Well, today we are beginning a study in the book of Jude.  It’s a very small book, just one chapter, and should take only about three weeks or so.  I thought that in some ways, Jude continued some of the same themes that Peter had been addressing in his 2nd epistle, and so it seemed fitting to continue with a brief series in Jude. Peter as you know, if you’ve been here for our last few messages, was concerned with the fact that in the last days there would be false prophets who would rise up in the church and

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This is a relatively somber and difficult passage that we have before us today. Peter devoted an entire chapter to the subject of false prophets. If it was an appropriate warning for his day, how much more is it relevant to us today when the church at large has practically abandoned the truth in favor of political correctness?  I believe  the key to understanding this entire passage is found in the phrase at the beginning of vs 10: “those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.”  Everything in this passage is predicated on

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One of the most popular artists of all time, and one that is still very popular today, was a man by the name of Vincent Van Gogh.  In 1885, at a time when society was embracing science’s view of evolution and long held beliefs in the Bible were under attack, Van Gogh painted a picture which he called Sill Life with Bible.  In the painting, against a dark background there is a large, open Bible on a table with a candle beside it which has burned out.  In front of the Bible is a small book, painted in yellow, of

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Peter is writing to the church at large near the end of his life, in order to shore up the foundations of the church, to strengthen the fortifications of the church, against the assaults by the enemy of the church.  And the enemy always assaults the church in the area of the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God.  The Word of God is always under attack.  It has been so since the beginning of the church, and it is even more so today.   Back in Peter’s day, the assault of false doctrine took the form of Gnosticism. 

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There are two extremes in view of salvation or Christianity today.  One is that which is based entirely on works, ceremonies, baptism, membership, rituals, confession, etc., and because of which they have virtually no assurance of their salvation, because they are really never able to achieve righteousness of such a degree that they can feel confident they will attain heaven. On the opposite end of the spectrum in view of Christianity is that since salvation is all by grace, that is the unmerited favor of God, since you are saved by no exertion of your own, you are kept saved,

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At a time when millions of people across the country are celebrating Christmas with special services and ceremonies both pagan and religious, it is with a sense of concern that I present this message to you today.  On the one hand, I feel a pressure to conform to the common theme of celebrating Christmas, as many other churches are doing.  And yet on the other hand, I feel the need to make a distinction in what I believe is the core of the gospel; mainly, as Jesus said, “They that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” 

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Well, since we finished the epistle of 1 Peter last week, I thought it was appropriate to do a couple of messages for the next couple of services on the subject of Christ’s birth before we get into our next series on 2 Peter. What I want to do today is focus on two passages of scripture in Isaiah which speak of the birth of Christ. There are other Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, but I just want to focus on two that particularly mention the birth of Christ.  The first is found in Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall

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If you were reading consecutively through 1 Peter, it almost seems as if chapter 4 would have been the logical place to end the letter.  The theme of 1 Peter has been sanctification, and at the end of chapter 4 we see basically a summary of the teaching that sanctification comes through suffering because of the reaction of the world to holy Christian living.  And in that context, Peter says that God will be the judge of such matters and we should entrust our souls to a faithful Creator.  But he also says that judgment will begin with the house

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