Burnt Hickory | Sermons

Worthy Worship of the King: Lessons from the Wise Men

Episode  |  December 31st, 2023  |  40 mins 11 secs

baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon

As we stand on the brink of a new year, our hearts resonate with the journey of the Wise Men who sought the King—the true Messiah sent by the Father. In this New Year's Eve reflection, we'll explore the timeless lessons from these seekers of truth.

Guided by divine signs, the Wise Men recognized a wondrous star leading them to the King. Similarly, our worship is a journey guided by divine signs, recognizing the King's presence in our lives. Overcoming obstacles, the Wise Men stayed true to the essence of worship, avoiding fear and political agendas to honor the Holy King. Our worship, too, should be marked by overcoming personal obstacles, rooted in honoring the Holy King.

In response to divine revelation, the Wise Men expressed joyful dedication and rejoiced in the presence of the King. Our worship, likewise, should be characterized by joyful dedication, responding to divine revelation. Worship that honors is free from personal gain, rooted in pure motives, avoiding the pitfalls seen in Herod's troubled reaction and the knowledge-laden but faith-lacking religious leaders.

Lastly, we explore worship that brings joy, acknowledging Jesus as King, High Priest, and Savior through the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Our worship, akin to the Wise Men's offerings, should recognize Jesus in His fullness and embrace sacrificial worship.

Whether you join us online or in person, let's glean valuable lessons from the Wise Men on this special New Year's Eve, understanding what it truly means to offer Worthy Worship of the King. See you soon!

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

Encouragement from the Persecuted Church

Episode  |  November 26th, 2023  |  39 mins 20 secs

baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon

Love | Hope | Family | Community
Our mission is to reach everyone around us with the hope of Christ. We are a church founded on building strong families focused on impacting our community.

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.

DNOW | Conformed Or Transformed?

Episode  |  November 5th, 2023  |  35 mins 6 secs

baptist, bible, church, preaching, scripture, sermon

We wrap up an amazing Disciple Now Student weekend by hearing from our Kenya Mission Partner, Peter Abungu. He leads us through scripture as we look at the difference between being conformed and transformed. We see that transformation belongs to believers because the unbeliever can’t break the world’s control over them without Christ. Believers are promised that the Spirit who lives in them is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. God’s indwelling Spirit enables us to resist the world’s pressure to conform to its ways.
Our sinful nature wants us to do evil, which is the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what our sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, which causes us to not have the freedom to carry out our good intentions.
As always, if you’ve got questions, we’d love to connect with you, answer the questions you’ve got, and take time to pray with you – so reach out today. Or you can 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.