Jim Osman (Kootenal Church)

Why does baptism involve getting soaked in front of a room full of people? Dave Rich argues the answer lies entirely in what the ordinance symbolizes. In this topical message from Romans 6, Rich lays out five truths pictured in water baptism, using the memory device history, identity, unity, purity, and duty. Baptism dramatizes the historical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the convert's identification and union with Christ, the convert's unity with the church, the washing away of sin's penalty and power, and a solemn commitment to fight sin and pursue holiness. Rich works through Romans 6 verse by verse to show that each of these truths flows directly from what Christ actually accomplished in his death and resurrection, not from the water itself. He is careful to note that water baptism does not save or regenerate anyone, but it remains a command every believer is responsible to obey. The message closes with practical clarity on who should and should not come forward for baptism, including guidance for those baptized before conversion or baptized by an unbiblical mode. This is a clear, careful explanation of an ordinance many Christians observe without fully understanding what it means. ★ Support this podcast ★ (https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/)

By Dave Rich, Teacher | July 19, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Synopsis: Baptism symbolizes the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, the believer’s identity with Christ, their union with His body, the washing away of sins, and an ongoing commitment to the work of ongoing sanctification. Scripture: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died has been justified from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:1-11 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/Romans6:1-11?partner=kootenaichurch

By Luke Rasor, Teacher | July 19, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Scripture: First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the witness for this proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. - 1 Timothy 2:1-8 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/1Timothy2:1-8?partner=kootenaichurch

Scripture is the anchor. Everything else is drift. In this exposition of 2 Peter 3:15-16, Pastor Jim Osman shows that Peter points his readers back to the Word of God as the foundation of their spiritual stability, even as he closes his letter with a warning about those who distort it. Osman traces Peter's affectionate reference to the apostle Paul and unpacks what it reveals about how the apostles viewed their own writings. Peter treats Paul's letters as Scripture itself, on par with the Old Testament prophets, offering a striking answer to modern claims that the canon of Scripture was invented centuries after the apostles died. Osman then turns to the false teachers Peter describes as untaught and unstable, men who take up teaching before they have ever been taught, and who twist the hard sayings of Scripture to their own destruction. Osman traces this same pattern into the present day, showing how quickly untested voices are handed platforms and influence in the modern church. This sermon is a sober call to root your life in the Word of God rather than the shifting winds of religious fads and untested teachers. Your stability, your fruitfulness, and your faithfulness all rise or fall with what you do with Scripture. ★ Support this podcast ★ (https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/)

By Dave Rich, Teacher | July 12, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Lesson Files: https://mykcc.link/ce35 Description: Is every curse a sin, and is every oath forbidden? In Lesson 35 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich works out the third commandment's implications for two specific kinds of speech—cursing and swearing—showing that Scripture condemns some instances of each while commanding others. Rich opens with a definition from Herman Bavinck: cursing "is to pray that God will send us or our neighbor something evil, either temporarily or eternally." That alone doesn't settle whether cursing is right or wrong—Scripture contains plenty of it. Rich surveys the "good" cursing: God's curse on the serpent (Genesis 3:14), the covenant curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-19), Paul's curse on anyone preaching a false gospel (Galatians 1:8) and on anyone who does not love the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:22), David's imprecatory prayer against the wicked in Psalm 58, and Paul handing Hymenaeus, Alexander, and the unrepentant Corinthian sinner over to Satan (1 Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Quoting Bavinck again, Rich stresses what makes these legitimate: "We do not have an utterance here of personal anger or hatred or revenge, but of zeal for the honor of God." That distinction becomes the hinge for "bad," self-centered cursing. Romans 12:14 commands blessing, not cursing, of persecutors, and James warns that blessing and cursing from the same mouth is a contradiction in nature (James 3:8-10)—while 1 Peter 2:21-23 holds up Christ, reviled yet not reviling in return, as the pattern to imitate. Quoting Jochem Douma, Rich draws the line precisely: "As long as our name and honor are involved, Paul requires us to endure much abuse. But the honor of God and of Jesus Christ is another matter altogether." When that line is crossed—cursing out of personal anger rather than zeal for God—Bavinck's verdict is severe: "Cursing then is something demonic, its contents a destructive hatred. Therefore, cursing is itself subject to God's curse." Turning to swearing, Rich defines it as making a promise while invoking God, whether explicitly (an oath) or as an emphasis on the promise itself (a vow). Here too Scripture models good swearing: God swears an oath to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13-18), Jesus answers under oath before the high priest (Matthew 26:63-64), and Paul repeatedly calls God as witness to his sincerity (Philippians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:23). Rich then works through what's prohibited: false and evasive oaths. Jesus' "Do not take an oath at all… let your statement be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'" (Matthew 5:33-37) and James's nearly identical instruction (James 5:12) aren't blanket bans on oath-taking, Rich argues, following Bavinck—"Jesus is not speaking here about swearing, but about swearing falsely"—and Wayne Grudem, who reads the command as aimed at habitual liars who need an oath to be believed at all. Rich then catalogs oaths that go wrong not through falsehood but through the sinful thing sworn to keep: Herod's oath to Herodias's daughter that cost John the Baptist his head (Matthew 14:6-10), David's rash oath of vengeance against Nabal's household, checked only by Abigail's intervention (1 Samuel 25:21-22, 32-34), and the conspirators who bound themselves by oath not to eat until Paul was dead (Acts 23:12-14). Alongside these he places foolish oaths made without counting the cost: Saul's oath nearly costing Jonathan his life (1 Samuel 14:24), and Jephthah's vow to sacrifice whatever met him at his door first—fulfilled, tragically, in his own daughter (Judges 11:30-31, 34-35). The lesson's positive counsel, drawing on Bavinck and John Frame, is that oaths should be rare and weighty: "Oaths must be limited to those matters that are necessary, that are worthy of confirmation by oath, that serve to honor God and benefit our neighbor," and "in the family of God, it is best that oaths are rare. When we take them, we should speak with full awareness of the solemnity of God's name." Rich closes by naming the vows still rightly asked of Christians today—baptism, communion, and marriage, which Charles Hodge treats as vows in the fullest sense, along with oaths in disputes between believers and public oaths under civil authority (illustrated with the U.S. Presidential Oath of Office). He ends with J.I. Packer's question to the class as much as to any oath-taker: "Are you serious?"—a question Packer says needs asking often, given how "our life [is] littered with promises that, whether from malice, bad management, self-seeking, or sheer carelessness, we have failed to keep." A lesson that takes two words we use loosely—cursing and swearing—and shows how much is really at stake in both: whose honor we're serving, and whether our word can be trusted. ★ Support this ministry ★ https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/

🤷‍♀️ Struggling to understand God's sovereignty? Get Jim's new book God Doesn't Try (with Dave Rich, Foreword by Costi W. Hinn) and discover how God accomplishes His will perfectly in salvation, the church, and the end times. 👉 Order now: https://jimosman.com --- By Jim Osman, Pastor | July 12, 2026 | Worship Service Description: Peter pointed the readers back to Scripture as the foundation for their spiritual stability and steadfastness. The false teachers were a threat to their stability because they distorted the Word of God to their own destruction. An exposition of 2 Peter 3:15-16. and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. - 2 Peter 3:15-16 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/2Peter3:15-16?partner=kootenaichurch Kootenai Community Church Channel Links: https://linktr.ee/kootenaichurch Read your bible every day - No Bible? Check out these free resources: https://www.blueletterbible.org/ https://word.ofgod.link/nasb/John1:1-51?partner=kootenaichurch Daily Bible Reading App - Multi Version, Offline http://youversion.com Solid Biblical Teaching: Justin Peters Ministry: https://justinpeters.org/ Grace to You Sermons: https://www.gty.org/library/resources/sermons-library The Way of the Master: https://biblicalevangelism.com The online School of Biblical Evangelism will teach you how to share your faith simply, effectively, and biblically…the way Jesus did.

Christ could return at any moment. So how should that truth shape the way you live today? In this exposition of 2 Peter 3:14-15, Pastor Jim Osman shows that Peter calls believers to two things as they wait for the Lord's coming: live blamelessly and think evangelistically. Osman traces Peter's repeated call to diligence, first raised in chapter 1 and now returning in these closing verses. Holiness does not happen by accident. It requires effort, pursued through the Spirit's power, not apart from it. When Christ returns, everything will be exposed. The fakes and frauds will be revealed, but so will the quiet, faithful saints whose lives have been marked by genuine spotlessness and blamelessness rather than the stains and blemishes that marked the false teachers in chapter 2. Osman then turns to verse 15, where Peter tells us to regard the Lord's patience as salvation. That patience is not slowness or delay. It is an open door, a call to repentance for the unbeliever and an opportunity for the Christian to proclaim the Gospel while there is still time. This sermon is a sober and hope filled reminder that waiting for Christ's return is never passive. It is a call to holy living and faithful witness, lived out with confidence in the God who keeps every promise. ★ Support this podcast ★ (https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/)

By Dave Rich, Teacher | July 5, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Lesson Files: https://mykcc.link/ce34 Description: What's actually at stake in "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain" (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11)? In Lesson 34 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich takes up the third commandment—and finds it reaching far beyond curse words into how we speak, think, and live before God. Rich opens with an odd feature of the text: unlike the first two commandments, where God speaks of Himself in the first person, the third commandment shifts to the third person—"the name of Yahweh." Citing Jochem Douma, he argues the shift is deliberate, training attention onto the name itself. So Rich traces what a "name" means in Scripture—not a label but a revelation of identity, as when Rachel and Leah name their sons after what God has done (Genesis 30:6-13), or when God answers Moses' question "What is His name?" with "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:13-15). Yahweh's name is His reputation, His very Being disclosed—which is why Scripture calls us to ascribe to it the glory due it (Psalm 29:1-2; Psalm 148:13) rather than to misuse it as we might misuse "silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). From there Rich argues the third commandment, read broadly, prohibits any and every sin—since all sin dishonors the God whose name we bear (1 Peter 1:14-19). The Westminster Larger Catechism's answer to Question 113 spells this out in detail: not only blasphemy and perjury but sinful cursing, false vows, misapplying God's providence, twisting Scripture, hypocrisy, and a hundred other ways of treating God's name, works, and Word without the honor they're due. But Rich presses further than words. He walks through irreverent exclamations—"Oh my God" used as filler—and contrasts them with the many places Scripture puts nearly identical words to reverent use: "O my God" in prayer and confession (1 Chronicles 17:25; Psalm 25:2; Psalm 86:12; Ezra 9:5-6), and Thomas's astonished "My Lord and my God!" at the resurrected Christ (John 20:27-28). Quoting John Frame, Rich distinguishes a genuine cry for help from an empty habit that "expresses resentment against a situation, against other people, and ultimately against God himself"—modern profanity, Frame argues, isn't always a conscious denial of God, but it is always a symptom of having turned away from Him, precisely because the divine name remains "the strongest expression" people reach for even after they've stopped believing. Rich also traces the opposite danger: legalistic evasion. In Matthew 23:16-22, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for inventing hierarchies of oaths—swearing "by the sanctuary" meant nothing, but swearing "by the gold of the sanctuary" was binding—as if avoiding God's name directly could excuse a broken promise. Substituting euphemisms doesn't get us off the hook; the obligation to truthfulness and reverence runs deeper than the specific words used. The lesson closes on the commandment's positive pole: reverence. Rich points to Moses hiding his face before Yahweh's self-declaration of covenant mercy and justice (Exodus 34:6-8), Job's repentance "in dust and ashes" after seeing God (Job 42:5-6), Isaiah's "Woe is me" in the temple (Isaiah 6:5), and Peter falling at Jesus' knees after the miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:4-8)—every genuine encounter with God provokes awe, not casualness. Quoting Calvin, Rich reminds the class that the commandment's aim is positive as much as negative: "we are not to profane his name... [but] to honor his name with godly reverence." Wayne Grudem's question presses the point home: do we have enough awe of God's majesty even in prayer? The Lord's own model prayer begins there—"hallowed be Your name" (Matthew 6:9). A lesson that starts with swear words and ends at the foot of the throne—showing that reverence for God's name is not a matter of vocabulary, but of the heart. Next time: Curses and oaths. ★ Support this ministry ★ https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/

🌈 Struggling to understand God's sovereignty? Get Jim's new book God Doesn't Try (with Dave Rich, Foreword by Costi W. Hinn) and discover how God accomplishes His will perfectly in salvation, the church, and the end times. 👉 Order now: https://jimosman.com --- By Jim Osman, Pastor | July 5, 2026 | Worship Service Description: If we are to walk in the light of the Lord’s imminent return in power and glory, we should be diligent to live blamelessly and think evangelistically. An exposition of 2 Peter 3:14-15. Scripture: Therefore, beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, - 2 Peter 3:14-15 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/2Peter3:14-15?partner=kootenaichurch Kootenai Community Church Channel Links: https://linktr.ee/kootenaichurch Read your bible every day - No Bible? Check out these free resources: https://www.blueletterbible.org/ https://word.ofgod.link/nasb/John1:1-51?partner=kootenaichurch Daily Bible Reading App - Multi Version, Offline http://youversion.com Solid Biblical Teaching: Justin Peters Ministry: https://justinpeters.org/ Grace to You Sermons: https://www.gty.org/library/resources/sermons-library The Way of the Master: https://biblicalevangelism.com The online School of Biblical Evangelism will teach you how to share your faith simply, effectively, and biblically…the way Jesus did.

Will there be pets in heaven? Will people recognize each other? A recent Q&A with fifth and sixth graders raised these very questions, and Pastor Jim Osman uses them as the doorway into one of Scripture's richest promises: the new heavens and the new earth. Continuing the exposition of 2 Peter 3:13, Osman traces this promise back to its source in Isaiah 65 and 66, then unpacks a question every believer eventually asks. What is the relationship between this present creation and the one to come? Will God erase this world entirely, or will He renew it? Using the analogy of Noah's flood, the caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly, and the connection Paul draws between our bodily resurrection and creation's own longing in Romans 8, Osman shows that the new earth will be this earth, resurrected, redeemed, and freed from every trace of sin. Every good gift we treasure now will remain, purified of sin's corruption, while a serious gospel appeal is offered for anyone who does not yet possess the righteousness required to enter that place. This episode gives listeners a clear, biblically grounded picture of their eternal home and why that hope should shape how they live today. ★ Support this podcast ★ (https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/)

🌎 Struggling to understand God's sovereignty? Get Jim's new book God Doesn't Try (with Dave Rich, Foreword by Costi W. Hinn) and discover how God accomplishes His will perfectly in salvation, the church, and the end times. 👉 Order now: https://jimosman.com --- By Jim Osman, Pastor | June 28, 2026 | Worship Service Description: God has promised us a New Creation - a New Heaven and a New Earth. A look at our final home and its relationship to this creation. An exposition of 2 Peter 3:13. Scripture: But according to His promise we are looking for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells. - 2 Peter 3:13 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/2Peter3:13?partner=kootenaichurch Kootenai Community Church Channel Links: https://linktr.ee/kootenaichurch Read your bible every day - No Bible? Check out these free resources: https://www.blueletterbible.org/ https://word.ofgod.link/nasb/John1:1-51?partner=kootenaichurch Daily Bible Reading App - Multi Version, Offline http://youversion.com Solid Biblical Teaching: Justin Peters Ministry: https://justinpeters.org/ Grace to You Sermons: https://www.gty.org/library/resources/sermons-library The Way of the Master: https://biblicalevangelism.com The online School of Biblical Evangelism will teach you how to share your faith simply, effectively, and biblically…the way Jesus did.

By Dave Rich, Teacher | June 28, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Lesson Files: https://mykcc.link/ce33 Description: If the second commandment forbids images of God, how should we think about the Bible's own picture-language for Him—and where does the line fall in everyday life and even in fiction? In this lesson we move from principle to practice, working through the applications of the second commandment. We begin with the imagery God uses of Himself. Scripture calls Him a Lion (Revelation 5:5), likens fading man to a moth before Him (Psalm 39:6-11), declares that "God is Light" (1 John 1:5), and speaks of His ear (Psalm 10:17) and His hand (Numbers 11:23). Such figures reveal God truly without reducing Him to a form—because to capture Yahweh in a crafted image is to attempt to make the Incomprehensible comprehensible, and so to grasp at controlling the God who in fact controls us. We see the danger of getting this wrong in 1 Samuel 4, where Israel treated the ark as a good-luck charm. From there we turn to humanity as the image of God: man before the Fall (Genesis 1:26-27), the image marred yet enduring after the Fall (Genesis 9:6; James 3:8-9), renewed in the Christian (Colossians 3:9-10; Romans 8:29), and supremely displayed in Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Colossians 1:9-20). We then name some modern violations of the commandment—every place fallen understanding becomes "the workshop where images of God are crafted according to our own imagination": 1. Mormonism's exalted-man god ("As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be") 2. Pantheism and nature-worship that blur the Creator into the creation 3. The Word of Faith movement, which reshapes God into a means to our ends 4. Icons, relics, and other idols of devotion Finally we test these principles in fiction, contrasting The Chronicles of Narnia with The Shack. Drawing on Lewis's own explanation of Aslan—a supposal, not a representation—we ask why Narnia's Christ-like Lion is fundamentally different from The Shack's literal portrayal of God the Father. The counsel: enter Narnia, but stay out of The Shack. Next time: The Third Commandment. ★ Support this ministry ★ https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/

The coming destruction of the present creation is not just a doctrine to believe—it's a call to live differently. In this expository sermon from 2 Peter 3:11–12, Pastor Jim Osman draws out the practical weight of Peter's eschatological teaching and presses it into the conscience of every believer. Peter's concluding exhortations are clear: those who genuinely believe Christ will return are marked by it. First, they are a holy people—set apart in conduct and godliness, fitted for a new creation in which only righteousness dwells. Osman unpacks what that means practically, showing that holiness is not merely a positional reality but a moral pursuit, one that grace both demands and provides. Second, they are a hastening people—those who long for and actively work toward the coming of the day of God. Osman addresses the apparent tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility head-on. The day is fixed on God's calendar; yet Scripture calls believers to hasten it through holy living, faithful gospel proclamation, and earnest prayer. These are not contradictions—they are the two sides of the same sovereign purpose. If Christ is returning, and Peter insists He is, the only question left is: what kind of people ought we to be? ★ Support this podcast ★ (https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/)

✝️ Struggling to understand God's sovereignty? Get Jim's new book God Doesn't Try (with Dave Rich, Foreword by Costi W. Hinn) and discover how God accomplishes His will perfectly in salvation, the church, and the end times. 👉 Order now: https://jimosman.com --- By Jim Osman, Pastor | June 21, 2026 | Worship Service Description: If we are looking for the Lord’s return, we will be marked by three things. We should be a holy people (v. 11), a hastening people (v. 12), and a heavenly people (v 13). In this sermon, we examine the first two. An exposition of 2 Peter 3:11-12. Scripture: Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat! - 2 Peter 3:11-12 LSB https://word.ofgod.link/lsb/2Peter3:11-12?partner=kootenaichurch Kootenai Community Church Channel Links: https://linktr.ee/kootenaichurch Read your bible every day - No Bible? Check out these free resources: https://www.blueletterbible.org/ https://word.ofgod.link/nasb/John1:1-51?partner=kootenaichurch Daily Bible Reading App - Multi Version, Offline http://youversion.com Solid Biblical Teaching: Justin Peters Ministry: https://justinpeters.org/ Grace to You Sermons: https://www.gty.org/library/resources/sermons-library The Way of the Master: https://biblicalevangelism.com The online School of Biblical Evangelism will teach you how to share your faith simply, effectively, and biblically…the way Jesus did.

By Dave Rich, Teacher | June 21, 2026 | Adult Sunday School Lesson Files: https://mykcc.link/ce32 Description: Can we make images of Jesus? In this lesson we continue our study of the second commandment by examining one of its most debated applications: pictures and depictions of Christ. We begin with a fourth ethical principle drawn from the commandment—that its prohibitions apply not only to images of wood, stone, and paint, but to the mental images we construct of God. Drawing on Calvin, J.I. Packer, and Psalm 50, we consider how easily fallen minds "scale God down" and fashion him after our own understanding. From there we turn to images of Jesus and work carefully through six common arguments against them: 1. Jesus is God, and the second commandment prohibits images of God 2. We don't know what Jesus looked like, so any image is false 3. Depictions can only show His humanity, tacitly denying His deity 4. We are prone to worship such images 5. Instructional images deny the sufficiency of Scripture 6. Images diminish our eschatological hope of seeing Him After weighing each argument, we ask what we can actually conclude—that we may not worship images of Jesus (or anything else), that images for other purposes are not clearly prohibited, and that caution is warranted to avoid worship, contradicting Scripture, and diminishing our joyful expectation of seeing Christ face to face. Next time: Other applications of the second commandment—biblical symbols, Aslan, The Chosen, and modern-day idolatry. ★ Support this ministry ★ https://kootenaichurch.org/product/online-giving/