Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

February 8, 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

Worship God!

Isaiah 6:1-8

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration.

-William Temple

SETTING: Isaiah began his ministry at the end of the reign of King Uzziah.

SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: God was revealed as the Sovereign, holy God of Israel.

SEEING GOD: Isaiah was given a glimpse of God.

SEEING OURSELVES: Isaiah’s experience of God’s presence led him to a realistic understanding of himself.

SANCTIFIED BY GOD: God can cleanse us of our sin and sanctify us for His purposes.

SERVING GOD – Worshiping God should lead us to a humble response of obedience, rooted in love.

Katy Reed-Hodges
February 2, 2026

True Confession
Psalm 51

True Confession
Re-Creation
God's Hessed Love

“To confess your sins to God is not to tell God anything God doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the Golden Gate Bridge.”
- Frederick Buechner

Dennis R. Wiles

First Baptist Arlington

January 25, 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

Pathway to Purpose

Exodus 3-4

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

Theme for Winter 2026: Designed to Flourish

CALL OF GOD – Moses answered the call of God, and he discovered the pathway to purposeful living.

MOTIVATION – At the heart of the human existence is a desire for purpose and meaning.

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

– Viktor Frankl

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

– Mark Twain

That need is for meaning. In trying to solve the fertility puzzle, thinkers have cited people’s concerns over finances, climate change, political instability, or even potential war. But in listening closely to people’s stories, I’ve detected a broader thread of uncertainty—about the value of life and a reason for being. Many in the current generation of young adults don’t seem totally convinced of their own purpose or the purpose of humanity at large, let alone that of a child. It may be that for many people, absent a clear sense of meaning, the perceived challenges of having children outweigh any subsidy the government might offer.

-Christine Emba, The Atlantic

INVITATION – God is at work in His world, and He invites us to join Him in His purposeful endeavor.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

-Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

REALIZATION – One key in discovering our pathway to purpose is to realize that God equips us for His Kingdom endeavors.

REVELATION – The journey into a purposeful and meaningful life is dependent upon the continued revelation of God’s will in our lives.

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