. Yet as Pastor Austin reminds us, even then, "God heard. God remembered. God saw and God knew." God was never absent — He was always working to redeem His people, even when it didn't look like it. As the book draws to a close, the tabernacle is completed, and the question hanging over the people is a weighty one: after their rebellion and idol worship, will God still come and dwell among them? The answer comes swiftly and powerfully. The cloud covers the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle, and not even Moses can enter. God's presence is overwhelming, it is directive — guiding His people day by day, cloud by cloud, toward the promised land — and it is unceasing, remaining with them throughout all their journeys. Pastor Austin draws a straight line from the wilderness tabernacle to the person of Jesus Christ, who came to tabernacle among us (John 1), and to the Holy Spirit, who now dwells within every believer. The same glory that filled the tabernacle is the glory we see in Christ. And the same promise that God made to Israel — that He would dwell with them — is the promise Jesus makes to His disciples before ascending to heaven: "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." The sermon calls the church to be overwhelmed by that reality, directed by God's Spirit, and deeply grateful for a presence that will never end. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

Pastor Jared Richard opens Exodus 32–34 by grounding the sermon in Romans 15:4, where Paul reminds us that everything written in the Old Testament was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. With that foundation laid, Pastor Jared sets out to answer one of the most important questions the Bible addresses: how can a holy God continue to dwell with a continually sinful people? It's not just Israel's question — it's ours, too, for every one of us has sinned, and some of us have confessed the same sins to the Lord over and over again for years. The answer unfolds through Israel's devastating act of treasonous rebellion — the golden calf — and four conversations between Moses and God that follow. In each conversation, we see what the people deserved because of their sin: to be consumed by God's wrath, to wear the guilt of their sin forever, to be abandoned by God's covenant love, and to be kept at a distance from His presence. And in each conversation, Moses intercedes, pleading with God on their behalf, and God — merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love — responds with mercy rather than the full measure of judgment the people had earned. But the real gift of this passage, Pastor Jared argues, is what it teaches us about Jesus. Moses was a faithful mediator, willing even to offer his own life in the people's place, but he was unfit because he was not holy. Jesus is the better Moses — the one who doesn't merely pray these mercies into being, but actually accomplishes them. He bore God's wrath so we could be spared. He wore our guilt so we could be forgiven. He was forsaken so we could be loved. He was cast out into death so God could dwell in our midst. That is the Gospel according to Moses, and it is the hope every sinner desperately needs. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration

In this sermon from Exodus 25–31, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a memorable story about a pop quiz designed not to test knowledge, but to form students into the kind of people who slow down and follow directions. In the same way, he argues, God's exhaustive instructions for building the tabernacle were never merely architectural — they were formational. God wasn't just building a tent; He was building a people. Every act of sacrifice, service, and submission called for in these chapters was designed to both express something true about God's worth and press that truth deeper into the hearts of His worshipers. Yet Pastor Jared is careful to surface a tension in the text: sinful people cannot draw near to a holy God simply by doing the right things. Even Israel's most faithful worship was compromised by their sin, and they needed a High Priest to carry them into God's presence and make their offerings acceptable. This points unmistakably forward to Jesus — the true and better High Priest — whose spotless blood, offered once and for all, tears the curtain, cleanses the conscience, and brings us with Him into the presence of the Father. As Hebrews 9:14 declares, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Finally, Pastor Jared draws attention to the Sabbath command that closes this section in Exodus 31:13, arguing that rest — not work — was always the destination. The tabernacle was built so God's people could dwell with Him and rest in His presence, a foretaste of the eternal rest still to come. The call to the congregation is clear: stop striving, find your rest in Christ alone, and live as faithful worshipers not to earn that rest, but from that rest — with hearts set on the day when God's people will dwell fully and freely in His glory. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Take a moment to fill out our digital connection card here: https://www.bayleaf.org/connect We hope you enjoy this programming and please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of service to you. ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION. Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 SERVICE TIMES Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM) CONTACT www.bayleaf.org (919) 847-4477 #BayLeafLife #Worship #Inspiration