North Park Baptist Church of Bridgeport CT

Sermons

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Is Jesus Who Christians Say He Is?

October 4, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Matthew 16:13-17

Mark Smith

Is Jesus Who Christians Say He Is?

Date Preached: October 4, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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To attack Christianity at some point you have to attack Jesus. This isn't true with other world religions. Their founders are not essential to their message. Christianity is different. It rests on the historical person, words, and work of Jesus Christ. No Jesus? No Christianity. No Jesus as Christians claim? Christianity is nothing special.

In this message we tackle the question, "Is Jesus who Christians claim him to be?" As we'll see, a skeptic with an open mind will find there is plenty of evidence to say, "Yes, he is." If he is, then he commands our singular allegiance and faith.

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

Is Jesus Who Christians Say He Is?

Do Science and Scripture Conflict?

September 27, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Genesis 1:1, 26-27, Hebrews 11:1, 3

Mark Smith

Do Science and Scripture Conflict?

Date Preached: September 27, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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One of the most formidable challenges to the authority of scripture has been the rise of modern science and its findings. In this message we'll try to answer the question, do science and scripture conflict, or does a well-educated, intelligent person have to give up belief in the Bible (or at least belief in Genesis 1-11) to be a Christian?

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

Do Science and Scripture Conflict?

Can I Believe in the Bible?

September 20, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21

Mark Smith

Can I Believe in the Bible?

Date Preached: September 20, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Perhaps the best way to undermine Christianity is to attack the Bible. The Bible claims to be record of real events, speeches, and writings. It is open to historical falsification. The Bible has been attacked as being historically incorrect, textually corrupt, and scientifically inaccurate.

In this message we will learn five reasons we can have confidence in the Bible as an accurate and supernaturally-given record and therefore as a book we can trust to build our faith and life on.

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

Can I Believe in the Bible?

If God Is Good, Why Is There Pain and Suffering?

September 13, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Job 1-2, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Mark Smith

If God Is Good, Why Is There Pain and Suffering?

Date Preached: September 13, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Skeptics ask the same question Christian believers often ask, "Why is there so much pain and suffering if God is a good and all-powerful God?" Skeptics often use that question as a reason to not believe in God. But is that a good and sufficient reason? Those of us who believe in God wonder and may be tempted to think God has forgotten us or doesn't care when pain and suffering come our way.

The Bible gives sufficient evidence that God is good and all-powerful, and it also gives us reasons why a good God might allow pain and suffering. It doesn't answer all our questions, but eliminates the charge that a good God could never permit suffering, as we'll see.

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

If God Is Good, Why Is There Pain and Suffering?

Can We Know That God Exists?

September 6, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:18-22, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 2:14-16

Mark Smith

Can We Know That God Exists?

Date Preached: September 6, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Linus of Peanuts comic strip fame annually tried to get his friends to sit with him in a pumpkin patch on Halloween evening to await the rising of the Great Pumpkin who would give gifts to all the children who believed in him. Understandably his friends were skeptical and rarely accompanied him.

Is belief in God like belief in the Great Pumpkin? Some think so. Both are imaginary in their thinking. Yet belief in a god or gods pervades human culture and the majority of Americans say they believe in God. Are they deluded? Is there evidence for the existence of God or should we give up this belief like we would a fairy tale? That's our subject in this message in our series Healthy Doubt-Healthy Faith,

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

Can We Know That God Exists?

What Does God Think About Doubt?

August 30, 2026

Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

John 20:24-28

Mark Smith

What Does God Think About Doubt?

Date Preached: August 30, 2026

Series: Healthy Doubt - Healthy Faith

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Have you ever had a doubt about anything Christians teach or believe?

Today are beginning a new series called 'Healthy Doubts-Healthy Faith' in which we'll examine some common doubts and questions unbelievers and believers have about Christianity.

Before we can do that we need to ask the question, "What does God think about doubt?" Some say that if we have faith we should never doubt, or if we have doubts we lack faith. Is this how God thinks?

To find out, we'll explore some Biblical examples of doubt. We'll discover that there are two basic types of doubt, and which kind we have makes all the difference in answering our question. It also makes a big difference in how we approach our own questions and doubts.

Sermon notes can be found here.

What Does God Think About Doubt?

Jesus Walks on the Water

July 26, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 6:45-52

Mark Smith

Jesus Walks on the Water

Date Preached: July 26, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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After getting no rest on a planned get-away, Jesus fed over 5,000 men, as well and women and children, with five small loaves of bread and two fish. As we'll learn Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him on a boat as he dismissed the crowd. This set up another miracle that only the disciples saw. Jesus walked on the water!

The significance of this and the lesson the disciples hadn't learned from the miracle of the loaves and fishes will be our focus as we examine this well-known miracle of Jesus.

Jesus Walks on the Water

Lessons in Doing the ‘Impossible’

July 19, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 6:35-44

Mark Smith

Lessons in Doing the ‘Impossible’

Date Preached: July 19, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Jesus' and his disciples' plan for some rest was interrupted by crowds of people waiting for him when he got of the boat he had traveled in to get away for awhile. As we pointed out in the last message, the interrupted rest and Jesus' response to it led to something quite amazing that would otherwise not have occurred.

We'll see what that was in this message. It was a miracle so striking that it is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. Jesus had a vocabulary lesson to teach his disciples through this miracle. It was about the word 'impossible'.

We'll see if we can make some progress in learning the lesson he wanted the disciples to learn.

Lessons in Doing the ‘Impossible’

Tired, but Rest Must Wait

July 12, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 6:30-34

Mark Smith

Tired, but Rest Must Wait

Date Preached: July 12, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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In our rushed society it is hard to get the rest we need, whether physical and emotional rest. In this passage in Mark we see Jesus dealing with exhaustion and pressure in a positive way. Unfortunately his good plan doesn't work out. The rest he planned for himself and his disciples had to wait. His response gives us an example to follow when our good plans are somehow interrupted or forced to be put on hold.

Tired, but Rest Must Wait

Jesus ‘Multiplies’ Himself

July 5, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 6:7-13

Mark Smith

Jesus ‘Multiplies’ Himself

Date Preached: July 5, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Have you ever wished you could clone yourself at least for a short while so you could get done all you need to do? Imagine, then, how Jesus felt when he saw the vast crowds coming from many miles away to hear him teach and to be healed. While Jesus couldn't clone himself, he did know a way to multiply himself, at least in part. This is the story of how he did that. It also the story of how he has continued to multiply himself up to today.

Jesus ‘Multiplies’ Himself

Our Good Shepherd, Jesus

June 28, 2026

Psalm 23

David Saylor

Our Good Shepherd, Jesus

Date Preached: June 28, 2026

Speaker: David Saylor

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David Saylor, Paster Emeritus at First Baptist Church of Manchester, CT opens up Psalm 23 to give us assurance and hope knowing that Jesus is our good shepherd. He helps us see how dark valley experiences can be some of the spiritually best growing times in our life because Jesus is at our side.

Our Good Shepherd, Jesus

Rejected!

June 21, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 6:1-6

Mark Smith

Rejected!

Date Preached: June 21, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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We've all experienced rejection. As Christians we may have experienced rejection because of our faith. Jesus was rejected, too, and from what many of us would think of as an unexpected source. We'll see what happened as Jesus returned to his own hometown, Nazareth. It's found in the beginning of Mark 6.

Rejected!

No Match for Jesus

June 14, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 5:21-43

Mark Smith

No Match for Jesus

Date Preached: June 14, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Incurable health issue? Death? Has Jesus finally met his match?

Returning from calming a raging sea and casting out a legion of demons, Jesus encounters two seemingly intractable problems. The first is an untreatable hemorrhage. The second is death.

Can Jesus do what doctors have failed to do? Can he do anything more than offer sympathy to the grieving family? We'll see as we explore Mark 5:21-43. In the end we'll discover a Jesus who has not yet met his match.

No Match for Jesus

Jesus Calms Two Storms

June 7, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 4:35-5:20

Mark Smith

Jesus Calms Two Storms

Date Preached: June 7, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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In the end of Mark 4 and the beginning of Mark 5 there are two connected stories that demonstrate Jesus' power. In both stories Jesus calms a storm, one a storm outside, and one a storm inside, and then he creates two new storms, one inside and one outside. Listen in as we discover the amazing power of Jesus and the storms he both stills and creates.

Motes for this and all our other sermons can be found here.

Jesus Calms Two Storms

Three Parables About the Kingdom of God

May 31, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 4:21-32

Mark Smith

Three Parables About the Kingdom of God

Date Preached: May 31, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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Mark records three additional parables that Jesus taught. While the parable of the sower or the soils dealt with why there were so many different responses to Jesus, these parables explain different aspects of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came to proclaim.

We'll learn that the Kingdom of God reveals everything, grows mysteriously but certainly, and that its final size far exceeds its small beginning. We should be warned, encouraged, and impressed after carefully considering these three parables.

Three Parables About the Kingdom of God

Jesus Teaches in Parables

May 24, 2026

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 4:1-20

Mark Smith

Jesus Teaches in Parables

Date Preached: May 24, 2026

Series: The Gospel of Mark

Speaker: Mark Smith

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So far in Mark's gospel we've seen so many different responses to Jesus that we might wonder, "How could people who've seen the same thing, heard the same words, and met the same person come away with so many different responses to him?" In Mark 4 Jesus begins a new phase of ministry, He begins to speak through parables. In this opening section of the chapter Jesus explains to his disciples why he is doing that, He tells one of the best-known parables and interprets it to them.

This parable not only explains why Jesus experienced so many different responses, but it tells us why God's Word may not be producing the same fruit in us as it is in other believers' lives.

Notes for this sermon can be found here.

Jesus Teaches in Parables

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