From the Pulpit - Sermon Audio

Deacon James Widgeon shares thoughts from a very well-known Psalm, the 23rd. See if you gain some new insight into God's word as you listen in.

We continue our study of the introductory matters in Ecclesiastes, covering more about the message of the book, including the enjoyment of life theme, the vanity theme, and the idea of grasping for the wind, all of which recur several times in Solomon's book about life.

We continue our study of Colossians 3 in the ‘practical’ section of the letter. Paul gets specific and personal as to how Christians are to live. Simply put, believers are to mortify sin because the sinful lifestyle characterized our past and brings the wrath of God both now and especially in the future. We also look forward to being glorified with Christ at His second coming, so we want to move decisively in the direction of purity starting NOW.

This passage offers many interpretive difficulties, the first being its setting in God's eschatological timeline. After discussing this point, Terry Scott taught the body of the chapter with an emphasis on the unknown timing with signs building up to the revelation of Jesus Christ and the inauguration of the kingdom.

In this message, Pastor Postiff begins to introduce the book of Ecclesiastes. Issues of authorship, canonicity, and the meaning of "vanity" are considered along with several other things. The book of Ecclesiastes has a positive, godly message for us all, even 3000 years after it was written.

We begin our study of the practical section of Paul's epistle by looking at the resurrection mindset of the believer. Immediately we were faced with an issue of the grammatical construct of a "first class condition" and had to learn how to properly translate and handle that construction at the beginning of verse 1. Then we learned that we must have heavenly priorities operational in our thoughts and lives. Why is this? Because Christians died with Christ and rose again with him when they were saved.

Terry Scott teaches through Matthew 18, particularly about child-like faith and forgiveness of sin in the family of God. The matter of church discipline is covered as well. Pastor Postiff added some material on these matters in the last 12 minutes or so of the class.

After the reading of Jeremiah 20, Pastor Postiff shared the last two verses in 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 to prepare for the Lord's Table.

Isaiah, like us, lived in a wicked society. Isaiah saw a vision of God seated in heaven, the thrice holy God, separate from all creation, the Holy One of Israel. Today, we see God through His Word. We must humbly confess our sins, because we need God. We must not try to find any other "attraction" to the church but God Himself.

Missionary Jack McMahan reminded us that Acts is a tale of two churches: the church in Jerusalem, and the church in Antioch. He reminded us that God uses frail vessels to save the souls of others. The church must have the priority of evangelism and teaching the Word of God. It must also prioritize Christ-like leaders. It must also put emphasis on serving the Lord in the local church. It must also put a high priority on prayer. It must prioritize the sacrifice of good leaders to missions work.

Guest teacher Andy Reyes takes us through the passage in James about applying the Word of God in our lives.

After reading in Jeremiah, Pastor Postiff read a number of Luther's 95 Theses posted on the door of the Wittenberg church in Germany in 1517. The church then watched a video about Pastor Olaf Latzel on CBN News.com. We saw that the Reformation is needed today in Germany just as it was nearly 500 years ago.

Pastor then completed a sermon he started in Sunday school on worldliness that should not be present in the life of the believer. The PowerPoint slides for that talk are available here: Don't Be Like the World.

In the previous message, we focused on Colossians 2:16-17 with an emphasis on the fact that Christians are not permitted to submit themselves to religious rituals as a way of salvation or sanctification. The present study extends from verses 18 through 23 and adds that Christians are not permitted to worship angels nor to submit to asceticism as a method of solving the problem of sin. These things are idolatrous and take away from the finished work of Christ as it applies to the believer's life.

After an amazing sequence of verses on the preeminence of Christ and the work He has done for us in salvation, Paul turns his attention to exhortations to protect against the man-made traditions that were flooding Colossae. The first of these was Jewish rituals. The other two--angel worship and ascetic practices--will be addressed in a future message.

Pastor Postiff answered a young audience member's question about Hebrew poetry, discussed briefly with the congregation the doctrine of God, and then starting at about the 13:00 minute mark covered the matter of essential truths of young earth creation to arrive at a definition of what that doctrine is.h

In verses 8-10 we were told to beware lest we be captivated by the empty philosophy of deceitful, man-made, worldly traditions. We should not be captured that way because we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom dwells all the fullness of deity and in Whom we are complete. Anything less than Christ would be a raw deal. We have Jesus, the God-man Who is over all things; what else do we think we need?! Who else do false teachers think we need? Some new religious book? Some best-seller? Some movie? Pop psychology? Music to draw in the lost? Some "new revelation" or religion?

Beyond the facts of the deity and headship of Christ, the Bible explains several more truths that double as reasons why we should never be drawn away from Christ to follow another form of doctrine. Look at what Christ has done for those who are His. If you in Christ, you have been spiritually circumcised, Spirit-baptized, regenerated, forgiven, and freed from the power of demonic forces.

This message is a study of Matthew 10, with its limited 'mission mandate' which Terry Scott correctly contrasts with the global missions mandate of Matthew 28.

After reading in Jeremiah, Pastor Postiff shared from 1 Corinthians 11 regarding judging ourselves so that we would not be condemned with the world. We saw how the text presupposes that the world will in fact be condemned, and that the believer can do something to avoid experiencing God's condemnation.h

The apostle Paul, under God’s direction, writes to combat the false teaching that was sweeping into Colossae. He tells the believers there, and Christians today, not to be carried off with false teaching. There are two reasons why. First, Christ is God, and second, all believers are complete in Christ. So, there is no need for any one or anything else! Christian salvation is all you need, and beside that, it is the only real salvation there is.

Matthew chapters 6 and 7 were the subject for the Sunday school in Terry Scott's continuing series on the Lord's discourses in Matthew's gospel.

After reading Jeremiah 10 and 11, Pastor Postiff taught on two topics. First he gave an analysis of several Christian songs in terms of their repetition and interacted with the audience's questions about that matter (starting at 8:15; Powerpoint available here, blog post here). The second part of the message was an extension of the morning sermon on Colossians 2:6-7 concerning the matter of the Scripture as our sufficient and sole rule of faith and practice (starting at 34:30).

In light of the danger to the Colossians, posed by persuasive false teachers, Paul reinforces to them how they should live in Christ. He does this by reminding them of the teaching that they had received about Christ. They received Christ under a certain form of teaching, and they were to follow through faithfully with that teaching. We learned that we need to evaluate the teaching we receive today by the gold standard in the Scriptures. We also read John 11 and were blessed with an arrangement of an old hymn "Face to Face with Christ My Savior."

Terry Scott begins a series of studies on the discourses of our Lord recorded in Matthew's gospel. The subject of today's message is the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-6.

Pastor Postiff shared at the prayer meeting a message about the sources and Christian solutions of worry. There is more to be said, but Psalm 127:1-2 was our starting point to see how useless it is to worry about things that are outside of our control. We can burn the candle at both ends, but if God is not in it, it is empty. We learn again then the desperate need we have to trust the Lord in all of life.

Pastor Postiff taught part 2 of this message on September 30, 2015. Unfortunately it was not taped. Contact us if you would like the notes.

Pastor Postiff continues calling the church to look at theology as the highest of all areas of knowledge. It has been fashionable in the past generation or two to call the church to greater involvement in many fields of human knowledge, to "redeem" those fields or "take them back" for God. His thesis is in an entirely different direction, namely that we should remind ourselves that God and the study of God are the highest and best field of knowledge that exists. We should focus our attention on Him, because without God, no other field of knowledge would exist. Furthermore, an academic knowledge of a certain sub-speciality will be impoverished to the extent that it does not know God.

The Bible here describes Paul's struggle of concern and prayer for the believers in Colossae that they may be lovingly connected to their church and on guard against false teachers who use persuasive words to lure people away from Jesus Christ.

Intern Andy Reyes offers his first exposition of the book of James. In it, he covers the opening verse of chapter 1, and addresses the servant mindset of James.

Pastor Postiff begins to lay out a case, from a Christian perspective, that the study of God is the most important science of all fields of sciences. This message is a call for Christians to reassert that theology is in fact the queen of sciences. The unbelieving world will likely not agree. But we need to move past the arguments between atheism and Christian theism, for God does in fact exist. There is no higher or perfect object of study than God.

We would not even have spiritual life, much less any further blessings, unless it were for the mystery of the gospel made known by God through His apostles and prophets. God is at work through His servants, and in you, to accomplish His great goal to perfect you. Each of us needs to strive toward that goal according to His working which works in us.

The gospel took you from where you were in sin and death to where you are in life and freedom. But God is not done! He wants to take you from where you are to perfection in Christ Jesus.

For this Lord's Table service, we thought about Ephesians 4:31 and its parallel, Colossians 3:8. Then, Pastor Postiff tied those in with 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 to remind us of the need to judge ourselves in order to avoid the chastening hand of God for sins concerning the Table.

Paul begins in verse 24 to focus on the ministry that God gave him to proclaim the gospel and make sure that people grew to maturity in Christ. To begin with, he gives us some insight into his theology of suffering. In particular, he tells how he rejoices in suffering as a way to fill up the afflictions of Christ, to help the believers in Colossae, and to propel the mission of the entire Church forward. Considering Christians who have come under attack throughout world history, and the believers who are suffering at the time of this message, we must consider our own view of suffering and what we will do if it is thrust upon us.

Pastor Postiff gives 14 reasons why you should not partake of alcoholic beverages at all, and answers several objections. Listen in—it's only about three and a half minutes of your time, but it may save your life.

Dr. Mark Snoeberger reminded us on Sunday of Jonathan Edwards' ninth resolution, to consider his own death. Death is a common circumstance to all, but Christians know that God grants the blessing of resurrection and immortality for all believers. In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul gives a defense of the facts of immortality, and then gives God's expectations for us in view of our immortality. There is a permanent sphere of existence to which we graduate when we die. We will experience a greater life in the age to come. But this truth is not only for comfort during grief; this future reality calls for us to shape our present life in view of our future life.

Pastor Postiff offered introductory remarks. Bill Smith testified of how God has led their family in the immediate aftermath of their son's Hayden's tragic death. Then Missionary Mike Brunk opened Daniel 6 to help us understand a message cleverly entitled "The King of the Beasts."

Daniel 6 contains one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible. The text is outlined like this: the jealousy of wicked men, the integrity of faithful men, and the snare of foolish men. A big lesson we learn from it is that when we face difficulties, we have to go on, like Daniel did. He faced the king of the beasts, the lions, but there is one greater King than even the lions, and that is God. God delivered Daniel from the lions!

The series in Daniel continues in our Bible conference this weekend. We see in this message how God gives grace to the humble, and resists the proud. Missionary Brunk encouraged us to be sensitive to the things of God during a time of very difficult emotions. Listen in to hear where the title "Kingdom Digits" comes from!

To begin the service, Missionary Brunk showed a brief video updating the church on his ministry. Then he turned to the conference series in Daniel.

In chapter 2, God gives Nebuchadnezzar a dream about the future of world government. That is God's plan for the world. But in chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar has his own plans which are in conflict with God's plan. God reveals truth; the king defied God's truth; and God confirms His truth.

When our plans don't match God's plans, our duty is to humble ourselves under the hand of God.

After Wednesday's message on unity in the church, one of our church's teenagers was killed in a car accident. The initial plan for our Bible conference did not seem appropriate to the new circumstances of the church family, so Missionary Mike Brunk changed the series to look at some texts in the book of Daniel to remind the church family of the sovereignty of God over all the events of the world, world kingdoms, and in the lives of His people. The book of Daniel is about how God is in control when things seem out of control. The remaining messages will be the Kingdom Dreams, Kingdom Digits, and the King of the Beasts.

We saw that God lovingly trains and disciplines His people. Daniel resolved not to be conformed to his worldly surroundings.

Missionary Mike Brunk begins a planned series of five message on Ephesians and unity in the church. This first message has to do with the effect of sin and how it spoils unity by separating people from God. The remainder of the series is slated to cover different aspects of Biblical unity: the second message will show that Christ has determined to make a unified whole of his creation; third, Ephesians 4:1-6 will show the standard of unity; the fourth message will be unity empowered, focusing on the centrality of the Bible to true unity; and finally the series will cover the demonstration of unity by appropriating the word into daily life.

In addition to the singing of hymns, we read Jeremiah 3-4 in this service. Pastor Postiff spoke about further qualifications of a pastor. We touched on the topics of seminary training, apprenticeship, humility in the pastorate, and openness in the pastoral search process.

Our worship service consisted of a reading of John 6 and preaching from Colossians 1:21-23, in which we are reminded that Christians were formerly estranged from God, but Christ reconciled them through faith.

In verses 21-23, the focus shifts from the Lord's provision of reconciliation to the individuals who are recipients of that reconciliation. Our condition prior to reconciliation was horrific. We were alienated and enemies of God. The outcome of reconciliation, Christ's goal in the believer's life, is that we would be holy and without blemish. The continuing evidence of reconciliation is that Christians continue in the faith--and if we do not, that is "anti-evidence" of reconciliation.

We resume our study from some weeks back on the doctrine of the church in this message. The qualifications of the pastor are the particular subject we take up, in addition to beginning the reading of Jeremiah 1-2.

Christ is above all because He made reconciliation for sin toward God. He did this for all things, as the text tells us, whether things on earth or things in heaven. His cross-work provided reconciliation for enemies of God to become friends of God. This is the last portion of the chapter that deals with the emphasis on the supremacy of Christ, as the next verses turn to the subject of the application of that reconciliation to believers in Christ.

The Truth Tracker's program will be starting on September 2, and we thought we would give you a sampling of what the children do for the year by looking back to the 2014/15 school year. One of our 6-year-olds, Daniel, will recite the memory work that he learned in the Tiny Tracker's program, which is the youngest age group of our Truth Tracker's club.

There is no sleight of hand here. What happened was that during the school year, the children would learn a key word and a verse to go with it. They would have a story lesson about that word and verse, and then they would be responsible to learn the verse. Parental involvement at home is a very important part of this, as the parents review the verse with the child several times in the following week, and review the previous weeks' verses as well. By repetition, Daniel remembers all thirty weeks of verses, and still retains them now, months later.

Your child can do this too in our Truth Trackers program!

After reading of Esther 8 through 10, Pastor took questions from the congregation. Questions included the nature of the decree made by King Ahasuerus both through Haman and Mordecai; whether a woman needs to wear a head covering and the principle of submission to authority; a question about free will, determinism, and total depravity; a question about how to handle a partner in witnesses who does not share your theological system.

One notable question was about the doctrine of election and whether Fellowship Bible Church believes in evangelism. In short, yes, we do preach the doctrine of personal unconditional election, and YES, we do evangelize because God told us to, and because evangelism is the means by which He calls people to salvation!

Another question was whether the phrase "through his blood" is missing in Colossians 1:14 and the KJV-only error. There was a question about the different versions of the Living Hymns hymnal that we have acquired over the years. There was another question about whether time ceases to exist after eternity begins, and from where time originated. The origin of sin was also discussed.

Christ is above all as the head of the church, as the first resurrected and glorified One, and as the One in Whom dwells all the fullness of God. We learned not only that Christ is the head of the church and that the church is a body, but also the practical implications of these truth for church life. Christ is the first-born from the dead, indicating that He has priority in time of resurrection and in rank over all creation, of which He is not a part since He is uncreated. Verse 18 uses first-born in a somewhat different than the use of the same word in verse 15, but in neither case does the word indicate that Christ was generated or had a beginning. Finally, we thought together about the the idea of the term "fullness" which has to do with the complete essence of deity which was pleased to dwell in Christ.

For this Lord's Table service we thought on the matter of our inter-personal relationships and how they affect our participation at the Lord's Table. Individualism is not the focus of 1 Corinthians 11 where we studied, but the group dynamics in the Corinthian church were definitely impacted by how individuals viewed themselves and how they interacted with others. This recording omits the congregational singing and sharing of the Table so it is shorter than normal.

After reading Esther 5-6, Pastor Postiff addresses a question posed during the song service about a portion of the sermon from the morning message that had to do with the fact that Christ had half-brothers and sisters. This raised the question of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. After this, we got to the message having to do with the future work of Christ, including the rapture all the way His handing the kingdom over to God the Father.

Christ, the very image of God, created and sustains everything. The Bible describes in more detail the Redeemer spoken of in verse 14 in terms so exalted there can be no question that the Lord Jesus Christ is peer to God the Father. He is the very same image of God that God is. There is no one more like God than Christ is. He is the first-born precisely because He created all things, as it says in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1-3. He is before everything and He holds everything together.

Our series on evangelism continues with a study of how to proclaim the Christian message to homosexuals. The approach is not to focus on the particular sins of the person who is receiving the message but instead to bring a positive presentation of Christ and how He has solved the sin problem in general. One type of sin is not in essence worse than others such that it would cause us to be side-tracked on issues that hang up a gospel conversation so that it does not get to Christ.

We continued the public reading of Scripture in Esther 3-4, and then shared testimonies about the Art Fair Outreach of last week. (A number of testimonies were not given at the microphone, so they have been omitted from the recording.) Then we studied the doctrine of Christ specifically with respect to his present sustenance of the universe and intercession for believers.

God has done three things for Christians that qualify them to be partakers of the heavenly inheritance: He rescued them from sin, death and Satan; He transferred them into the kingdom of His Son; and He redeemed them, through forgiveness of sins, from the obligation to pay the penalty would confine them eternally. These truths are cause for gratitude to God!

Missionary Proto testifies using Acts 16 how his family was called to the city of Carmelo, Uruguay, to plant a new church. Pastor Postiff followed with a challenge to the church to consider what it--the church--will do in its next term of missionary service. Normally we think about what the missionaries will do in their next term of four or five years of service until furlough. But the question is, what will WE do for God in OUR next term of service?

Mariano Proto, missionary to Uruguay, shares with the church some encouraging words about the renewal of our attitude, soul, and focus to help endure in the midst of difficult life circumstances and ministry.

One of our missionaries, Mariano Proto, reports on his ministry in Uruguay, and challenges the congregation to be real Christians instead of fakes.

Pastor Postiff and several men of the church share Bible readings and comments regarding the Lord's Table. The New Covenant again takes the focus in the message this evening, particularly the church's relationship to it as respects the blood of the new covenant. Several key passages in Hebrews mention this blood, as the blood of the covenant, the blood of sprinkling, and the blood of the everlasting covenant.

We advance the idea that the blood of the covenant is distinguishable from the covenant itself. These two ideas cannot be separated--they always go together--but there is the blood of the covenant, and then there is the covenant. The covenant is the setup, the terms, the promises. The blood of the covenant is what activates or solemnizes the covenant. The blood of the covenant is that thing upon which the covenant rests; it is the foundation or ground of the blessings of the covenant because of the purification necessary to have a covenant relationship between God and man. The blessings of the new covenant, such as forgiveness or remission of sins, all rest upon that foundation. God cannot enter into a relationship with someone who is sullied by sin. The blood of the covenant has to be there to wash away sin that would prohibit any blessings. Christians are not under the full terms or blessing of the new covenant, but we have been purified by the blood that is associated with that covenant, and we have received the blessings that are provided to present-day Christians because of it.

The Bible continues to record the prayer of Apostle Paul for the Colossian Christians. His prayer shows what he believes is most important for them. He wants them to be filled with the knowledge of God's will and to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of Christ. Pastor Postiff also gives an illustration to help explain why good works are not pre-requisites to obtaining salvation, but are rather to flow out of the Christian's life after salvation.

After a reading of Psalm 19 by visiting former FBC member Rob Meisel, Dwayne Reid introduced the reader as well as the preacher for the evening, Pastor John O'Dell. Pastor O'Dell read from Hebrews 1:1-3 and reminded us that "the most important part of building a house is the foundation." The opening verses of Hebrews are the foundation of the entire book, and the book is very applicable to our present day and culture. Great numbers of people who once claimed to be Christians in our nation have dropped off even in the last 8 years. Others are not growing spiritually. Hebrews deals with both of these problems.

The Christian Gospel totally transforms the lives it touches. In this passage, we learn to exercise love, know the nature of God, see how to live like a faithful minister, give thanks and give others a reason for thanksgiving. We also are reminded to look forward to our hope of future blessing at the final installment of the blessings of salvation.

Before getting to the passage itself, Pastor Postiff presents a clear position statement of the church on the matter of of gay marriage in light of the June 26, 2015 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.

After reading Esther 1-2, our study consisted of a review of the Scriptural reasons for labor. Last time we looked at bad attitudes toward work; this time, correct attitudes are mentioned. The public policy on labor is discussed at the end of the message, including the Christian view on the government, benevolence, job creation, labor, outsourcing, the consumer side of the economy, and the minimum wage.

We are excited to delve into a new expositional series in the book of Colossians. The opening verses declare that Paul is the author, an apostle of Jesus Christ by God's will, and he is writing to the saints-and-faithful-brethren in Christ in the city of Colosse. Paul never visited that city; it was evangelized by Epaphras. The latter has recently visited Paul and shared that there were some serious problems in the Colossian church. The letter is Paul's response.

Our study of the doctrine of salvation and how to evangelize our loved ones continues. Today's class focused on the content of saving faith, and reminds again that the Christian's trust is to be in Jesus Christ--not in faith itself or one's profession of faith, or anything else.

In our evening meeting, we read from Daniel 11 and 12 as well as discussed some negative ideas about labor/work. Next time we plan to study the positive theology of work that is commended to us in Scripture. We also had the privilege to hear from Hayden Smith regarding a special trip to Haiti to do benevolence work. Unfortunately the recording was not the best quality, so it is excluded from this audio file.

We are closing our study of 2 Thessalonians by looking at Paul's benediction, a bestowal of blessing on the Christians in the young church. The apostle prays for God's people to experience the Lord's peace and grace. What exactly does that mean? Find out by listening in!

The New Covenant has puzzled many dispensational and covenantal theologians. In this Lord's Table service, Pastor Postiff gives some clarifying remarks about the New Covenant and encourages the church family to marvel at the provisions God has shared with Gentiles in a pre-fulfillment blessing connected to the New Covenant.

The middle of 2 Thessalonians 3 has to do with disorderly conduct in the church, and specifically with laziness in work habits. Paul gives instructions as to how to handle such problems. We started our study in verse 6, and then veered into similar passages regarding church discipline. In this second message we come back to verse 6 to resume the exposition by explaining who the culprits are in the church, and Paul's commands to work diligently, to keep doing good, and to separate from disobedient believers.

Pastor Postiff continues his Sunday school series on practical evangelism. The last few weeks we have been looking at the Biblical conditions of salvation and in particular repentance as a descriptor of the genuine kind of faith.

The title above is actually only half the story. Our teacher not only outlines the responsibilities of the church toward its pastor, but also the responsibilities of the pastor toward the church. This is a great reminder for both shepherd and flock. May God be honored as you listen.

In this message, our teacher builds a case from the entirety of the Bible for setting aside Sunday, the Lord's day, as a day for worship and refreshment. Our culture has wholeheartedly embraced a secular Sunday model of life, where stores are open and very little is thought of worship of God on Sunday, much less any other day of the week. One of the key ideas here is that Christians should dedicate time to worship and rest. The message notes particularly the repeated nature of the 1-in-7 pattern that God set out at creation and carries through the Bible.

Our spring Bible conference continued with our teacher challening the church to the task of evangelizing those around us. This is a convicting message that reminds us of a key reason for which God has left us on earth.

The theme of tonight's Bible Conference message was "We are committed to glorifying God through our trials." Trials reveal the quality of someone's character, and they change someone's character. The service opens with a hymn by Mrs. Naomi Postiff.

The opening message in our 2015 Bible conference is on the Christian's committment to prayer. The service opens with a prayer-hymn sung by Mrs. Naomi Postiff entitled O God You are My God, followed by an exposition of James 5 on prayer by our teacher. Listen in and remind yourself that a Christian has to be diligently involved in prayer.

We studied the resurrection, the ascension, and session of Christ. Some of the evidences for the resurrection are considered.

The general subject matter of the middle segment of chapter 3 has to do with disorderly conduct in general, and more specifically with laziness in work habits, and what must be done to handle those problems. In this message, we start a study of the verses by visiting the foundational supporting passages that address the same subject matter and connect them to Paul's exhortation to separate from disorderly brothers.

This is a special audio presentation of Fellowship Bible Church. This audio records the memorial service for a faithful believer named Laura Jacks. Laura was a very active member of Fellowship Bible Church who died at the end of April from cancer. Today, May 23, 2015 was her memorial service. Many of her family, church friends, and co-workers and volunteers were present to participate and honor her memory.

After prayer, we took up the reading of Daniel at chapters 8 and 9. Then we studied Christology again, particularly regarding the atonement. The study encompassed the doctrines of wrath, enmity, bondage, guilt, propitiation, reconciliation, redemption, expiation, and the extent of the atonement.

Paul requested prayer for himself and his missionary team that they would be able to take the gospel far and wide. He expressed confidence that the Thessalonians would continue to obey the instruction that they had received, and then prayed that the Lord would lead them into a greater experience of God's love and Christ's perseverance. We also learned that this passage was preparatory for a difficult issue that is going to arise in the following verses.

We offer a high-level study of the life of Christ. We looked at the proportion of the gospels that were devoted to various portions of the life of our Lord, as well as some other interesting details. This message is intended to be a helpful overview of the life and ministry of Jesus.

In light of the persecutions and false doctrine that had plagued the Thessalonian church, Paul records a prayer for them, that the Lord and God the Father would comfort and establish them. His desire is for them to continue in good speech and good works, with the truth of the gospel and God-honoring works foremost in the thought.

The Bible reading portion of our service was given to reading Daniel chapters 5 an 6. Most of our time was spent studying the matter of the blood of Christ and a wrong view that calls into question the complete humanity of Christ. We also studied briefly the impeccability of Christ.

God's work in salvation is worthy of thanks because it totally sets the believer apart from all who will be deceived by the Antichrist. Our study included the doctrine of divine election to salvation which is a major subject of verses 13-14. We learned a definition of election: That God in love chose all believers, before the foundation of the world, to salvation in Christ with all its attendant blessings and obligations.

We read Daniel 4 about Nebuchadnezzar's change of heart, and then studied the humanity of Christ including Jesus' human emotions, among other truths.

The Thessalonians had been attacked by one or more false teachers who were trying to convince them that hte Day of hte Lord had already come, and that they missed out on important end-time events.

The apostle Paul exhorts them not to be deceived and reminds them of what he had taught them previously. The mystery of lawlessness is presently under the restraining hand of God, but will be unleashed at the appropriate time, leading to a great apostasy and the disclosure of the man of sin who is the very embodiment of evil. Millions of people will be influenced to follow his evil ways and to worship him. In the end, Christ will return and destroy the Antichrist by throwing him alive into the lake of fire.

Listen in for more details and a challenge to make sure you are in Christ so that you won't be deceived by the Antichrist.

This audio discusses the doctrine of Christ's true deity and humanity. The controversy over the blood of Christ is dealt with very briefly.

In this brief message, Pastor Postiff gives a few practical thoughts on how to visit those who are sick and shut-in. Have a pencil and paper ready to jot down a few thoughts so you can be well-prepared to make your next visit.

Although the believers in Thessalonica were suffering persecution, they were NOT in the midst of the Day of the Lord. They had been falsely taught otherwise by someone who caused them a lot of emotional trouble because they believed they had missed the rapture and were going to have to endure an awful time suffering during the Tribulation. Paul exhorted them to stop being deceived and remember back to what he had taught them earlier.

In this message we look at some principles to help us proclaim the Christian faith. The focus today is on the spiritual disability experienced by non-Christians in their thinking. (Portions of the audio that contained audience interaction are omitted in this edition because voices from the audience could not be heard.)

On a recent Sunday morning, Pastor Postiff shared with the children why we should sing in church. We learned three reasons why we should sing in church: (1) Pastor asks you to; (2) God asks you to in the Bible; and (3) It makes God happy. As you might expect, this lesson is good for the adults too!

Pastor Postiff provides some theological instruction on the doctrine of Christ, particularly given more defense of the doctrine of Christ's deity. In short, Christ shares all the attributes of deity with God the Father.

Pastor Postiff gave a children's sermon on the matter of obedience. It might be helpful for your youngster to listen in too!

As often in his letters, Paul reports on his prayers for the believers. He prays that the Christians in Thessalonica will be counted worthy of participating in the future kingdom of God and of the glory of Christ. He prays that God would take the desires for faithful good works in the lives of the believers and fulfill them by His power. And He prays that Christ would be honored in their lives. This message includes some helpful application as to how we make plans to do things for the Lord.

In this message, we finish the study from a week ago by giving some more detail about the several tithes in the Law of Moses.

The Lord Jesus Christ delivers His people from sin and all its effects:

• Physical death – future, through the resurrection.
• Spiritual death – present, through new life given at salvation.
• Physical ailments and diseases – future, in heaven.
• Power and practice of sin – present, through salvation’s transformation and the Spirit’s presence gradually making us more holy.
• Guilt and penalty of sin – present, through forgiveness.
• Presence of sin – future, in heaven.

How He does all these amazing things is the subject of this message. In short, Jesus’ work entirely transforms the person who is saved, and fixes up their sin record or "criminal" record so that there are no more legal grounds for condemnation.

Colossians 2:12-13 teaches that death was defeated by the cross-work and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death was devastated in three departments: the physical death of Jesus was reversed in his physical resurrection; the physical death of the believer in Christ will be reversed at the physical resurrection; and spiritual death is transformed into spiritual life when salvation comes to a non-Christian and turns him or her into a Christian.

Our series this Resurrection weekend has to do with the powerful revelation in Colossians where the Bible speaks of the Christian receiving the Lord through faith and walking confidently in Him. Christians can be confident because they are complete in Him of Whom Scripture says the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily. This complete life is ours in Christ because He defeated Satan, death, and sin in His all-sufficient death at the cross and His super-victory at the tomb. We take these two amazing events as an integral pair, never forgetting that the once-for-all death of Christ was followed shortly by His resurrection.

In the first message, we see what the cross and resurrection did to the powers of evil headed by Satan. The church shared the Table of the Lord after this message.

In this message, Pastor Postiff explains how the Christian is not under the tithing requirement of the Old Testament. The tithe system was not a simple 10% rule for the Old Testament Jew, but consisted of several different tithes that had different purposes. This message and the next will help you to understand these factors as you consider your own stewardship over the money God has granted to you.

With the help of last week’s sermon, we are ready to tackle a challenging portion of the Bible. It is a challenge because it talks about persecutions and tribulations, and attributes to them a useful purpose that God wishes to accomplish in us. God does judge Christians, but it also sets unbelievers in their place, essentially swapping the present situation of troubler and troubled so that the persecutor now will receive punishment later, and the troubled now will receive relief later.

There are several important terms in the Bible that describe the pastoral office in the church. They are overseer or bishop (episkopos), shepherd or pastor (poimen), elder or presbyter (presbuteros), teacher (didaskolos, and preacher (kerux). It is debated whether these terms are used to refer tot he same office. This message demonstrates that the first three terms are basically synonymous as to the office they describe, describing different facets of the same office in the church. So, pastor = elder = overseer.

Paul extols the Thessalonians as an example to other churches because of their patient faith in the midst of deep trials. Then, to lay the ground work for a more in-depth study of verses 5-10, Pastor Postiff teaches about the uncomfortable truths that God permits suffering in the lives of Christians and that He even judges Christians during their lives.

Our mid-week study in the Old Testament sacrificial system continues with a study of the sin offering, with special attention to the definition of the unintentional sin.

An interesting subject in the general area of ecclesiology is whether the Bible requires a plurality of elders in a local church. That is, should a church have more than one pastor? Should there be multiple elders? The Biblical answer is that one elder or pastor is required in each local church, and the local church may have more than one pastor, but it is not required to have more than one. (Certain portions of this recording are cut out where an audience member asked a question and as a result there was a lengthy period of silence.)

A new expository sermon series in 2 Thessalonians begins with this message introducing the city of Thessalonica, its people, Paul's second missionary journey and the church plant that happened there, and the trying circumstances that the young church faced in its first years of existence. The apostle explains his obligation to thank God for what happened there with the Thessalonians growing in faith and love. Paul had taught them and prayed that they would increase in those characteristics, and they did. They are a great model for any church today.

In our theology series, Pastor Postiff continues teaching the Christian doctrine of Jesus Christ. This week we focus on texts that explicitly declare His deity. Jesus is the Lord, worthy of our worship and praise, co-equal with the Father in deity.

Missionary Jack Mitchell shares his burden for local and global outreach of the church for the sake of the gospel of Christ. There is a command for outreach, there are people that are do the outreach, there are people who need the outreach, and there is the time for outreach. In every place, missionaries are desperate for help. Churches and their pastors are desperate for help. What are you doing about that?

Our sermon series ends with this message in which we learn how Jude praises God with one of the most pointed and powerful doxologies in the Bible. God is able to keep the believer from stumbling. God causes the believer, moreover, to stand before Him. God is our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. And God is the glorious King of the Universe. There is no one like the Triune God worshipped by Christians.

Jack Mitchell shares how God led the ministry to Benin, Africa and about the ministry there and in the Philippines.

We study together, around the Table, what it means to participate at the Table in a worthy manner.

Jude tells us that a key way to contend for the faith is to be involved in rescuing the lost. The unsaved come in various shapes and sizes, as it were. Some are confused, some are further down the path of ungodliness, and others are totally invested in the ungodly lifestyle they have been taught. Our job is to have compassion, save some, and show mercy mixed with fear toward them.

Pastor Postiff continues the series of studies in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, dealing in this message with the matters of the virgin birth, incarnation, and kenosis.

In this message, Pastor Postiff continues his Wednesday series on the OT sacrificial system. The focus of this message is on the burnt offering.

Missionary David Wears challenged us about being a strong, committed local church. He told us: You cannot have strong foreign missions until you have a strong local church. If you had a plethora of local churches, but were faltering at any moment, and they took on a plethora of foreign missionaries. If those churches fell apart, the support of the missionaries would fall apart and they would have to come home. You lose both the church and missionaries if you lose the strong local church.

In this message, missionary David Wears emphasizes our service to God as ambassadors to plead with the world to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

The Wears family introduce themselves and their mission work to Portugal. More information can be found at wearsportugal.com.

In this message, Pastor Postiff covers two topics. First, he answers one of your questions about the tent of meeting in Exodus and Leviticus. The key passage is Exodus 33:7. Then, the bulk of the message is given to the subject of OT prophecies of Christ. Part 1 of this message was given on February 1, 2015 during a conference call with the church because the weather did not allow us to meet at our building. In this part 2, a number of additional OT prophecies are covered, mainly in the Psalms and Isaiah. We find that it is true that the Old Testament is filled with prophetic material about Christ, as the disciples on the road to Emmaus learned in Luke 24.

In the concluding verses of Jude, Scripture gives us three key ways that we can contend for the faith. The first we examined last time, having to do with remembering apostolic teaching that warns of the coming of ungodly people. The second, addressed in this message, is how to keep ourselves in the love of God. The basic idea of this is to maintain faithfulness to God. It is done by obeying God's commands, growing spiritually, praying, and looking forward to the second coming of Christ.

Pastor Postiff describes the idea of the gathered church, particularly as it relates to gathering together at the Table of the Lord. The main idea is that the Lord's Table is a worship service of the church and must be done corporately, not individually or privately.

In this message, Andy Bennett unpacks the meaning of Matthew 16:21-28. Prior to this passage, the Lord had carried out an extensive public ministry. From this point of Matthew's gospel forward, Jesus takes much more time to teach the disciples about his death and resurrection and what real discipleship is all about.

Pastor O'Dell concludes his series with a study of the fourth chapter of Jonah, adding to the fourteen characteristics of God that the study uncovered thus far.

At verse 17 Jude tells us more about what it means to contend for the faith. He tells us to remember apostolic teaching. He tells us to build each other up in the faith, to keep on praying, persevering, and looking for the coming mercy of Christ. He also tells us to proclaim the good news of Jesus so as to save some people from eternal fire. The task is difficult and dangerous, but God is able to protect you and present you faultless before His throne. Observe that verse 17 starts out with “but you” as does verse 20. Jude's focus now is not on "these" ungodly men, but on "you." Listen in as we review the apostles message about ungodly people.

To extend our study of the Trinitarian and Christological Controversy of the fourth and fifth centuries, we examine in this message some additional Christian teachings about Jesus Christ. We discuss the matter of the so-called immaculate conception and mention some OT prophecies of Christ.

Before our series in Jude continued with verses 14-16, Pastor Postiff reminded the church of its membership covenant as the church welcomed a new member (audio omitted). Then we thought together about the scourge of abortion that plagues the land of the United States and the entire world by reading Jeremiah 19. Then we studied Jude 14-16, the third in a series of messages on the characteristics of the ungodly and what God's plan is for them. The main point of this message was that the message of prophet Enoch is still as true today as it was 5500 years ago. God is going to judge the ungodly. There is plenty of evidence to convict them.

Pastor O'Dell takes us through Jonah 3 in this session, looking at the preaching of Jonah and the repentance of the Ninevites.

Our series on Imperfect Faith, No Faith, and Great Faith continues with more examples of unbelief in the New Testament. At the end of the message, Pastor Postiff begins to give some more examples of great faith from the NT which should be a great encouragement.

Our review of the Trinitarian and Christological Controversy of the early church continues with the councils of Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. At this point, the church as a whole had come to a good foundational belief and terminology regarding the deity of Christ, His humanity, His singular person, and His two natures.

Pastor Postiff teaches through the "woe oracle" in the middle of Jude. It is a heavy message of judgment on those who conduct themselves like their predecessors described in verses 5-7: unbelieving Israel, the fallen angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah. With such, God is very displeased.

Pastor John O'Dell continues his series in Jonah with an exposition of chapter 2. Listen and learn!

Pastor Postiff gives a brief study of verses in the New Testament that address the subject of unbelief.

The real core of our study begins with this message as we dig into the various ways to study historical theology, and then jump right to the Council of Nicea and move into the doctrine of the Trinity and Christology. Pastor Postiff discussed the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, including a reading of the text of each creed. An impromptu question and answer session at the end gives an opportunity to further extol our great God for His infinite person.

Pastor Postiff shows how to glean some observations from the text of Jude, and then launches into a description of the ungodly people that Jude is concerned about. AN interesting aside about the pseudepigraphal work The Assumption of Moses is included. The passage becomes for us an exhortation to stay as far away from the life of ungodliness as we can.

Pastor John O'Dell introduces a multi-part series in the book of Jonah with this message on chapter 1. Listen in and you will find out that there is a lot more to the book of Jonah than the story about a big fish.

Our series in Jude continues with the gloomy reality that God judged unbelief and sin severely in various cases in the Old Testament: with the Israelites, fallen angels, and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The message reminds us that God is a God of judgment and destruction. He is a lot more than that, but this much reminds us that we need a good dose of respect and fear for the living God and what He calls us to be. We will face Him as our judge someday soon. What God did back then, He still will do in the future.

Pastor Postiff takes the congregation on a whirlwind tour of what happened at FBC in 2014 as a way of thinking about what we have done for God and what we can do in the future.

We begin a new series in the short book of Jude. Jude introduces himself in a way that teaches us something about how to think of ourselves. He greets the readers with an encouraging word, and then explains what he is writing and why. His concern is to protect Christians and their churches from false teachers and ungodly people who are trying to infiltrate the church and do damage to it. In the remainder of the book we will learn characteristics of these ungodly people and how we can stand firm and move forward in the Christian faith in spite of them.

Pastor Postiff shares four observations about Christmas that you may not have considered before. Listen in about the miracle of the incarnation, the kingly character of our Lord's birth, and two other observations to set your mind in the right Christmas spirit.

Listen in and experience the first Christmas through the eyes of Joseph, the husband of Mary and adoptive father of Jesus. He was a humble and righteous man, a man with great God-given responsibility, and one who was amazed at Jesus. Be reminded of who Jesus is and what He has done.

In this message, we take in the entire book of 2 Peter, and produce an outline for it. Along the way, we learn that Peter is trying to remind us of some critical truths and encourage us to grow. These things will help us to fare well against the false teachers that are always around us. God knows how to judge them, and how to deliver us!

In this message, Pastor Postiff sketches the character of John the Baptist. John is a very interesting figure in history, and played a crucial but often-overlooked role in the account of the incarnation and life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus and why He came, but John’s role is very instructive as well. John is a model for us, of humility and of dedicated service to God.

This is a somewhat interactive teaching session on the book of Jude, where our goal is to produce an outline of the entire book. You would be benefited to have your Bible open and pencil and paper in hand to jot down some notes and put together an outline as Pastor Postiff teaches through his process of constructing an outline.

This message serves as a reminder to parents, in particular, of their responsibilities to raise children in the way of the Lord. Key points include that fathers are to love their children and take care not to exasperate them; fathers need to be careful to not only put bread on the table, but to provide spiritual bread to their children; fathers must structure the family life around the values of the Lord instead of the values of the world. Mothers are to love their children; they must have a lot of personal contact with children, especially in the early years; and mothers must strive to be like the virtuous wife in Proverbs 31. Note: there is some material here, starting at the 30:50 mark, that is completely counter-cultural and may shock you. Enjoy, and may it provoke you to love and good works!

In this brief message before the congregation partakes of the Lord's Table, Pastor Postiff explains some considerations in protecting the Table. The communion service is neither wide open, nor is it closed. In between is the position that Fellowship Bible Church has taken, along with multitudes of other faithful Christian churches. Pastor Postiff explains more here.

We learned from Luke 15 how God is happy when a person responds to Christ with repentant faith. That means that he or she turns from a life of sin and wrong and believes in Jesus Christ. Thus that person's relationship with God is established and placed on peaceful ground instead of being estranged. The timeless story of the prodigal son was our source material: the black sheep of the family came to his senses and returned home.

The church participated in a time of thanksgiving and song, followed by an exposition from Psalm 19 on how we should be thankful for God's Word, among many other things.

The Psalms can be categorized into six main groups emphasizing different content: praise, thanksgiving, laments, trust, wisdom, or kingship. Psalms 105 and 106 are thanksgiving Psalms focusing on God and His works, along with His mercy in the face of utter human failure. It is interesting to note that Psalm 105 focuses on God and His works, while Psalm 106 focuses on the failure of man and the steadfastness of God to keep His promises, even when the people did not keep faithful.

We learn a lot in this passage about thanksgiving, particularly by applying it as a way to smash the sins of complaint, greed, materialism, pride, and the like. If you think you are thankful enough, listen to this message and double check!

Guest speaker Dr. Wilfred Matham explains the context of Colossians and focuses in on the passage 4:2-6. The message emphasizes the matters of fervency, watchfulness, and missionary-mindedness. Dr. Matham also reports on his ministry in South Africa and how it will be changing in the new year.

With this message, we complete a series of 20 sermons on the enigmatic prophet Zechariah. It's riches have unfolded for us after much study and explanation. In this message, we revisit the book's outline and review all the major sections, ensuring that we understood the point of each. The message of the book is that while God is displeased with the rebellion of His people Israel and He will punish them sorely for it, He will restore them to glory in the Day of the Lord by having the Messiah Shepherd rule over them and the world in righteousness. What a day of glory for Him, and for every believer, that will be!

Paul wrote some very important letters. We can follow his example not only in what he wrote, but how he structured his communications. Examine how he closed his epistle to the Romans. He did so with greetings, with grace, and with glory to God.

Thus Pastor Postiff closes his exposition of the book of Romans after nearly two years of study. The apostle sends greetings from several believers with him, wishes grace to the reader, then gives a rich doxology. The closing praise to God shows how important it is that glory to ascribed to God through Jesus Christ. Apart from the Son, there is no real praise to the Father.

This message also deals with some differences between Bible manuscripts.

In this message, Pastor Postiff reviews the chronology of Zechariah 12-14 and provides an exposition of chapter 14, including the destruction and deliverance of Jerusalem, the geographical and governmental blessing that comes in the millennial kingdom, the destruction of the nations and then sudden turn-around into worshipers of God, and the widespread holiness that will be present in Jerusalem in that day.

The apostle Paul is urgently concerned about the church in Rome, despite the fact that there are no previous indications in the letter of big problems within the church. There are always threats to any church, and especially good churches. So, he urges them to beware of false believers and false teachers, to avoid them, and to be careful to be good and eschew evil. He gives five characteristics of false believers and teachers to help us identify them. At the end of the section, he provides some reinforcement by reminding us that God will eventually crush Satan totally. Thanks to God there comes a time when no more threats will be able to rise against His people.

Prior to observing the Lord's Table, Pastor O'Dell identifies four reasons people turn away from following the Lord. Included are emotionalism, worldliness, compromise of faith, and the most difficult of all: lack of genuine salvation.

Esteemed guest speaker Pastor John O'Dell preaches on Ephesians 6 and how the Christian wrestles against Satan. Listen with us to learn how to resist the Devil and to overcome his subtle scheming against our souls.

Paul closes his great letter to the Romans with a commendation for Phoebe, greetings to a large number of Christians in the church, a warning to avoid those who are divisive, greetings from some of Paul's co-workers, and a benediction directed toward God. We read in the passage of a number of choice servants of God who are described with phrases like "firstfruits to Christ," those who "worked hard" in the Lord, and "approved in Christ." We can learn a lot from a passage that doesn't seem to yield much on first read. Listen to find out more!

We saw earlier in our studies that Zechariah 13:7-9 provides a panoramic view of Bible prophecy, spanning from the crucifixion of Christ to the salvation of the remnant that enters into the millennial kingdom. In this message, we fit the contents of chapters 12, 13, and 14 into a single timeline. That timeline is available here for you to follow along as we study.

Paul has begun the final words of the lengthy letter to the Romans. He explains that he is praying that God will clear the way for him to finish his current work and then see the Roman church on his way to Spain. We see that Paul's plan was postponed, but very clearly laid out. He requested much prayer for it because all plans are "if the Lord wills." We too need to think about what we plan to do for God. Do you plan to do the basics, like staying faithful to God, growing in His word, and going to church? Do you plan to do more than the minimum? Are you thinking of doing something significant for God?

Jacob wrestled all night with God. This experience in the life of Jacob is the culmination of 20 years of problem living for Jacob. He is a man who has had many problems. Unfortunately much of that was of his own doing. Not all of it, but much of it was his own fault. The biggest problem that Jacob had was that he tried to get through life on his own schemes rather than by God's way. It always led to disappointment and heartache...

Paul saw his ministry as producing an acceptable offering consisting of saved Gentiles through the gospel and the Spirit (Romans 15:16-18). These two factors--the gospel and the Spirit--were critical to the acceptability of the sacrifice. Any offering to God apart from the gospel and the Spirit is unacceptable, like an idolatrous sacrifice on a high place in the OT. The reason that Paul could carry on this kind of gospel-offering ministry was that God had given him a grace gift to be a minister of the gospel. Paul therefore boasted in God, not in himself. With that attitude and God's work, His ministry was indeed fruitful over a large swath of the Roman empire. Paul strove to preach Christ where there was no gospel witness and to allow the churches he planted to carry on the work in their locale.

The prophet Zechariah offers a brief but panoramic view of history from the crucifixion of Christ to the second coming. It is a remarkably compressed prophecy. In this message for the Lord's Table service, we focus our attention on the sword that awakes against the shepherd in order to do its awful death-producing work. The Shepherd is none other that the Lord Jesus Christ. The action of the sword striking the shepherd drove our consideration to Isaiah 53 where the same word is used.

These verses serve two primary purposes in the book of Romans. First, they summarize Paul's high regard for the church and explain why he wrote the letter despite such good standing of the church. Second, the verses form a transition by which Paul moves from the major content of the letter to focus instead upon the ministry which God has given to him personally. Along the way, Paul gives a three-fold commendation of the church that is a model for all godly churches; and he points out the importance of receiving reminders from the word of God to keep us on the straight and narrow.

The closing of chapter 12 gave details about a mass conversion of Jews to the Messiah when they look upon the one they pierced. Chapter 13 continues this prophecy, showing how there will be a fountain providing forgiveness and cleansing from sin to the nation of Israel. From top to bottom the nation will be changed. However, there still will be pockets of rebellion against God. These will be dispatched or shamed into silence because of the massive moral transformation of the nation.

The exhortation to the strong and weak is concluded in these verses. Now, instead of receiving only the weak (14:1), Paul tells us to broaden that exhortation to receive one another." We ought to welcome other believers because Christ Jesus received us and in a similar manner as He received us. Christ accepted us despite all our flaws. We ought to accept one another in Christian love so as to have joy and peace in our churches.

Zechariah eases up on the heavy symbolism of the chapter 11, and in the twelfth chapter he focuses our attention on the "Day of the Lord" which includes the Tribulation and millennial kingdom. These days open with enemies attempting to wipe out the nation of Israel. But God promises to destroy the enemies, deliver Israel, and on top of that, He promises to save Israel from their sin. A remarkable turning from sin to the Messiah will occur "in that day" when the Jews finally realize that they killed the Messiah.

The Bible, inspired by God through the hand of the Apostle Paul, continues with the subject of "strong" and "weak" brothers. The focus of the instruction is toward the strong, how they ought to handle the scruples of others so as to build up the weak brother, rather than to please the strong-faithed brother himself. The pre-eminent example of bearing the burdens of others is Christ, who bore the insults of those who insulted God.

Pastor Postiff continues the Wednesday night series on the Biblical doctrine of Heaven with part 5. Previous messages covered the characteristics of Heaven and its residents, but largely focused upon Heaven in the far future, after all of God's program is completed. This message shifts focus to Heaven as it exists today, the present dwelling place of God and the place to which believers go who die before the rapture.

This is part 2 of our exposition of Zechariah 11, covering particularly verses 4-14 and 15-17. God is clear about his attitude toward evil leaders in the nation of Israel, and His attitude carries forward to the church when there are shepherds who mislead the people. Both leader and people bear a share of responsibility and guilt in such a case. The meeting began with a question from the audience about the theology of worship, so Pastor Postiff made a few introductory remarks on that topic before launching into a reading of Joshua 15-16 and the study of Zechariah.

The Bible explains how our behavior affects other people, and how our love for God should affect our behavior. The theme of strong and weak faith continues in this passage, with a message for those who think they are strong. They ought not flaunt that strong faith, but rather use it to restrain their conduct so as to not cause others to stumble. The passage ends with the well-known passage written to the "weak" brother, that he must conduct himself in faith, else his conduct amounts to sin.

By all accounts, Zechariah 11 is one of the most difficult chapters in Old Testament revelation. In this part 1 message, Pastor Postiff focuses on the figures or metaphors used in the passage, and begins to work through a conservative interpretation of the passage. Listen to this message and the next to get a handle on this mysterious prophecy.

This passage adds a second debatable matter to the earlier one about the eating of certain foods. This one has to do with the observance of certain days on the calendar. Those strong and weak in faith view the matter differently, but there is no cause for one to despise the other, or the second to condemn the first. Both must have studied and thought through the matter enough to be fully convinced, and then avoid friendly fire against one another if they end up holding differing views. Most importantly, the passage emphasizes that the Christian must focus his attention on living entirely for Christ in everything he does.

Romans 14:10-12 speaks of the future judgment before Jesus Christ that all believers will experience. This launched us into a study of the doctrine of judgments more generally, where we found that all people, Christians or not, will experience an evaluation before God. The evaluation actually happens in stages for different groups of people (Christians, Old Testament believers, those living at the end of the Tribulation, and the rest of unbelieving humanity). Each will be evaluated as to whether he believed in Christ and to the quality of his works. Pastor Postiff outlines each of the different judgments and how it is that we can be rescued from a negative outcome in our own evaluation.

God promises through Zechariah to bring back a multitude of Jews to the land of their inheritance through Abraham. They will completely defeat their enemies, and the land will be overflowing with those who were previously scattered to the four winds. This passage also has something to say to false shepherds who promise prosperity from idols instead of pointing the people to the one true and living God.

Christians must welcome into their fellowship those who have weak faith. Weak faith is defined in this passage as the faith of a person who is bound to certain dietary restrictions from his life prior to salvation. The Scriptures teach us to not criticize such a brother or sister but rather welcome them into the fellowship. And we must all recognize that whether we think we are weak or strong, everything we have is given by God and we ought therefore to be humble in our relationships with each other.

A consumer-centric mindset has beset much of the church, particularly in North America. Pastor Postiff discusses this in light of Acts 20:35, and along the way reminds us that Jesus' words about giving were not mere words. He gave Himself for us, so we ought to give ourselves to Him instead of looking at everything from a "what can I get out of it" mindset. Zechariah 10:2 is also discussed briefly in this message.

In Romans 13:11-14, there are seven interconnected exhortations that bring our attention to focus in terms of how to live in this sinful world and how to give ourselves as living sacrifices to God. This section looks forward to the future; Romans 12:1-2 exhorted us to look to the past. Both what God has done in the past and what He will do in the future "hem us in" to live holy lives. The Christian’s final salvation is right around the corner, so we ought to live godly lives.

God lays out an oracle against the northern and western enemies of His people, promises the coming of a humble and conquering king, and reveals the salvation that He will provide for His people.

The Christian has an ongoing obligation, never finally or fully discharged, to love others as he loves himself. Our obedience to this command is driven and motivated by our love for God. We show that our love for God is not proudly self-centered, but is humbly directed toward others.

Our missionary reports on his ministry Baptist Mid-Missions.

A sermon about what it means to "take up your cross." The cross was (and still should be to us) a symbol of violent death. Jesus demands that all of His disciples be ready to suffer for His sake.

Devotion to God, passionate love for God, should be the driving force in our lives, and it should be the content of what we pass on to future generations. Love for God is the core of the Christian life. Duty and discipline flow from that. We are not only required to know the things that God wants us to do and not to do, and to have in our minds a set of principles and practices of wise conduct, but also to have a heart passion for God.

An exposition of Romans 13:1-7 on how Christians must obey the governing authorities and pay taxes. Includes a discussion of the Biblical teaching on owning and using the means of self defense.

A passage that shows clearly God's favor toward Jerusalem in the near term of the post-exilic community, as well as in the far future when God raises Jerusalem to be the head of nations.