Sermons by Pastor Toby Locke (Page 10)

I joined the staff as lead pastor at First Baptist in March 2017 after nine years of ministry in Racine, Wisconsin as an associate pastor. I grew up as the child of missionaries in South America, where I got to live among and learn from the beautiful people of Bolivia and Chile. After high school I attended Baptist Bible College of PA (now Clarks Summit University) and graduated at long last in 1998 with a Pastoral Ministries degree. After completing a two-year short term missionary assignment in Chile, I returned to Baptist Bible Seminary for my Master of Divinity, which God graciously enabled me to complete in 2007. From there it was off to Rochester, New York for a year-long internship at North Baptist Church (now Northridge Church) before jumping into full-time vocational ministry at Fellowship Baptist Church in Racine in the fall of 2007.

The Big Picture: A Word to Pastors

Pastors need to remember that God has called them to do the work of shepherding God’s people and exercising oversight over them. This important work must be done in a way that honors their Chief Shepherd, Jesus, and mimics his love and care for His people. In the end, under-shepherds do their work out of…

The Big Picture: When Feeling the Heat…

When we feel the heat of unjust suffering, Peter wants us to remember that God has a plan for those trials and that He will reward us for going through them well. We also need to know that those who are hurting us will be judged. Ultimately we must entrust ourselves to our Faithful Creator…

What If It Really Happened?

The Christian claim that Jesus rose from the dead is certainly hard to believe. But what if it really did happen? What would that mean for us? What implications would it have for everyday life? Join us this Easter morning as we try to answer this question from the Scriptures.

A Palm Sunday Investigation

At first glance, the events of the first Palm Sunday are a bit strange to 21st century American eyes. Join us today as we investigate what we can learn about Jesus and His mission from the first “Palm Sunday.”

The Big Picture: Glorifying God Together

“If our ultimate purpose is to make sure that God is glorified in everything, we will discover very quickly that the only way we can adequately do that is together as the family of God. Join us this morning as we wrestle with Peter’s guidance of how to go about doing that.”

The Big Picture: Tug of War

“Suffering well” as Peter describes in 2:13-4:1 has an unexpected side benefit to us as followers of Jesus: it helps us to live for God’s mission instead of just for the passing pleasures of sin. It does so by changing the way we think about what’s important, which changes our behavior and better prepares us…

The Big Picture: Tying Up Some Loose Ends

When we suffer well, as Jesus did, we will accomplish God’s will. Join us today as we remind ourselves of Peter’s teaching about what it looks like to suffer well, and what good we will accomplish for God if we do.