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The rich man was told

By John Henson, Dibrill congregation, McMinnville TN

Text: Luke 16.19-31

  1. The rich man was told to remember (verse 25).
  2. The rich man was told what to remember (verses 25, 26, 31).
  3. The rich man was told there is no rescue (verse 31).
  4. If you died today, what would you be told?
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The Heart-Knower

By John Henson, Dibrill congregation, McMinnville TN

  1. God knows your heart, Luke 16:15.
  2. The great heart-knower consulted, Acts 1:24.
  3. The one who searches the heart cares, Romans 8:26-28.
  4. What does he know about your heart?
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The work of a preacher

By Ron Thomas, Highway congregation, Sullivan IL

1. The message of the preacher, 2 Timothy 4.1-5

2. The purpose of his preaching, Colossians 1.24-29

3. The exemplar of the preacher, Acts 18.1-6

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Illustration: Apathy

By John Gaines, Antioch congregation, Snead AL

Winston Moseley died a few days ago. Few people would recognize his name. The 81-year-old man spent the last 52 years of his life in prison. In 1964, Moseley stabbed to death a young woman named Kitty Genovese in a brutal, gruesome killing.

What got people’s attention was the fact that there were 38 witnesses who watched Kitty’s murder, and no one did anything to help her even though she was screaming, “Help me!” It was only after she was dead that anyone bothered to call the police.

One of the witnesses later told law enforcement authorities, “I didn’t want to get involved.” (Washington Post, April 5, 2016).

This updates an illustration about apathy or indifference that some of us who have preached for a while may have used before.

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God’s spiritual house

By Ron Thomas, Highway church, Sullivan IL

1 Peter 2:4-10

I. The Church is God’s Spiritual House Because

A. It is not made up of any material substance (2:5)

B. The Holy Spirit lives in Christians (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

C. The Holy Spirit guides it (1 Corinthians 3:16)

D. The sacrifices are spiritual in nature (cf. Hebrews 13:15) Continue reading “God’s spiritual house”

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How to make every effort to enter through the narrow door

Lk 13.24: “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to” (NET).

Let us exert every effort:

  1. In knowledge, Prov 2.1-5.
  2. In prayer, Col 4.12.
  3. In meeting together, Heb 10.25; 12.1.
  4. In the gospel, Phil 1.30.
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Let God’s love console me

Psalm 119.73-80

  1. Since God created us and gave us life, we ought to seek his guidance on how to live, 73.
  2. A life which has God as its hope gives joy to many, 74.
  3. It is not because God doesn’t love us that he disciplines us, but because he does, 75.
  4. Such love of God’s consoles us in all our disappointments and frustrations, 76.
  5. Delight in God’s law opens his compassion and frees us to live, 77.
  6. The righteous does not waste time agonizing over the arrogant, but focuses on God’s precepts, 78
  7. In the midst of opposition, God’s people come together for mutual strength, 79.
  8. We pray, at last, that the heart may be wholly devoted to God’s statutes to avoid humiliation before him, 80.
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The power of the Word

By Ron Thomas, Highway congregation, Sullivan IL

1 Peter 1:22-2:3

  1. The Word Purifies the Soul (1:22)
  2. By the Word one is Born Again (1:23)
  3. The Word of the Lord is Enduring (1:24)
  4. The Lord’s Word is Preached (1:25)
  5. The Lord’s Word Nourishes (2:2)