Tri-Annual Singing!
February 21, 2026
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Author: Stan Cox
Minister, West Side church of Christ since August of 1989 ........ Editor of Watchman Magazine (1999-2018 Archives available online @ http://watchmanmag.com) ........ Writer, The Patternists: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatternists
Sermon: Divine Implication
Faith in God is reasonable. It takes diligence of mind to ascertain the Lord’s will. One way this is done is by reasoning from the Word to determine all that is Divinely implied.
The Patternists: What is Profane Fire?
The question for our consideration is taken from Numbers chapter 3, when Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, lost their lives for disobeying God. “Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai…” (3:4). The full account is found in Leviticus 10:1-3.
Both these men, serving as priests, took their censers, put fire in them, and offered it up to the Lord. However, the Lord did not accept their sacrifice. “So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:2).
Gold and Silver? Or Wood and Clay?
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:10-21).
Are you a vessel of honor in the great house belonging to God? Cleansing yourself from “the latter” means to cleanse yourself from dishonor.
As Christians, we are to live sanctified and useful lives. We are to “flee youthful lusts” (vs 22), pursuing “righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (vs. 22).
A woman presents to important guests in her home her best dishes and cutlery. On these special occasions, she doesn’t typically set down paper plates, plastic forks and gimme cups from the local fast food restaurant. She wishes to present her best for her friends.
Are we seeking to become special, so as to be the best our Lord has to offer? It takes diligence on our part to be “vessels of gold and silver.” The divisive, quarrelsome, worldly Christian is a dishonor to his Master. The vessel of honor is “gentle, able to teach, patient” (vs. 24).
It’s not enough simply to call yourself a Christian. Rather, it is expected that we be “a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master.” Does that describe you?
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Sermon: Building Trust in Marriage
Problems arise when trust between marriage partners does not exist. There are ways for a Christian couple to build the trust that enables a wonderful, God pleasing life.
Sermon: Our God is a Jealous God!
God was jealous for Israel, and demanded faithfulness from His covenant people. As Christians, we have that same relationship, and that same obligation!
Sermon: Better Things
The Hebrews epistle establishes that Jesus Christ, and all that surrounds His advent, ministry and covenant, are better than what came before.
Sermon: In Spirit AND Truth
In order for our worship to be pleasing to God, we must offer it both in spirit AND in truth.
Sermon: I Am Not Responsible!
It has always been the tendency of men to rationalize away their own responsibility for their actions. They try to wash it away, deny it away, blame it away, and excuse it away. However, we will all appear before the judgment seat to give an account for our own behavior before God!
Sermon: The Need for Patience
Our time is no different from any other age. In every generation, the Christian is in need of patience as he seeks to do the will of his Master.
The Absence of Elders
God’s plan for local congregations included qualified men serving in a capacity of oversight over the group. These men are identified as “elders” (Acts 20:17), “overseers” (20:28), and “shepherds” (cf. 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2-3).
Early on, not every New Testament congregation had elders. On two different occasions, men were sent to various congregations to identify and “appoint” men to that position in the local churches.
Paul and Barnabas: “So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:23).
Timothy: “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5).
The Patternists: Proper Preparation for Christ’s Coming
It is common for religious people to try and predict the time when Christ will come again. They seek to correlate current events with Biblical prophecies to determine the day, and even the hour when Christ will return to the earth.
Scripture clearly shows this to be impossible. Paul and Peter both state that the “day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). The thief depends upon surprise, coming when he is not expected. This phrase clearly indicates that we can’t know when Christ will come.
Continue reading “The Patternists: Proper Preparation for Christ’s Coming”
Scoundrels
An interesting word study is found in 2 Kings 21, which records the death of Naboth, who refused to sell King Ahab a vineyard he desired. His refusal to sell “the inheritance of my fathers” to Ahab, left the king pouting. Worse, it made Queen Jezebel angry.
Jezebel set in order a conspiracy to kill Naboth for his actions. Men were recruited to bear false witness against Naboth in the presence of the people, proclaiming, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king” (vs. 13). On the basis of their testimony, Naboth was taken outside of the city and stoned to death. Ahab got his vineyard.
These men who bore false witness were identified as “sons of Belial” in the KJV, (vs. 10, 13). Later, Paul equated the name Belial with Satan Himself (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:15). Other translations call these men, “scoundrels” (NKJV), “base fellows” (ASV), “worthless men” (ESV), and “sons of worthlessness” (YLT).
The Hebrew words bên (sons) belîya’al (of Belial) indicate individuals who are without profit, worthless, destructive, wicked, evil, ungodly. Evil recruits evil for the express purpose of harming the righteous. Thus it has always been, and thus it shall always be. But remember, in the face of such ungodliness, “it is a righteous things with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you… in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).
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Sermon: The Church Belongs to Christ!
The New Testament is full of proofs that the church belongs to Christ. Since this is true, it is the responsibility of the church to accept His headship and authority, and limit themselves to His desires for her.
Sermon: Regret
All of us experience regret from time to time. Sin causes regret for the Christian. We all sin. How do we handle our feelings of regret? Our soul depends on the answer!
The Patternists: Restoring a Penitent Man
In 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul admonished the congregation there for maintaining fellowship with a sexually immoral man, “such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!” (1).
He called upon them to withdraw their fellowship from this man. “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh…” (5). The purpose of this disciple was “…that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (5).
Continue reading “The Patternists: Restoring a Penitent Man”
