Weston Baptist Church

Sermons

Below is a list of outlines of sermons Pastor Weng has had the privilege of preaching. Most sermons were preached at WBC's sending church, Birch Street Baptist Church. Some were preached at other speaking engagement with churches of like-faith in Wisconsin.

SERMON OUTLINES:

Receive Thy Sight – The Story of Bartimaeus

Preached at Birch Street Baptist Church, Eau Claire, WI.

Mark 10:46-52

Objective:        i) Present the plan of salvation to the lost

ii) Present a model of asking to the saved

Intro: Bartimaeus receiving his sight à a beautiful picture of salvation AND asking of the Lord!

Verse 46: Our Hopelessness

Verse 47: Our Recognition

-          Saviour of mankind as promised by Old Testament prophecy!

-          The royal lineage of Jesus  à Matthew 1:1

-          Matthew 16:15 à Most important question we will ever answer

-          Trusting that Jesus can fulfill all we ask of him

Verse 48: Our Obstacles

-          Hinders our salvation / coming to Jesus (opposition from public, family, friends, pride, etc.)

-          Salvation is from the heart; i.e. we must mean what we confess!

-          Bartimaeus’ confession was true

Verse 49: Our Invitation (Jesus calls for Bartimaeus à John 6:37 (… no wise cast out)

Verse 50: Our First Step (even though Bartimaeus was blind!)

-          Moses & red sea

-          Launching out into the deep

Verse 51: Our Plea

-          Jesus asks because He wants us to plead!

-          Matthew 7:7 à “Ask, and it shall be given you…”

-          Salvation is personal; à “… that I might received my sight.”

-          It cannot be imparted by or to someone else

-          Luke 23:43 à Repentant thief

Verse 52: Our Salvation

-          Salvation is a gift! à Romans 6:23

-          Bartimaeus could only accept this gift by FAITH (verse 52) à Ephesians 2:8&9

-          Bartimaeus’ life changed IMMEDIATELY upon receiving this gift à2 Cor. 5:17

o       Received his sight (salvation)

o       Followed Jesus (obedience to the Word of God) à Psalms 119:105

o       Glorified God (through our actions and lifestyle) à 1 Cor. 6:20 (bought with a price)

Conclusion

-          Many of us get stalled somewhere along this path and never make it to verse 52!

-          Some of us haven’t received our “sight” (salvation or other needs), because we haven’t started begging!

-          When we ask of Jesus, ask in HIS merits, not our own!

-          Must be heart-felt! (Parable of the sower; Matthew 13:3-9 & 18-23)

The Greatest in Heaven

Preached at Birch Street Baptist Church, Eau Claire, WI. 

Matthew 18:4 - Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Objective:        i) Caution us to always remain humble (not let pride lift us up)

ii) Encourage us who “have little” to know the Lord does not require such to please Him!

Intro: Faithful disciples eventually began to wonder who among them will be the greatest in heaven; Lesson à Watch out for pride! These were men of God, yet in their walk with the Lord that pride crept in. We need to caution against doing the same in our walk with the Lord!

Why did Christ liken the greatest in heaven to the child? Because the child was:

-          Available

o       Within earshot of Jesus’ calling

o       Attentive & Responded immediately (salvation & service) without question

o       Came to Jesus, where Jesus then set him in the midst of everyone else

o       Lesson à we respond, but Jesus takes charge and places us; we need to submit and let Him be the one to place us!

o       Lesson à Attending church regularly is a result of submission to God’s will! (Because we don’t always feel like going to church)

o       Lesson à God will only call us to service if we are submitted to His will! (Otherwise He calls us to submit, as a child!)

-          Humble (an attitude)

o       Humble even though the center of attention, even amongst God’s chosen!

o       Mark 9:33-35 à Was not seeking greatness à Lesson: The only way to achieve greatness in heaven is to not actively seek greatness, but humbly serve and obey the Lord

o       Did not seem great on earth

o       Lesson à We are to constantly humble ourselves as little children (not just when we get saved!)

o       Romans 12:3 & Galatians 6:3 à Don’t think we are more than what we are:

o       James 4:10 - Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

-          Lowly (a status)

o       Child was a nobody!

o       Had no credentials! Had no authority!

o       Was not a preacher, a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a scholar, a theologian, an evangelist, etc.; the child only had one thing: a humble and obedient heart!

o       Exodus 3:11

-          Utterly dependent

o       Is there anything a child can do on its own (besides getting into mischief)? Go to the store, buy a toy, cook a meal, etc.? Nothing! à John 15:5

o       On the contrary, the only thing a child can do well is make a mess!

o       100% trust à Ever have a child fall asleep on you? 

-          Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) à How many beatitudes are exemplified in a child? Scripture key (Scripture unlocking the meaning to other scripture) à Humbling ourselves as a child will allow us to fulfill the beatitudes, to be the greatest in heaven!

-          Christ uses a child (not even youth) to exemplify the greatest of His followers because we need to keep the mindset of a child; ie. We don’t know anything, we don’t know better, we are not capable of accomplishing anything outside of Christ!

-          Close: Notice before one can be great in heaven one had to be saved! Jesus mentions salvation first in verse 3 before greatness in verse 4!

Make up the hedge!

Preached at Northwoods Baptist Church, Sarona, WI 

Ezekiel 22:30 - And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Objective: Challenge us to make up the hedge in our community

-          Old Testament truths apply not only to the nation of Israel, but are timeless truths for all believers.

-          Background: Ezekiel 22:23-31 à Summarize then emphasize verse 30

-          Do we realize God spares the ungodly many for the godly few?

-          Don’t ever feel as though you’re insignificant, that you’re not making a difference in the community! You are making a HUGE difference, others just don’t know it!

-          Do we stop and think that if it wasn’t for this church, God might very well write Ichabod on this community and cast it aside?

-          What is a hedge? A wall à Barrier that prevents destruction from befalling the land

-          The only way we can reach the lost and prevent their destruction is to make up the hedge by:

1. Living righteously

-          This is the first step – even if we are saved, but if we ourselves are living in sin God will not use us to reach the lost and will in fact destroy the lost

-          Genesis 18:24 à the story of Lot

-          Matthew 5:13 à salt of the earth; salt to preserve the meat; if we aren’t salty, i.e. living right, we are just like Lot and of no use to God

-          Matthew 5:14-16 à let your light so shine before men

2. Praying for the lost

-          Numbers 16:47&48 à Aaron burns incense and makes an atonement for the people

-          Burning incense in OT represents prayer àPsalm 141:2 - Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

-          Psalm 126:5 - They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

3. Hating sin

-          This is one area we need to constantly remind ourselves, because we are constantly exposed to sin and by human nature we tend to become complacent to it

-          Numbers 25: 8 & 13 à Phinehas executes sinners

-          Proverbs 8:13 - The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

4. Preaching the truth

-          Acts 2:41 à Peter preaching to multitude at Pentecost (3,000 souls saved!)

-          Jonah to Nineveh

-          What is the truth? Jesus Christ! à Call for salvation

Closing

-          Do we realize we might be the only thing keeping the Lord from turning His back forever on a community?

-          Do we realize we might be the only one standing between a person and hell?

-          We might be the only one God allows a lost person to cross paths with!

-          But isn’t standing in the hedge only for priests? 1 Peter 2:9 à We are indeed a royal priesthood, just like Aaron who made atonement for the people! Notice too we are to “shew forth” the praises of God to Gentiles through our lifestyle and character (verse 11-12)

-          Oh Lord – help us to stand in the hedges!

Parable Of The Soils (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23)

Preached at Fairhaven Baptist Church, Oconto, WI 

Seed by the way side

-          outright rejection, does not “understand” the gospel

-          Blaspheming the Holy Ghost à Mark 3:28-29 cf John 16:8-9

Seed into stony places

-          Immediate, outward, and emotional acceptance, but not truly converted

-          Want the benefits of becoming a Christian, but are not willing to accept the hardships

-          When trials come, when some pressure is applied, they fall away à e.g. Paul, inquisition

-          Matthew 5:10 (blessed are they which are persecuted…)

-          Fearful that many church members today fall in this category; not truly saved but likewise have not “fallen away” because of lack of persecution in the US; hence the lukewarm church in Revelation; unlike NT churches where only true believers who were willing to face the hardships of being a Christian joined.

Seed among the thorns

-          hears the Gospel but cannot let go of the world so does not truly get saved

-          Luke 18:18-24 (rich young ruler) cf Mark 8:36 (what shall it profit a man?)

-          Mark 9:43-48

o       hand = not willing to give up what we’re doing (worldly pleasures)

o       foot = not willing to give up where we’re going (worldly success)

o       eye = not willing to give up what we’re seeing (worldly contentment)

-          No man can serve two masters à Matthew 6:24

-          Both seed on stony places and thorns believe in the head, but not the heart! à John 12:42-43 cf John 19:6 AND Acts 26:27; hence possess not saving faith, but dead faith!

-          Matthew 16:24 à Deny himself (seed by wayside doesn’t do this), pick up his cross (seed by stony ground doesn’t do this), follow me (seed by thorns doesn’t do this).

Seed into the good ground

-          hears the Gospel, repents, and gets saved!

-          Fruit-bearing is the proof of salvation! à Matthew 7:17-20

-          Getting saved turns us from a corrupt tree into a good tree à 2 Corinthians 5:17 & Galatians 5:22-23

True salvation

-          Remember: True salvation requires repentance and faith! Remember the Roman’s road! To get saved by “skipping” repentance results in false salvation!

-          Seed on stony ground and thorny ground don’t show people falling away from salvation, but rather confession. One cannot lose one’s salvation!

-          Sign of a true Christian is chastisement à Hebrews 12:5-8

-          Wheat and the Tares à Matthew 13:24-30

-          Matthew 7:21-23 cf John 6:28-29

Challenge to unsaved à Where do we receive the seed? Get saved now!

Challenge to saved à How many fruits are we producing?