(To the Christian) Introduction         The countdown begins, Midnight strikes, “Auld Lang Syne” is sung, and a new year is under way. As tradition goes, people make resolutions for the coming year with the promise of changes to improve their lives. Of course, by the week’s end we’ve already reneged on those promises. So why do we make them?         Every year we make the same resolutions: I’m going on a diet, I’m going to travel more, I will be more outgoing. And yet, just a few days later, we come to the realization that we were rash in our decisions and immediately fall back into routine. The diet is ruined by that extra piece of pie, traveling is out because of a dwindling bank account, being outgoing means having to go outside where *gasp* other people are.         For those of us who are Christians, instead of making New Year’s Resolutions we should set goals for ourselves for the New Year. The Work will Continue         As the New Year Unfol

Introduction         In Isaiah 9:6-7 is one of the more profound prophecies of Jesus, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”         At this time of year this passage is quoted in celebrating the birth of Christ; touting him primarily as the Prince of Peace and that he will bring peace as stated by the angels in Lk. 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”         How does one such as Jesus bring about world peace? Does he just show up and it happens? Or is there more to it? Please note the following: Not Peace, but a

Introduction         There are sermons that no preacher wants to preach, nor does a congregation want to hear. But those very same sermons are ones that a preacher needs to preach and a congregation needs to hear. The sentences sound exactly the same with the exception of one word. The difference of that one word changes the whole meaning of the sentence. Definitions —Random House Webster’s Dictionary Want— To feel a need for; wish or desire. Need— A requirement or an obligation.         A good example to show the difference in these two words is the subject of dessert after a meal. Most people want a piece of pie but they don’t need it. As the definitions above describe; people desire a piece of pie but it not a requirement. A basic meal is a requirement to get your daily nourishment and to keep your body going. Dessert is simply a reward for eating your meal; a way of saying, “Well done!” Samuel and the Elders         In 1 Sam. 8, the prophet Sa

Introduction         Over the last few decades the concept of “being offended” has increased exponentially. People are removing statues of military leaders of the southern states during the time of the civil war and removing all Confederate Flags as well. The reason? Since ‘The South lost’, all of these things should be removed so as not to remind us of what we went through. People are suddenly offended by these and other things because it makes them feel uneasy. What if this same idea came into the church? The Bible has to Go!         Much like the removal of those statues, should the church be rid of the bible? Maybe not the entire bible, but suppose we do away with all of the Old Testaments? After all it’s full of idolatry, harlotry, deceit, corruption, and no women in the position of leadership. Never mind the fact that Deborah was a judge (Jud. 4:4-5:31) and Esther, a Jew, became queen in Babylon (Esth. 2:16-17).         Given that all of Jesus’ disc

Welcome to the Gospel Vault! This week's lesson comes from 2013 and the subject is Materialism . It is preached by me, Chris Mentzer

Introduction         Over the last decade many people have become “more religious”. And by doing so they love to express it all over social media. But is this really what God is looking for in one of His children? Are we furthering the gospel or becoming victims of another one of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11)?   Super Information Highway         The internet is one of the greatest inventions of the late 20 th Century. Information, Friends, and Family at your fingertips. See pictures of your newborn grandchild just moments after they are born or see your favorite band perform live on the other side of the planet! With this kind of technology, it also cuts research time in half.         Of course, the World Wide Web has its dark side. Pornography, gambling, and unsavory dating sites are capturing people’s attention; as well as their souls. Another problem is that it eats up your time faster than any other activity out there. One minute your checking your e-mail

This week's Gospel vault presents another lesson from Brother Marshall Keeble. Blood and Water Sermon

(from 2013) Introduction “Do No Try This at Home” is a phrase generally seen as a disclaimer on certain television shows that feature dangerous stunts or other things in which professionals have been training to do for many years. Teenagers and young adults will attempt to imitate these very same stunts themselves. Why? Because it’s the thrill of the stunt and an opportunity to gain approval of their peers. To them failure is not an option as well as death. It’s a certain level of immortality that young people feel because, to them, their whole life is ahead of them and death only happens to old people. But as a preacher once said, “The Old must die and the young do die.” Definitions of Immortal The dictionary definition for immortal is ‘Exempt from Death’ or ‘Imperishable’.   In other words, you can never die or you live forever. But this is not true and we all, eventually, will die. In addition, the dictionary also defines immortal on the basis of a noun in tha

Introduction                 When your car runs low on gas, you pull into a gas station or, as some call it, a filling station. In addition, you can pick up snacks and drinks to help reach your next destination. When your body runs low on energy, you sleep at night and eat food during the day. This helps you “recharge” so you can continue your day-to-day living. But what do you do when your soul runs low on energy? How does one refuel the body’s spirit? The Full-Service Station         The local church serves as a way of refueling the spirit: Singing; as Paul writes in Eph. 5:19-20, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” , Prayer; as James writes in Jas. 5:13-16, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let hi

(from 2004) Introduction         This is a question that most people would rather ignore that to answer: If you were to die tonight, where would you go? Some might instantly say, “Heaven” while others might flippantly, or even proudly say, “Hell”. But what if I told you that, according to scripture, you would not go to neither place when you die? When You Die…         Contrary to what most religious people will tell you, Heaven or Hell is not the next stop after you pass from this mortal realm. They are the places of eternity as stated by Jesus in Mt. 25:46, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Eternity is your “final reward” but there is a location that every soul will venture into after leaving here. It’s what I’ve referred to as the Giant Waiting Room. Welcome to Hades         If you’ve ever seen the TV series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys or Xena: Warrior Princess , you are famili

Introduction         Have you ever looked up at the moon at night and wondered why it doesn’t have a name? Moons of the other planets have names but ours doesn’t. It’s just known simply as The Moon. Have You heard about Pluto?         Growing up as a child of the 70s, we learned in school that there are nine planets in our solar system. Yes, I know that Pluto had been downgraded to nothing more than an asteroid but I’ll acknowledge Pluto as a planet to my dying day. Otherwise, I couldn’t use the phrase: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles to memorize the order of the planets from the sun.         As you think about the other planets, you will recall that each of them has their own set of moons. Mars, for example, has 2 moons; while Jupiter has 63 moons! And each moon has its own name.         Here on planet Earth we only have one moon and it is just called the moon. Sometimes I feel cheated because all of the other planets have moons with

A few decades ago, I took a College Psychology class during the summer quarter and one of the exercises was to write our own obituary.   Actually, we were to write two: one as if we were to die that day and the second if we died in ten years.   We then compared the two to see how much different they were.   I recall the first obituary I wrote; the cause of death was a car accident by a drunk driver.   In the second obituary, I don’t recall the reason for death but I said I was working for the company of Texas Instruments (looking at a calculator at the time, I guess), was married and had kids. But this bears the question to the reader, if you could write your own obituary, what would it say?   Would you talk about your job?   Family?   Social groups?   What about your faithfulness to the Lord? Some Bible Obituaries         Let’s then look at some of the people of the bible and see how they lived their lives and how they died.   This might give you some ideas of