Tonight at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time, Zach Hunter, pastor at Jackpot Baptist Church in Jackpot, NV will we preaching in our series through the book of Ephesians. Don’t miss out on this. May it be a blessing to you that you would gather with us in person tonight at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls.
If unable to gather with us in person join us via streaming here. Be sure to sign our guestbook that you are watching online HERE. Thank you.
In the Lord’s way and in the Lord’s timing, He has blessed and is blessing Eastside Baptist Church with a generation of Children.
Never in the history of Eastside Baptist Church has there been a season quite like this one.
Five years ago Eastside asked God Almighty to forgive her of trusting in the methodologies of men and began a renewed path to trust in the Lord by trusting the sufficiency of Scripture as our primary instruction for training our children; meaning we stopped all age graded segregation of our children, we stopped providing ongoing systematic separation of children from parents when families gathered together on the Lord’s Day.
It felt strange at first, many were confused about what we were doing (and still are), some thought we don’t care about children and youth.
Today, God has has given us more children than we’ve ever had and more children than we could ever build facility for if we still segregated the children.
I want to share with you a short moment in yesterday’s (1/1/2017) gathering. We committed and recommitted ourselves to the duty God has given us, the church, and the family.
Here is a short clip from that gathering yesterday when we committed ourselves unto the Lord in our duty to obey Him.
Today, Eastside Baptist is committed to the Lord to obey him with respect to every child given to her duty both here and abroad. Locally, thirty-eight children belong to families of Eastside Baptist and forty-five children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Over eighty children under direct order of God to teach and instruct.
We can do it our way or God’s way. We are slaves of God, so we choose to do it God’s way regardless of the outcome.
May God help us to obey Him.
The Christmas weekend was filled with great moments.
As always, there’s something about snow fall on Christmas. Even though it is statistically low to actually have a ‘white Christmas’ we have enjoyed two in a row here in Twin Falls. I had multiple times to gather with my biological family and my church family. All of those times were treasured times.
Christmas Eve at Eastside:
In those rare years that Christmas actually lands on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) it is even more special for me to gather with my church family on Christmas day.
(The sound did not record properly on the Lord’s Day so there is no archived recording of this gathering)
Snowy conditions made travel to the church house difficult, but I’m not known for cancelling a regularly scheduled Sunday morning or Wednesday night prayer gathering (this may have made me unpopular with my children from time to time when they were younger). There are legitimate times to cancel a gathering and I’ll leave that door open for that possibility, but I’ll reserve it for the kind of day that will be memorable. (My practice of not cancelling is not an indictment against churches that do.)
I’m of the opinion that if I was out of milk on this same day and had a box of cereal in the cupboard, would I go to the grocery store for more milk? I don’t even have to really think about this, the answer is nearly automatically, ‘yes, of course I would go get milk.” Is not God more important than milk? Of course he is. So why would I let a lesser thing cause me to put my life at risk but hope my church cancels a worship gathering? This kind of thinking may have some legitimate flaws in thinking, but It is what I would do if I were out of milk.
So, yesterday, after a weekend of sleet, snow, freezing rain and the more fresh snow, followed by howling wind most of the night I gathered at 204 Eastland Drive North with a band of believers for our regularly scheduled Sunday morning worship service. (no audio recording available.)
Then my grown children and their lovely wives gathered at our home, along with my mom who now lives in Twin Falls. During this time we read Scripture together, shared gifts with each other, ate lunch together and played a game of Monopoly. During this time I like to always give a verbal and written blessing to my family. The verbal is more general and applies to all of our households. The written is personal.
I’ll share with you the verbal (which is also written but I do speak it out loud). As the patriarch of my family now, more than ever I must be an honest blesser of my household.
I first drafted this in 2014 and have tweaked it with a few additional lines over the past three years.
The Thompson Home: (originally drafted in 2014)
May our homes be homes where the will of the Lord is sought after with feverish hunger.
May our homes be homes where the bible is read, heard, loved and taught.
May our homes be homes where the glory of God and his favor rests in our neighborhoods.
May our homes be homes where mercy falls and warriors rise for war.
May God give us these kinds of homes…
May our homes be homes where husbands are faithful, true and strong.
May our homes be homes free from slavery of the flesh
May our homes be homes that are filled with songs of the redeemed.
May our homes be homes where the shout of joy is heard among the saints.
May God give us these kinds of homes…
May our homes be homes where wives provide sanctuary and rest.
May our homes be homes where the Lord is not only called Lord, but is also a welcomed Lord.
May our homes be homes that glow bright with the Lamp of Scripture.
May our homes be homes where strangers meet Christ.
May God give us these kinds of homes…
May our homes be homes with the sound of children.
May our homes be homes where the beauty of Christ is upon display with child-like faith.
May our homes be homes where the warmth is felt from the fire of God that comes from the family alter each day.
May our homes be homes where godly men and women are raised and homes where missionaries are sent.
May God give us these kinds of homes…
May the grace of God be tasted by all who reside and enter these homes.
May the songs of our faith be the soundtrack of our homes.
May the sound of the Gospel never be missed with the words spoken in our homes.
May the mercy of God be the motivation of all activity in our homes.
Oh, might God give us these kinds of homes….
Since May of 2010, Eastside Baptist Church has been archiving sermons from Sunday morning gatherings. Currently there are over 330 sermons available in .mp3 downloadable files.
I want to share with all of my pastor friends and members of churches looking for a place to archive sermons to give consideration to SermonAudio.com.
We began using SermonAudio.com for a few reasons.
If you sign up right now, SermonAudio.com will wave the one time setup fee of $150.00 and you can sign up for only $1.00. Click HERE for more details and registration link.
I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about how I find SermonAudio.com useful in my preaching ministry.
Location: First Baptist Church, Clovis, NM
Date: December 20, 1986
Occasion: Marriage of Paul Robert Thompson to Teresa Renee Culberth
This annual celebration of our marriage grows sweeter as the days fly by.
December 20, 2016 makes December 20, 1986 seem like decades ago (3 to be exact). I am pleased that God would give me this kind of grace in my life.
Following is an attempt to express myself with rhyming words…
Of all the sons of men, how could I be him?
Look! is what I do when she walks in!
Neither of us would have mapped out this path like ours.
But how could this journey be better than ours?
My pulse races when she looks at me.
How can this still be?
A third decade of wedded years.
I can hardly write a poem without tears.
Do you see me with that grin?
I would do it all again and again!
If you are in Twin Falls, Idaho on Christmas Eve I hope you might consider joining me at Eastside Baptist Church, 5PM.
During the Christmas Eve service we will sing Christmas Carols, Scripture Reading and a Christmas message from Luke 1:67 entitled “The Horn of Salvation”
I hope you can join me on this special occasion.
Recently ESBC has begun live streaming of Sunday morning worship gatherings. We’ve updated and sped up our internet speed to improve quality of the video streaming and audio. Right now we are still in an experimental arena and using the free service of YouTube. At some point as we work out the bugs we may begin to host the video at our SermonAudio site. For now, you can still listen to our sermons in mp3 files at SermonAudio.
The purpose of live streaming is simple. It is primarily to allow those who would normally gather at ESBC on Sunday mornings but are unable to for any number of reasons. It is not intended to be a substitute for normal, regular gathering. It could also serve as an outreach for those you know. You could send them a link, share on your social media, invite others to hear.
I began preaching through Philippians on December 4, 2016.
Past video messages are archived HERE.
This short video has ideas and suggestions on what heads-of-households can do to prepare themselves and their families for the coming Lord’s Day gathering of Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Lord’s Day, December 11, 2016
Sermon Text: 2016: Philippians 1:1-7
Sermon Title: Prayer for the Good Work of Grace
From Behind the Pulpit (FBP-002)
Live Video Streaming is now available HERE. (new service available – thank you for your patience as we work out some details.)
Audio Sermon Archive for Current Sermon Series: Philippians; There is Joy in the Lord
Video Sermon Archive for Current Sermon Series: Philippians; There is Joy in the Lord
On December 4, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. I will begin the preaching through the letter of Paul to the Philippians.
There are parts of this letter that are familiar to all believers. This is perhaps the most encouraging, uplifting, hope-filled letters the Apostle Paul ever wrote.
I have been looking forward to preaching through this 4 chapter book in the Bible for some time.
I rarely post a full preaching outline of a book but thought it appropriate to do so this time. The risk in doing so is that I may change my mind on how a section of the text should be preached. But maybe it will help knowing the basic preaching plan. I currently have an 18 sermon outline for the full letter. (I may make adjustments as the unfolding of the preaching actually takes place.)
Where there are many themes in the letter and the Apostle speaks of them, I’ll let this statement govern the theme of the whole of the letter.
The reason God is pleased to give suffering and faith to His people is that they might take pleasure in magnifying Christ to those opposed to the Gospel through bold fearlessness of faith and humble grace.
Chapter One
1. Introduction
2. Thanksgivings and Prayers for the Good Work of Grace. (vv. 1-7)
3. Affection and Prayers for all. (vv. 8-11)
4. Don’t Let Suffering Cast You Down. (vv. 12-20)
5. Stand Prepared for Glorifying Christ by Life or Death (vv. 21-26)
6. Zeal and Constancy in Proclaiming the Gospel (vv. 27-30)
Chapter Two
7. Description of a Kind, Humble Spirit and Godly Behavior (vv. 1-4)
8. The Example of Christ (vv. 5-11)
9. Diligence in Salvation and an Example to the World (vv. 12-18)
10. A Great Hope (vv. 19-30)
Chapter Three
11. Cautions Against False Teachers and Putting Aside Former Privileges. (vv. 1-11)
12. Source of desire to be found in Christ; (vv. 1-11)
13. Pressing on Toward Perfection. (vv. 1-11)
14. What Kind of Example to other Believers Are You? (vv. 12-21)
Chapter Four
15. Stand Fast in the Lord (v.1)
16. Directions to some and Directions to All. (vv. 2-9)
17. Contentment in Every Condition of Life (vv. 10-19)
18. Conclusion with Prayer to God the Father.
The breakdown of the outline is primarily influenced by Matthew Henry and the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
Dear pastor Collier and Kirby Woods Baptist Church,
My name is Paul Thompson, pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho.
I want to express appreciation to you and your congregation of Kirby Woods Baptist Church. This past week Dr. Frank Jones has been with us teaching through the book of Ephesians. Pastors from four churches in our area were present and a total of 28 people attended the EQUIP training for churches on mission. Thank you for sending him.
I was pleased to spend several days with Dr. Jones. He speaks fondly of his home church and family. He was a blessing to Eastside Baptist, the Magic Valley Baptist Association, my family and especially me.
He labored diligently while here speaking a total of 9 sessions through the book of Ephesians and preaching on Sunday morning. I was able to show him around the area between his teaching duties.
On Sunday morning, Dr. Jones preached from Ephesians chapter one on the glory we give to God in all circumstances of life. It was a powerful message. Listen here…
This is a picture of Dr. Jones at the Shoshone Falls (about 4 miles from our church)
In the spring water flows over these rocks in a spectacular manner as the snow melt from the nearby mountains begin to flow.
This is Dr. Jones pointing out the ramp from Evel Knievel’s 1974 failed attempt to launch himself across the Snake River Canyon (about 3 miles from our church).
Dr. Jones is pointing to the ramp on the canyon rim in the distance.
This is Dr. Jones watching B.A.S.E. jumpers jump from the Perrine Bridge spanning the Snake River Canyon.
The days with Dr. Jones was an encouragement to us. Please greet him for us when he returns home this week.
Thank you for your kindness and investment in our gospel work here in Twin Falls, Idaho.
