Dec 6, 2012 | Matthew
Last Wednesday I received this email – which I immediately dispatched to the virtual round file. But I resurrected it later when I began thinking about our message for this evening. It reads – “Pastor David Oldfield. It is with a sense of urgency that I contact you...
Dec 5, 2012 | Matthew
Two weeks ago, on Sunday morning, I preached a message entitled – “The Lord of the Sabbath.” The title was related to the last point in that message. I was attempting to bring glory to our Saviour, by looking at several things from these verses. First, the Lord...
Dec 4, 2012 | Matthew
I probably shouldn’t be preaching this subject this evening – for several reasons. First, we’ve already moved on to the next paragraph, so we are we re-tracing our steps. (You wives know how hard it is for husbands to turn the car around once they are on the road....
Dec 3, 2012 | Matthew
I am calling this sermon “The Parable of the Withered Hand” although I have no Biblical right to do so. This scripture did not start with the words, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man with a pair of hands,” or “salvation is like hand surgery.” In the three synoptic...
Dec 2, 2012 | Matthew
I’d like to share a little topical message, coming out of what the Lord Jesus told the Pharisees. Those Pharisees had problems with many of the things which the Lord Jesus did, and with the way that He did them. Of course, those problems stemmed from their unbelief...
Dec 1, 2012 | Matthew
If a stranger visited with us this morning and then was asked to describe our church in a single word, what would he say? Perhaps it would be better if he visited for a month or perhaps a year, before he was asked to describe us. And of course his answer would be...
Nov 13, 2012 | Matthew
It might be fun to make a survey based upon this question: What is the greatest word in the English language? Some of the more pious might answer – “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith….” Others might come up with words like: “friend,...
Nov 12, 2012 | Matthew
I can’t speak with authority about your particular hobby. But I would guess, that if you quilters, or if you modelers had a choice, you’d prefer to design and make something which was different from all the others in the world. Sure, you might like to teach others...
Nov 11, 2012 | Matthew
Years ago, the Prince of Grenada, heir to the Spanish crown, was kidnaped and imprisoned. For thirty-three years he lived in solitary confinement within the walls of Madrid’s Skulls Prison. Then finally he was released – by death. When workers went into that man’s...
Nov 10, 2012 | Matthew
There was something that I failed to notice when I studied for our message two weeks ago. I pointed out that verse 25 begins in an odd sort of way – Christ’s answer to question which wasn’t spoken. I surmised that it came out of the mixed emotions of the disciples as...
Nov 9, 2012 | Matthew
Verse 25 begins in an awkward sort of ways – “At that time Jesus answered…” Matthew doesn’t tell us what the question was. What’s more, the answer is not expressed to any of the disciples or a group of Pharisees – it was an answer uttered in prayer to God,...
Nov 8, 2012 | Matthew
I say it about others and I must say it about myself – a man’s theology colors his perspective on a lot of things. Let’s say that a man doesn’t believe in the omniscience of God – that idea may increase his boldness towards sin, making him think that he will get away...
Nov 7, 2012 | Matthew
If any of you are so inclined, this evening I am going to give you the opportunity to get me into big trouble. I don’t think that I’ll get into trouble theologically, but I could socially. The Lord Jesus brings up the subject of the sins of Sodom, and I feel...
Nov 6, 2012 | Matthew
I thought about playing a mean prank on you, but I think that I can make my point with resorting to that. Let’s say that I asked you all to reach for your wallets, because I had a surprise for you. After a few moments of hesitation, you opened your purses or stood up...
Nov 5, 2012 | Matthew
These thirteen verses are a bit longer than I like to study in one chunk, but that is what we have done thus far. In the process of that overview, we haven’t left much which develops easily into additional sermons. But there are at least five things which need to be...
Nov 4, 2012 | Matthew
When my wife tells me what great guy I am, it makes me feel good. But I’m smart enough to know that she has doesn’t know that many men. I may not really be in the top 100 really great guys in this world. But what if someone who knew all the men in the world would...
Nov 3, 2012 | Matthew
Any pastor should have some legitimate fears in regard to his ministry. One should be a fear of falling into doctrinal or thematic ruts – preaching same thing again and again. He should fear the development of an homiletical hobby-horse. For example, if all that he...
Nov 2, 2012 | Matthew
I was skimming through a book by S.E. Anderson, looking for a potential outline for this message. I didn’t find one that I liked, by the way, so you are stuck with another one of mine. But I did make note of a comment that Brother Anderson made. He said that in the...
Nov 1, 2012 | Matthew
John the Baptist is a Bible character who I greatly admire. I am glad that he was a Baptist and called “the Baptizer,” but that sure bothers a lot of people. He was known for preaching Baptist doctrines like repentance, faith, the coming of Christ and separation...
Oct 17, 2012 | Matthew
I was definitely ahead of myself last week, when I said that “Fear Not” would probably be our last message from this chapter. I am glad that I used the word “probably,” and I’ll use it again right now. As of this moment I cannot see another message coming from...
Oct 16, 2012 | Matthew
Let’s pretend that you were raised in an highly religious – but very liberal – Christian home. You were taken to Sunday School from the week of your birth, and you learned about the liberal’s “Jesus.” You learned about his birth, and how he loved birds, babies and...
Oct 15, 2012 | Matthew
If you were terribly hurt in a car accident going home tonight, and if I visited you in the hospital tomorrow… while you were wracked with intense pain, not knowing if you were going to live or die, and I said, “Fear not,” would you be instantly relieved,...
Oct 14, 2012 | Matthew
We all know that in order for us to live we must eat – we must in some way get food into our bodies. Without a constant source of food and water, our bodies will soon begin to shut down. But we must realize that life is not contained in the food itself – our eating...
Oct 13, 2012 | Matthew
I have entitled this message “A Christian Menagerie.” That means that our first question of the evening has to be: “What is a menagerie?” Answer: “A menagerie is a collection of wild or exotic animals; a zoo.” So what is a Christian Menagerie?...
Oct 12, 2012 | Matthew
It might be said by some that I preach about Hell too often. Is once a year too often? An eternity in the Lake of Fire, is a very long time. Is one message in an hundred too many, if we rescue one soul from that judgment? Actually, the last time I dealt with this...
Oct 11, 2012 | Matthew
This is going to be a hard message for me to preach. We all have full tummies, and its just now hitting nap time for some of you. Some are anticipating a long drive home, looking forward to getting over all of this. Then in addition to that, this is not the most...
Oct 9, 2012 | Matthew
Last month was the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The German army packed 330,000 European Jews into a tiny area of Warsaw, Poland. Over three years more than 600,000 were run through that ghetto. During that time they systematically reduced food,...
Oct 8, 2012 | Matthew
Over a hundred years ago, pastor J.C. Ryle said that this scripture was woefully neglected. He said that there are intriguing and instructive lessons hidden in each verse. But especially importantly, there is a vital principle almost completely ignored in verse 11....
Oct 7, 2012 | Matthew
Following the Lord Jesus’ commission of His Apostles and authorizing their use of miracles, He tells them in what manner to approach the various communities in which they were to minister. “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is...
Oct 6, 2012 | Matthew
I have said things over the last three weeks which might lead to confusion in some minds. I have said that this was beginning of the Lord’s first church. And I have said that the ministry of these men is basically the ministry of gospel preachers today. With that in...
