A Strange and Unexpected Friend – Philippians 1:20-24

If you don’t know already, pastors are human – afflicted with some of the same maladies as you. We not only get colds, in-grown toe nails, and fatigue, but we have some of our own peculiar problems. But three pastoral pestilences, which can infect any of us, include...

Judicial Pickin’ n Choosin’ – Exodus 20:1-17

Let’s say that you and your neighbor are chatting one day. He knows that you are a Christian. You have shared your testimony with him on several occasions and invited him to church. But, as he has said that “he is satisfied with his religion.” You know that he was...

Saved Through Their Word – John 17:20

John 17 is one of the Bible’s holiest chapters. It rivals or surpasses any of the Psalms. That is because we get to overhear a conversation within the Godhead – the Son speaking to the Father. This is not the prayer of a godly saved person, like David, speaking with...

Effects of Eschatological Thinking – Philippians 4:4-9

I’m going to come very close to breaking one of my personal, homiletical rules. “Homiletics,” by the way, is a fancy word for sermon preparation and preaching. I really dislike it when I hear preachers read a scripture to begin a sermon and then never return to it. I...

The Rock of Ages – Isaiah 26:1-4

Last Sunday, Brother Haug gave us a heart-warming rendition of Augustus Toplady’s hymn “Rock of Ages.” Some people claim that “Rock of Ages” is the number one best and most popular hymn in Christendom. Some make it equal to “Amazing Grace” – which has far less of a...

The Principles of Obedience – Deuteronomy 4:30-31

I have no idea how I came up with this outline, but I have had it for years. And it is obvious to me that it is not an Oldfield original, although I’ve adopted and adapted it. I prefer to preach textual messages, drawing out and applying the meaning of a particular...

Spiritual Discontentment – I Timothy 6:1-12

  Let’s think about attitudes this evening; particularly the attitude of discontentment – dissatisfaction. As we begin, some people may be thinking that this is going to be a negative message. Certainly some aspects of discontentedness are sinfully evil. But at...

The Watch which Jesus Wore

I would like to piggy-back off Bro. Fulton’s message last Sunday night. If you’ll remember it was titled: “How to Watch.” Hopefully I wont be contradicting anything Austin said, but I’d like to take his message a step farther, emphasizing for what things we should be...

An Extremely Valuable Gift – II Timothy 3:14-17

Let’s say that a man drove up and parked a brand new Lamborghini Urus automobile in your drive way. Then he walked up to your door, rang the bell, handed you the keys and some paper work and walked away. Let’s say some extraordinarily rich person gave you a $250,000...

The Road to Calamity  –  Genesis 6:5-8

We call it “Noah’s Flood,” but it wasn’t Noah’s at all; it was the judgment of the Almighty God on other sinners.  It was, without question, the most astounding, mind-boggling event in the annals of time.    It was the most creation-changing, the most negatively...

Confessing, Professing and Expressing – I Peter 3:18-22

Let’s begin with a brief explanation of this scripture. Peter begins with the gospel – Christ died in order that wicked, ungodly people, like us, might be saved. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to...

Submitting and Resisting – James 4:7

The other day I was sitting at my desk, taking a break from my studies when I began to feel sorry for myself. Yes, your pastor is a sinner just like everybody else. There was no lust or envy involved, no jealousy, and I may be wrong, but I don’t think there was any...

Your Work shall be Rewarded – II Chronicles 15:1-7

We have had many references lately to Hebrews 11 – Paul’s great study of faith. One of the highlights of that chapter is verse 6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them...

Eating the Flesh of the Son of God – Matthew 26:26-30

(How can different people read one passage of Scripture and reach drastically different interpretations? One explanation is that we all have a storehouse of information tucked away in our heads and hearts. And as we are reading, those definitions we have learned, and...

Emblems of the Eternal  – John 10:27-30

It is easy for a pastor to assume that his church members all believe the cardinal doctrines of that church.  For example, he might think that everyone is expecting the imminent return of Christ, and everyone is convinced of the absolute sovereignty of God.  Everyone...