Category: Preaching

Next Sunday will be the 20th anniversary of my first lesson preached as the evangelist for the West Side congregation. On September 3, 1989 I was a 27 year old, with a wife (same one that I have today), and two small children (Josh — age 4, and Kendra — two months shy of 3 years old).

I don’t believe my sermons that first week were recorded. On September 10th we began a gospel meeting with Ardy P. Brown. September 17th, I began a series of four lessons on True Devotion (I still have the outlines somewhere). The lesson that day was titled: Listening to Heaven (More Bible Study). That lesson, and every lesson since have been recorded and are still available to listen to either on tape or CD. (There are a few exceptions where someone forgot to hit record, or a tape broke, etc.). I don’t expect you to go back and listen to any of those early efforts.

Continue reading “Twenty Years, Next Week” →

Paul, as a preacher, should be emulated by Christians. He preached plainly the whole counsel of God, despite persecution and a lack of support. And he did it all with joy and zeal.

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Jesus was plain in His preaching (cf. John 10:22-28), as were the apostles (cf. 2 Cor. 3:12). We should strive to be as well. The sermon describes 5 areas where plain speech is needed in teaching others:

• How to be saved from sins
• The Nature of the Church of Christ
• Assembled worship is required of Christians
• Christians are called to godly living
• A Judgment is coming!

Sermon PowerPoint: Click Here .

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“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me” (Ezekiel 3:17).

“Ezekiel … was appointed a watcher over the exiled nation of Israel, and was in this capacity to continue the work of the earlier prophets, especially that of Jeremiah, with whom he in several ways associates himself in his prophecies; to preach to his contemporaries the judgment and salvation of God, in order to convert them to the Lord their God.”

Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament
Volume 9 (Ezekiel & Daniel), page 2

Ezekiel, as a prophet of God and preacher of righteousness, lived and served his God in the darkest of days of the kingdom of Israel. The people were in exile, chafing under Babylonian rule, and looking for relief. There were false prophets in the land who were willing to tickle the ears of a desperate people. Jeremiah recorded the people’s unwillingness to listen to the message of God’s prophets in Jeremiah 29:19, “because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD.” He then pronounced God’s judgment against the false prophets in verses 20-23, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire’; because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.”

Continue reading “Watchmen for God” →

The lesson is taken from the text of 2 Corinthians 2:12-17. The text describes Paul, and by extension all Christians, as God’s fragrance. In effect, as we diffuse the fragrance of God (knowledge of Him), we become God’s fragrance. Rejected by the lost, received by the redeemed.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

The lesson points out that one important purpose in preaching the gospel is to warn the sinner of his sin, that he may repent. Those who are unwilling to serve as watchmen in Israel will be held accountable.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

In two weeks, we will begin a Gospel Meeting with brother Jerry Fite, of Pasadena, TX. The effort will start on Saturday night at 7:30 pm, and will continue through the following Thursday. There will be a special Wednesday morning study together with our regular Sunday services and the weeknight preaching.

Jerry preaches for the Parkview congregation in Pasadena, and has been a faithful proclaimer of God’s word for many years. He is known to the brethren here, having spent a number of years at the Castleberry congregation as a young man, while his father Harold preached for that group. He held a meeting for our congregation in May of 1999, and we are glad to have him return to preach for us again.

Continue reading “The Importance of Gospel Meetings” →

The sermon makes a distinction between the congregational work of evangelism, and the preaching of truth that is the unique responsibility of the individual Christian. No one can do your teaching for you.

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The sermon is a treatment of an email correspondence the speaker had with a Christian who holds to the “Positive Gospel” concept of preaching. What is the proper tone to be used in the preaching of the gospel of our Lord?

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The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9, establishes the authority a preacher has to receive financial support as he labors in the word. Paul did not take advantage of that privilege, lest his motivation be suspect. He did not preach for money, but to save souls. Our motivation too must be to save both ourself and others.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

In 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 the apostle Paul uses the metaphor of fragrance or aroma to describe the preaching of the gospel. To some, the word is the aroma of death, while to others it is the aroma of life. We are to preach that gospel (diffuse the aroma), and those who are right minded will accept and embrace it.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Four little creatures, listed in Proverbs 30:24-26 (The ant, rock badger, locust and spider) teach us wise lessons about industry, God’s protection, unity and boldness in serving God.

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Matthew 10:5-15

The text consists of what is commonly called the Limited Commission, in contrast to the “Great Commission” recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. On both occasions the apostles were commanded to go and preach, but where the “Great Commission” had as its scope “all the nations,” the commission of Matthew 10 was limited to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The apostles were to preach the coming of the kingdom, and were to depend totally upon God’s provision to care for and protect them in their ministry.

Two lessons can be learned from the text. First, we can depend upon God’s providence as we live our lives as His children (vs. 9-13).

Second, those who reject the gospel of our Lord show themselves to be unworthy of salvation (vs. 14-15).

Paul and Barnabas referred to those in Israel who rejected the gospel as “judge [-ing] yourselves unworthy of everlasting life” (Acts 13:46).

Because of the blessings and privileges we attain in Christ, we have the responsibility to look to the Lost, to Pray for Laborers in the Harvest, and to Go to preach the gospel to the Lost.

Sermon PowerPoint: Click Here .

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

AOTS Number 78

In defense of the faithful preacher of God’s word… He is simply the messenger. It is God’s message, not his, and he must preach it without compromise or apology.

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