Pilgrim Baptist Church

Jimmy Fortunato

0.0 (0)
Christianity
Updated Biweekly

The newest sermons from Pilgrim Baptist Church on SermonAudio.

Sep 24

3 John 1-2 • The Verse They Stop Reading

3 John 1:2 — TV preachers quote this verse and stop. John didn't stop there — and the rest of the sentence wrecks the health-and-wealth gospel. This message unpacks the prosperity gospel debate hiding inside 3 John 1:2 — the verse health-and-wealth preachers love to quote, and love to stop reading. This expository preaching through the Apostle John's wish for a man named Gaius exposes what happens when "prosper and be in health" gets cut loose from the phrase that follows it: "even as thy soul prospereth." If you've ever wondered why the prosperity gospel doesn't add up biblically — or watched someone you love send their last dollars to a preacher promising healing and wealth — this sermon shows you exactly where that theology breaks, one piece of punctuation at a time. Soul prosperity, not bank account prosperity, is the measuring stick John actually gives. Preached from 3 John 1:1-2, this message traces the Apostle John's final years as the last living eyewitness of Christ, his love for a little-known believer named Gaius, and the wish he made for him. Drawing on Genesis 22, 2 Corinthians 11-12, and the record of Paul's own suffering and contentment, this verse-by-verse teaching calls believers back to a definition of prosperity measured by the soul first — everything else rides behind it. This sermon walks through 3 John 1:1-2, explaining: - Why John signed this letter only "the elder" — and why no one had to ask which elder - Who Gaius was, and why an old apostle loved a man history barely remembers - The difference between a formal prayer and a wish that "gets away from you" - How prosperity preachers stop reading at the comma in verse 2
Sep 20

John 11:17-27 • Where's Your Lazarus?

John 11:17-27 — Four days is long enough for hope to give up. But Jesus doesn't ask you to wait for the resurrection. He says, "I am" it. This expository preaching message walks verse-by-verse through John 11:17-27, continuing our ongoing exposition through the Gospel of John at Pilgrim Baptist Church. If you've ever prayed, "Lord, if you had just shown up sooner," this passage was preached for you. Martha's brother is dead, and the one man who could have stopped it stayed away. This sermon sits inside that grief and asks the same question Jesus asked Martha: not what do you believe about the resurrection someday, but do you believe it right now, for the grave standing in front of you today. Working verse-by-verse through John 11:17-27, this expository preaching message traces Martha's half-believing faith — real, but "faith with a leash on it" — and shows how Jesus turns her theologically correct but distant confession ("he shall rise again at the last day") into a direct confrontation: "I am the resurrection and the life. Believest thou this?" This message covers: - Why four days was long enough for Martha's hope to give up - Martha's accusation: "Lord, if thou hadst been here" - The difference between doctrine you believe and faith you live - "The resurrection isn't a day on a calendar. It's a person." - Where's your Lazarus? — the evidence only Jesus can provide - Two halves of the promise: the dead in Christ and the living in Christ - Why Jesus doesn't scold Martha for giving the wrong answer - Part 3 of our 6-message expository study through John 11
Sep 20

Proverbs 8:17-21 • I Have a Reservation No One Can Cancel

📖 Proverbs 8:17-21 — Gold rusts. Silver tarnishes. But wisdom offers you a reservation in heaven that no one can cancel. This family integrated church sermon from Proverbs 8:17-21 speaks to fathers, mothers, and children about what it really means to seek durable riches — the kind that money and status can never buy. If you've ever wondered whether you're chasing the wrong kind of wealth, this verse-by-verse message on biblical wisdom and true inheritance is for you. Everybody wants riches and honor — God put that hunger in us. The question isn't whether you want them; it's where you're looking for them. This sermon makes the case that everything worth having — righteousness, a lasting marriage, children who walk with the Lord — traces back to wisdom, not wealth. Working verse-by-verse through Proverbs 8:17-21, this family integrated church message contrasts the voice of wisdom with the voice calling from the harlot's door in Proverbs 7 — two voices that have been calling out since the world began. Only one of them tells you what happens after you walk through the door. This message walks through Proverbs 8:17-21, covering: - Why riches and honor aren't wrong to want — the question is where you look for them - "Durable riches" — the wealth that outlasts the grave and the market - What it means that wisdom leads instead of just points - A hard word for parents on modeling a marriage worth staying in - Why children need wisdom for the day mom and dad are gone - The inheritance reserved in heaven that no one can cancel - Two voices calling since the world began — Proverbs 7 and Proverbs 8 compared
Sep 20

Real Life, Right Now — That Alarm Isn't Your Enemy

1 John 4:18 — Perfect love casts out fear. But the alarm going off inside your child when something's wrong? That's not the enemy. It's doing its job. This family integrated church lesson closes out an eight-week children's safety series at Pilgrim Baptist Church, teaching parents and children together how to recognize danger, resist secrecy, and never be afraid to tell the truth. Rooted in 1 John 4:18, this is family integrated church teaching on biblical parenting, child protection, and raising children who run toward truth instead of hiding from it. If you've ever wondered why your child hesitates to tell you something — a phone, a friend, a feeling they can't name — this lesson explains what's happening inside them. Fear isn't the danger. An alarm that never gets answered is. Working from 1 John 4:18, Romans 8:1, and Psalm 34:4, this closing lesson reframes fear as a built-in warning system — not a flaw to eliminate, but a signal to listen to. Parents are given practical tools to keep that line of communication open: phones and screens, sleepovers, one-on-one mentoring, and what to do if something happens at church. This family integrated church lesson walks through 1 John 4:18, Romans 8:1, and Psalm 34:4, covering: - Why fear isn't the enemy — it's an alarm doing its job - The difference between condemnation-fear and living as a forgiven believer (Romans 8:1) - How abusers use hedged consequences to keep children silent - Practical phone and screen guidelines for families - Why this family avoids sleepovers and one-on-one adult-child mentoring - How to give your children a "family blessing" of safety and truth - What to do if something happens at church, school
Sep 17

2 John 10-13 • Love the Man. Guard the Door.

2 John 10-13 — A false teacher will use your kindness against you. This closing message shows how to love the man at your door without handing him your name. This expository preaching message concludes our series through 2 John, working through verses 10-13 — the apostle John's closing instructions on how to receive (or refuse) a false teacher at your door. Drawing on 2 Kings 4, Genesis 3, Genesis 24, and Psalm 50, this verse-by-verse study builds the biblical case for why receiving someone into fellowship means backing their mission — and why "Godspeed" was never just a friendly send-off. If you've ever wondered how to balance Christian hospitality with biblical discernment — how to love a lost person without becoming a partaker in false doctrine — this message walks through exactly where that line is and why John draws it there. This is expository preaching at its most practical: a 2,000-year-old command applied directly to a modern doorstep, a modern phone call, a modern friend request. This verse-by-verse sermon through 2 John 10-13 covers: - Why John says "receive him not" — and who that command is and isn't for - The Shunammite woman's prophet's chamber (2 Kings 4) as a model of godly hospitality - Why "Godspeed" was never a neutral farewell (Genesis 24) - The doctrine of being a "partaker" — how silence and approval share in another's sin (Psalm 50, Genesis 3) - Why the same door that welcomes truth is the door false teachers go looking for - The difference between hospitality and surrender - Why John closes the letter longing for face-to-face fellowship, not paper and ink - How a closed door in verse 10 protects the open door of joy in verse 12
Sep 13

John 11:7-16 • God Never Promised to Move the Stones

John 11:7-16 — The disciples begged Jesus not to go back to the place that nearly killed him. He went anyway. God never promised to move the stones — He promised to walk with you through them. This expository preaching message walks through John 11:7-16, where Jesus turns back toward Judea — the very place his disciples had already watched him nearly stoned to death — to raise Lazarus from the dead. Their fear wasn't cowardice; it was memory. But Jesus answers their fear not with comfort, but with a clock: "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" This message is for anyone facing a "Judea" of their own — a place they've already been hurt once and don't want to face again. It walks through what it means to walk in the light of God's will versus stumbling in the dark of your own fear, and closes with Thomas's surprising declaration: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." This verse-by-verse exposition of John 11:7-16 traces the doctrine of God's appointed timing back through Genesis 1, and forward through Ecclesiastes 12, Romans 8:28, and the resurrection hope of 1 Corinthians 15 — showing that walking in daylight never promised an easy road, only an appointed one. This expository preaching message through John covers: - Why the disciples' fear of Judea was reasonable — and why reasonable isn't always right - "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" — God's fixed and numbered timing - The difference between walking in the light and stumbling in the dark - Why Jesus calls Lazarus "our friend" instead of "your friend" - Why Jesus was glad he wasn't there to stop Lazarus's death - The old biblical word for death: "sleep," and what it means for believers today
Sep 13

Moses Didn't Do It Alone

Exodus 18 — Moses led millions and still needed his father-in-law to tell him: "This is not good." You need a Jethro too. This family integrated church lesson walks through Exodus 18 — Jethro's advice to Moses — teaching the whole church family, children included, that God gives us many trusted helpers, not just one, and that asking for help isn't failing, it's wisdom. Parents will see a model for building a child's circle of trusted adults; everyone will see why one person insisting on being someone's only confidant is a warning sign, not a compliment. Moses was judging every dispute for the entire nation of Israel, alone, from morning to evening. Jethro didn't rebuke him — he asked one honest question, "Why?" — and helped Moses see a burden he could no longer see for himself. This message applies that same pattern to marriage, homeschooling, church ministry, and raising children who know how to spot a true trusted helper from a false one. This verse-by-verse walk through Exodus 18 covers: - Why God gives children (and adults) more than one trusted grown-up - The warning sign when someone insists on being your only confidant - Moses honoring Jethro before ever receiving his advice - "Praise, Correct, Praise" — how to give correction that's actually received - Why a wise helper deflects glory to God instead of collecting it - How Jethro confronted Moses without lecturing — one question: "Why?" - The single point of failure every overloaded leader and parent creates - Delegation as obedience, not just good advice agreed with
Sep 13

Proverbs 8:12-16 • Wisdom Can Take Back Every Crown

Proverbs 8:12-16 — No king has ever ruled on his own power. Wisdom lends the crown. And when she's done lending it, the crown comes down. This expository preaching message walks through Proverbs 8:12-16, where Wisdom speaks in the first person — "I wisdom dwell with prudence" — testifying about herself as a real, eternal witness present before creation. This is not a virtue described from the outside. It's a person testifying from the inside about what she hates, what she holds, and who she has always upheld. This message is for anyone trying to sort out real wisdom from the "witty inventions" of a noisy, distracting culture — the discernment to tell truth from things that merely look like truth. Wisdom names her roommate (prudence), names what she hates (pride, arrogancy, evil, lying), and then makes a claim few expect: every king, prince, noble, and judge who has ever ruled has ruled only because wisdom lent them the crown — and she can take it back. This verse-by-verse exposition of Proverbs 8:12-16 traces the doctrine of prudence through Joseph fleeing temptation, Moses choosing affliction over Pharaoh's gold, and Daniel praying in the face of the lions' den — three men, three centuries, the same unshaken roommate: prudence. This expository preaching message through Proverbs covers: - Wisdom's self-testimony: "I wisdom dwell with prudence" - What prudence actually is, and how Joseph, Moses, and Daniel each lived it out - "Witty inventions" — discernment for a culture full of noise and distraction - "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" — why reverence alone isn't enough - Pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and the froward mouth — the four things wisdom hates

The newest sermons from Pilgrim Baptist Church on SermonAudio.

Creator

Jimmy Fortunato
Years Active

2020 - 2026
Episodes

105
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Pilgrim Baptist Church
Show Website

Pilgrim Baptist Church