Grace Bible Church - Sermons 2000

Resolutions for New Millennium

Sun, 31 Dec 2000 12:00:00 -0500

Today is the last day of this year, this century and this millennium. I realize that many, if not most people, celebrated this marking of time last year, but they were one year early. Our calendar does not start with the year Zero A.D., but with 1 A.D. I only mention this because of a quirk in my personality that if possible, I like things to be accurate, and that according to the calendar system we follow here in the United States, the twenty-first century, the third millennium, does not start until tomorrow.

The Magic of Christmas

Sun, 24 Dec 2000 12:00:00 -0500

My little poem sets the tone for the message this morning. We are in a cultural battle and it includes our holidays. People look for there to be a special magic in this season. They desire to enjoy the blessings of gifts, family, friends and shared love, yet, as much as they may desire those things, many, if not most people in our society no longer know why this should be a special time of the year for those things. And unless there is a foundation in truth that explains the reason for this season, they will eventually find that even if they do get what they are seeking, it will leave them hollow.

Culture Wars, Pt. 2: Separation & Cultural Relevancy

Sun, 17 Dec 2000 12:00:00 -0500

Last week I introduced the topic of the conflict that Christians have with their surrounding cultures. The Christian's worldview, that is, the overall perception they have of reality, is different from the non-Christian's worldview. Our philosophical presuppositions, our understanding of history, the present and the future are all different from the non-Christian. This inevitably results in conflicts both great and small.

Culture Wars, pt. 1: The Foundations

Sun, 10 Dec 2000 12:00:00 -0500

This morning I want to put an extension on to our study of spiritual warfare in its practical aspects of everyday life as manifested in the society in which we live. We need to understand clearly that our major involvement in spiritual warfare is going to be in the conflict that Christians inevitably have with the cultures in which they live.

Spiritual Armor: Salvation & the Scriptures

Sun, 03 Dec 2000 12:00:00 -0500

This morning we come to the 5th piece of spiritual armor. The Helmet of Salvation. We have already covered the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace and the shield of faith. Each and every piece is important in our warfare against the spiritual forces of wickedness that surround us. While the battle is all around us and is at times very severe, we have nothing to fear as long as we use the provisions God has made for us. Make sure your armor is on!

Spiritual Armor: Peace, Faith, Salvation & the Bible

Sun, 26 Nov 2000 12:00:00 -0500

Shoes. All sorts of shoes. Big shoes, little shoes. Expensive shoes, cheap shoes. Dress shoes, casual shoes. Work shoes, play shoes. Specialty shoes for nearly anything you can think of. Why? Because your feet are important. Try getting around without them sometime and you will see what I mean. As important as shoes are to us and to the athletes who make a lot of money promoting their favorite brand, the shoes of the Roman soldier were even more important. His very life depended on them.

Spiritual Warfare: Putting on the Armor of God

Sun, 19 Nov 2000 12:00:00 -0500

Some of you may remember the story from ancient history of the Thracian slave named Spartacus who led a very successful uprising of slaves against ancient Rome. Spartacus defeated the Roman army seven times before he was defeated by the great Roman General Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 B.C. Spartacus started with a small band of slaves that were being trained as gladiators. At first, little attention was given to him, for it was thought that even a small force of Roman soldiers would easily defeat him. Yet with a smaller force, Spartacus was consistently able to defeat larger forces. Why? Spartacus learned to attack late at night or early in the morning when the enemy was not prepared to do battle. He attacked when they did not have their armor on!

Spiritual Warfare: Keeping The Enemy In Focus

Sun, 12 Nov 2000 12:00:00 -0500

This morning I want to speak to the issue of Spiritual Warfare. Several years ago when I preached through the book of Ephesians I spent 13 weeks on the subject. I do not intend to repeat that, you can pick up the tapes if you would like, but I do want to spend enough time in this subject to remind you of who our enemy is and how we are to stand firm against him. This subject is important because spiritual warfare really does involve our daily lives. There is much confusion and even nonsense given out about spiritual warfare, but there does not need to be. In the next couple of weeks I hope to clarify what God's word says about it.

Making Disciples: Our Holy Commission

Sun, 05 Nov 2000 12:00:00 -0500

What is the purpose of your life? In the past few weeks I have been striving to stress one aspect of the purpose of the Christian's life is to live worthy of their calling (Eph. 4:1). The Christian is to live a holy life separated from the world and unto God (1 Peter 3:18). Their mind is to be set on things above and not on the things of this earth (Col. 3:2). They set their minds to think about what is good, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report, things that are virtuous, and praiseworthy (Phi. 4:8). The Christian is to be a living and holy sacrifice to God that is not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of their mind that they may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1,2). By living in this manner, the Christian brings glory to God and will prove themselves to be useful in His service.

Our Holy God

Sun, 29 Oct 2000 12:00:00 -0500

For the last few weeks I have been speaking to you about the importance of being sanctified. Those of us who profess to be Christians should have lives that match that profession. Jesus Christ has purchased us for Himself with His own blood. We are now separated from the world and set apart unto Him.

Sanctification of the Soul

Sun, 22 Oct 2000 13:00:00 -0400

This is my third message on Sanctification. A subject very foundational to the Christian life, and yet one sadly neglected by most Christians. The word "sanctification" has the same root as the word, "holy." It means to "be set apart" and in the context of the Scriptures it means to "be set apart unto God.

A Sanctified Body

Sun, 15 Oct 2000 13:00:00 -0400

We are taking a break from our study of the Gospel of John in order to deal with several important topics. We are in the midst of a short series on sanctification. Last week I talked about having a sanctified mind. This week I want to talk about having a sanctified body.

Sanctification of Our Minds

Sun, 08 Oct 2000 13:00:00 -0400

We are taking a short break from our study of the Gospel of John to bo back and examine a few basic issues in the Christian life. A couple of weeks ago we looked at the basics of Christian Conduct from 1 Thessalonians 5:12f. For the next three weeks we are going to be looking at the basics of sanctification in mind, body and life.

The Reality Of Heaven

Sun, 17 Sep 2000 13:00:00 -0400

We are taking a short break from our study through the Gospel of John to examine a few topics that are on my heart. Last week we dealt with the reality of eternal Hell, but this morning we will be looking at the wonderful subject of Heaven. Before we do so, I want to stress the point from last week that if we believe there is a heaven, then we must also believe there is a hell and that the duration of both is the same. Jesus made this very clear in Matthew 25 when He describes both in the same passage with the same words. There will be those He will send away to eternal punishment and those He will invite into eternal life. In addition, Hell was not made man, but for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41). Humans go because the do not know God or obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:8). Only those that place their faith in Jesus Christ as the substitute payment for their own sins have their names written in the Lamb's book of life, and whoever does not have their name written in that book of life will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.

The Reality Of Hell

Sun, 10 Sep 2000 13:00:00 -0400

We will be taking a break from out study of John for the next several weeks. This week and next I want to deal with the eternal destiny of the human soul. Heaven and Hell are both real places and we should understand clearly what God has revealed about them.