Advertise on podcast: Hayden Bible Church

"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Ever heard of that stuff? It's a brand of margarine, with an unusually long name... a name that really does not hold up to scrutiny. Try to cook with it and you'll have no trouble believing it's not butter­—heat has a way of revealing what things really are. Peter says something similar about the Christian's faith: the genuineness of saving faith becomes evident when the heat gets turned up. "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials...," 1 Peter 1:6 (LSB). Don't miss that: suffering is an expected part of the Christian life. The Christian's faith, anchored to an eternal inheritance, is shown to be genuine when exposed to the heat of life's varied trials. By God's preserving grace, saving faith holds up because it is real—and through those trials, God purifies and strengthens that faith for His glory. "...so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ," verse 7. This Lord's Day, we'll consider what God is doing through the trials we face, including those that come because we follow Jesus in a world that rejects Him. A faith fixed on Christ can rejoice even though we cannot yet see Him; we know He is refining our faith for the glad day of His return. Join us as we return to 1 Peter with, "Homeward Bound: Faith's Crucible." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:1-12, focusing on verses 6-9. Consider the following: What two things occur simultaneously when believers face

All of us, at one time or another, have experienced a devastating event. It might be the death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, or a physical or emotional condition that seems so overwhelming that we do not know where to turn for comfort. This week, as we prepare to worship together as the body of Christ, the Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 that in our suffering we are comforted by God Himself. In turn, God uses His people to be His hands and feet, ministering to those who are suffering. God does not waste our suffering. When He comforts us in our affliction, He is simultaneously preparing us to be His hands of comfort to someone else. The comfort we receive is not a private possession but a sacred trust, received in order to be shared. Two people who have walked through similar pain can often speak words of hope to one another that no one else can. God's comfort flows through the very wounds He has healed, turning our places of greatest need into channels of His grace for others. We will discover that 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 shows us that we both receive and give comfort. God meets us in our affliction and then turns us toward others who are suffering, carrying the comfort that we ourselves have received. In God's design, the comforted become comforters, and our suffering becomes the very pathway through which His comfort reaches a hurting world. Please make time to read the following passages in preparation for this coming Sunday: "The God of All Comfort." 2 Timothy 1:6-12, Psalm 40:1-5, and our preaching text, 2 Corinthians 1:1-7, with special attention to verses 3 and 4. Be His Hands and Feet! Pastor Darryl Heisey

We live in a world of maybes. Maybe we'll get the job. Maybe our loved one will be healed. Maybe next year will be better than this one. But God's saving promises to His people are never maybes; they're certain. Such is the blessing of having been chosen by God, set apart by the Spirit, purchased with the blood of Christ. We've been given a hope that is guaranteed and guarded, "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God...," 1 Peter 1:4-5 (LSB). This astounding and certain future anchors our hope in an often-stormy sea of maybes. Stability, joy and purpose flow from this hope—not because the circumstances around us are certain, but because God's promises are certain. God's mercy alone gives us new birth. God has reserved an eternal inheritance for us that cannot be lost and will never lose its luster. And God guards this inheritance—and us—by His power as we journey toward our eternal home. Join us this Sunday as we turn to 1 Peter 1 and consider, "Homeward Bound: A Hope That Cannot Fail." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:3-12, focusing on verses 3 through 5. According to Peter's doxology, what has the believer been given? What is being guaranteed? What is being guarded by God's power? How do these certainties influence your outlook and priorities now?

Yet Peter's first epistle begins this way: He tells his readers, scattered throughout the Roman world, all about themselves. Why? Clearly the apostle is burdened that his readers never forget who they are, whose they are, and where they're headed. If you forget who you are and whose you are and where you're headed... well, you're not going to think rightly, nor live rightly, in a world that seems increasingly strange to you. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope...," 1 Peter 1:3 (LSB). Peter writes to remind homeward-bound Christians of the living hope that is theirs—and ours—as those who are chosen, scattered and tested. This Lord's Day we'll begin our look at 1 Peter and its rich instruction for us as Christian pilgrims on our way home. Join us as we consider, "Homeward Bound: Chosen, Scattered, Tested." Prepare for Sunday: Read 1 Peter in its entirety. What major themes dominate this letter? In the opening verses, what descriptions of Peter's readers apply to believers today? How do these descriptions impart hope to you? Where do you most need this hope in your daily life? Be specific. Note: This Sunday is also a Communion Sunday. Let's prepare our hearts now for this important time of remembrance and consecration

Elijah saw a great victory of God over the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:38-39), yet when his life was threatened by wicked Jezebel, he fled a day's journey away and prayed for God to take his life, seeing himself and his ministry as a great failure- saying "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers" (1 Kings 19:4). Job was a man described in the Bible as "blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil." Yet, after losing his possessions, his adult children and his health, this righteous man became miserable. And although Scripture says Job did not blame God but said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord," Job had become so weary with life, he wished he had never been born. Jonah was a prophet called by God to go to Nineveh and proclaim to the people there to repent. But Jonah tried to flee from the Lord and God sent a large fish to swallow him. Jonah finally obeyed after the fish took him there, but was deeply discouraged God had showed mercy on the Ninevites and had not destroyed them. God caused a plant to grow and shelter Jonah from the sun. And Jonah was happy… until God caused the plant to die, then Jonah felt the hot sun and the wind and was so depressed over this he wanted to die (Jonah 4:9). These men each had witnessed the power of God, and each had become discouraged and weary when events did not turn out like they had wanted. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." When believers hear this verse, we think of Jesus calling to the lost to come to Him in faith for salvation. But there are many reasons to feel w

God has attached His name, honor, and reputation to His people; and that reality cannot help but shape our prayers—and our expectations of God. "O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay...," Daniel 9:19 (LSB). As Daniel realized Israel's exile was nearing its promised end, he also recognized that God's people were not ready to receive the renewal God had promised. Unrepentance and complacency characterized many in exile when humble, penitent loyalty was in order. So Daniel prayed. In the opening verses of Daniel 9, we saw how Daniel's private character led him to pray. This week, we'll see specifically how he prays—and what his prayer teaches us. His prayer, recorded in Daniel 9, is a model prayer for God's people, especially those experiencing His discipline, longing for His deliverance, and seeking renewal from His hand. This Lord's Day, we'll return to our study of Daniel 9, focusing on what to pray when God's people have drifted from Him, are slow to acknowledge their sin, and seem unprepared to receive the renewal He has promised. Join us as we consider, "Back to the Future: How to Pray in the Dark." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on Daniel 9:4-19. How, specifically, should the church pray as Daniel prayed? What does this prayer proclaim about God? What does this prayer acknowledge about His covenant people? Why do you think Daniel included himself in this prayer of corporate confession? What anchors Daniel's confidence in God's response? Note: This Sunday we'll also come to the Lord's Table and rejoice in the very promises Daniel's prayer highlights. Let's prepare

Do you need to be encouraged? Do you find yourself on social media or watching the news and easily becoming discouraged? Take heart, our God has provided a way of encouragement, and He is our ultimate source of love for one another. What does Jesus expect from His bride, the Church? Jesus has left His Spirit to move and act for God's glory. The Spirit is utilizing His people to accomplish the task of discipleship, encouragement and loving one another. Sharing the truth of the Gospel and making Christ known by making disciples is our primary mission here at HBC. But how is this accomplished? What does it look like to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? We only need to look to Christ Himself for the answers. Jesus left His Holy Spirit to not only be in our presence, but to actually abide in our soul. The Spirit of God through His Word will encourage us this coming Sunday as we look at Philippians 2:1-11. Jesus is our ultimate source of joy, hope and love. What does it really mean, to "be humble of mind, regarding one another as more important than yourselves"? (Phil 2:3b). Anticipate this coming Sunday, when you come into the building, to take part in and observe the hands and feet of Jesus working through His church the Bride of Christ. How are your hands and feet moving in the direction of love towards one another? The song by Sovereign Grace, "Jesus Thank You," has a lyric that states: "Once your enemy, now seated at your table, Jesus, thank you." No greater love has ever been demonstrated than Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary for you and for me. One day we will gather around the banquet table of our King. Are you not encouraged by that future hope? H

How God's people respond to prophecy—especially prophecy portending hardship—reveals where ultimate priorities lie. Some respond in fear to warnings of coming tribulation, while others respond with speculative diagnoses that match today's headlines with Bible prophecy. Daniel responded with faith in God's character and confidence in His promises; he prayed in the direction of both. "So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes," Daniel 9:3 (LSB). God gave Daniel prophetic visions of Israel's scary future not to satisfy his curiosity, but to realign His people to His priorities, and strengthen their faithfulness to Him. That's why Daniel's prayer in Chapter 9 shows the same pattern we find in the apostles praying Psalm 2, in John's vision of heaven, and in Christ's instruction to His disciples concerning prayer. When God promises His people something, we're meant to think and pray in the direction of those promises, letting His word direct our petitions, and then our lives. This Lord's Day, we'll begin our look at Daniel 9, starting with a prayer that precedes one of the Old Testament's clear prophecies of our Lord's first advent, Calvary, and the inauguration of His covenant of grace. Join us as we turn to Daniel 9:1-3 and consider "Back to the Future: When Prophecy Prompts Prayer." Prepare for Sunday: Read Daniel 9:1-19, meditating on verses 1-3. What historic setting is described in verses 1-3? What specifically was Daniel reading? What was Daniel's immediate response after understanding God's promise? What does Daniel's attention to Jeremiah's prophecy reveal about his view of Scri