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

Category: Sunday Morning Service

Seek First The Kingdom of God – Pastor Chris Black

This scripture is a portion of Jesus’s sermon on the mount which is a kingdom message. What he is dealing with here is that we cannot faithfully serve two masters because our true allegiance will always favor one above the other. The masters contrasted are God and mammon. Mammon is an Aramaic term that means “wealth or material possessions that you put your trust in”. It’s not a sin to have wealth or material possessions as long as you don’t look to them for your security.

Kingdom Sowing – Part 2 – Pastor Chris Black

Last week I preached from the first parable of the sower, and how that parable reveals the different responses that people have to hearing the word of God. Jesus said that the seed in that parable is the word of God and the different soils are the different conditions of the hearts that hear. The parable we just read builds on that idea. When this parable is explained to his disciples, he plainly states the meaning of each item in the parable. This time he tells us who the sower of the good seed is…it’s himself. The good seed this time is not the word of God, but what the word of God has produced…children of the kingdom

Kingdom Sowing – Part 1 – Pastor Chris Black

During the time of Jesus, farmers sowed seeds primarily by scattering them by hand. A farmer would carry the seeds in a large woven pouch or fold of their cloak, walking through the fields and throwing the seeds in a sweeping motion. The parable we just read is the first parable spoken by Jesus recorded in scripture. It uses the metaphor of a farmer scattering seed over different kinds of ground to illustrate

Kingdom Mysteries: Its Coming and Working – Pastor Chris Black

The two verses we just read come immediately after Jesus told his first parable recorded in scripture. They had never heard him speak to the people in this manner before and they were puzzled by it. A parable is both simple and complex, it’s meant to convey truth and conceal it. At this point in the Lord’s ministry there were many in the crowd who didn’t believe he was their Messiah as well as some that did. The more truth you hear, the more you are responsible for, so …

The Goal of The Kingdom of God: Impacting Your Environment

Last week began a series of messages all about the kingdom of God. Jesus made the statement “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”. What was lost was the kingdom of God or God’s reign on the earth. Through Adam’s fall, man was lost and Satan’s kingdom entered in the world. That’s why the world is full of darkness, confusion, perversion, and rebellion. When Jesus Christ entered the creation through the womb of a virgin, God inserted himself into our mess. At thirty years old he began his public ministry and the first message he ever preached was “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”.

That Which Was Lost – Pastor Chris Black

The Lord Jesus made this statement at the close of his encounter with Zacchaeus. The crowd was murmuring among themselves because he was going home with Zacchaeus to be a guest at his house. Though Zacchaeus was a dishonest and thieving tax collector, he had just repented and believed in the Lord. He had met the conditions for salvation and Jesus pronounced him saved before the crowd. He stated that Zacchaeus was a descendant of Abraham which was the mission field Jesus was sent to. Then he makes this statement “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”.

He Brought Him From the Tragedy to The Table – Pastor Chris Black

There is a man in this story whose name is Mephibosheth which means “from the mouth of shame”. This man is lame on his feet. He was crippled by a fall that happened when he was five years old. His nurse picked him up to run with him and he fell and was made lame. Because he is crippled, he cannot work which means he cannot provide for himself and the Bible records that he lives in the house of Machir in a place called Lo-debar.

Why Sometimes We Need To Withdraw and Pray – Pastor Chris Black

The Bible records all different kinds of praying. Public praying like Jesus did at the tomb of Lazarus before the crowd that had formed that day. Short prayers like “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. The blessing of food prayers that the Lord would pray before serving people bread. There are all manners of praying we do like sitting on the porch in the morning. Praying in the car on the way to work. Giving thanks for our food and asking God to bless it. Short prayers throughout the day for various reasons like someone asking us to pray for their needs. All of these are good and valid but the Lord Jesus repeatedly throughout the gospel books had a habit of withdrawing himself, finding a place to be alone and praying to the Father.

Does His Resurrection Impact You Today? – Pastor Chris Black

Last week we celebrated Resurrection Sunday and there were more people here than I can remember in a long while. I am blessed to work with several people who profess hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and the story was they same at all the assemblies they attend. More people than usual, packed houses, new faces and so on. The thought occurred to me that many people, maybe even most people in our part of the country, believe at least mentally that Jesus Christ arose from the dead. But it’s not the kind of belief that brings them back to the house of God the Sunday after. They may never really think anything of Christ until next year at this same time if we’re blessed to see it.

He Destroyed the Devil’s Works – Pastor Chris Black – Easter Service

Text: 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
This verse tells us that sin did not originate with Adam and Eve, but that it began long before them. This verse tells us that the devil is the father of sin because it started with him. Contrary to what some may believe, God did not create a devil. He created an angel that became the devil. The origin of sin is found in…