Sound Teaching

This is the teaching site of the West Side church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials were written and prepared by Stan Cox

Index by Subject

Quarterly Singing

Next Singing

May 19, 2012

Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Please come and bring a friend!

Sermon: Mental Divorce

The sermon deals with the doctrine commonly referred to as Mental Divorce. Arguments are made regarding what the Bible teaches about marriage and the bond between a husband and wife. The doctrine is shown to be erroneous.

Audio

Powerpoint Slides

Sermon: Priscilla and Aquila

Sermon 8 of 9
Gospel Meeting May 5-10, 2012
Speaker: Chip Foster

Paul’s companions, Priscilla and Aquila, are wonderful examples of what can be accomplished before God if husband and wife work together to serve Him.

Audio

Powerpoint Slides

Sermon: Delilah and Jezebel

Sermon 6 of 9
Gospel Meeting May 5-10, 2012
Speaker: Chip Foster

Old Testament characters Delilah, Jezebel and Nabal are used to warn young people of the dangers of choosing a mate unwisely.

Audio

Powerpoint Slides

Sermon: MDR: One, and Only One Exception

The sermon establishes what the Bible teaches regarding an aspect of the marriage, divorce and remarriage question. Most often people try to loose where God has not, but recently arguments have been made asserting there is no scriptural exception to God’s law regarding the permanency of the marriage relationship. What does the Bible teach?

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Sermon: Sermon Series, Micky Galloway

After some delay, all eight sermons preached by Micky Galloway during his April 2010 meeting are now available online. These can be accessed in this post, or by going to the 2010 Sermons Archive page.

Sunday Morning Class: My People Love to Have it So

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Sunday AM: The Soundness of God’s People

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Sunday PM: The Promise

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Monday PM: Committment to Family

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Tuesday PM: A Marriage That Will Not Fail

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Wednesday AM: Jesus, The Master Teacher

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Wednesday PM: What God Expects of Us as a Family

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Thursday PM: Victory in Jesus

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Sermon: Simple Truths About Marriage and Divorce

The sermon discusses the truth, and exposes error being taught on the subject of Marriage, divorce and remarriage.

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

The Importance of Family

In the beginning, God created man. As recorded in the Genesis account, there was not a single animal in creation that would serve as an acceptable companion for man. So, God created woman. The text reads, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:21-24).

There is a great significance to the phrase, “they shall become one flesh.” When a man and woman wed, they establish a lasting and intimate relationship. It is this relationship alone that God intends the sexual appetite to be satiated, and it serves the purpose of birthing and raising children. “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28). “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).

Continue reading » The Importance of Family

Separating What God Has Joined

(Note: The following article is written by one of the members at West Side, Justin Carrell. I commend it to you. SC)

Matthew 19:3-9

“And the Pharisees came near to him, tempting him, and saying to him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?’ And he answering said to them, ‘Did ye not read, that He who made them, from the beginning a male and a female made them, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be–the two–for one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh; what therefore God did join together, let no man put asunder.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?’ He said to them–‘Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so. ‘And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for fornication, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.’” (Young’s Literal Translation)

I’ve heard this scripture debated more than any other. We debate baptism with those outside the body, but this we debate without and within. Below are two arguments recently put forward to me, and my response.

Continue reading » Separating What God Has Joined

In The News: Jon and Kate Plus 8

inthenewsYou may not be aware of it, but in pop culture the biggest piece of news is the impending divorce of Jon and Kate Gosselin. The Gosselin family resides in Pennsylvania, and the two with their 8 children (one set of 8 year old twins, and one set of 5 year old sextuplets) are the subject of a very successful reality TV series, Jon and Kate Plus 8.

The series has been on television since January of 2007, and is widely viewed. Until recently the show revolved around the children, and the challenges of raising such a large and young family. However, the Gosselin’s marital problems have dominated reports in the entertainment media, and have been dealt with in the most recent episodes of the television show, which airs on TLC.

Continue reading » In The News: Jon and Kate Plus 8

In The News: Maine 5th State to Allow Same Sex Marriage

inthenewsMaine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

The Maine Senate voted 21-13, with one absent, for a bill that authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Continue reading » In The News: Maine 5th State to Allow Same Sex Marriage

In The News: Miss California and Marriage

ImageIn the Miss USA beauty pageant last week, Miss California made it to the top five, where each contestant was asked a question by one of the celebrity judges. The judge she drew is a man named Perez Hilton. Hilton is openly homosexual, and is famous as a gossip columnist, though he does not write for any paper. He created a blog (weblog) where he gossips, and “outs” homosexual celebrities. He is a very controversial character, and it is surprising that he was recruited to judge the competition.

Hilton’s question and Miss California’s (Carrie Prejean) answer follow here:

Q: Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?

A: “Well I think its great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

Continue reading » In The News: Miss California and Marriage

Sermon: Is Marriage for Life?

Guest speaker Dennis Scroggins establishes from scripture that God hates divorce, and intends for a marriage to last for a lifetime. One man, one woman, for a lifetime is the teaching of scripture. We need to emphasize this rule in our preaching.

Lesson 8 of 9 in Gospel Meeting Series

Sermon PowerPoint: Click Here .

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

AOTS: Who Will I Marry?

AOTS Number 40

The greatest impact upon your life here on earth (and maybe eternity) will be found in the decision made as to who you will marry.

 

To listen to this Podcast, click here .

To subscribe to the AOTS feed, click here .

Luke 18 Revisited

“Then Peter said, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ 29 So He said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life’” (Luke 18:28-30).

A few months ago we examined the position that Luke 18 gives a rationale for a person to divorce their mate, “for the sake of the kingdom of God,” without sin. The article dealt not only with the context of the passage, but also the greater context of scripture, and concluded that the position is without merit. Jesus said in Matthew 5:32, “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except for sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” The text clearly reveals a single reason for which a man or woman may put away their spouse. To appeal to a passage where divorce is not contextually found in an attempt to explain away the plain import of another passage is, at best, poor hermeneutics, and is a common tactic of those who twist the scriptures to fit their pet theories.

Continue reading » Luke 18 Revisited

In The News: New Jersey – Same Sex Marriages

In a decision likely to stoke the contentious election-year debate over same-sex marriage, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

The high court on Wednesday gave legislators six months to either change state marriage laws to include same-sex couples, or come up with another mechanism, such as civil unions, that would provide the same protections and benefits.

The court’s vote was 4-to-3. But the ruling was more strongly in favor of same-sex marriage than that split would indicate. The three dissenting justices argued the court should have extended full marriage rights to homosexuals, without kicking the issue back to legislators…

…Opponents of same-sex marriage contend the New Jersey decision could have a national impact because the state imposes no residency requirements for people seeking marriage. In essence, it could open the door for gay and lesbian couples from other states to marry in New Jersey and challenge laws against same-sex marriage in their own states.

The gay marriage debate intensified in 2004 when Massachusetts became the first and only state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The state does not allow nonresidents to marry there, however.

Rose Arce, CNN

Analysis:

We have time and again shown that the scriptures reveal homosexuality to be a sin and an abomination before God (cf. Levitcus 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-28).

We have likewise pointed out that it is God, who established the marriage union, who defines its constituent parts. If God said that a “man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24), then He defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Whatever men say does not change what marriage truly is.

What I may not have emphasized is how sad it is for individuals to define themselves and their lives by their sexual preferences. I can understand someone identifying themselves as a Christian, a parent, an American, or even by their ethnicity. What I can’t understand is defining oneself by their sexual activity. It is a strong indication of just how perverted and obsessed such individuals have become. When someone calls himself an alcoholic it is because alcohol has taken control, likewise a drug addict, glutton or adulterer. When an individual identifies himself as a homosexual, he is not describing a lifestyle, but a sexual act. Truly God has given “them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness…” (Rom. 1:28-29).
inthenews