Sunday, May 20th, 2012 I Chronicles 14 (see also 2 Sam 5:11-25) “Blessed Worship”   Bible Memory Verse for the Week: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. — Genesis 12:2   What does it mean to be blessed?: (Dt 11:26-27; 15:6-10; 28:2-12; 2 Sm 6:11-12; 1 Chron 13:14; Ps ch. 1; 2:12; 29:11; 32:1-2; 34:8;84:4-5, 12; 94:12; 106:3; 119:1-2; Prv 3:13; Jer 17:7; Mal 2:2; Rom 4:6-9; Jas 1:25)   To bless means to grant prosperity or well-being (“fortunate power”), and [...]

Sunday, May 13th, 2012 (Mother’s Day) I Chronicles 13; 2 Samuel 6:1-11 “Wrong Worship” Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week: But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” — 1 Peter 1:15-16 Background Information:   At the very centre of this whole divinely-dictated religion was the ark.  Everything pointed to it.  Three matching entrances (26:31, 32, 36, 37; 27:16, 17) led to it–for the purpose of entering the court of the tabernacle was to enter the presence of God himself.  [...]

Sunday, May 6th, 2012 I Chronicles 12 (1 Sam 27-30) “All in the Family” Download Mp3  Bible Memory Verse for the Week:  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  — James 1:17 Background Information: The Chronicler provides the reader with a flashback to explain how David was able to amass such a large, gifted and unified army so quickly after the death of Saul so as to provide immediate protection and security for the nation Israel. (1 Chr 12:8) “The stronghold” is today [...]

Sunday, April 29th, 2012 (Youth Sunday) I Chronicles 11 Sermon Title: “Worship Leader” Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week:  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.                             — 1 John 3:2   Background Information: It must be remembered that the end of chapter 10 had left the people of God defenseless, at the mercy of their enemies and bereft of both their liberty and their land.  [...]

Sunday, April 22nd,  2012 I Chronicles 10 “Running Away” Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week:  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. — Hebrews 11:6   Background Information: When one first meets Saul in the Scripture he does not gain the impression that Saul was an unusual person, except that he was much taller than others.  The fact that he assumes that a fee would have to be paid Samuel for a prediction of where the [...]

Sunday, April 15th, 2012 (Communion 10:50) Text to be covered: I Chronicles chps 1-9  “Look Who’s Coming” Text to be Read: I Chronicles 2:1-9   Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.    —  Matthew 21:31   Background Information: Chronicles is not a popular book.  Despite its length (64 chapters in all) and its breathtaking scope, spanning all of Israel’s story from the [...]

Sunday, April 8th, 2012 (Easter) Romans overview “The Power of God: Resurrection” Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week: If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. — Romans 6:5   The Word for the Day is . . . Resurrection   I.  Faith “in Christ” makes us ONE with Christ as His Bride/His Body  (Jn 3:29; 14:20; 17:20-23; Rom 7:1-6; 1 Cor 10:16; 12:27; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:2; Eph 4:12; 5:21-33; Rv 18:23; 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17)   1) The Jewish Wedding:  The prospective [...]

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 – Palm Sunday Romans 16:17-27 “The Power of Dissent”   Download Mp3 Background Information: In the preceding verse he has instructed the addressed to greet one another “with a holy kiss.”  This kiss was clearly a token of love, unity, harmony.  So now in verse 17 he warns the congregation to watch out for people whose purpose it is to disturb this harmony and to create divisions.  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 510) The last word in the Book of Romans is simply “Amen.”  It does not convey the idea of “I hope, wish, or [...]

Today our FM Missionary, Keith, came and shared from the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 as well as how God has been using him to reach the lost in the country he serves in. Due to privacy and security issues in the country he serves, streaming audio is not available. If you would like a copy of the complete message, please contact the church office.      

Sunday, March 18th, 2012 Romans 16:1-16 “The Power of a Grateful Spirit” Bible Memory Verse for the Week: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   — 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Download Mp3 Background Information: Having ended the body of his letter with a shalom, the Jewish blessing of peace, Paul now turns to less theological tasks–a letter of commendation and personal greetings.  Whether the text of chapter 16 was added to the end of the parchment (the treated animal skin used for writing in the first century) or was included as a separate [...]

Sunday, March 11th, 2012 Romans 15:23-33 “The Power of Interconnectedness”   Download Mp3 Background Information:                                                        Paul was on his way to Jerusalem from Corinth (from where he had most likely written this letter; he had been in that city for about three months, see Acts 20:3) with a delegation of men chosen by each church to deliver offerings from those churches to the believers (saints) in Jerusalem (see Acts 24:17; 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 9:13).  Paul considered his delivery of this offering as an act of worship.  Indeed, it was a fitting climax to his ministry in the east [...]

Sunday, March 4th, 2012 Romans 15:14-22 The Power In Believers   Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10  Background Information: v.15 – Since Paul had not yet preached in Rome [...]

Sunday, February 26th, 2012 – Freedom Sunday Romans 15:7-13 “The Power in Unity”   Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week:   If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.     — Matthew 5:23-24   Background Information: In this the application section of Paul’s greatest epistle, he has spent 35 verses to clarify and emphasize how Christians are to live in peace, harmony and joy with one [...]

Sunday, February 19th, 2012  (Communion 10:50) Romans 15:1-6; 1 Cor 10:1-11; Psalm 119 “The Power of Historical Revelation”   Download Mp3 Those who can’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.  — George Santayana Bible Memory Verse for the Week:  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.                                                     — Romans 15:4 Background Information: As I pointed out in chapter 209, Paul’s instruction about developing a Christian mind was completed in two verses.  To discuss a right estimate of oneself [...]

Sunday, February 12th, 2012 Romans 14:13-23; 1 Cor 8-10; Mt 18:1-9; Mk 7:14-23; Lk 17:1-3 “Powerful Love” Download Mp3 Bible Memory Verse for the Week:  Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  — 1 Corinthians 8:9   Background Information: When the Jew came into Christianity he found that all the petty rules and regulations were abolished at one stroke, and the danger was that he might interpret Christianity as a freedom to do exactly as he liked.  We must remember that Christian freedom and Christian love go hand in [...]