Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 58:1-12
One truth is clear as we dive into this week’s Scripture and lesson. When my heart has been transformed by the gospel of Christ it should reflect not only in how I worship, but also in how I see people and respond to them.
Our lesson relates this message, “The one true God is just; He expects His people to demonstrate their faith through right living.” [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 53:1-12
The richness of knowing Christ in a personal relationship is discovering the depth of His love and what He has done for our salvation. I am 56 years old and I am still overwhelmed when I think of what my Savior has done for me.
I hope I will always be overwhelmed at His love for me and for you. I hope my response to the Lord will always be praise, worship, surrender, and service. Our God is a forgiving God and He justifies believers by taking their sin on Himself. That is the most incredible story this world has ever heard! [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 49:1-13
As we walk with the Lord and the older we get, the more we realize that our God is a God who comforts His people.
He comforts us through His Word and His presence with us. He also comforts us through His people, the body of Christ. As we journey through this life on earth, we are met with difficulty, disappointments, hurt and grief.
We sometimes fail the Lord. Yet, as followers of Christ, time and again, the Lord comforts us and we experience His compassion. There are a few verses of Scripture found in II Corinthians 1:3-5, that speak of God’s heart to comfort His people. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 46:3-13
Our lesson this week is a clear reminder of God’s heart and plan to save. He is a God of action and undeterred passion to bring salvation to anyone who will respond.
Isaiah’s message to a hard-hearted people was one of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness to them. He is a God who comes to us. He is a God who is not deterred by our sin and makes sinners His mission. Jesus said, “… for the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
There are several lessons from Isaiah 46:3-13 that we don’t want to miss. One, we need to remember who God is and what He has done for us. Verse 9 says, “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 40:18-31
One of the most encouraging and beloved Scriptures in God’s Word is Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” That is a truth that we can cling to in troublesome times. When we look to the future, our minds are filled with questions about what is to come. Sometimes, our minds can also be filled with fear of what the future holds.
As we come to chapter 40 of Isaiah, Judah still had 100 years of trouble before Jerusalem would fall, then 70 years of exile. So God tells Isaiah to speak tenderly and to comfort Jerusalem. God promises His presence and His faithfulness to His people as they walk through difficult years ahead. As our lesson points out, God provides strength for those who trust in Him. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 37:14-20, 30-35
God listens to the prayers of His children. Indeed, He hears, He cares and He responds to us according to His righteousness, His love and wisdom. He is never too early. He is never too late. He is always on time. It stirs in my heart that I do not pray enough!
Franklin Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham, said that one regret his father had was that he didn’t pray enough. He felt that if he had prayed more and preached less, that he would have seen God do even greater things than he had witnessed over the course of his ministry.
King Hezekiah is described in the Bible as one of the most godly kings of Judah who had a close relationship with God. He was known as a reformer. When he became king, he was most concerned with Judah’s present obedience to the Lord. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 31:1-9
I think the greatest comfort we have going through this life is that God is a Heavenly Father that watches over us. He is holy, awesome in power, almighty, omniscient, perfectly just and is love. As we study this week’s lesson, I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 103. It is a beautiful passage of Scripture!
In Psalm 103:10-12, David writes, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” In this week’s passage, we see God’s protection over a rebellious people. It gives us hope to know that even on our worst days, God still loves and watches over us.
Two things particularly resonate in my heart as we look at Isaiah 31. The first is in verse 1, where Isaiah writes, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many…”. “Woe,” as our lesson shares, is an exclamation denoting an intense outburst of grief, indignation and alarm. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 25:1-10a
God saves. Those two words describe the narrative of the Bible. They are the purpose for which God has communicated to us through His written word and ultimately through the Living Word, His Son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
When we come to our Scripture this week in Isaiah 25:1-10a, Isaiah celebrates with praise and a declaration of confident trust in God. Ultimately, God is sovereign, holy and worthy of praise. He is just and will judge sin. But His heart is a God who loves, pursues, protects, and saves those who admit their need for Him and look to Him. He is a God who saves!
Sin has devastating consequences for those that insist on going their own way. For God in His holiness and sovereignty, will judge those who oppose Him and He will judge sin. Isaiah 25:2,5,10a speaks of the judgment of God upon wickedness and sin. Ultimately, God will destroy death! Isaiah said in verse 8, “He will swallow up death forever…”. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 23:8-18
It is an incredibly humbling and comforting thought to know that our God reigns! In an unprecedented year of challenges for our nation, for our communities, schools, businesses, churches and our families, it gives believers comfort to know that our great and mighty God is in control. He is on His throne and He still oversees the affairs of man. It is a time where as God’s people, it is good to be reminded of God’s sovereignty, His holiness, His justice and grace. [Read more…]
By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 7:7-17
God’s promises remind us that God is for us and not against us. The Bible is filled with stories and testimonies of God’s sovereignty, His power, His goodness, His faithfulness and His purposes. As God’s people, we are reminded that our lives, our days, and our future rest in who God is and His faithfulness to us. There are a couple of things I would like to challenge you with as you consider our focus passage, Isaiah 7:7-17.
First, remember the promises of God and rest in His faithfulness. God had given Ahaz His word that Judah would not be taken by Syria, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah. Ahaz should have recounted how God was a faithful God. He had kept His promises to His people in the past so certainly He would continue. Yet, Ahaz never put his faith in the sovereignty and faithfulness of God. We too, if we are not careful, can lose sight of God and His faithfulness to us.
When it comes to God’s promises, He is always faithful. I am reminded of God’s provision for me when I was a student heading to college. I wondered how I would ever pay for school. I began to search the Scriptures and I was reminded of God’s faithfulness to those who followed His leading. [Read more…]
