Category: Salvation
Subject: Salvation
In the News: Nicer Than God?
On February 15, 2011 the Christian Chronicle noted on its blog that Texas Ranger baseball player Josh Hamilton had visited Lubbock Christian University on the previous day.
The blog entry contains a video, and text from the local newspaper, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The title of the blog post is: At Lubbock Christian University, baseball star Josh Hamilton discusses his faith. The Journal reported that during the 90 minute conversation, “the main narrative thread of the evening was the Hamilton couple’s struggles with Josh Hamilton’s drug abuse and the couple’s Christian faith.” (http://tinyurl.com/47s3qh3)
Sermon: Why You Should Love God
This sermon shows that our love for God is the result of the love and benevolence we have received from Him. He has created us, saved us by His grace, sustained us on this earth, and given us hope for a future home with Him.
Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
From the Preacher’s Pen: You Get What You Pay For
The last pair of pliers that I bought came from the 99 cent store. They, in fact have a good number of tools, all for 99 cents, and none of them worth a plugged nickle!
So, I used the pliers, which slip and twist, and generally do a terrible job… And I gripe about the pliers. Well, I suppose Debbie heard enough, and bought a new pair of pliers, not from the 99 cent store. I used them last week. They were great! The moral? You get what you pay for!
The same is true in matters of faith. Too many want value, but are unwilling to “pay the price.” Not like the man, “who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:46).
The salvation of your soul may cost you all that you have. But, it is worth the cost!
Sermon: Saved by Grace Through Faith
The Sermon explains Bible teaching regarding salvation by Grace. In so doing it refutes Calvinistic and Neo-Calvinistic concepts of Grace.
Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
Living Water
(John 4:1-15)
After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John 3), He left Judea, and traveled through Samaria on His way back to Galilee. Many took a circuitous route between the two regions to avoid the Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews. However, Jesus determined to cross through Samaria, and immediately struck up a conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the city of Sychar.
Jesus’ disciples had departed into the city to buy food, and upon their return (vs. 27) marveled that he had talked with the woman. Jesus’ actions, and the content of the conversation itself, made clear that His purpose in coming to earth was to save all men, not just the Jews.
Answering Nicodemus
(John 3:9-15)
Jesus’ explanation of the new birth should have been sufficient for Nicodemus, but it was not. In verse 9, Nicodemus, reacting to Jesus’ declaration, “You must be born again”, answered by asking, “How can these things be?”
It may be helpful to consider Nicodemus’ reluctance to accept Jesus’ teaching in light of his standing as a ruler of the Jews. In chapter 7, John revealed Nicodemus to be one of the Sanhedrin, as he intervened on Jesus’ behalf before that august body. So, Nicodemus was a “ruler of the Jews” (verse 1), who accepted Jesus as a “rabbi” (verse 2), a teacher of the law of Moses. As he was a Pharisee and ruler, it made no sense to him for Jesus to say he had to be born again to enter the kingdom.
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 .
Mining the Scriptures: Jude 1-2
Jude 1-2
Even the salutations of scripture contain wonderful lessons for the discerning reader. For example, in our text Jude describes himself as at “bondservant of Jesus Christ.” The word literally indicates a slave, and shows clearly the concept of submission and subservience. We are all to be bondservants of our Lord, submitting wholly to His will.
Jude refers to his readers as “sanctified by God the Father.” The word sanctified literally means to be set apart. God separates us from the world when we obey the gospel. But, the concept of sanctification requires that we live a life worthy of that separation (cf. Ephesians 4:1).
Finally, among the first words of Jude is the phrase, “preserved in Jesus Christ.” As Christ is our Savior, we are “more than conquerors” (cf. Romans 8:37). There is nothing on this earth, or under the sway of the devil, nor the devil himself that is able to separate us from Jesus Christ. As our Savior, he is “able to keep” what we have committed to Him “until that Day” (cf. 2 Timothy 1:12).
“Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.”
Sermon: Comparing the First and Second Adams
This sermon discusses the text of 1 Corinthians 15:45-ff, comparing and contrasting Jesus Christ and Adam.
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
Mining The Scriptures: 1 Peter 3:3-6
1 Peter 3:3-6
In this text, the apostle praises God, and gives reason for that praise. He, according to His mercy has “begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
The term “begotten” in verse 3 is the same term in verse 23, where we are told we have been “born again” through the word of God.
The term is found only in these two verses. Interesting, it is a similar term to the one used in John 3:16, where Jesus is said to be the “only begotten” (gk., monogenes). Here all Christians are “begotten” (gk., anagennao).
Where Jesus, in a sense, is the only begotten; in another sense all Christians are begotten of God when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As stated in the text, when we are begotten, or born again, we are granted great privileges. We have hope, and an undefiled and incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven.
This is so because we are kept by God’s power. We are protected by Him because we are His children. This is a reason for rejoicing, no matter the present circumstances of our lives. We are the begotten of God!
Frail Bodies
I want to start this article with an admission, I am not a young man anymore. I have always viewed myself as a young man, even as two decades have passed since the day I came as a 28 year old preacher to work with this congregation.
Twenty years, and I am rapidly approaching my 48th birthday. Now, I know that “young” is a relative term. There are many in the congregation that would still consider me a “whippersnapper”. Actually that term means an insignificant person, according to Webster, but I have always heard it combined with the term “young.”
Sermon: Your Consolation and Salvation
The sermon is based on the text of 2 Corinthians 1:3-6. We may suffer persecution and distress in our lives as Christians, but we are partakers in the suffering of Christ, and as such we have consolation and comfort as a result of our relationship to him. Of course, ultimately that consolation has an eternal application because of our hope of heaven.
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
