We began our Lenten series on the Sermon on the Mount last week with a look at the beatitudes. Jesus lists 8 characteristics of his disciples. Last week we covered the first four. This week we’ll look at the other half. How does Jesus expect his disciples to interact with the rest of the world? What kind of influence are we supposed to have? These questions are just as important today as they were in the first century.

Messages at Masonboro Baptist

3/8/20 - Salt and Light (Sermon on the Mount 2) - Matthew 5:1-16 - Wes Hunter

Wednesday began one of the most important seasons in the church year, the season of Lent. This year during the Lenten season, we will be studying the Sermon on the Mount in worship. We begin this week with a look at the first 4 beatitudes."Blessed are the ______." What does that mean for us today? What is the point Jesus is making with the beatitudes? We will look at what it means to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek and to hunger and thirst for righteousness.Jesus' sermon seems as radical and counter cultural today as it did when he first preached it. We begin our look at the Sermon on the Mount this week.

3/1/20 - Blessed (Sermon on the Mount 1) - Matthew 5:1-10 - Wes Hunter

This week, we close out the first series of the year with a look at the core practice that is the foundation of all the rest and a look at where we stand after an eventful year in 2019 and a great start to 2020. God is doing some great things at Masonboro. We'll celebrate some of those things and look ahead at even greater things to come. 

2/23/19 - Foundation (What Are We Made Of 7) - Matthew 22:36-40 - Wes Hunter

It’s pretty common in Paul’s epistles to witness Paul defending the church against false teachers. Heresies are almost as old as the church itself. We’re looking at 1 Timothy 6 this week and we’ll see Paul dealing with heretical teaching that is still very much alive and well today. There are some temptations that remain just as powerful in the 21st century as they were in the 1st.

2/16/20 - Counterfeit (What Are We Made Of 6) - 1 Timothy 6 - Wes Hunter

The apostle Matthew writes the account of his own conversion and it's an interesting one. Matthew was a pretty bad guy when Jesus called him. His story teaches us a lesson about how we are to welcome others. 

2/9/20 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (What Are We Made Of 5) - Matthew 9:9-13 - Wes Hunter

If you are ever inclined to make a case that Jesus was a Baptist, you could make a pretty good argument for it based on how often he seemed to get together with people for big meals. Jesus was at home gathered around a table. He ate with his closest friends and he ate with his enemies. He performed miracles of abundance with fish and bread on a hillside in the synoptic gospels and with wine at a wedding in John’s gospel. Jesus did some of his best work at mealtime, and the church followed in his footsteps.

2/2/20 - Breaking Bread (What Are We Made Of 4) - Acts 2:42-49 - Wes Hunter

The Bible talks a lot about love. In any conversation we have about God, we won’t make it long in the conversation without bringing up love. Paul says if we don’t have love, it really doesn’t matter what else we do have because it isn’t worth anything without love. But love is such an obtuse word, it can mean a lot of different things. When we talk about the love of God, what exactly are we talking about? We’re going to look at a passage from 1 John that addresses this question and it’s going to point us toward another of our core practices at Masonboro.

1/26/20 - Action! (What Are We Made Of 3) - 1 John 3:16-21 - Wes Hunter

We're continuing in our study of our core practices at Masonboro. If you missed last week and you want to catch up, be sure to check it out on the podcast. This week, we're looking at Mark 10 and talking about Jesus' command to cherish families. It's an important word for us!

1/19/20 - Family Matters (What Are We Made Of 2) - Mark 10:13-16 - Wes Hunter

There is an ancient Greek aphorism used by Socrates and many others that came after him, including St. Augustine of Hippo and “the Oracle” from The Matrix movies. Temet nosce is the Latin. In English, it’s “know thyself.” It’s easy to go through the day-to-day routine of life, get stuff done and never take the time to assess one’s self. You can do the same thing in an organization. It’s easy to go from week to week in church life without ever stopping to ask questions like: What makes us who we are? Why do we do the things we do? What are we shooting for? You can get from week to week without asking these questions, but that’s about all you can do. It’s tough to progress as an organization without having a clear picture of who we are and what we do. For the last several months, church council has been working on putting some answers together for these questions. These practices are “what we’re made of” so to speak; they form the basic building blocks of our community of faith. Church council created the list. For the next seven weeks I’ll be expounding on each practice in a sermon. Specifically, I’ll be looking at the biblical basis for carrying out these practices. This week we’re discussing worship and reading the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. What can we learn from Jesus’ interaction with this woman?

2020.01.12 - Spirit and Truth (What Are We Made Of 1) - Wes Hunter

While Wes was out of town, Eddie West shared a word about looking back on God's grace in our lives and looking ahead to the new year. This is the recording of Dr. West's powerful word for Masonboro. 

12/29/19 - What Are You Thinking About? - Dr. Eddie West

This week, we celebrate Epiphany. The magi from the east are the first Gentiles to worship Jesus. Their story is our story - God's revelation to humanity in Jesus is not just for one people but for all people. Their story is also a lesson for the church in our commission to share the good news of God's kingdom with all people.

1/5/20 - The Big Reveal - Matthew 2:1-12 - Wes Hunter

The waiting is almost over. We’re only days away from celebrating the incarnation of God in flesh and blood, what C.S. Lewis calls the greatest miracle. This “Grand Miracle,” said Lewis, “was the central event in the history of the Earth—the very thing that the whole story has been about.” But even this shocking intervention by God into human history could have been thwarted by humans. Herod tried to stop it but he ultimately couldn’t. Joseph could have stopped it, but he chose instead to embrace his part in the story.This week, we’re looking at Joseph in Matthew’s gospel to see what we can learn about discernment. God is still looking for ways to break into our lives, but we have to let him in. How do we discern what is God and what isn’t? How can we best prepare our hearts to be able to receive what God wants to do in us? As Christmas draws near, we’ll see what Joseph has to teach us. 

12/22/19 - Dream On (What Are You Waiting For 3) - Matthew 1:18-25 - Rev. Wes Hunter

This is the time of the year when our “stuff” starts to really accumulate. Partially, it’s because we pull out a lot of Christmas stuff that usually stays inconspicuously stashed in a closet or attic. And partially it’s because we get lots of new stuff. I know in our house, we have to get rid of some of our old stuff and our broken stuff to make room for the new. The arrival of Jesus demands something similar of us. Last week we talked about how the coming of Jesus compels us to choose a new, better way of life. This week we’re looking at Isaiah and Matthew and considering how to make room for the new life God wants to grow in us. 

12/8/19 - Stumped? (What Are You Waiting For 2) - Isaiah 11:1-10 - Wes Hunter

The word Advent means “arrival.” In the Advent season we prepare for the arrival of Jesus, the most important birthday ever. This Advent, amidst the busyness and the shopping and all of the other great stuff that happens at Christmas time, we will ask the question “what are we waiting for?” What does Christmas really mean and how does it impact our lives and our world?

12/1/19 - What Are You Waiting For? - Isaiah 2:1-5 - Wes Hunter

We have come to the end of the series on Jesus in the Psalms. We’ll close it out this week with a look at a Psalm of Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. In ancient Israel, people believed that all of their provision came directly from God. They survived because God provides. In many parts of the world people still believe that way, although we sometimes forget. We think we’re supposed to be self-sufficient, but God wants something very different for his people.

11/24/19 - Overwhelming (Jesus in the Psalms 8) - Psalm 118 - Wes Hunter

A weekly word of inspiration from the pulpit at Masonboro Baptist in Wilmington, NC. Check us out at masonborobaptist.org.