October 16, 2011 at 6:30 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
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Job’s Sure Knowledge
September 10th, 1876
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
“For I know that my Redeemer liveth,”—Job 19:25.
I daresay you know that there are a great many difficulties about the translation of this passage. It is a very complicated piece of Hebrew, partly, I suppose, owing to its great antiquity, being found in what is, probably, one of the oldest Books of the Bible. Besides that, different persons have tried to translate it according to their own varying views. The Jews stiffly fight against the notion of the Messiah and his resurrection being found in this verve, while many Christian commentators see here everything that we can find in the New Testament, and translate the passage as though Job were as well instructed in this matter as we are now that Christ “hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Others say that, while there is, no doubt, a reference to the person and the resurrection of Christ, yet it is not so vivid as some seem to think. Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – Charles Spurgeon – Job’s Sure Knowledge…
August 10, 2011 at 10:10 am | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
Tags: abominable, abortion, Abraham, abuse, airy, America, American, anathema, argument, articulate, assurance, ateasetees, attention, aunty, Awake My Soul, BAM, band, baptize, belief, Bible, Bill Gates, blessing, blood, Bob Dylan, body, Born Again, Brawny, breath, broken, brokenhearted, brutality, burial, campus, captive, card, cast vision, casual, changing, cheek, children, Chris Tomlin, Christian, church, circus, comfort, command, community, compromise, concert, condemn, confrontation, congregation, connect, consequence, content, context, conversation, conviction, correct, corrupt, cotton candy, counsel, creation, creature, cringe, cross, crowd, crucifixion, culture, darkness, death, defend, defile, deliverance, demon, desire, devestating, devil, direct, disciple, disease, disobedience, distress, doctrine, Donald Trump, doorpost, downhill, earth, Egypt, Emergent, emotional, empire, encourage, enmity, entertainment, eternal, evangelism, evangelize, event, evil, exhort, exile, Exodus, faith, fame, family, Father, favor, feelings, fight, flag, flowery, fool, foreign, forgiven, formality, fortune, fresh air, friend, fundamental, future, Galatians, generation, gift, global, glory, goats, God, God is Alive, good, good news, gospel, grace, growth, guide, harsh, head, heal, health, heart, heaven, hell, history, holy, Holy Spirit, homosexuality, hope, humanity, identity, incoulate, information, iron, irrelevant, Islam, Israel, Jesus, Jew, joke, journey, judgment, justification, kingdom, Lamb, laugh track, law, lemming, life, limb, list, living, logo, love, marriage, mercy, mess, message, mindset, ministry, Missouri, mistake, money, movement, murder, narrative, narrow minded, nation, need, needy, New Age, North Point Church, obedience, observe, offend, old man, old-fashioned, oppression, Our God, paper towel, pastor, Paul, peace, perfect, performance, Pharisee, pinch, plan, poor, power, prayer, preaching, priest, Promised Land, prophet, Psalm, pursue, reach out, ready, reality, reason, rebirth, rebuke, redeem, redemption, relationship, relevant, religious, remark, repent, replace, restore, resurrection, righteous, road map, Rob Bell, rock, Romans, salvation, sappy, saved, Savior, scripture, secular, seek, sermon, service, shadow, shallow, sharpen, sheep, shepherd, Shimano, sign, sin, Sinner, sitcom, slave, slick, soldier, son, sons, sound bite, speak, spiritual, Springfield, states, story, stream, suffer, sugary, syrupy, talk, ten commandments, theology, times, Todd Bentley, Tommy Sparger, traffic, train, transgression, tremble, truth, turn aside, typo, understand, ungrounded, universalism, unloving, uplifting, urgency, videos, wallow, wealth, website, wit, worship, wrath, writer, Zebco
While I don’t really care for Bob Dylan and don’t think that he could carry a tune in a bucket, I do have to agree with one thing he said. The times are definitely changing. Today’s culture is one that has been fed with 10 second sound bites, information at the tips of your fingers, and everything you could possibly want at any time you could want it. Problems are solved in 30 minute sitcoms with a laugh track and witty remarks. The attention span of the average human is now so short that if you don’t catch it and keep it within the first few seconds, it has already moved on to something more appealing or eye-catching. Everything is about entertainment and how it makes a person feel. It is a shallow, quickly moving stream that an inattentive person could easily get lost and drown in. It is in this time, this culture, and this mindset that the church of Christ finds itself. And it is here that the church finds itself changing. Continue Reading Is this church? (long)…
July 3, 2011 at 6:30 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
Tags: abortion, abuse, action, Adam, adoption, affection, alcohol, Alfred, ambition, Amen, America, American, anger, ateasetees, attention, authority, banish, baptism, beer, behead, Bible, birth, blessing, blood, body, bondage, bow, brotherhood, burden, burn, calling, Canaan, Catholic, chains, champion, change, character, Charles IX, choose, Christian, church, citizen, civil, comfort, company, compromise, condemn, confess, conqueror, conscience, content, convert, corrupt, cost, covenant, cradle, cross, crucify, curse, dark, death, debt, decay, democracy, desire, devil, dictator, Dionysius, disarm, discontent, disgrace, dismay, doctrine, doubt, dread, dying, ease, educate, Egypt, election, emotion, end, enemy, England, English, equality, eternity, evangelism, evil, exaggerate, excellence, fail, faith, fashion, fault-finding, favor, fear.smile, flood, foreign, forever, France, freedom, frown, fruit, funeral, gambling, Garden, George Washington, German, Gideon, Give me liberty or give me death, God, gospel, government, grace, grave, Greek, grumbling, guilt, Gustavus Vasa, Hampden, hang, harass, harm, hate, health, heathen, hell, hide, history, holiness, holy, home, hope, Horatius, human, ignorance, ignornat, independant, infancy, inquisition, Islam, Israel, Italy, Jesus, Jew, Jewish, John 8:36, John Knox, judgment, justify, king, kingdom, knee, land, law, Leonidas, liberator, liberty, life, Lord, love, lust, maker, man, manhood, marriage, Martin Luther, Mary, master, material, membership, mercy, Messiah, mighty, military, misery, mob, monarch, money, mood, moral, Moses, murder, murmur, nature, Nero, Netherlands, obsession, opinion, overvalue, parasite, pardon, party, passion, pastor, Patrick Henry, patriot, Paul, peace, perfect, personal, Pharaoh, Pharisee, Philistine, philosphy, pinch, plot, Poland, pole, politics, poor, pope, power, prayer, press, price, privilege, promote, property, public, purgatory, Rabbi, reconcile, Redeemer, redemption, reign, religious, repent, representative, republic, resolve, rest, Robert Bruce, Roman, Rome, rule, sacrifice, salvation, Savior, scorn, scripture, sermon, shadow, shoe, sick, sickness, sign, sin, slavery, snare, son, sorrow, soul, Spain, Sparta, speech, spiritual, strong, struggle, substitute, suffer, support, Swiss, Syracuse, Tarsus, tempt, ten commandments, theology, thought, tongue, Trinity, true, trumpet, truth, tyranny, unprofitable, unworthy, vain, valley, value, victory, vile, weak, wedding, William Tell, woman, world, wretch, wretched
Freedom
by
J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)
___________________________________________________________________
© Copyright 2001 by Tony Capoccia. This updated file may be freely copied, printed out, and distributed as
long as copyright and source statements remain intact, and that it is not sold. All rights reserved.
Verses quoted, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION © 1978
by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
A copy of this sermon, Preached by Tony Capoccia, is available
on Audio Tape Cassette or Audio CD at www.gospelgems.com
___________________________________________________________________
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”–John 8:36
The subject before us today deserves our attention. It should ring in the ears of every person like the voice of a trumpet. We live in a land which is the very cradle of freedom. But are we ourselves free?
The question is one which demands special attention during the present state of public opinion. The minds of many are absorbed in politics. Yet there is a freedom, within the reach of all of us, which few, I am afraid, ever think of–a freedom independent of all political changes–a freedom which neither the prevailing government, nor the cleverest politician can bestow. This is the freedom about which I speak today. Do we know anything of it? Are we free? Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – J.C. Ryle – Freedom…
June 5, 2011 at 8:34 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
Tags: Abigail, abortion, Abraham, Adam, adultery, adversary, allegory, Amen, America, Antinomian, apostle, assurance, ateasetees, avenge, backslide, believer, betroth, Bible, blind, blood, body, bone, bound, brethren, bride, bridegroom, Cana, Cephas, chaste, child, Christian, church, Colossians, compromise, condition, confusion, congregation, context, corrupt, covenant, creator, cross, crown, Cyrene, David, dead, death, denomination, design, desire, Deuteronomy, devil, disappoint, disciple, divine, divorce, doctrine, drowned, dung, duty, ear, earth, Emanuel, enemy, enthusiasm, Ephesians, evangelism, Eve, evil, exhortation, eye, Ezekiel, faith, faithfulness, fear, fire, flesh, flood, folly, foolish, fornication, foundation, fountain, friend, friendship, fruitfulness, garment, glory, God, gospel, government, grace, harlot, health, heart, Hebrew, hell, holy, Holy Ghost, Holy One, honey, honor, hope, humiliation, humility, husband, idol, idolize, ill, insult, Isaac, Israel, Jacob, Jesus, Jew, John, join, Jordan, Joseph, judgment, justification, kingdom, Lamb, law, Lazarus, legal, liberty, life, Lord of Hosts, love, lust.pride, maiden, maker, marriage, marry, Mary, master, merchant, mercy, Michal, millstone, minister, miserable, money, mourn, murder, naked, Nathaniel, nature, Nubal, object, offer, oppress, ornament, paradise, pastor, Paul, peace, performance, Peter, Pharisee, Phillipians, piety, plain, pollute, poor, positive, poverty, power, pray, prayer, preach, priest, prince, proud, pure, Rachel, Rebecca, rebellious, Redeemer, redemption, regenerate, rejoice, religion, repent, reproach, respect, reverence, rich, righteousness, Romans, sacred, saint, salvation, sanctification, Sarah, Satan, Saul, scripture, seed, serpent, servant, service, shame, sickness, SImon, sin, sing, Sinner, slave, Solomon, son, soul, Spirit, spiritual, spouse, storm, subjection, ten commandments, text, title, trample, truth, unbelief, ungenerous, unhappy, union, vanity, vengeance, vile, virgin, walk, watch, wedding, wife, witness, works, wrath, zion, Zipporah
Christ the Believer’s Husband
by
George Whitefield
(1714-1770)
Isaiah 54:5 – “For thy Maker is thy Husband.”
Although believers by nature, are far from God, and children of wrath, even as others, yet it is amazing to think how nigh they are brought to him again by the blood of Jesus Christ. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of any man living, fully to conceive, the nearness and dearness of that relation, in which they stand to their common head. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Behold, says the blessed Jesus in the days of his flesh, “my mother and my brethren.” And again after his resurrection, “go tell my brethren.” Nay sometimes he is pleased to term believers his friends. “Henceforth call I you no longer servants, but friends.” “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” And what is a friend? Why there is a friend that is nearer than a brother, nay as near as one’s own soul. And “thy friend, (says God in the book of Deuteronomy) which is as thy own soul.” Kind and endearing applications these, that undoubtedly bespeak a very near and ineffably intimate union between the Lord Jesus and the true living members of his mystical body! But, methinks, the words of our text point out to us a relation, which not only comprehends, but in respect to nearness and dearness , exceeds all other relations whatsoever. I mean that of a Husband, “For thy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – George Whitefield – Christ, the Believer’s Husband…
March 14, 2011 at 9:32 pm | Posted in Bible Study | Leave a comment
Tags: abortion, Adam, adultery, America, Ararat, ark, assurance, ateasetees, beast, Bible, bird, blood, body, Born Again, child, choice, choose, Christ, Christian, church, compromise, consequence, continent, control, convenience, creeping thing, death, deference, Deuteronomy, dinosaur, disobedience, earth, earthquake, enmity, evangelism, faith, fear, fish, flood, food, free, fruitful, global, glorify, glory, God, gospel, gossip, grace, grief, grieve, hatred, hell, holy, homosexuality, hope, image, Israel, Japan, Jesus, judgment, landscape, law, Leviticus, liberated, life, love, lusting, lying, marriage, men, mercy, money, mountain, multiply, murder, Noah, obedience, oppression, pastor, peace, planet, prayer, pregnant, protect, random, rebel, repent, replenish, reverence, salvation, Savior, scripture, season, self, sin, son, soul, stealing, stipulation, ten commandments, terror, trust, truth, tsunami, value, vegetables, vengeful, women
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
This week, we begin to look at life after the Flood. The ark has come to rest in the area of Ararat. The earth has dried out and the inhabitants of the ark have disembarked. All air breathing, land-dwelling animals not on the ark have been obliterated. Now, those who have survived the global destruction have been tasked with replenishing the earth (including dinosaurs). Here, as we begin chapter 9, we see that Noah is given this same task. Like his ancestor Adam before him, Noah is told by God that he and his sons should be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The eight humans that survived the Flood will be the ancestors of all of mankind after them. Each person on the planet today is related to one of the three sons of Noah. Continue Reading Genesis 9:1-7…
July 12, 2010 at 8:31 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
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Have you ever had a moment to stop and look at your life? Have you ever stopped, examined your life and where you are, and wondered: How did I get here? I’ve done that a few times and it’s always been eye-opening. I never seem to have been where I thought I was. Sometimes I was further along than I thought and other times I wasn’t as far along as I expected. As I looked back on the path that I trod to get where I was, when I began studying where I walked, I could easily see the things that had gotten me off track. Things like disobedience, willful blindness, and sin led me off of the narrow path and out into the weeds. Because of my lack of diligence or awareness I had to work harder to get back on the path. I had to push through painful thorns and cut through the vines of worldliness that were trying to hold me down and choke me out. Through God’s grace alone, I am here. I’m cut up, bruised, and worn out, but I’m here. As I was pondering these things, I couldn’t help but wonder if the body of Christ has ever done this. I can think of one time when I would say this happened, but other than that, I don’t think that something like this has ever taken place. I wonder why? Does the church not see where it is? Do they not care where they are going? Or are they afraid of what they’ll find? Regardless of the reason, I think that the church would benefit from taking a little time to look at where it is in the face of the state of the world. Continue Reading How did we get here?…
June 28, 2010 at 6:30 am | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
Tags: action, agenda, America, ateasetees, band, believer, Bible, blockbuster, body, bride, burden, called out, character, Christian, church, clique, compromise, control, convict, death, definition, discipline, ekklesia, elder, ethnicity, evangelism, facade, faith, flock, forgiven, funds, goal, goat, God, gospel, grace, grounded, group, hair, hell, holy, Holy Spirit, hope, income, Jesus, judgment, law, life, line, logic, lost, love, lure, maturity, mercy, ministry, money, movie, murder, numbers, nurture, past, pastor, peace, prayer, Precept, prestige, prize, promise, repent, responsibility, roles, rooted, sacrifice, salvation, scripture, secular, sermon, service, sheep, shepherd, sin, skin color, souls, suicide, summer, ten commandments, tithe, trust, truth, unforgiven, unity
It seems like such an innocent question doesn’t it? Logic would say that there should be a simple definition for what the church is and that should be that. Unfortunately, there isn’t. Well, I take that back. There is a simple definition of what the church is. A large number of those who profess Christ even seem to know what this definition is. What’s odd is that, while they know the definition, it doesn’t match up with what they are living out. Taken to the next level, this same oddity seems to be true for local churches. Attendees can give the Sunday school answer for the question but, looking at the church/individual, there’s a discrepancy. Before I go where I’m going, it would be helpful to have the definition of what the church is according to the Bible: Continue Reading What is the church?…
March 29, 2010 at 2:46 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
Tags: 30 years, 600 yard, Abba, accusation, adversity, agony, angel, anoint, arm, asleep, ateasetees, authority, Barabbas, bare, barren, battle, beat, believe, betray, Bible, blasphemy, blessed, blind, blindfold, blood, body, bone, bore, bowl, breast, breath, bribe, broken, burden, burial, Caesar, carry, cat o nine tails, centurion, children, Christ, Christian, church, Claudia, cloak, clothes, clouds, cohort, comfort, commission, commotion, compassion, condemn, council, covet, criminal, cross, crow, crowd, crown of thorns, crucifixion, cup, darkness, daughter, dead, death, debachery, denial, denied, deny, desire, destroy, die, disciple, donkey, ear, Elijah, Eloi Eloi lama sabacthani, evangelism, evil, faith, false, Father, fear, feet, fifty days, fire, fish, fishermen, fishing, flee, flesh, focus, forgive, Galilee, gamble, Garden, Gethsemane, gift, girl, glass, God, gospel, grace, guard, guide, hail, hand, hate, heal, heaven, hell, Herod the Great, high priest, hill, history, holy, Holy Spirit, hope, Hosanna, human, humility, hypocrisy, I am He, idol, Iscariot, Israel, James, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jews, John, jolt, Joseph of Arimathea, Judas, Judea, judgment, king, kingdom, kiss, lame, lash, law, lawless, leader, legs, life, loaves, Lord, Lord's Supper, love, lust, lying, Magdalene, Malchus, Mary, master, Matthew 26, mercy, Messiah, metal, ministry, mislead, mock, morning, mountain, mourn, murder, nation, Nazareth, nerve, never, Nicodemus, nightmare, nine inch nail, note, One, palm, parable, paradise, Passover, peace, penalty, permission, Peter, Pharisee, pierce, pious, Pontius Pilate, post, power, Praetorium, prayer, preach, pressure, profess, prophecy, prostitute, proud, punish, raise, raised, rebuild, repent, respect, righteous, riot, robe, Roman, rooster, rope, saint, salvation, Sanhedrin, scarlet, scourge, scribe, scripture, seal, seat, sent, sheep, shell, shred, sick, Simon of Cyrene, sin, sing, slave, socket, soldier, Son of God, Son of Man, spear, spices, Spirit, spit, sponge, staff, steal, stone, stoning, strip, suffocate, sweat, sword, synagogue, tax, tax collector, teach, teacher, temple, ten commandments, testimony, thorn, three hours, tomb, tore, tree, trial, truth, tweleve, two miles, unclean, unity, upper room, vessel, virgin, wash, water, weapon, weep, whip, will, wine, wisdom, witness, womb, women, world, Zechariah
Many people today, inside and outside the church, have become focused on self. They are all about them and what they can do. They often don’t know or care what God has done for them. Those who aren’t professing Christians can’t see that their very life is a gift from God. Sadly, this affects the gospel. When people don’t understand what God has done for them or why He did it, is cheapens the gospel and lessens the effect the good news can have in a person’s life. When pastors don’t preach the true gospel, the people listening don’t receive what they need to hear to help them understand who God is and what He’s done for them. Continue Reading What has God done for me?…
February 22, 2010 at 4:30 pm | Posted in Christianity | 2 Comments
Tags: America, ateasetees, Bible, body, business, car, CEO, children, Christian, church, committee, context, convert, deception, delusion, edify, evangelism, faith, false, flock, focus, gifts, glorify, God, gospel, grace, hell, high school, hope, Jesus, jet, judgment, lost, love, mansion, mercy, ministry, mock, money, paid, pastor, Paul, pay, preacher, prosperity, radio, relevant, salary, scripture, sermon, shadow, sin, slippery, slope, spiritual, staff, study, tent, truth, underground, whine, world, youth
The other day on my “safe for the whole family” radio station, I was listening to the ~Christian~ hosts talk about children, youth, and young adult ministries. I will preface all of this with the fact that I find it really hard to listen to much “Christian” radio anymore. The topics of discussion seem to have no real value and the music isn’t much better. There is no theological discussion, as you’re about to see. Instead, it seems like it’s just a bunch of church-going people who are trying to be “relevant” and sound like the world so that they will gain unbelieving listeners. Then, they can sneak the name of Jesus in on them (which they always seem to forget to do…) and maybe make a false convert. Continue Reading Church Business…
February 3, 2010 at 6:30 am | Posted in Designs of the Week | Leave a comment
Tags: annihilation, ateasetees, atheism, blood, body, Catholic, Christian, clown, co-Redemptrix, communion, deny, design of the week, dogma, evangelism, evolution, faith, forgive, God, good deeds, grace, heaven, hell, Hinduism, hope, indulgences, Islam, Jehovah's Witness, Jesus, judgment, literal, love, Mary, mock, Mormon, Muslim, paradise, religion, Roman, salvation, sin, transubstantiation, truth, virgin, works
This week’s design is called Clown (I know, it’s pretty original…). The design came to mind while I was thinking about how silly some of the arguments against Christianity are and how arrogant some of the attackers are. They purport to know for a fact that God doesn’t exist or that He’s really a different “god” altogether.
For instance, atheists say that they know for a fact that God doesn’t exist and that there is absolutely no evidence for His existence, and yet, they breathe His air, walk on His earth, and live in His graces every day. They promise the public school kids that evolution is a fact, but the entire story changes every time they find a new tooth or fossilized impression. Their entire hypothesis is based on conjecture and “what-ifs” that they have yet to show any concrete proof for. Continue Reading Design of the Week – Clown…
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