Pastor Ben preaches from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 that the work of the church and your personal service to God must be God-directed, God-honoring, and God-pleasing.

Ben Smith is the pastor of Central Baptist Church, Waycross, GA.

Sermon preached 2/2/2025.

Books and downloadable PDFs of Pastor Ben’s sermon notes are available at http://bensmithsr.org/resources.

For more information on Central Baptist Church, visit www.cbcwaycross.org.

The evidence of true salvation is more than words; it is evidenced by a life transformed by God, a rejection of sin, and obedience to God.

One of the struggles for the church in a post-Christian culture is rediscovering what it means to be saved. In a Christian culture, salvation was often assumed rather than evidenced. Now that we live in a post-Christian culture, many are no longer compelled to obey the most fundamental commands of God, like gathering with the saints on the Lord’s Day, but still claim to be saved. Today, the church must rediscover a biblical understanding of the evidence of conversion.

What are the evidences of true conversion? In the opening verses of 1 Thessalonians, the Bible lists 10 identifying marks of the elect of God.

Ben Smith is the pastor of Central Baptist Church, Waycross, GA.

Sermon preached 1/26/2025.

Romans 6:20-23 is about the consequence of sin and the hope of the gospel. It is a precious passage that I have often preached in no small part because of the great gospel promise of verse 23. Generally, when preaching this passage, the majority of attention is given to the hope of salvation, which is the main idea of the passage. However, with this sermon, I want to give attention to the warning concerning sin.

All sin leads to death, both physical and spiritual.

In the confusion and brokenness of this world, the consequence of death is sometimes ignored but more often celebrated and even encouraged. Abortion brings death but is celebrated as a way to preserve sexual freedom, ensure individual autonomy, and provide gender equality. Abortion, as with all sin, is presented by the world as good and desirable, but it produces the rotten fruit of death.

The sanctity of human life is not first a political issue; it is, first, a theological issue. Christians must be clear concerning the cost and destruction of sin. Only then will you appreciate the great and glorious hope of the gospel.

This passage exposes sin’s necrotic nature and the remedy of the gospel.

For other sermons on the sanctity of life visit:

Audio: https://www.bensmithsr.org/bensmith-allforthekingdom/category/Sanctity+of+Life,

Video: https://www.bensmithsr.org/sermons#life,

https://vimeo.com/showcase/4969759