Matt Petty
Co-Host of Burnt Hickory | Sermons
Matt Petty has been leading church ministries since 1997 and has seen thousands of students and adults give their lives to Jesus and begin to serve God. Matt joined the Pastoral team of Burnt Hickory in July of 2001 as the Student Pastor.
For 18 years Matt has given leadership to the RADIATE students and staff team that walks with middle school, high school, and college-aged students here at Burnt Hickory. Matt has been a key leader in student ministry here in this community as well as in the state of Georgia and nation. His love of the next generation has been on display consistently within and outside the walls of Burnt Hickory.
Matt is a native of Cobb county, and one of his desires as Senior Pastor is to see all people of his home in West Cobb and Paulding County know Jesus, serve Jesus, and for the church to be a place of love and healing that Burnt Hickory has been since its beginning.
Matt is married to his college love, Melissa, and has two boys Blake and Dalton. If not doing ministry at BHBC, you can usually find the Petty family on a sports field somewhere in Georgia or enjoying all things outdoors. Matt has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of West Georgia in Business Finance, and Masters from Liberty University in Theology.
Matt Petty has hosted 198 Episodes.
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Rethink Your Life | My Understanding Of Worship
Episode | January 21st, 2024 | 42 mins 40 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
As Christians, we see that worship is the only logical response of a life that realizes what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do in eternity. Worship is so much more than just a song that we sing, it’s putting God’s worthiness on display, and we live this out in so many ways throughout our lives. We learn from scripture that there is danger in flippantly approaching and worshipping the Holy God, and yet His intention was and still is to bless us with His presence. We will never worship God with all our heart if our concern for what others think is stronger than our concern for what God thinks.
What are you worshipping through your life? What does your worship tell others about the value you place on God? Are you aware of what Jesus has done and is doing in your life? If you’ve got questions, we’d love to connect with you, take time to answer and pray with you – so reach out today. As always, you can take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Rethink Your Life | My Relationship With The Word
Episode | January 14th, 2024 | 44 mins 54 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
In continuation of our sermon series called Rethink Your Life, we explore our relationship with the word of God. We know we can trust the word of God because not only is it a reliable collection of historical documents and is written directly by eyewitnesses, if fulfills so many specific prophecies. As Christians, we can place faith in the fact that its ultimate author was God, not man. Even Jesus himself fully trusted it and quoted it back so many times. Because it is so reliable and written by God, we can have full trust in its authority to deliver to us the truth of God.
Do you trust the God of the bible? Have you placed your faith in Jesus and asked Him to be your savior? If you’ve got questions or want someone to pray with, we’d love to connect with you. Reach out today! As always, you can let us know about the next step you want to take in your faith journey by visiting burnthickoyr.com/next. -
Rethink Your Life | My Relationship With Jesus
Episode | January 7th, 2024 | 44 mins 30 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
We start an amazing sermon series this week where we will take time over the next few weeks rethinking our lives in light of scripture. This week, we look at our relationship with Jesus. While sin is an action, it is also a universal starting condition of all of mankind’s hearts. We so often replace living inside God’s authority while we follow our own desires. What we see from scripture is that God’s grace is the base of salvation, and we can only find that salvation through faith. Instead of beginning with changing for the better first and then finding our way to God, we see that life change and good works are, a result of His salvific work in us.
Has there been a time in your life where you have confessed you need for God’s forgiveness, placed your trust in Him, and invited Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? Is there tangible evidence of your salvation? What is keeping you from giving your heart to Jesus right now and receiving the free gift of salvation? If you’ve got questions, please reach out today. We would love to take time to answer your questions and take time to pray with you. You can always take the next step in your journey life accepting Jesus as savior and let us know about it by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Christmas Eve 2023 | Burnt Hickory
Episode | December 24th, 2023 | 22 mins 9 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
It’s Christmas Eve at Burnt Hickory, and a perfect time to discover true hope because our Savior Jesus is born unto us. He is Emmanuel, Christ with us. Not just a baby in a manger so long ago, but the true Mesiah sent by the Father for us today. We see in Galatians that in the fullness of time, God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. He came to be punished and die on our behalf as payment for our sins. He lived the life we should be living, and died the death that we deserve. He came to be buried in a tomb, but praise God, not to stay there forever. He is risen again, defeating death, and Jesus paid our price for sin for all eternity. If we believe in Him as savior, we have eternal life with Him! What good news we have in celebrating Christmas, not just a season of giving and receiving, or being near family, or singing carols and sharing merriment. But in welcoming the gift of Christ into our hearts as our Savior and being brought near to our Heavenly Father, singing of His great and marvelous love for us, and then making Him known to everyone we encounter because He gives us hope. Merry Christmas!
This time of year can be incredibly tough for many, with the loss of family or from the pain of trauma remembered or currently present in our lives. It may seem hopeless to celebrate Christmas in the midst of hurt, and maybe you lack joy and peace this season. We want you to know, we are here for you. If you have questions, need prayer, or feel overwhelmed with life, then please reach out today. We would love to hear from you, take time to answer any questions you have and pray with you no matter what you are facing. You can also take the next step in your faith journey and let us know by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Christmas At Burnt Hickory | Joy in the Glory of God
Episode | December 17th, 2023 | 34 mins 53 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
Today, we look at the aspect of joy in the glory of God through our advent sermon series. We see that when God shows up, His glory exposes us to who we really are, men of unclean lips. His glory also drives out fear and replaces it with true joy and it creates trust and confidence in His promises. God’s glory changes out priorities in the routines of our day-to-day life, so that even in the mundane, we can have joy. John 3:17 says that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. In light of this, we don’t live in fear, but in perfect joy through faith in Him.
What priorities does your everyday life reflect in fearless and joyful living? Are you placing your trust and confidence in the promises of God? What perspectives do you need to shift to be able to experience the true joy through the glory of God? As always, we’d love to connect with you, take time to pray with you and answer any questions you’ve got. We encourage you to take the next step in your faith journey, and you can see some that we would love to celebrate along with you by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Christmas At Burnt Hickory | God’s Absolute Love
Episode | December 10th, 2023 | 43 mins 58 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
In our sermon series around the themes of Advent leading up to Christmas, we explore absolute love this week. God is always faithful and always fulfills His promises. God’s love deeply knows all of each of us, from the beginning to the end, and He constantly provides His life-giving power to us. Because of His love, He richly extends His eternal mercy to us and will reward a humble heart. Because He fulfills every promise, we can trust Him with everything in life. Just like Mary did in scripture when she was told about the birth of her son being the Messiah, we should glorify the lord and rejoice in our soul because of God’s saving love.
Is your faith at a point to where nothing matters more than answering the call of God? Have you set out to glorify yourself or is your soul magnifying the Lord and His saving love? Are you truly believing and placing your faith in the promises of God? If you’ve got questions or need prayer, we’d love to connect with you, answer any questions you have, and take time to pray with you. Just reach out today! And if you want to take the next step in your faith journey, visit burnthickory.com/next. -
Christmas At Burnt Hickory | True Hope
Episode | December 3rd, 2023 | 39 mins 1 sec
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
We begin the Christmas season with a sermon series diving into the aspects of the advent – hope, joy, love, and peace. This week as we look at the source of our true hope, we see that it comes from a God who has come to earth to be among us. Hope is the expectation of future blessings and the confidence that the best is yet to come. As Christ followers, we can have true hope because Jesus removes our past, reshapes our present, and refocuses our future. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant Daved, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. That’s what brings us hope this Christmas – Jesus.
If you’ve got questions about Jesus or want to know more about placing your hope in the finished work of Christ as you call Him savior, then reach out today. We would love to take the time to answer any questions you’ve got and pray with you. As always, you can take the next step by visiting burnthickory.com/next -
Holy Spirit Led Kingdom Living
Episode | November 19th, 2023 | 32 mins 55 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
God’s presence is no longer to be celebrated for falling on a place, because it has now fallen onto and into His people. We see in Acts what it truly means to be Spirit led as we trust and submit to God’s timing. As we study scripture, we learn that following God means standing assured in God’s promises and not in our own strength. The power of the Holy Spirit comes in the form of us as Christ followers walking in the confidence that we have in Him and His finished work in our salvation.
If you’ve got questions about who Jesus is, or want to talk more about speaking in tongues, then reach out today. We’d love to connect with you and answer any questions you’ve got as well as take time to pray with you. You can also take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Standing for the Vulnerable
Episode | November 12th, 2023 | 40 mins 2 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
We celebrate vulnerable children’s day this Sunday by learning about a new mission partnership and diving into scripture. We learn that God has a special place in His heart for kids, especially vulnerable kids. Rescuing hurting kids is not just a charity for us to support, it’s a rescue mission for all the church. Our compassion is what leads us to action, and because we are no longer slaves, we are adopted sons and daughters, we should be rescuing the hurting and vulnerable around us.
Our prayer today is for God to point out the places in our personal purity that we need to offer up to Him, to give us a personal sense of responsibility to serve and show us how we are to be used in the process of rescuing a child. We ask that God push our church to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and rise up on behalf of the fatherless. Join us in the mission of rescuing vulnerable children by visiting our site, or take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next. -
Celebrate Baptism
Episode | October 29th, 2023 | 32 mins 3 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
Today, we celebrate believers’ baptism. We see from scripture that baptism doesn’t save us, its purely a symbol of the change that has already happened in the heart of a believer. An outward public declaration that through Jesus’ saving work, you know have spiritual life as His follower. But even though it’s a symbol, we cannot be indifferent to baptism, we should follow Jesus in this proclamation. We proclaim that we are taking hold of salvation by letting go of our former life. We realize that we are no longer slaves to sin but are free in Jesus. And we are telling the world that our faith in Jesus has changed us.
We’d love to answer any questions you’ve got about Jesus and believers’ baptism, so reach out today. You can always take the next step and sign up to partake in believers’ baptism by visiting burnthickory.com/baptism. -
Freedom in Christ | One Another’s Burdens
Episode | October 15th, 2023 | 41 mins 5 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
We conclude our sermon series throughout Galatians called Freedom in Christ by studying chapter 6. We learn that to experience Holy Spirit power, we must live lives constantly pointing to the gospel, and when we try to seek glory from anything but the gift of the gospel, we will stay empty. Walking in the spirit requires healthy and loving responsibilities and relationships within the body of Christ. Through studying the scripture, we see that church, specifically here, Burnt Hickory is not just an event to attend, it’s a family to belong to, because as Christ followers, we do not have to carry our burdens alone. The ministry of burden bearing is for all believers.
Do you seek glory from anything other than the gift of the gospel? Are you bearing the burdens of your fellow believers? Do you have a church to belong to that helps you bear those burdens and build relationships? We’d love to answer any questions you’ve got and take time to pray with you, so reach out today! As always, you can take the next step by visiting burnthikcory.com/next. -
Freedom in Christ | Holy Spirit Fruit
Episode | October 8th, 2023 | 43 mins 54 secs
baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon
As we continue our sermon series through Galatians, we look to chapter five this week for our Freedom in Christ. We learn that God’s desire is for our heart to be so in love with Him, that the commands to love, experience, and submit to God feel like freedom because it is who we truly are and what we joyfully desire. You cannot simply experience the gospel, justification, adoption, and the infusion of the Holy Spirit inro your soul and not be a free person that overflows with God’s love. As we walk through the fruits of the Spirit, we see that it’s only by first walking in the Spirit that we avoid producing the fruits of the flesh, and true spiritual fruit is produced through deep spiritual roots.
Do you have and experience freedom in Christ? Are you walking in the fruits of the Spirit and not of flesh? Have you encountered the love of God and been set free? If you’ve got questions or want to know more about Jesus, then reach out today. We would love to connect with you, answer any questions you have, and take time to pray with you. As always, you can take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next.