Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

January 18, 2026

2026: Flourishing Together:

Transformed on The Jesus Way

Romans 12:1-2 (Gospel Guide: John)

WINTER 2026: Designed to Flourish

January 1 – February 17, 2026

Psalm 92:12-15

Radical Obedience

Genesis 22:1-18

Theme for 2026: Flourishing Together: Transformed on The Jesus Way

Theme for Winter 2026: Designed to Flourish

TREK: Abraham’s life with God was a long journey characterized by calling, connection, and commitment.

TEST: The story of Abraham and Isaac begins with God’s plan to test Abraham’s faith.

The test, instead of breaking him, brings him to the summit of his lifelong walk with God.

-Derek Kidner, Genesis

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

-1 Peter 1:6-7

TRUST: Abraham learned to trust God completely.

Faith has to do with marrying Invisible and Visible. When we engage in an act of faith we give up control, we give up sensory (sight, hearing, etc.) confirmation of reality; we give up insisting on head-knowledge as our primary means of orientation in life. The positive way to say this is that when we engage in an act of faith we choose to deal with a living God whom we trust to know what he is doing, we choose a way of life in which bodily senses and physical matter are understood as inseparable and organic to vast interiorities (soul) and immense beyond (heaven), and we choose to no longer operate strictly on the basis of hard-earned knowledge, glorious as it is, but over a lifetime to embrace the mystery that must dazzle gradually/ Or every man go blind.

-Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

For we live by faith, not by sight.

-2 Corinthians 5:7

When our life is illogical, we must become theological.

-Skip Heitzig

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

-Hebrews 11:17-19

TRUTH: God demonstrated that He could be trusted, and He provided a sacrifice in the place of Isaac.

TRACE: In this story, we recognize that it points to a greater sacrifice in Jerusalem (Mt. Moriah) that culminates in the redemption of humanity!

Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

January 4, 2026

2026: Flourishing Together:

Transformed on The Jesus Way

Romans 12:1-2 (Gospel Guide: John)

WINTER 2026: Designed to Flourish

January 1 – February 17, 2026

Psalm 92:12-15

Designed to Flourish!

Psalm 92:12-15

Theme for 2026: Flourishing Together: Transformed on The Jesus Way

Theme for Winter 2026: Designed to Flourish

God’s first words to human beings: Be fruitful!

FLOURISH: This Hebrew word (parach) is used 36 times in the Old Testament. It means to “break forth as a bud” – to “bloom” – “to blossom” – to “break forth in life” – and it is consistently connected to the truth that God and God alone initiates and sustains true life.

God has designed us to flourish in every season of life!

Six Domains of Human Flourishing

• Happiness and Life Satisfaction
• Mental and Physical Health
• Meaning and Purpose
• Character and Virtue
• Close Social Relationships
• Material and Financial Stability

PATH TO FLOURISHING: We cannot choose any path and expect to flourish the way God has designed us to flourish.

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

-Proverbs 14:12

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

-Psalm 16:11

For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

-Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14)

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

-Jesus (John 14:6)

PROCESS FOR FLOURISHING: God has revealed a process that leads us to a life that flourishes. The journey towards flourishing includes these three vital steps:

-Knowing God

-Experiencing God

-Serving God

PROVISION FOR FLOURISHING: God has not left us alone to find our way. He is the Divine Gardener Who provides for us in every season of life.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

-Jesus (John 15:1)

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

-Jesus (John 16:13)

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, as whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

-Jesus (John 15:7)

www.fbca.org/Biblereadings

Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

December 28, 2025

Flourishing Together

First Baptist Arlington

2025 – 2030

2025: Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (Gospel Guide: Matthew)

ADVENT 2025: The King!

November 30 – December 31, 2025

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

Matthew 2:2

Go Now!

Matthew 9:35-38

Theme for 2025: Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ

Theme for Advent 2025: The King!

K --- December 7: Born The King, Ne’er a Prince!

I ---- December 14: Identity Gift

N --- December 21: Now and Not Yet!

G --- December 28: Go Now!

MODEL: The ministry of Jesus was characterized by going, teaching, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing the sick.

MOTIVATION: People need the Lord!

MANDATE: Pray to the Lord of the Harvest for workers to be sent into the fields!

9:38 PRAYER – I’ll be praying each Monday and Saturday at 9:38 for workers to be sent into the harvest.

MISSION: Pray! Go! Send! Allow God to use you to BLESS others! You can be the chaplain of your neighborhood, your family, your workplace, your school, your friend group, your child’s classroom, your networks, etc.

We all have primary gifts that God uses in the Harvest:

PRAY – We must all pray!

PREPARE – Some of us are gifted at cultivation.

PLANT – Some of us are more gifted at sowing the seeds of the Gospel.

PRODUCE – Some of us are more gifted at gathering the produce of the harvest.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

-1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

December 14, 2025

Flourishing Together

First Baptist Arlington

2025 – 2030

2025: Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (Gospel Guide: Matthew)

ADVENT 2025: The King!

November 30 – December 31, 2025

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

Matthew 2:2

Identity Gift

Matthew 16:21-28

Theme for 2025: Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ

Theme for Advent 2025: The King!

K --- December 7: Born The King, Ne’er a Prince!

I ---- December 14: Identity Gift

N --- December 21: Now and Not Yet!

G --- December 28: Go Now!

JOY – One of the signs of human flourishing is the presence of true joy! At the heart of Advent is the declaration, “Joy to the world! The Lord has come!

IDENTITY: Who is Jesus? What is His mission?

Matthew 16 records 4 episodes from the life of Jesus where He reveals that the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be fully understood from an earthly perspective. The Kingdom of Heaven is a different kind of Kingdom and Jesus is a different kind of King!

The true identity of Jesus must be revealed by God and discerned through spiritual sensitivity to God’s revelation.

IDENTITY: Mistaken, Forged, Stolen!

IDENTITY: Who are we? What is our mission?

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be His disciples! He invites us to a lifetime of intentional discipleship! It is a personal journey! Our perspective on everything changes as we join Jesus in His purpose!

A Disciple: A person being formed by Jesus as they follow Him in accomplishing His mission.

As disciples, our identity is no longer rooted in our earthly perspective or earthly purposes. We have denied ourselves, taken up the cross, and we now follow Jesus!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

-2 Corinthians 5:17

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

-Matthew 16:24-27

0 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

-Galatians 2:20

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

-Colossians 3:1-4

It’s Christmas – unwrap your personalized gift from Jesus, the King! Let Him save you! Let Him shepherd you! Let Him shape you! You will find true life as you serve Him!

Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

December 7, 2025

Flourishing Together

First Baptist Arlington

2025 – 2030

2025: Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (Gospel Guide: Matthew)

ADVENT 2025: The King!

November 30 – December 31, 2025

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

Matthew 2:2

Born The King, Ne’er a Prince!

Matthew 2:1-12

PEACE: God’s peace is available to His people!

Theme for Advent 2025: The King!

K --- December 7: Born The King, Ne’er a Prince!

I ---- December 14: Identity Gift

N --- December 21: Now and Not Yet!

G --- December 28: Go Now!

JEWISH EXPECTATION: Some of the Jews returned from the Exile to Israel about 540 years before the birth of Jesus, while many Jews remained in the Babylonian/Persian area. Even though many of them had returned to Israel, the Jews had no King, no army, and no national identity. However, they had a hope and an expectation that God would send a new “Son of David” to rule over them and deliver them from their oppressors.

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.

-Numbers 24:17

The Anointed One (Messiah), the ruler . . .

-Daniel 9:25

EASTERN GENTILE CONTEXT: Eventually, the Parthians conquered Babylon, re-established Iranian rule in Persia and became the rival empire to Rome. The Parthian priests and astrologers became familiar with the Jewish Messianic prophecies from the writings of Daniel and the prophets – as well as through personal interactions with the Jewish population remaining in the area.

ROMAN GENTILE CONTEXT: By the first century, even the Romans had come to believe that some sort of “special” ruler would arise from the region of Judea.

“There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judaea to rule the world.”

-Suetonius

KING HEROD: Julius Caesar appointed Herod’s father, Antipater, as the Governor of Judea. Upon his father’s death, Herod became one of the two rulers of Judea/Galilee. The Parthians attacked Israel and Herod fled to Rome in 40 BC. Mark Antony appointed Herod as King of the Jews, and he returned to Israel and defeated the Parthians.

MAGI: Many scholars believe the Magi were from the priestly class in Parthia who had been studying the “signs” of the times and were expecting the birth of a new King in Judea. They arrived with an entourage from Parthia (enemies of Herod), with gifts fit for a King, searching for the new King. Matthew records that Herod was “disturbed” and all of Israel with him!

THE KING! When the Magi found the King, they “rejoiced with and exceedingly great joy!” They worshiped before the King and bestowed Him with precious gifts befitting a king.

Our God is the God of redemptive history – indeed, He is the God of all of history!

Jesus is The King! Even the words in both the Old and New Testaments that can be rendered “prince” actually mean “ruler.” Jesus was truly born a King – actually, He was born . . . The King!