To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, making disciples to advance the Kingdom of God

Category: Sermon

Psalm 1 – Pastor Chris Black

The first psalm is one of my very favorites because it speaks in such an illustrative way on the importance of the word of God in a person’s life. The first verse describes the blessing of not being influenced by the lost world. It’s a progression: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly – counsel is advice or instruction given for directing the conduct or judgment of another Don’t get your instructions from the ungodly – because the ungodly are cut off from God and this is how they think

Charity – Pastor Chris Black

Most of the modern Bible translations use the word “love” in place of charity because it is believed to mean the same thing, but it doesn’t. The word charity means “love in action”. The Greek word translated as charity is agape which is used for a selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial love that is not based on emotion or attraction, but rather on a deliberate choice to seek the well-being of others, even to the point of sacrifice. This word is often used to describe God’s love for humanity. Agape love is not dependent on the worthiness of the recipient or any expectation of return. It’s love that gives freely and completely, even to those who may not be deserving or responsive. Agape love is characterized by a deep desire for the other person’s best interests. It seeks to bless and benefit the other person, regardless of their actions or character. While agape love can be accompanied by feelings, it is fundamentally a choice and an act of the will, rather than a spontaneous emotion.

Colossians Chapter 2 – Pastor Chris Black

Last week we went through an introduction to the epistle to the Colossians. We went through why this letter was written and the reasons for Paul writing it. The Colossians were converted to Christ through the ministry of Epaphras and Paul had never seen these people before, yet he prayed consistently for them. The Colossians had been exposed to the Gnostics which were people that believed in Jewish rituals and mysticism, as well as Greek philosophy. They believed Jesus Christ to be an emanation that appeared from time to time to his followers like a spirit guide and not the Son of God in flesh. They worshiped and sought the direction of angels as well as hidden wisdom. Paul exalts the deity of and the eternality of Jesus Christ in this letter more than any of his other writings.

God’s Purpose for Our Wilderness – Pastor Chris Black

To give you the setting of this scripture, this is Moses speaking at the close of the 40 years they walked through the wilderness. He is retelling the experiences of the journey to a new generation that was little or not even born yet when they walked through the Red Sea and began their time in this wilderness. This generation is preparing to cross the Jordan into the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses is revealing why they were led there and why they spent so much time there.

Colossians Chapter 1 – Pastor Chris Black

…Paul wrote this letter both to encourage these people that are young in faith and to instruct them against heresies that had been introduced to them by Gnostics. The Gnostics were a mixture of Jewish legalism and Greek hidden knowledge seekers with a dab of Christianity on top. They majored in hidden knowledge for salvation that was only made known to a few. They didn’t believe that Jesus had a physical body but was an emanation that appeared to his disciples to reveal hidden knowledge. They also did not believe in the physical resurrection of Christ but saw it as a spiritual event.

Genesis 1 – Pastor Chris Black

The word “Genesis” means origin or beginning and it explains the beginning of the creation. The book of Genesis also is the seed bed for everything where everything is planted that comes to fruition in the book of Revelation. In picture form and type you can see nearly everything that will happen throughout the Bible. You can see Calvary in Genesis 22 when Abraham takes Isaac to Mount Moriah to be offered as a burnt offering. You can see the church in the account of Rebekah being sought out and brought to Isaac.

The Necessity of the Next Generation – Pastor Chris Black

In this bazaar story about a widow and her sons, there is a great and powerful spiritual truth that will help us if we take hold of it. The woman is between two generations. Her husband was the son of a prophet, and he left a testimony of fearing the LORD, but he is now dead and gone. She has two sons coming on (the next generation) but she owes a debt that she can’t pay, and the creditor is coming to take her two sons into slavery because of it. If he takes her two sons away, she may very well starve to death and die. So, without the next generation being liberated, she’s looking at her decline and possibly, her death.

Removing the Veil – Pastor Chris Black

In this portion of the scripture we just read, Paul is making a comparison of two glories. The glory in the giving of the law and the glory in the establishment of grace (which he calls the ministration of the spirit). When Israel had provoked the LORD to wrath by worshiping the golden calf and dancing nude before it, Moses threw the two tables of the ten commandments and broke them at the base of the mountain. God told Moses afterwards that He would not go up to the promise land amid the people because they would provoke Him to destroy them and that He would not go Himself before the people in their wars with the Canaanites but He would send an angel to go with them. Moses pleaded with the LORD to change His mind and Moses found grace in the eyes of the LORD. So God renewed the covenant that was made with Abraham and told Moses He would go with them. Then Moses makes a unique request