Category Archives: Church

The Desperate Need for Men and Women of Biblical Convictions

October 17, 2014ChurchJeff SmithAdmin

Jeff Smith

Let’s ask God to bless the ministry of His Word.

Our gracious God, we thank you for the privilege of the Lord’s Day Sabbath. We thank you that we can come together and hear Your Word; but Lord, all of the preparation and even the delivery will be nothing, unless You, by Your Holy Spirit, come with Your Word and bring it home in power to all of our hearts, from the youngest to the oldest, whether converted or unconverted. We ask, even now, that You would graciously give Your Holy Spirit to all of us; that we would truly commune with You; that we would benefit from Your Word; that we would be changed by Your grace and power in Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, amen.

Well, the day was April 18th, 1521. Gathered in the large imperial palace in Worms, Germany, were over 200 officials, including the Holy Roman Emperor Charles Ⅴ, dukes, princes, barons, ambassadors, archbishops, and representatives of the pope from Rome. Martin Luther, a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, was summoned before this council there in Worms, Germany, in order to repudiate his biblical teachings and writings. Luther understood that he would be condemned as a heretic if he did not repudiate his teachings, and that he would probably be burned alive at the stake if he did not recant, recall all of his teachings.
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Persecution Part 2

September 26, 2014ChurchAlan DunnAdmin

Alan Dunn

There’s a storyline that you will often find used in books and movies, and the storyline goes something like this: there’s a modern person who somehow discovers that they’re caught up in a great battle, a battle that has been going on for a long time, and, lo and behold, they become a character in this battle, this story, that the whole movie or the whole book gets caught up in. For example, if you’re aware of the old movies Indiana Jones where Harrison Ford goes to look for treasure and he begins to discover that there are evil people, that they’re from the history past, and he now is caught up in all of this great story. Well, we learned that we’re part of a very ancient, ancient war, a battle that has begun since the very dawn of time.
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To the Church at Pergamos

August 29, 2014ChurchD. Scott MeadowsAdmin

D. Scott Meadows

An Exposition of Revelation 2.12-17

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is…

With impressive brevity, Jesus Christ addressed this first-century local church’s particular needs, and His word with the rest of Scripture still helps all churches today to think as we ought to think and to do as we ought to do with wisdom and strength until He comes. This passage, and the whole book of Revelation, is not for speculation, but for adoration of Christ, and for application to our lives. We have God’s Word written so we may know God’s will and do it. Remember how that great principle is stated so beautifully in Deuteronomy 29.29, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Too many times people would pry into things Revelation does not say instead of paying attention to what it does say and prayerfully applying its glorious message to the nitty-gritty of everyday life in this present world.
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Persecution Part 1

June 13, 2014ChurchAlan DunnAdmin

Alan Dunn

It is my pleasure to be with you, once again, this year, and to see many familiar faces, to see some new faces, all of them getting older every year. It’s always an encouragement when you see brothers and sisters who are continuing in the way, and they are continuing, as the years past, to follow Jesus Christ, to be faithful, and to serve Him. Serving Christ in our culture, even as Pastor Martinez prayed, is becoming more and more challenging. I hope that the message today will be used by The Holy Spirit to strengthen you, especially you young people who are with us for these meetings. I believe that the days that are before us are growing increasingly challenging for us, to become Bible-believing, Bible-obedient disciples of Jesus Christ. As Paul brings His epistle to the church in Romans to a conclusion, he tries to give them words that will encourage them, and put everything into perspective. We read in Romans chapter 16, at verse 19 and verse 20, “For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
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The Church as the Army of God

March 5, 2014ChurchGordon CookAdmin

Gordon Cook

Lightly edited sermon transcript:

Today we’ll focus on one more image: the image of the army of God. Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16, let me pick up the reading at verse 13, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea, Philippi, he asked His disciples saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Well, let’s look to The Lord.
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The Church as the Flock of God

March 5, 2014ChurchGordon CookAdmin

Gordon Cook

Lightly edited sermon transcript:

Good evening, it’s always a delight to be here. I was trying to think back to how long I’ve been coming and seeing you folk here. We started with that family conference, what, that was fifteen years ago? I remember Pastor Barker taking everybody for a walk in the woods, but it was always a joy to be with you folk and hear you sing and see you face-to-face and it’s a joy to be with you again today. Well, I’ve been asked to address the subject of the church, that’s what we’ve been focusing upon at the pastor’s conference, and I’ve taken four pictures of the church, or four graphic images. We’re going to consider another one of them today.
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The Church as the Body of Christ

March 5, 2014ChurchGordon CookAdmin

Pastor Gordon Cook

Lightly edited sermon transcript:

Well, brethren turn, please, in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I’m just going to read one verse and then we’ll go back to the text and deal with some of the other verses. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” Well, let’s look to The Lord and ask for His help.

Father in Heaven, we bow before You, and we acknowledge that we are in desperate need of Your Spirit, the Spirit that illumines minds, that helps us to see. We often feel like blind men, and so we plead afresh for the Spirit to come and help us to see who we are as a church. We thank You for the blessed institution of the church, and help us, as pastors, to appreciate the wonderful privilege that we have to pastor the flock of God, to be part of the bride of Christ, but also to be part of the body of Christ. We, again, ask You to come, be our Teacher, be our Instructor, and we pray this in Christ’s name, amen.
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The Church as the Bride of Christ

March 5, 2014ChurchGordon CookAdmin

Pastor Gordon Cook

Lightly edited sermon transcript:

Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22,

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.”

Well, let’s look to The Lord by way of prayer, and ask Him for His blessing upon the word. Let’s Pray.
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