Today’s message is entitled “Authentic Christianity.” This is a subject that I feel very strongly about, and I believe the Lord feels very strongly about it as well. The meaning of “authentic” is of undisputed origin, genuine, true, the real deal. And as we study John’s gospel I believe this theme is emphasized over and over again. I believe authentic Christianity is very important to God. And so it should be very important to us. God doesn’t want superficial Christianity. He is not interested in lip service. He is not interested in rituals and ceremonies and observing holy days which

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Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.” So Jesus is the way to God, He is he truth of God, and He provides life from God to those who believe in Him. This is the gospel in a nutshell. You either believe the truth as presented in Christ, or you don’t believe the truth, and what you are believing is a lie. That’s the choice that we have; believe the truth, or believe the lie of the devil. Now to those who have believed

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Christians have been the object of persecution by many nations and many regimes for centuries. In the years following Christ’s death, Nero the Roman Emperor declared Christians to be the enemy of Rome and began an empire wide persecution that if not for the grace of God would have eradicated Christianity. In the nineteenth century the Ottomans massacred about two-and-a-half million Christians. In the twentieth century, it’s estimated that the Soviets killed half a million Christians; and the Germans under Hitler, another quarter of a million. In the last 66 years in China, it is possible that those numbers have

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The most desired ambition of the popular culture is that of love. Love is the theme of more songs, more books, more poetry, more art and more movies than any other theme. And I believe this is so because it is the most essential need of the human condition. It is as fundamental to life as food and water, if not more so. God declared at creation that it was not good for man to be alone. It is an essential component of the human psyche. Everyone wants to know love. However, human nature is not satisfied with unrequited love.

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The other day I was listening to a Christian radio broadcast as I was driving back from seeing someone who is in prison in Princess Anne, Maryland. I won’t say the name of the pastor, but doctrinally he is considered sound and he seems to be relatively popular. And at the end of the sermon, the announcer came on and gave a commercial for the opportunity to go on a luxury cruise with the pastor to some exotic destination which I think was in the Caribbean. I found myself feeling a little jealous, I guess. I had just spent four

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The two biggest themes of the 60’s generation, aka, the hippie movement, were peace and love. When you look at images from that era, whether they be concerts or sit ins, or protests, or whatever, you often see them holding signs professing their desire for both. In fact, it was trendy in those days to espouse both of those as ideals. I remember very well as a young person holding up two fingers in a peace sign and saying “Peace, man,” in place of the usual hello and goodbyes. It was the thing to do. Young people drew peace signs

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In today’s passage we are continuing our study of what is called the Upper Room Discourse. It spans several chapters, and yet it all occurs in just one evening; Christ’s last evening with His disciples before He is crucified. In this talk that Jesus gives, He tells His disciples that He will be leaving them very soon, and that where He is going they cannot now come. Of course, they are very troubled by this revelation. And Jesus knows that they are upset over this. So He says to them not to be troubled, but that He will return for

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In many of my past sermons, I have established the principle that the Christian’s relationship with Christ is like that of a husband and wife in marriage. In our Wednesday evening Bible study, we are looking at that principle right now. Paul says in Ephesians 5:31, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” So then marriage, as defined by God, is an illustration of our relationship with

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  Jesus said God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. I quote that verse here almost every week. But I can’t help but believe that we need to elaborate on this doctrine that God is Spirit. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma. Pneuma is the root word from which we get our word pneumatic. It means air, or a breath of air. So a spirit is like the air. A spirit is unseen. It isn’t composed of matter that you can touch or see or feel. The best way we

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When I was a boy, I remember my Dad, who was the pastor of our church, saying that his favorite song was “Mansion over the Hilltop.” He wasn’t a very good singer, but when the church would sing that song, he really seemed to enjoy it. The lyrics were not the most doctrinally correct perhaps, but the sentiment was sound. It went something like this: “I’m satisfied with just a cottage below, 
A little silver and a little gold
. But in that city where the ransomed will shine,
 I want a gold one that’s silver lined.”
(Chorus
)“I’ve got a mansion just over

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