Sunday, October 30, 2011

October 30, 2011 | Reformation Sunday | John Bayles | John Wycliffe: The Morning Star of the Reformation



Though he was not counted among the reformers of the 1500's, John Wycliffe stands out as a forerunner of Luther and the Protestant Reformation. His boldness of thought, speech and writing continued a brilliant pattern of seeking to purify and reform the Roman Catholic Church. His crime was Christ. The upheaval of his desire to present the Bible in English for the most common of people and the most learned was the desire and act which propelled him to criticism, and his followers to martyr's deaths. On this Reformation Sunday it is our delight to focus upon John Wycliffe, this great man of God – his life, his work, and his legacy.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

October 23, 2011 | Jerry Banks | The Forgotten Minister of the Word of God (Colossians 1:3-12, Isaiah 40:10-26)



Often the best blessings we possess are ones which are easiest to overlook. In the first chapter of the Book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul gives an amazing insight into the grace of God in redemption. While doing so, he gives a casual salute to the pastor/teacher that he left in the church in Colossia who faithfully preached the message of grace that Paul had preached to him. Paul states: "You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant" (Col.1:7). In Philippians 1:23, Paul identifies Epaphras as "a fellow prisoner" and later in Collossians 4:12 Paul calls him, "one of you." Other than these references he is a forgotten man.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

October 16, 2011 | John Bayles | Go Into All The World: Jesus Is Praying (John 17:1-26)



The last prayer of Jesus on earth contains a wellspring of desire and projection, for his disciples and for us. In this third sermon in the series, "Go Into All The World", we are taken into a most intimate moment – the desire and prayer of the Lord for those who would take the gospel to the four winds of the earth. Far from a mere hope, Jesus prays with an absolute resolve. Today we will hear more than twenty points of assurance and hope from the lips of the Lord as he prays to the Father on our behalf.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

October 9, 2011 | W.A. Young | Moses and the People of God (1 Corinthians 10:11)



Moses was one of three men God used to initiate a covenant that was purposed to unfold the revelation of God. Those "covenants"  and their intent would eventually express themselves in the fulfillment found in the Person of Jesus Christ. During their time in Egypt, God was forming them as His people destined to show the nations who God was. While in Egypt, they were being taught a message and how to be the messenger. What God had for them could only be achieved against the background of a demon-driven culture like Egypt.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

October 2, 2011 | John Bayles | Go Into All The World: Will The Message Die? (Matthew 28:16-20)



The virgin birth is almost fifty years past. The wisdom displayed by a young twelve year old boy among the leading scribes of his day is remembered by a few. The great preacher made his mark, gathered his flock, but now had gone the way of the martyr: tried, crucified, dead, and buried. The great hope was gone – even those who believed most fervently were crushed, afraid, and hiding. Who would die next? And for what?