The Preacher's Study Archive
Series Sermons Section 8

Birth Announcements Series

	"Born to Zacharias and Elizabeth of Jerusalem, a Son" Luke 1:5-25. (Redick) First message in this three part series building up to Christmas. Deals with the birth of John the Baptizer.
	"And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus" Luke 1:26-38. (Redick) Second message in series. Concerns the angel's announcement to Mary.
	"For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-20. (Redick) Announcement of the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds in the fields.

Deacons in the Church Series

	Seven Men Who May Have Saved the Church Acts 6:1-7  (Redick) This should probably be logged as the very first attempt of Satan to get the church sidetracked from its mission by doing good. Taking care of widows is Christ-honoring work but there ought to be enough people who can do it so as not to hinder the preaching of the gospel. (First in a series about Deacons in the church.)
	Let These First Be Tested Acts 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:8-13; Philippians 1:1-2  (Redick) When God’s word says that deacons (and other church leaders) must meet certain qualifications in order to serve, we will honor those instructions and appoint only those who are so qualified.(Second in a series about Deacons in the church.) This message also has a Deacon Nomination Form.
	Deacon Ordination  Acts 6:1-7 (Redick) In a modern congregation there are a host of essential tasks that need to be done, from distributing funds to members in need to managing building and grounds and providing transportation. Any one of these has the potential to sidetrack the ministry of the word if assumed by elders and/or evangelists. Deacons are God's answer to this problem. (Third in series - a deacon ordination service.)

Abraham the Believer Series

	Look to the Rock from Which Your Were Cut  Isaiah 51:1-2. (Redick) Prominent in history – prominent in Scripture. That’s Abraham. If every reference to him were to suddenly and mysteriously vanish, we would be at a loss to explain much of contemporary history and much of the meaning of our very own Bibles.
	Going Without Knowing   Hebrews 11:8; Acts 7:2-3; Genesis 11:27-32 (Redick) There was no opportunity for Abraham to consider the place God was sending him because God didn’t tell him where it was. When God told him to move, He couldn’t pick up the phone and have a Canaanite newspaper sent to him. He couldn’t contact the local Canaan Chamber of Commerce to consider his business prospects in this land God wanted him to go to. There was no Internet where he could check out the price of housing. God didn’t tell him where he was going! All he had to go on was a command to leave his home from a God he didn’t really know and the promise that he would be shown more about it in the future.
	Looking Back on a Forward Glance   Genesis 12:1-9; Galatians 3:8 (Redick) It’s rather funny sometimes, isn’t it, to take a backward look at people’s forward glances? They can look ridiculous once we have the luxury of time. That’s because even the best human planners cannot see the future. There is a Planner who can see the future – and His plans are never wrong.
	When Faith's Father Lost His Way   Genesis 12:10-20  (Redick) Whatever may have been the intention of Abraham’s scheme, who could have predicted that the one to take his wife would be the Egyptian Pharaoh himself? What a nightmare! Pharaoh could take any woman he wanted (and he did). He also could dispense with any kind of waiting period, if that is what Abraham was banking on. It would take no time at all for Pharaoh to get a dowry together either, which apparently he started doing right away with all the livestock and servants showing up outside Abraham’s tent.
	Returning to God  Genesis 13:1-18 (Redick) Abram realized, first and foremost, that his worship had faltered. Now he needed to renew his relationship with the God of Heaven. He had built several altars and worshipped God as he traveled across the land of Canaan earlier, but he built no altars while in Egypt. Thus it had been far too long since he had engaged in the matchless privilege of bowing his knee to the God who created him and called him out of Ur – the God whom he had so boldly trusted in the beginning. Now that he was back home, his first priority, his greatest desire was to re-establish worship.
	The Bible's First Hostage Rescue   Genesis 14 (Redick) Chedorlaomer learned what the Egyptian Pharaoh had also learned when the patriarch was in Egypt. You don't pull on Superman's cape. You don't spit in the wind. You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with a man whom God has given a promise to curse all of his enemies!
	Abram the Doubting Believer  Genesis 15  (Redick) Yes, mature believers doubt sometimes. If you are a Christian who has logged some time in the faith and perhaps even experienced some victories, you may find yourself entertaining some doubts once in awhile. I call it the "doubting believer's struggle." It isn't the doubt of the atheist or the hardened skeptic. It is the honest doubt of a person struggling to live by faith.
	Four Stupid Things Believers Do to Mess Up Their Lives  Genesis 16  (Redick) When people think they are desperate, it's amazing what they are willing to do. A wife who has been faithful to God and to her husband for years, frantic for his attention that is lacking because he is not loving her as God says he should, aware of her aging body and fading physical attraction, throws discretion to the wind and has an affair. A Christian man, tired of his unsuccessful search for a believing mate, finally gives in and marries either a non-Christian or a woman with dubious "faith" that really isn't faith at all. A Christian teenager, exasperated by the apparent inconsistencies in his parents, rebels, starts taking drugs and sleeping around. The world around us considers these things acceptable ways of coping.
	Learning From Their Laughter  Genesis 17:1-18:15; 21:1-7 (Redick)  Can you imagine what kind of news it would be today if a 90 year-old woman and a 99 year old man conceived a child? It would be in every newspaper and on every television program in the country! There would be appearances on Good Morning America and Oprah. The couple would receive free Pampers for life. The washing machine companies and baby food companies and the toy companies would line up at their door and beg them to take their free products. What a remarkable happening it would be. So Abraham laughed. He didn't plan to laugh. He didn’t think it over first. It just popped out of him, right there in front of God.
	Prayer for a Doomed City  Genesis 18:16-33  (Redick) Occasionally I have run into people, as perhaps you have, who are extremely angry with God because He did not answer their prayers in the way they desired. I suggest to you that such a selfish, presumptuous attitude is the very opposite of what it takes for effective intercession. That sort of angry person will never know the joy of answered prayer until he or she repents.
	The Bitter Fruit of a Compromised Life   Genesis 19:1-38  (Redick) Just as compromise with the world isn't usually something that takes place in a single act, but rather, is cumulative, so its consequences also do not show up immediately. They are seen only when their effects stack up. Thus, sometimes the important lesson of consequences is lost on us because we don't connect cause and effect. That's where the importance of the Bible can be seen. A believer doesn't have to learn the tough lessons of life the hard way. He or she can instead study the lives of those who have lived before God and learn from their mistakes. Message focuses on Lot.
	There He Goes Again  Genesis 20:1-21:7  (Redick) Abraham has blown it now a second time. His wife is headed for another king's harem because he didn't trust God and tell the truth. But is his stretching the truth really that much different than ours?
	Reaping the Results of Bad Choices   Genesis 21:8-21  (Redick) It is not the sowing phase that we encounter as we enter the mid-section of Genesis 21 this morning in our ongoing study of Abraham’s life. It is the reaping phase. It is the harvesting of something that was planted 16 or 17 years prior in a moment of overflowing frustration and passion when Abraham, coaxed on by his wife, Sarah, took matters into his own hands to produce the child that had seemingly been denied him. It was only a temporary lapse of judgment – an act that, from conception in the mind to culmination in the bedroom, probably took less than 48 hours. Yet the consequences, the nails in the post, so to speak, were still there nearly two decades later.
	Tough Tactics for Life's Most Difficult Trials  Genesis 22:1-19  (Redick) Abraham was fully ready to kill his beloved son, Isaac, though it must have grieved him beyond words. He would obey God, hoping against hope that God would somehow make it right so that the promises He had made to Abraham would be fulfilled. The knife was raised, catching the glint of the sun on its sharp blade. The deed would be done. To that Abraham was resigned.
	The Legacy of Machpelah  Genesis 23:1-20  (Redick) Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he had been asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old boy whose next door neighbor was an elderly man who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When the little boy's mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, he replied, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
	Seven Habits of Highly Effective Servants Genesis 24:1-67  (Redick) I speak today as a servant among servants who share a common bond of commitment to God through Christ. I speak among those who have come out of the world of "serve-us" and entered the world of service to God. I speak among those who can no longer be satisfied with the paltry rewards of this soon-to-burn world and have set their affections on the eternal rewards above.
	Twilight Years  Genesis 25:1-11   (Redick) If God gives you and me what amounts to a long life by our standards today, will we spend it for His glory? If our health allows, will we stay productive for Him? Even if our health breaks, will we determine to meet the challenge of keeping an attitude of joyous expectancy of eternity with Him?

Talk About the Table Series

	Talk About the Table - Part 1  Institution of the Lord's Supper   Matthew 26:26-30  (Redick) So often, when you and I are facing a trial, our words are not, "I’ll see you when this is over and I’ve been victorious." Rather, its, "I’ll see you if I make it." Jesus had a single intent in facing the cross. He would defeat death! There would be no caving. Perhaps if you and I faced our struggles with a bit more of His spirit, we would see more victory.
	Talk About the Table - Part 2 Toxic Assembly: The Church that Met Together for the Worse 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (Redick) The Corinthians’ disregard for Paul’s former instructions (according to verse 23 he had given them this instruction about the Lord’s Supper before) was causing a certain toxicity in their assembly. Disregarding the instruction in this passage can do the same to assemblies of Christians today. This is a very important passage of Scripture.
	Talk About the Table - Part 3  The Lord's Supper: Q&A  Various Texts  (Redick) "Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us." - Paul the Apostle.

The Bible: How Did God Inspire It? Series

	Part 1   2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:21 (Redick) A major source of disagreement about the Bible has to do with the issue of how God inspired it. While that may not seem like much of a "red light" issue to be concerned about if you are unfamiliar with the subject, it is a major problem.
	Part 2  2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:21; Hebrews 1:1-2 and 2:3-4 (Redick) Perhaps you have never seen firsthand what misunderstanding the Bible doctrine of inspiration can do to decimate a person’s faith. I assure you - it can do just that.

Temptation Series

Eleven Steps to Victory Over Temptation: Part 1  James 1:12-16; 1 Corinthians 10:13  (Redick) Suppose you have a thousand-acre ranch and someone offers to buy it. You agree to sell the land except for one acre right in the middle that you keep for yourself. In most parts of the country the law would allow you to build a road across the surrounding property to get to that acre you own. The law allows you a provision for access to your property. If you really wanted to stay off that property, the best way to do it would be to dispense with building the road. In that way you would make access very difficult. Likewise, the most reliable way to stay away from something that you know is wrong is not to build any roads to it that make access easy. Part 1 of 2 Parts.

Eleven Steps to Victory Over Temptation: Part 2  James 1:12-16; 1 Corinthians 10:13  (Redick) Imagine you’re out car shopping and you say "maybe" to a pushy salesman. Would you expect him to slink away and cease his pitch? The same is true when we don’t give Satan a firm, defiant, resistant, "no!"

Tongue Series

	Life and Death in the Power of the Tongue: Part 1  Proverbs 18:21 (Redick) Do you know a piece of good news? Use it at a strategic time to drop some encouragement on your struggling brothers or sisters. You can minister in a way that brings life..
	Life and Death in the Power of the Tongue: Part 2  Proverbs 18:21  (Redick) Some things are true, yet never intended to be generally revealed. The person who divulges such information is a "talebearer." Some things were just never intended to travel the grapevines.

Sense and Sensuality Series

	Sense and Sensuality: Part 1  1 Thessalonians 4:3-8  (Redick) Sense and sensuality or, perhaps more rightly, good sense about sensuality, is in very short supply today. It is something our modern culture really needs – and conversely, really lacks. Trouble is, there are very few sources anymore where good sense about sensuality can be found. And there are fewer such places every year.
	Sense and Sensuality: Part 2   Judges 13-15  (Redick) Do you notice Samson’s emphasis on this woman’s looks? Verse 2 says, "I saw a woman…get her for me…." Verse 3 says, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me." Now the Holy Spirit mentions Samson’s focus on the external once again: "She looked good to Samson." Do you suppose God is trying to get our attention? What happens when you focus only on the externals? Watch and see.
	Sense and Sensuality: Part 3   Judges 16  (Redick) Samson is trifling with the sacred things in his life. He’s "Playing marbles with diamonds" to borrow a phrase from vocalist Steve Camp from a few years ago. Samson was entrusted with something precious, something special that God doesn’t give to every man. In fact, God didn’t give it to any man except him. Samson could have accomplished so much for God in his life, but where is he? What is he doing with his great strength? He’s playing around with it, dangling it in front of this loose woman like a ball of string in front of a kitten. God’s gifts are not to be used that way.

God's Means of Law and Order Series

God's Means for Law and Order: Part 1  Romans 12:17-13:7  (Redick) Paul speaks in these verses of two levels of responsibility – that of the individual and that of the government. Each has a different role to carry out when responding to evildoers. In fact, I believe the key to understanding this instruction lies in recognizing that difference. Those who do not recognize the difference find their understanding greatly complicated when responding to evil. Covers the issue of using military force.

God's Means for Law and Order: Part 2 Romans 12:17-13:7 and Various texts  (Redick) You probably know that respected Christians line up on both sides of this issue. Some believe as I do and others hold that neither individuals nor governments should ever resist evil – especially where deadly force is involved. They believe that police and military actions are always wrong and the only recourse of the innocent is a direct appeal for God’s intervention. Of course, both positions cannot be right. If pacifism is what the Bible teaches, then what I have shown you is wrong. Likewise, if what I have shown you is right, then pacifism is wrong. Both cannot be true.

What About those NDEs? Series

	What About Those NDEs? Part 1 Various Texts (Redick) What about these and other so-called "Near Death Experiences" that we hear about? Are they real? Do such claims verify or deny Christianity or certain aspects of it? Can we add to our understanding of life after death by studying the claims of those who say they have had such experiences? Do NDEs harmonize with Biblical teaching or deny it?
	What About Those NDEs? Part 2  Various Texts  (Redick) Consider the assertions of many of those (though not all) who are vocal about NDEs being reliable pictures of life after death and encounters with Jesus Christ. The very fact that there is no uniformity in their claims is reason enough in itself to deny that the being they encounter is Jesus! But let’s look a little deeper.

Your Adversary the Devil Series

	No One Believes in Me Anymore 1 Peter 5:8  (Redick) Let’s see… 58% deny the existence of Satan while 81% accept the existence of angels? What is wrong with this picture? Doesn’t the same Bible that tells us of the existence of angels also tell us of a living being called Satan?
	What is Satan and Where Did He Come From? 1 Peter 5:8  (Redick) Although Satan is called by the Bible at one point, "the god of this world," and although he seems to have the audacity to take on God Almighty, he is not deity. It is very important that we understand this.
	Why Does Satan Oppose Us and Why Doesn't God Stop Him? 1 Peter 5:8 (Redick) One of Aesop’s Fables tells the story of a scorpion and a frog. The two meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on his back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too." The frog is satisfied with that answer, so they set out. But in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp, "Why?" The scorpion replies: "It’s just my nature."
	What Satan Can and Cannot Do to Us   1 Peter 5:8 (Redick) Satan cannot himself destroy human souls in the lake of fire. Only God can do that. In fact, Satan will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire himself. What the devil does is persuade as many as he can to enter the wide gate and take the broad road that leads there.
	What Satan Can and Cannot Do to Us (Continued) 1 Peter 5:8 (Redick) It is not a case of Satan moving in to take over a perfectly healthy mind against its owner’s will. There are just too many places that indicate that free will persists, even in the most notorious examples of sin.
	What Satan Can and Cannot Do to Us (Final) 1 Peter 5:8 (Redick) Do you remember the case of Joseph, after he had been mistreated by his brothers and sold as a slave? He had some difficult times, especially at first. And God allowed it to go on. Then 25 years later, things turned around and Joseph’s brothers had to come to Egypt for food during a famine and they found themselves standing before the brother they had sold so many years before. The tables were turned. Joseph didn’t kill them, though he surely could have. Instead he observed this as recorded in Genesis 50:20: "And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."

Visit of the Magi Series

The Visit of the Magi: What Was it All About?  Part 1 of 2  Matthew 2:1-12  (Redick) ... these men from the east had very good reasons to journey to Jerusalem, the capital city of Daniel’s people, to find and worship the One whose birth the highly regarded prophet had predicted so long ago

The Visit of the Magi: What Was it All About? Part 2 of 2  Matthew 2:1-12  (Redick) Didn’t God lead the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of cloud by day and the light of a pillar of fire by night? And didn't that pillar of fire move and then stop at times? Did not the cloud move over the tabernacle upon its completion and settle there until the glory of the Lord filled the place? That a bright light identified as a star would move ahead of the Magi and stop over the place of Jesus birth is not that strange when considered from the perspective of the miracles of the rest of the Bible. It only seems strange to men who are embarrassed to admit to a skeptical world that they believe in a supernatural God who does extraordinary things....

Daniel's Remarkable Seventy Weeks Prophecy Series

	Daniel's Remarkable Seventy Weeks Prophecy: Part 1  Daniel 9:24-27  (Redick) Perhaps the greatest significance of Daniel’s seventy week prophecy is that it adds great credibility to the claim that Jesus is who He said He was – the Christ, the Messiah, the one predicted from that very first prophecy in the garden concerning the One who would crush the head of the Serpent.
	Daniel's Remarkable Seventy Weeks Prophecy: Part 2   Daniel 9:24-27 (Redick) Biblical prophecy is a "solid food" issue. It is a difficult subject that can be a real challenge to a newcomer to Scripture. To understand it, at the very least, you must be willing to apply yourself prayerfully and with all the powers of your intellect.

Simple Life Series

	The Simple Life: Part 1 2 Corinthians 11:3 (Redick) "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."
	The Simple Life: Part 2  2 Corinthians 11:3  (Redick) "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

Passion of Christ Series

The Passion of Christ: Why Did He Have to Die? 1 Peter 3:15; Genesis 1-3  (Redick) "Why crucifixion?" you ask? Because it was the worst that hell could throw at our Lord. The utter brutality, the intense cruelty hinted at in Scripture, is Satan at his worst, inflicting every angle, employing every strategy, enlisting the worst torture he could conceive, unleashing every pain imaginable upon God’s Christ to get him to give in and deny His mission or to sin just one time and nullify His sacrifice.

	The Passion of Christ: Gethsemane Matthew 26:36-46 (Redick) How does a holy being who has known no sin and no guilt – ever, respond to suddenly being held culpable for every sin that has ever happened? I cannot answer that question from experience because I am not sinless as a result of my own efforts. Neither can you answer it for the same reason. Yet while we cannot answer it ourselves, we can comprehend, perhaps the fact that it happened and that it may well have been the worst thing the Son of God suffered during the whole ordeal of His passion.
	The Passion of Christ: The Trials John 18:12-14; Matthew 26:57-68; 27:1-2 (Redick) It does matter whether or not Jesus received a fair trial before He was crucified. If the trial was fair and just, and He was rightly found guilty, then you, I, and every other Christian who trusts Christ for our salvation, are still in our sins. If, however, Jesus was unjustly condemned, then the skeptics’ claims that Jesus was a sinner are unfounded and false, and it is they, not we, who should be concerned about the state of their lives.
	The Passion of Christ: Darkness at Noon Matthew 27:33-54, esp. v. 45 (Redick) Those who tend toward reduction of the Bible’s supernatural explanations rationalize this as a total (or near total) solar eclipse. In fact, it is often pointed out that Luke, in his description, says that the sun was "obscured," and that the word he used in the original language was ekleipo, from which we get our English word "eclipse." But there are a couple of problems with that explanation. First, Jesus was crucified during Passover, an event that always fell on a full moon. A solar eclipse is impossible during a full moon. Second, an eclipse lasts for only a matter of minutes, not three hours as our text says.
	The Passion of Christ: The Grave that Couldn't Hold Him Matthew 27:57-28:10 (Redick) It had been a very dark day for followers of the Lord. By the time Jesus died, only a few disciples remained at the cross. Everyone else had fled. The very last to leave were a few of the women who had followed Him. They were devastated and discouraged. How could God’s purpose continue from this low ebb? What would keep this new way to God – the Kingdom of God – its flame barely burning at this point – from being fully snuffed out?

Voice Crying in the Wilderness Series

	A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 1   Matthew 11:7-11 (Redick) Try to put yourself in Zacharias’ sandals. He was an old man who had no children. He was well beyond the human hope of ever having any. Now an angel appeared and not only told him that he would have a son, but that his son would be great, that he would be a prophet, and that he would in some way or other fulfill the prophecy in which Israel had hoped for 400 years! This son would be the Elijah of the prophecy.
	A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 2    Luke 3:1-17 (Redick) This is more than a history lesson for us living today, friends. True repentance is the same now as it was back then – and it is just as necessary. It is still at the very core of coming to God and receiving His Son. We are told by God to repent and where there is true repentance, there will be fruit. Our lives will change. In time, people will be able to see the difference.
	A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 3   Various Texts (Redick) Sadly, their aspirations went well beyond His appearance. They anticipated that when Messiah came, He would rid them of the rule of Rome. In their minds, Messiah would be a military leader who would conquer, judge and punish their enemies, and bring in an everlasting rule from Israel on earth. With these hopes as a backdrop, you can imagine how John’s message that the kingdom was at hand would rivet their attention to his preaching.
	A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 4 Various Texts (Redick) In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said, speaking of John’s ministry: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force." Jesus compares entrance into the kingdom of heaven to a situation well known in that day - a city under siege. Like such a city where invaders try to force their way into it before it is fully surrendered, people were prematurely seeking to get into the kingdom, even before its official establishment after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Apparently God allowed them premature entrance "before the fact," as John baptized people telling them to believe on Him who was to come after him. Thus they were counted as "saved" before the general offering of salvation.
	A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 5 Various Texts (Redick) As the Carpenter’s Son came to John, the prophet who had baptized both peasant and plutocrat, whose powerful message of repentance and judgment had taken his country by storm, whose name was a household word in all Israel, who could even have had most of his countrymen believing he himself was the Messiah, was suddenly beside himself with humility as he gazed upon Jesus of Nazareth. All the rest that John baptized came confessing their sins. Now, as the prophet, whose eagle eye had seen through the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Saducees when they came, looked upon this One and saw that He had no sin to confess.

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 6 Various Texts  (Redick) From human perspective, John’s ministry ended in tragedy. Up until the time he was arrested he was God’s number one man. He fearlessly and without partiality preached God’s message, enduring the hardships of the desert, confronting both the ordinary and the powerful, and deferring to none but God. Yet now he was in a hot, desolate prison, out of the limelight, away from the wide-open spaces he had grown accustomed to, seemingly to waste away and be forgotten. He hadn’t counted on that.

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - Part 7 Various Texts (Redick) I don’t normally sit around thinking about such hideous things as human beheading, but in my preparations this week the subject came up in the text from the gospel of Mark that we’ll be considering – and I wanted to prepare you for it. You see, the man we have come to know in this series, this one that Jesus declared was the greatest prophet to ever live – John the Baptist - had his earthly life ended and his eternal life begun by a grisly beheading.

How Great was the Great Flood Series

How Great was the Great Flood? Part 1 Various Passages from Genesis (Redick) "When you change the meaning of the Genesis account from a worldwide flood to a local flood, you must also change the meaning of the reported size of the ark – or at least its purpose. When you change the meaning of the reported size of the ark or its purpose, you must also change the meaning of the number and type of animals that boarded it. When you change the meaning of the number and type of animals that boarded it, you must also change the purpose for which the ark was built in the first place. When you change the purpose for which the ark was built in the first place, you must also change the meaning of the words of the God who conceived the flood. And when you change the meaning the words of the God who conceived the flood, you’re swimming in some treacherous water...."

How Great was the Great Flood? Part 2 Selected Verses from Genesis and Other Passages (Redick) Probably the main reason some have introduced the idea of a local flood is in an effort to make the biblical account more palatable to skeptics and unbelievers. It is an effort to "rescue the Bible in the eyes of the world," so to speak. While such an effort may be based on a noble intent, the only thing the Bible needs to be rescued from is those who try to change it.

Squashing the Entitlement Attitude Series

	Squashing the Entitlement Attitude: Part 1 Luke 17:7-10 (Redick) It's all around us, isn't it? From people at work who think they are entitled to a raise when they hardly earn the wage they currently receive to slick politicians who, in the name of taking up the cause of the disadvantaged, convince huge voting blocks of people that the government owes them a living. From slick advertisements that claim, "You deserve it," and "You're worth it," to educational, media, and Hollywood elitists who believe there ideas should be above questioning because they occupy positions of prestige.
	Squashing the Entitlement Attitude: Part 2  Luke 17:7-10 (Redick) There is a more subtle kind of entitlement that shows up among those of us who work very hard for the Lord. It usually has none of the ugly outward characteristics that I spoke of in the last message. In fact, it has an apparent reasonableness about it. When it appears, it typically has the approval of others. When it makes its claim that something is owed to it because it deserves it or has it coming, its claim is reasonable because it has earned the appreciation of others. Its behavior is exemplary and praiseworthy among the brethren.
	Squashing the Entitlement Attitude: Part 3 Luke 17:7-10 (Redick) Recipients of God's grace need to be purveyors of grace themselves and God has every right to expect me to give grace to others even when they don't deserve it because He's the Master and I'm the servant. He has certainly given me grace at times when I don't deserve it.
	Squashing the Entitlement Attitude: Part 4 (Final)  Luke 17:7-10 (Redick) "...perhaps after listening to these messages about squashing the entitlement attitude and reading those words of our text, 'We are unworthy slaves,' you’ve been wondering, 'So, am I just to consider myself a big fat zero? Am I nothing before God? Is that supposed to be my goal, to be a nobody? Does God want to reduce me to zero? Sounds like negative, defeatist thinking to me. How can anything good come from such teaching?'"

Confession Series

Confession: The Christian's Lifeline to God  Confession Series Part 1 of 3  I John 1:5-2:2 (Redick) When we confess our sins to God we are verbalizing that we know what we have done and that we have broken His law and have gone against his wishes. God already knows that. He wants to know that we know.

Three Confessions of Sin and the Stories of the Men Who Made Them  Confession Series Part 2 of 3 1 John 1:9 and Various Texts (Redick) While each of the confessions we highlight today came before the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the meaning of confession is the same throughout the Bible. In each account there is enough to let us know whether or not each man’s confession of sin was acceptable to God.

Two More Confessions of Sin and the Stories of the Men Who Made Them Confession Series Part 3 of 3 1 John 1:9 and Various Texts (Redick) A minister once spoke with a man who was about to divorce his wife and run off with his secretary. He pleaded with the man not to do it. He explained what this action would do to his wife. He told him how badly this act would reflect upon the church and upon God’s institution of marriage. "Aren’t you sorry that your actions will have these bad effects?" the minister asked. He said he was. Then he reminded him of what divorce does to innocent, defenseless children. "Don’t you care that the hurt you inflict upon these little ones who are your own flesh and blood will damage them for life? Can’t you see that you are walking out on little children who are totally dependent upon you as their father?" At that point the man began to cry. The minister thought, "Yes. Finally we’re getting somewhere!" But when it was all said, the man walked out of the preacher's office and into the arms of his secretary lover. He divorced his wife. He was remorseful, but not repentant.

Character of the Committed Series

	The Character of the Committed: Part 1 - The Macedonians who First Gave Themselves to God 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (Redick) Consider all the trouble these Macedonian Christians had from the very beginning of their faith. You would think that if anyone were going to fall away from Christ as the result of the actions of others, it would have been them. A lot of people today fall away under far less difficult circumstances. But these people thrived!
	The Character of the Committed: Part 2 - Moses who Turned His Back on Egypt   Hebrews 11:24-27 (Redick) A committed person can only observe injustice for so long until he has to make a choice. Either he will reach out to right the wrong or he will turn a blind eye. For Moses, standing up for his brethren would mean that he would have to stand against Pharaoh and risk everything his life had been based on for the last 40 years. To ignore the plight of his people and turn away from them would mean their continued suffering and death.
	The Character of the Committed: Part 3 - The Widow of Zarephath - Who Would Ever Have Guessed? Luke 4:25-26;1 Kings 17:8-24 (Redick) Can you imagine how she must have felt as she arrived back home, opened that jar and poured out the last of her oil, reached in that bowl and scooped out the last little bit of flour clinging to the bottom? "What am I doing?" perhaps she thought. "I’m giving the very last of my food to someone I hardly know for a God I can’t even see."
	The Character of the Committed: Part 4 - Uzziah - Who Let the End Erase the Beginning 2 Chronicles 26:1-21 (Redick) "Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong."
	The Character of the Committed: Part 5 - The Widow in the Temple - Who Gave All She Had  Mark 12:38-44 (Redick) Someone has suggested that this widow should have been counseled to give only half of what she owned. After all, she desperately needed what she had and such a small gift as a couple of copper pennies could not possibly have helped in the day to day running of the temple. It was too tiny. Yet one who might counsel that way does not understand the nature of giving or the nature of God. The nature of the widow’s gift is not seen in how many splinters of wood it might buy to warm a sacrifice. The true nature of her gift is seen in the mighty trust in God that she proclaimed that day. It wasn’t a trust based on guilt or fear. It wasn’t done to impress men. It was done because she knew that God would not despise such a gift from a trusting heart.

God's Word the Bible Series

	God's Word the Bible: Part 1 A Most Remarkable Book/Remarkable Facts About the Bible (Redick) I encourage you to commit yourself to being with us for each and every lesson in this series on the Bible. It could make a significant difference in your eternity.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 2 A Most Remarkable Book/Unity of Message and Fulfilled Prophecy (Redick) Twenty-eight years ago this coming August I was ordained to be a full-time evangelist. Since that time I have taught nearly every Sunday of the year from this book – sometimes once, sometimes twice a week – not to mention many more times in private and semi-private Bible studies. That’s a lot of sermons and lessons. In a typical sermon I cite repeatedly the various writers of the Bible as my sources. Yet in all those twenty-eight years I have never had a single sleepless Saturday night fretting because my sources didn’t agree. I’ve never been embarrassed because of inconsistencies. I approach this book every week with confidence, knowing that whether I am reading from Genesis or Galatians, Romans or Revelation, Exodus or Ephesians, my sources – the 40 plus writers of this compilation of 66 books – agree because they were guided by the same Spirit of God.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 3 A Most Remarkable Book/Astronomic Accuracy  (Redick) The Bible does not limit the universe to a box or a domed plain with lamps nailed into a metal ceiling. It does not overstate the size of the earth, nor present the earth as flat. Stars are not referred to as gods. In fact, worshipping the heavenly bodies is soundly forbidden by the Bible. The heavenly bodies are explained to be just another part of the creation of a God far greater than any of them. Astrology, so widely embraced by other major cultures in ancient times, and even played around with among the Jews, is soundly discredited in the Bible. You just don’t find the errors in the Bible that you find in other ancient writings.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 4 A Most Remarkable Book/Medical Accuracy (Redick) When considering ancient religious writings, the Bible alone avoids these bizarre beliefs that plagued other cultures and religions of the world. This is remarkable indeed, considering that Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible where much pertaining to medicine is seen, was educated in Egypt where many of the faulty practices that I have described originated.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 5 A Most Remarkable Book/Earth Science Accuracy  (Redick) Perhaps the most universal view of the earth in ancient times was that it was a living entity. The ancients believed that the earth was alive.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 6 A Most Remarkable Book/Is It Full of Contradictions?  (Redick) The morning newspaper reports that the attendance at the Saturday afternoon university football game was 51,700. The afternoon edition of the same paper reports that the attendance was 53,200. A critic, every ready to find fault with the local paper, would immediately cry out, "Contradiction!" However, it happened in this instance that the evening paper more fully explained the matter. The lower figure represented the box office count of the exact number of tickets sold. The higher figure represented the number who actually came through the gate, which included many persons with free passes from the local Veteran’s Hospital and the local boys and girls club. Thus in the end there was no contradiction at all between the figures, only a different basis from which the figures were derived.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 7 How It Came to Us/Revelation and Inspiration  (Redick) Studying the world around us and the universe cannot tell us why we are different than the other creatures we see. Nature cannot tell us specifics about God or where we fit in the overall design of things. Are we just minor cogs in the great wheel of the universe or are we more - or less? Because looking at the cosmos cannot tell us the things we need to know about ourselves the Creator, God has used... special revelation.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 8 How It Came to Us/Documentation and Circulation  (Redick) That God intended for His Old Testament people to be guided by the written Word of God throughout their history is abundantly clear. That there would be much copying and circulating it over 1400 years of Jewish history is inherent in its long and consistent use. That it was copied and circulated successfully without major corruption is seen in the fact that neither Christ nor the Apostles ever wrote or said a word about it being inaccurate or lacking in any way. Instead they referred to it, quoted from it as authoritative, and appealed to it constantly.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 9 How it Came to Us/Canonicity of the Old Testament  (Redick) There is a great need for a simple explanation of the subject of the canonicity of the Bible.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 10 How it Came to Us/Canonicity of the New Testament (Redick) The canon of the New Testament still emanates from the authority of Jesus.
	God's Word the Bible: Part 11 (Final) How it Came to Us/Replication and Translation (Redick) If what we had were the original documents only, then anyone could raise the accusation that they had been altered by someone and there would be no defense. However, with manuscript copies all over the world, such alternation – or for that matter, any collusion to alter the documents – would be impossible because no one could possibly round up all of the copies and change them.

Those Who Have Never Heard Series

	How Will Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel Be Judged? Part 1 (Redick) Why is it that we - poor, incompetent judges that we are – assume a position where we are passing judgment upon the Judge of the entire world?
	How Will Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel Be Judged? Part 2 (Redick) While this conclusion may bring a howl of protest from those quick to judge their Creator and Judge, I remind you again that we are in no position to judge the entire lives of other human beings, much less judge the Righteous Judge of all.

Strangers Series

	Isn't it Strange - to be Strangers? 1 Peter 1:1-2 (Walker) May the world apart from Jesus not walk away from us shaking their head, but may they be curious, inquisitive, interested, and sensing that there’s something real about this Jesus… To do otherwise - well - it just seems "strange".
	We Can Be Strangers - to Emptiness 1 Peter 1:17-21 (Walker) It’s like your car, you fill it up, the gauge is full, it’s great, but before you are aware, the gauge is on empty again, and we are always looking for a better octane, or the right kind of additive, something that will keep it filled longer. Satisfied longer! Happy longer!
	Ambassadors of Change - In a Very Strange World 1 Peter 2:11-12 (Walker) Learn to say "no," let your light show, and get ready to go. You're an ambassador of Christ!

Now That's Faith Series

	Now That's Faith! Part 1 of 3: Head 'em Up - Move 'em Out! Hebrews 11:8-10 (Walker) Faith is absolute confidence in the character and integrity of God.
	Now That's Faith! Part 2 of 3: When the Impossible Seems Improbable Hebrews 11:11-16 (Walker) "Faith is powerful. Faith sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, touches the intangible, and accomplishes the impossible."
	Now That's Faith! Part 3 of 3: Faith at its Most Intense Hebrews 11:17-19 (Walker) Now, many years later, Abraham’s God calls upon him to take the most intense step of faith Abraham would ever be called upon to make – sacrifice this same beloved son.

God's Nature Series

Twelve Timely Truths About God's Nature - Part 1 Various Texts (Redick) We can learn about God’s existence by looking at the creation but this general revelation is not an effective way to become acquainted with the Creator. The person who says, "I can learn just as much about God by camping out in nature on Sunday as I can by sitting in church building and listening to some preacher talk about the Bible" is really just whistling in the dark. If we are going to know what God is like, we’re going to have to have more to work with than just our observations of the creation.

Twelve Timely Truths About God's Nature - Part 2 Various Texts (Redick) I cannot be here with you at the church building and also sitting at home in my house at the same time. I am limited in time and space. I can only be in one small space at one time. If I want to trade spaces, that is, be someplace other than where I am at this moment, time must pass as I move from one space to the other. God has no such limitation.

You Can Do It Series (Fruit of the Spirit)

	You Can Be a Fruitful Christian - You Can Do It! Series:  Part 1  Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) Paul spoke of the "deeds" of the flesh and the "fruit" of the Spirit. Have you ever wondered why he didn’t refer to the items on the Spirit side as "deeds of the Spirit?"
	You Can Be a Loving Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 2  Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) The unbeliever cannot love this way because he either doesn’t know or doesn’t acknowledge God’s great act of love toward him. He has no starting point. The only thing he has to go on is the way he is treated by other humans, which often isn’t very good. But Christians can love with agape love because God has loved us far more than what He calls us to do to others.
	You Can Be a Joyful Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 3 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) It is important for us to understand what joy is because sometimes people are converted to Christ expecting greater degrees of happiness. They presume (or perhaps are promised by those teaching them) that God will make them happy by removing all of their problems so that they have no pain or suffering in their lives. Sometime later perhaps, they are stricken with the reality that Christians suffer just like everyone else and sometimes even more. Maybe they lose a loved one. Maybe they are incapacitated with a serious illness. Suddenly they feel confused or cheated. They conclude that God has either let them down or does not exist after all. Many fall away at that point due to the failure of their misplaced "faith."
	You Can Be a Peaceful Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 4 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) In a world like ours people could certainly do well with a little more peace, couldn’t they? Turmoil, violence, bloodshed, and war are the lot of so many who walk this earth. Even amid circumstances that much are less intense, the need for peace is very real. Fears abound in the face of life’s uncertainties like financial loss, illness and old age. Perhaps you are feeling such turmoil even as I speak. Perhaps you could use a little peace. If so (and that is not a very big if) we need to get at the meaning of Paul’s words here.
	You Can Be a Patient Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 5 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) Perhaps you know someone who has the personality trait of being "easy going." While an "easy going" person can be a joy to be around, such a one isn’t necessarily patient in the sense that Paul meant in our text. Many "easy going" people are not that way because they are patient. They’re "easy going" because they don’t like confrontation. They don’t like the consequences of rocking the boat so they let things slide in order to avoid provoking people. While this behavior might seem helpful and look on the surface to be patience, push such a person to the limit of his comfort zone and you’ll see that what comes out next is not patience.
	You Can Be a Kind Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 6 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) I heard someone else say once when wrestling with providing a definition for kindness: "While kindness may be hard to define, everyone recognizes it when they see it."
	You Can Be Full of Goodness - You Can Do It! Series: Part 7 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) God alone is able to define what is good. When a culture understands accepts God and His definition of good and lives by it, that culture is unified and reaps great benefit. When a culture forgets God or rejects Him, that culture will no longer know what is good and what is evil. That confusion will cause colossal difficulty and suffering.
	You Can Be a Faithful Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 8 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) Faithful Christians can be trusted and counted on. When they say they will "be there" they make every effort to fulfill their promise. They aren’t easily shaken loose. They are not easily broken under pressure. They don’t pull out when things get tough.
	You Can Be a Gentle Christian - You Can Do It! Series: Part 9 Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) A man named Bob was working in the coal mines of Wyoming. Because he was a Christian and would not push his way around, he was singled out for all the hardest, dirtiest, hottest jobs the crew bosses had. Yet he did these jobs without ever complaining. But one day a conversation was overheard between Bob and his boss. It seems that the boss had made the mistake of "going off" on Bob, using the name of Jesus as a curse word. A sudden fire had filled Bob’s eyes. He straightened up (he was 6’4" and weighted 280), looked down on his boss, and began to peck his dirty fingernail on the guy’s white hardhat. "Listen my little friend," he said. "You can treat me like you want to. I’ll go anyplace in this mine and work for you. But don’t you ever let me hear you use my Lord’s Name like that again!" There was total silence. The blood drained from the boss’s face. And you know, he never swore in Bob’s presence again.
	You Can Control Yourself - You Can Do It! Series: Part 10 (Final) Galatians 5:16-24 (Redick) One who lacks self-control is driven by desires. Such a one is like a ship with the rudder broken off, driven by the wind in whatever direction it blows – today out to sea, tomorrow onto the beach, later onto a shallow, rocky reef that will totally destroy the ship. I know people who are like that. You probably do, too. They’re out of control. Self-control installs a rudder.

Re-igniting Series

Re-igniting the Awe of the Early Church: Part 1 Acts 2:38-47 (Walker) I sense the awe has left - gone on vacation, taken a sabbatical, moved somewhere else. I sense we've attempted to replace the awe by looking for a new program, a new and larger building, or another church that tends to be more exciting, or a more dynamic preacher, with sermons that are more user friendly, where no commitment is called for, where growth in the Lord an option rather than a joy.

Re-igniting the Awe of the Early Church: Part 2 Acts 2:38-47 (Walker) I don't believe we will ever experience the awe of the early church unless we are willing to devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching. We must spend time with it, read it, meditate on it. We must apply a fresh interest to it. We must revere it, respect it, and realize that it is Jesus speaking to us!

False Concepts of God Series

	Recognizing False Concepts of God: Part 1 Acts 17:16-18:1 (Redick) Understanding necessary things about God’s nature was fairly simple in the beginning. Man, in his self-will and rebellion, has complicated it nearly beyond comprehension.
	Recognizing False Concepts of God: Part 2 Acts 17:16-18:1 (Redick) More than once I have heard people who are ignorant of these things say, "All religions believe and practice basically the same things."

Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon Series

	Only Beggars are Blessed  Matthew 5:1-3 (Redick) Part 1 of a series called Learning from the Worlds Most Famous Sermon. Imagine that someone is wearing a clean, freshly pressed white shirt. Suddenly another person comes up behind him and dumps a bucket of raw sewage over his head. His shirt is now filthy! But instead of admitting that it is filthy and getting a change, this man pulls out the part of the shirt that was tucked into his pants and says, "See, part of it is still clean. It’s not really that dirty." Yet pulling out a remaining clean part of the shirt doesn’t remove the stench of the rest of it.
	Joy Comes in the Mourning Matthew 5:4 (Redick) Part 2 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. No one can truly repent unless he is sorry for his sins. This is what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." When we mourn for our own sinfulness – and turn away from it in repentance – God comforts us with salvation.
	Great Strength from Weak Places Matthew 5:5 (Redick) Part 3 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. "Meekness does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all."
	The Only Way to Find Satisfaction Matthew 5:6 (Redick) Part 4 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. There are countless people today whose lives are empty. It’s because they’re hungry for the wrong things. They go from place to place, from experience to experience, from relationship to relationship, from possession to possession, trying to fill up that empty spot within themselves. For awhile they are hopeful, but always, ultimately, they are left empty. The garage fills up with junk. The portfolio gets thicker, perhaps. The calendar fills up as they run from place to place seeking that ultimate satisfaction. But in the end it’s empty. It does not bring lasting satisfaction. It’s easy to fall into such a trap.
	Only the Merciful Receive Mercy Matthew 5:7 (Redick) Part 5 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Our attitude toward mercy is actually setting us up for the outcome of the Day of Judgment! In a very real sense we get to determine what God’s attitude will be toward us.
	Only the Pure in Heart Will See God Matthew 5:8 (Redick) Part 6 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. The words of Jesus in our text say, "Blessed are the pure in heart…." A heart that is pure has no duplicity. There is nothing added to it that would pollute. Our concern therefore, and our motives, must go beyond outward acceptance in the eyes of other human beings. It must go all the way to our hearts. When the heart is pure, the motives are right. When the motives are right, the actions will follow. When they don’t follow, the person who is pure in heart will be willing and wanting to correct the matter as soon as possible.
	God's People are Peacemakers Matthew 5:9 (Redick) Part 7 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Ironically, we have no more peace than what existed in Nobel’s day. If the frequency of war is the indicator, the world’s peacemakers, well-intentioned though they might be, have a terrible record. The peace we hail today begins to collapse tomorrow. We don’t have economic peace, social peace, domestic peace, or world peace. The average person doesn’t even have peace in his or her own life.
	God's People Are Persecuted Matthew 5:10-12 (Redick) Part 8 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. The world hated Jesus because His life and His words exposed their sin and so took away their excuses. If the life and words of Jesus caused them to hate Him and they hate His followers for the same reason, then it means our lives and our words will, if we live right and speak up, have the same effect.
	God's People Influence the World Matthew 5:13-16 (Redick) Part 9 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Far from being out of touch with things around us, as some portray us today as they seek to marginalize our influence and relegate us to some backwater part of the culture, from Jesus’ perspective we are front and center – the very key to His plans. You Christians, if you match the description of these beatitudes, are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Not "a" salt and "a" light but "the" salt and "the" light - the only one. Don’t ever forget that my friends! Your presence here is by God’s design and your mission is divine.
	Jesus and the Old Testament Matthew 5:17-20 (Redick) Part 10 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Jesus did not come to completely destroy the Law of Moses so that it no longer exists. Neither was He opposed to it. Rather, He came to offer the only solution that would ever be available to solve the problem that the law exposed.
	Jesus and the Old Testament (Continued) Matthew 5:17-20 (Redick)   Part 11 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. There was nothing wrong with the morality of the Law of Moses. It was fully sufficient to make a person right with God. It would be a good law to keep today for those who want to live forever with God – except for one thing. Nobody was ever able to keep it completely! All of man’s efforts to keep the Law of Moses failed. Paul put it this way in Romans 3:10: "…Both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one….’"
	If We're Not Under Law, What Constrains Us? Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 6:14 (Redick) Part 12 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. We are not justified by law keeping. No one ever was! Fifteen-hundred years under the Law of Moses taught humankind that such a requirement doesn’t work. Under the New Covenant, we are justified by grace, though faith. Such justification doesn’t do away with the commandments of God, but it changes our relationship to them.
	The Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees Matthew 5:20 (Redick) Part 13 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. If you have read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you have read often of the "scribes and Pharisees." You’ve also probably noted that there isn’t much good written about them in the gospels. Jesus’ sharpest contention during His ministry was with these men. Who were the scribes and Pharisees?

	You Have Heard that It was Said Matthew 5:20-48 (Redick) Part 14 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Many who study the Sermon on the Mount believe that Jesus was contrasting the teaching of the Old Testament here with what He would expect in His teaching under the New Testament. Sometimes it is expressed this way: "Under the Old Covenant, God’s standards were external. You could hate but not murder. You could lust but not commit the act of adultery. As long as you didn’t let things get to the level of the actions, you were OK with God." According to this line of reasoning, Jesus was upgrading the standards of the Law of Moses from actions to matters of the heart. This line of reasoning has Jesus saying, in effect, in verse 27 and 28, "Under Moses the sin was adultery. Under my covenant the sin is the lust that leads to the adultery." While this view is commonly held, I’m convinced that it is incorrect. Let me tell you why.
	When Donald or Rosie or Anyone Else Get's Mad Matthew 5:21-26 (Redick) Part 15 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. That’s when Rosie O’Donnell jumped in, calling Trump a "snake oil salesman" on a popular women’s television program. She also said some derogatory things about his financial condition. Trump fired back that Mss. O’Donnell was "a woman out of control" and that he intended to sue her for making false statements about him. He added in his comments, "Rosie’s a loser - a real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie."
	Strong Warnings from Jesus about Adultery and Lust Matthew 5:27-30 (Redick) Part 16 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Some time ago a man I know confessed to me that he was tempted by a woman he had met at the office where he worked. He really wanted to be faithful to his wife – that’s why he came to me - but he just couldn’t seem to turn off his growing feelings for this woman. It seemed that everywhere he went, she was there. After awhile he realized that he was looking forward to seeing her at work more and more. He would even leave home a half hour early in the hope of "accidentally" running into her – and she would do the same. "What should I do?" he asked me. "I don’t know how to turn off these feelings."
	Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage  Matthew 5:31-32 (Redick) Part 17 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Jesus’ words here are not difficult to understand. Many find problems in them however, when they don’t want to be hindered in their whims and desires. Some have shoved this teaching firmly out of their way. I suppose we should not be surprised that the world around us would do that. The world cares nothing for God’s will. But this teaching has also been ignored or explained away by many today who claim to follow Christ. We need, therefore, to do our best to understand what Jesus taught here and then reassert it into our awareness and practice if it has slipped away.
	Jesus and Promise Keeping Matthew 5:33-37 (Redick) Part 18 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. ...The Jews of Jesus’ day, led by the scribes and Pharisees, had developed a practice that Bible commentator William Barclay refers to as "evasive swearing." They divided oaths into two categories – those that were binding and those that were not. Any oaths or vows that specifically invoked the name of God were binding and could not be broken. But any oaths taken that did not specifically invoke God’s name, even if they sounded religious and impressive and solemn and serious – if they stopped short of actually mentioning God’s name, they believed they could be broken. So, what they had done was develop a series of oaths that sounded like they intended to honor them, but had absolutely no meaning.
	Jesus on Resisting Evil Matthew 5:38-42 (Redick) Part 19 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. Rather than be the mercy givers and peacemakers who are meekly conscious of their own sins toward God and others that Jesus had commended back in the beginning of His sermon in the Beatitudes, they had become the kind of people who would go out of their way to make sure they "got even" in every case. They were hateful, vengeful men who were strangers to grace and mercy. They took these phrases from the Law of Moses, intended to govern in a court of law, as guiding principles for their everyday lives. They became judge, jury, and executioner for every little perceived infraction of their personal "rights."
	Jesus on Loving Our Enemies Matthew 5:43-48 (Redick) Part 20 in a series called Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon. God has always held His people to a high standard when dealing with personal enemies in everyday circumstances. Kind treatment, returning good for evil, refraining from personal vengeance - these are the hallmarks of God’s people.
	Jesus on Pretending Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18 (Redick) With today’s trend toward big religious productions and professional performances in mega-churches, and the tendency for smaller congregations to feel constrained to imitate them - and just the natural tendency in all of us sometimes to act like something we are not, I think it would be very good for us to review some pertinent teaching from Jesus about ostentation. "Ostentation" is a polite way of saying phoniness or pretension. It is the fine art of hypocrisy - pretending to be something you are not.
	Jesus Shows Us How to Pray Matthew 6:5-15 (Redick) While prayer can at times be difficult, the trouble isn’t because it is complicated or that there is something mysterious in it, known only to a privileged few. When Jesus said "And when you pray" in verse 5 He addressed the multitude and thus, assumed that ordinary people would pray. His words here are simple enough that common people can understand them.
	How Non-Worriers Keep from Worrying Matthew 6:19-34 (Redick) "There are ominous signs that the earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on earth."
	Jesus on Judging Matthew 7:1-5 (Redick) There is a very human tendency in all of us to condemn others for what we ourselves have not overcome. Watch out for it! Jeremiah 17:9 warns: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
	Judges, Logs, Dogs, and Swine Matthew 7:6 (Redick) As God’s people we are privileged to handle the holy things of God. We have the precious truths of the word of God which we value highly. We are entrusted with the life-giving gospel message. We have the high privilege of being ambassadors for Christ. These things are our most precious possessions. According to Jesus here we must not squander these precious things on those who consistently show that they have no regard for them and who would even try to destroy us for our effort to share them.
	Jesus on Asking, Seeking, Knocking Matthew 7:7-12 (Redick) This passage then is not the "genie in the bottle," "blank check," "your wish is my command" promise that some believe. It was given in the much tighter context of the need for wisdom in judging and discerning.
	Jesus on Choosing the Narrow Way Matthew 7:13-14 (Redick) The broad way is the easy way. It is attractive, indulgent, and self-serving. It is permissive and accommodating. It is tolerant, inclusive, non-judgmental, and non-offensive. To travel on it is easy. You give up nothing. You can have it your way. There are few if any restrictions or requirements. You can be your own boss, be your own Lord for that matter. All you need to do is believe in Jesus and everything else is taken care of. Sin is tolerated. Doctrine is avoided. The word of God is given lip service but is not studied or obeyed. There is little emphasis on morality, little commitment, and little sacrifice.
	Jesus on False Teachers Matthew 7:15-20 (Redick) In times past I had always pictured a wolf covered up by sheep skin impersonating a sheep when I read this. Perhaps that is the picture in your mind as well. Then it was pointed out to me, rightly I believe, that this probably referred to the shepherds in Jesus’ day that clothed themselves in garments made of wool from the flock. Thus the warning is not about a false prophet impersonating a sheep. It is about a false prophet impersonating a shepherd. Thus, this is a picture of a false shepherd coming in, disguised in the wool clothing of a true shepherd, then once he has open access to the flock, he devours the sheep.
	Jesus on False Professors Matthew 7:21-23 (Redick) The "many" people Jesus refers to here who sound so dedicated to Him have deluded themselves into thinking they are on the right path but their true condition before God is a disaster. Their profession of faith in Christ is empty because they do not live by the demands of His lordship. According to Jesus in verse 21 these people do not "do the will of my Father who is in heaven." Though they profess their allegiance to Christ and engage in religious activity, Jesus says in verse 23, they "practice lawlessness."
	Getting Ready for Life's Greatest Storm Matthew 7:24-27 (Redick) Many people today claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. They listen to His words and build their spiritual houses. Some are building wisely. Some are building foolishly. What makes the difference? It’s the foundation. It is critical that we take the time necessary to dig down and build on the solid rock. If we simply build in the shifty surface sand, we’re in grave danger.

Quick Overview of Marriage Series

	A Quick Overview of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage among Christians - Part 1 Various Passages (Redick) This lesson was done in conjunction with the series on the Sermon on the Mount called "Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon."
	A Quick Overview of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage among Christians - Part 2 Various Passages (Redick) This lesson was done in conjunction with the series on the Sermon on the Mount called "Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon."
	A Quick Overview of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage among Christians - Part 3 Various Passages (Redick) This lesson was done in conjunction with the series on the Sermon on the Mount called "Learning from the World's Most Famous Sermon."

Seven Messages to Seven Churches Series

	Seven Messages to Seven Churches - Part 1: Lord of the Lampstands Revelation 1:1-19 (Redick) Notice, please, that this vision of Jesus, aside from what John had seen years before this when Jesus was transfigured, is very different than the description in the gospels of the humble man who walked about the countryside of Judea and Galilee preaching and healing the sick. This is where many skeptics and unbelievers get into trouble today and will be horrifyingly surprised when He returns. They think of Jesus only in His humanity, taken upon Himself voluntarily, during the "days of his flesh" as the Hebrew writer puts it in Hebrews 5:7. But that condition of human limitation and weakness did not continue. For a time Jesus willingly presented Himself for mistreatment and ridicule by men, but such will never happen again. Those who have avoided His message and think that if perchance any of this gospel account is true, they’ll somehow talk or reason their way out of condemnation like they might do if speaking to another limited human being like themselves are sadly deluded and will be horrifyingly surprised at His true nature. One look at the risen and glorified Christ in His true state put John the Apostle flat on his face! The one who has willingly and knowingly rejected Him will not fare even this well.
	Seven Message to Seven Churches - Part 2: Ephesus - Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To?  Revelation 2:1-7 (Redick) What is perhaps the greatest danger for a mature, battle hardened, solid, stable, doctrinally grounded church? The danger at Ephesus was they had lost their first love. No, I said that wrong. Christ told them through John that they had left their first love. He put the responsibility for losing it on them!
	Seven Messages to Seven Churches - Part 3: Smyrna - Be Faithful Unto Death Revelation 2:8-11 (Redick) ...this city that loved to be "first" became the first to erect a temple to the goddess Roma and the spirit of Rome among all the other idol temples they hosted. Later, once emperor worship was fully underway, and there was competition for the privilege of hosting the first temple to the supposed "godhead" of Emperor Tiberius, in 26 A.D. Smyrna won the contest, beating out even Ephesus. Of course, when emperor worship was finally mandated across the whole span of Rome, and especially practiced and supported by the loyal Smyrnians who prided themselves on being first, the Christians in Smyrna were caught in a dangerous and deadly spot.
	Seven Messages to Seven Churches - Part 4: Pergamum - Friends with the World Revelation 2:12-17 (Redick) Rome conquered the world with the two edged broadsword. It was as feared a weapon as any modern lethal system today. When Jesus said that He was the one who possessed the sharp two edged sword, He reminded them that it was He who had the final authority and the real power over life and death – not Rome – not their governor.
	Seven Messages to Seven Churches - Part 5: Thyatira - The Deadly Effect of Compromise  Revelation 2:18-29 (Redick) It is never right for the church to tolerate false teaching. As difficult as it can be to remove it from our midst, especially in a case where someone has a following, it should nonetheless always be done.
	Seven Messages to Seven Churches - Part 6: Sardis - Alive but Dead Revelation 3:1-6 (Redick) Perhaps I speak to someone at this moment who is apathetic. Once you were on fire for the Lord - right up on the front lines where the real bullets were whizzing. Your faith was new and vibrant. You were diligent about even the details. You confessed your sins. You walked with God. You humbly depended upon Him day after day. You were no stranger to prayer. But now things are different. You can’t seem to get excited about God anymore. Worship is a dull experience. It is a chore to show up so sometimes you just don’t. You’d rather be anywhere but in church on the Lord’s Day.
	Seven Message to Seven Churches - Part 7: Philadelphia - A Little Power and a Big Opportunity Revelation 3:7-13 (Redick) It is a known principle in Scripture that when people who don’t have very much to give yet they give fully of what they do have in sincerity and truth with the right motives, God will take that little and multiply it greatly.
	Seven Message to Seven Churches (final) - Part 8: Laodicea - The Church that Made Jesus Sick Revelation 3:14-22 (Redick) What do you think it would take to make Jesus sick? No, I’m not trying to be irreverent. What I’m referring to has to do with the next and final church in seven churches of Asia that we’re studying. The next church was in such a condition that apparently it made Jesus sick to His stomach and He was about to vomit it out.

First Thessalonians Series

	Introduction to First Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians 1-5 (Redick) This is the first of six lessons taught at our evening service from First Thessalonians. Each person received a copy of each lesson. I didn't talk about everything in each lesson. I simply highlighted the main points and encouraged those in attendance to continue their study with the notes beyond the class.
	First Thessalonians Chapter 1 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 (Redick) Paul didn’t play with the gospel message. He didn’t preach or believe it part time. I doubt his sermons were pale, powerless homilies of a highly refined and polished speaker. He was fully convinced of the gospel’s power and validity and he preached like it.
	First Thessalonians Chapter 2 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20 (Redick) What is flattery? The word means "to praise insincerely, excessively, or untruly." A flattering preacher might praise someone excessively for their positive characteristics and ignore the negative. One of the foremost arts of the false teacher is flattery.
	First Thessalonians Chapter 3 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 (Redick) Paul is saying that this is what life is all about. "Now we really live, of you stand firm in the Lord." He derived great joy knowing that they were remaining faithful. This is what he lived for. What a model for modern teachers and preachers of the gospel!
	First Thessalonians Chapter 4 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18 (Redick) Christians should behave so that their faith will be attractive toward outsiders and not detractive. Of slaves Paul wrote in Titus 2:10 that they should be: "… showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." Idleness and laziness does not adorn the doctrine of God.
	First Thessalonians Chapter 5 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 (Redick) The Christians were not in the inattentive position of the unbelievers. They were enlightened with the truth about these matters. Ours is not to speculate about His return. Ours is to stay ready for it! See Matthew 24:43: "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into."

Second Thessalonians Series

	Introduction to Second Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1-3 (Redick) This is the first of four lessons taught at our evening service from Second Thessalonians. Each person received a copy of each lesson. I didn't talk about everything in each lesson. I simply highlighted the main points and encouraged those in attendance to continue their study with the notes beyond the class.
	Second Thessalonians Chapter 1 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 (Redick) If the Thessalonians’ persecutors received justice they would receive back in kind, i.e., with affliction, what they had dished out. Christians are taught not to take their own vengeance, but this does not mean that justice is ignored. "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
	Second Thessalonians Chapter 2   2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 (Redick) Disturbed by a teaching that had them believing that the Lord Jesus had already returned - or that He would return right away, Paul tells the Thessalonians that something else must come first - the Great Apostasy.
	Second Thessalonians Chapter 3 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 (Redick) Apparently deceived by a teaching that said that Jesus would return shortly, some in Thessalonica had quit working and were freeloading on the good nature of their brethren. Paul sets the matter in order in this chapter.

James Series

	Introduction to James James 1-5 (Redick)
	James Chapter 1 James 1:1-27 (Redick)
	James Chapter 2 James 2:1-26 (Redick)
	James Chapter 3 James 3:1-18 (Redick)
	James Chapter 4 James 4:1-17 (Redick)
	James Chapter 5 James 5:1-20 (Redick)

Acts of the Apostles Series

	Accessing Acts - Acts series Part 1 Book of Acts (Redick) Acts is a bridge, a hub – and it is also a history. Its author is a superb storyteller who was actually present for many of the events about which he wrote. Acts is the only inspired record of the early church that we have. Without it we would know little about the coming of the Holy Spirit. We would have no idea how world missions got started. Our understanding of how the church began would be a blank. We wouldn’t know much about what happened to the apostles after Christ’s ascension. We would have no detailed accounts of how people became Christians. We would have a lot of theory but little practice – plenty of principle but little application.
	Waiting on a Promise - Acts Series Part 2 Acts 1:1-12 (Redick) Though Jesus spent three years with His twelve apostles, there just wasn’t enough time to fully prepare them for their groundbreaking work. They would need help. Even ten days before Pentecost as described in Acts 1 as the remaining eleven of his men stood on the Mount of Olives watching Him ascend back into Heaven, they were still confused. "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" they asked in verse 6. This confusion would continue until the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in Acts 2.
	What to Do When You Have to Wait - Acts Series Part 3 Acts 1:12-26 (Redick) What the apostles did as they waited on Jesus’ promise suggests what we can do when we must wait on God and don’t fully understand what He is doing in our lives.
	A Promise Fulfilled - Act Series Part 4 Acts 2:1-13 (Redick) The recipients of the Holy Spirit on that day were not coached or primed by other humans. This came unexpectedly, directly from God. Suddenly the temple area was filled with the sound of violent wind rushing through. Whether there were other characteristics like wind, we aren’t told. We do know that the sound "filled the whole house where they were sitting."
	Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Acts Series Part 5 Special Study (Redick) If you or someone you know has had an experience that you think I might hold in question, please understand that I cannot judge your experience. For one thing, I was not there. For another, perception based on experience is a very subjective and personal thing. I can only speak what the Bible says to the best of my ability to understand it. I would however, suggest this for your consideration: It is always right to judge our experience with the Bible. It can be perilous to judge the Bible with our experience. God’s word and not our experience should be the final standard of authority when it comes to matters of faith.
	The First Gospel Sermon - Acts Series Part 6 Acts 2:14-41 (Redick) In this very first gospel sermon preached to the Jews on Pentecost, Peter spelled out the terms of salvation. Sinners were to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. You can’t get any clearer than that.
	Profile of the First Church - Acts Series Part 7 Acts 2:41-47 (Redick) Have any of you ever tinkered with restoring an automobile? What is the objective of restoring a car? The idea is to take it back as nearly as possible to what it was in the beginning, correct? Restoring an automobile is different than customizing it. When you customize a car, you’re free to add whatever you want to meet your own personal preferences and desires. If you want chrome headers or a chrome tailpipe, if you want a riser on the hood to accommodate a custom carburetor, if you want to add non-stock tires and wheels – for that matter, if you want to have a stove pipe sticking out of the roof, there is nothing to stop you. You can do whatever you like because you’re customizing. This loose, do-as-you-wish approach is fun, but it isn't acceptable if your aim is to restore the car. Restoration involves very tight limits and exclusive adherence to original design.
	The Second Gospel Sermon - Acts Series Part 8 Acts 3:1-20 (Redick) Does it have to be that the longer one is in the faith, the less he or she is filled with amazement and enthusiasm over the things of God? Does the fire have to go out of our lives? And if it does go out, who is responsible? Is it just a function of familiarity or time spent in church, or is it something else?

	The Prophet Like Moses - Acts Series Part 9 Acts 3:22-23 (Redick) When John the Baptist was asked who he was, he confessed, according to John 1:20, "I am not the Christ." They then asked him in John 1:21, "What then? Are you Elijah?" John responded, "I am not." Then they asked, "Are You the Prophet?" Again John answered, "No." From this questioning it is evident that the people were looking for one called, "The Prophet."
	How to Have Boldness in Opposition - Acts Series Part 10 Acts 4:1-11 (Redick) The things necessary to have boldness when times are tough are typically forged when times are easy. Because of this, sudden threats and opposition to us as Christians often expose what we’ve been doing in times of ease – whether we’ve been faithful and growing or whether we’ve been faithless and lax.
	How to Have Boldness in Opposition - Acts Series Part 11 Acts 4:12-31 (Redick) Opposition has a way of crystallizing boldness. It forces us to put up or shut up - to get on one side of the fence or the other. When conflict comes, we are forced to boil down the things we really stand for to the absolutes. Trivial matters and think-so’s disappear quickly under circumstances of persecution. No one is going to suffer for something he doesn’t really believe.
	When Judgment Comes Quickly - Acts Series Part 12 Acts 4:32-5:16 (Redick) No church is made up of all Barnabases. Sadly, Christianity also has its share of people like Ananias and Sapphira who want to be admired like Barnabas, but are in reality concerned only for themselves.
	Obeying God Rather than Men - Acts Series Part 13 Acts 4:18-5:42 (Redick) There is a difference between a conviction and a preference. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, a preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the same. You can energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also teach this belief to your children, and the Supreme Court may still rule that it is a preference and not a conviction. A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances - such as peer pressure, family pressure, lawsuits, jail, and threat of death. A conviction is a belief that you will not change.
	Meet the Church's First Deacons - Acts Series Part 14 Acts 6:1-7 (Redick) Deacons are trustworthy servants – men who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves to do any of the many tasks (like taking care of widows) that are necessary in the life of the church. Because of their character and their willingness to serve in the cause of Christ, these men had a high standing and were greatly respected in the early church. They should be today as well.

	Stephen's Story - Acts Series Part 15 Acts 6:1-8:3 (Redick) These men couldn’t cope with the power of Stephen’s message any more than they could cope with the words of Jesus during His earthly ministry. So did they acknowledge that they were wrong? No. They resorted to what is so common among those refuse the truth yet today – dishonesty and false accusations. Such people live by the credo, "If you can’t cope with the message, attack the messenger!" Those willing to stand up for what is right need to remember this tactic - and expect it. People who do not love the truth are not above lying and using other equally underhanded tactics if it serves their purpose.
	Train Wrecks and Phony Faith Healers - Acts Series Part 16 Acts 8:1-24 (Redick) In Acts chapter 7 it seemed from human perspective that the train ran off the track. Stephen was taken into custody by the Sanhedrin Council and stoned to death in a scene of mob like violence. That set in motion a chain reaction of persecution that ultimately affected the direction of the entire church. To the Jerusalem Christians, it must have looked like a tragedy. But God used it providentially, as we shall see, to spread the seed of the gospel to the whole world.
	A Killer Comes to Christ (Part A) - Acts Series Part 17 Acts 9:1-9 (Redick) Martyrdom is not extinct. Neither is it new. It has been going on since the days of Stephen, the first man ever to die for the cause of Christ. But what of the killers? What of those who carry out the cruel and senseless executions of those whose only crime is that they love Jesus more than life? Do they get away with their crime against God and man? How does God deal with them? When does God deal with them? Why does He so often wait to avenge the deaths of His people?
	A Killer Comes to Christ (Part B) - Acts Series Part 18 Acts 9:10-22 (Redick) Saul went right out and started preaching Jesus as the Son of God with the same zeal and determination he had when he persecuted the followers of Jesus. That would prove to be a dangerous thing for him, but the Christians ultimately came to trust him.
	A Killer Comes to Christ (Part C) - Acts Series Part 19 Acts 9:19-30 (Redick) Wouldn't you have a hard time trusting someone like Saul? Especially if it had been your loved ones he killed? Even when there is forgiveness for past wrongs, trust is not something that just magically reappears. It takes time and it takes effort on the part of the one who has broken the trust and the one who forgives.
	What is that in your Hand? - Acts Series Part 20 Acts 9:36-43 (Redick) The question came to Dorcas as it did to Moses when he felt he was not the man to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage: "What is that in your hand?" And Moses answered, "A rod." (Exodus 4:2). And that rod became the symbol of delegated divine power. "What is that in your hand?" the Lord asked Dorcas. She said, "A needle," and He took what she had and she stitched for Christ’s sake. All praise then, to the needle that represented benevolence among the needy. The garments that Dorcas cut out represented Christian faith in action. - Herbert Lockyer
	Bringing in the Gentiles - Acts Series Part 21 Acts 10:1-11:18 (Redick) The difficulty of change is a big part of what is behind the Biblical story of Cornelius. This man, you may already know, was the first Gentile convert to Christianity and no, the difficulty of change wasn’t his problem. The problem came when Jewish Christians were faced with accepting the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God. I realize that may sound rather strange to us but it was a huge obstacle to the church of the first century. Understand it has ramifications right down to our day.
	Antioch, Barnabas, and Saul - Acts Series Part 22 Acts 11:19-30 (Redick) So the sprawling city of Antioch, influential in the Roman Empire as well as a citadel of heathenism's debasing influences, was about to experience the life-changing power of the Gospel and would become a center of evangelistic activity by Christians for years to come.
	Two Kingdoms, Two Ways of Living - Acts Series Part 23 Acts 11:27-12:23 (Redick) Are you living today by the ways of the world or by the ways of the kingdom of God? In whom or in what do you trust – in the world or in Christ? We can claim what we want in that regard but it’s the way we live that tells the true story. We can live like the world lives, helping ourselves at the expense of others or we can live like people in the kingdom live, helping others at our own expense. We can depend on ourselves to win the day as the world does or we can learn to depend on God to win the day as do those living in the kingdom. The choice is yours and mine.
	Standing Up for the Truth - Acts Series Part 24 Acts 13:1-12 (Redick) Had Sergius Paulus lived today he might have said, after the manner of some, "Well, I see what you’re saying, Paul, but we’re comfortable here, Elymas and me. I’m happy with his teaching. We’ve got a good thing going. I don’t want to rock the boat with new teaching. I know what you say is true for you, but you’ve got to understand that what is true for you isn’t necessarily true for me and my advisor here, so let’s just agree to disagree, be happy, and go on our way."
	Persisting in the Face of Trouble - Acts Series Part 25 Acts 13:13-52 (Redick) Paul and Barnabas faced some difficult potential as they entered those Pisidian highlands. Had they said something like, "If God gives us a military escort through those mountains and we can be guaranteed safety then we’ll know He wants us to go," they probably never would have gone. Dangers from robbers? Closed door! Actually, before they came back through those mountains on the return trip, Paul would be stoned by an angry mob and left for dead! Closed door!
	The Miracle and the Word - Acts Series Part 26 Acts 14:1-20 (Redick) As great and necessary as the miracles of Jesus and His followers were in the first century though, there were things that miracles could never do. A miracle could never sanctify a hearer. It could never renew the inner man after the image of God. It did not convict the conscience or soften the heart. It could not give wisdom or produce love or bring salvation. Think of all of the people who witnessed the miracles of Christ yet rejected Him. Think of the ten lepers who were cleansed of their disease and then ask how many returned to thank Him and acknowledge who He was. Five thousand ate the loaves and fishes. How few were willing to eat the Bread Which Came Down Out of Heaven?
	Lessons on Grace and Law from the Jerusalem Conference - Acts Series Part 27 Acts 15:1-35 (Redick) In a sense, the law is like a mirror that a dentist sticks into a patient's mouth. With it he can detect any visible cavities. But a mirror can't drill or pull teeth. It can show the decayed area, but it can't fix the problem.
	The Macedonian Call - Then and Now - Acts Series Part 28 Acts 15:36-16:10 (Redick) It has been a key verse in many missionary conferences. “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” There was a desperate need for the gospel in Macedonia just as there is a desperate need for the gospel in many modern day regions, from the jungles of New Guinea to the slums of inner city America. While most of us probably won’t see a vision in the night of a man beckoning us to “come over and help us” it doesn’t take a vision today. Everywhere we look there is the need for the gospel. Indeed, the need has never been greater.
	A Businesswoman Comes to Christ - Acts Series Part 29 Acts 16:11-15 (Redick) Apparently, Lydia didn’t let her business get in the way of her worship. When the Sabbath came she closed her fabric shop and went to prayer. That is especially commendable since the Sabbath wasn’t observed by the Pagan religions that dominated Philippi. Presumably, the rest of the purple fabric dealers in town, her competitors if there were any, would do business on Saturday. Lydia’s business was closed because the Law of Moses dictated that there was to be no work on the Sabbath.
	The Night the Jailhouse Rocked - Acts Series Part 30 Acts 16:16-34 (Redick) Had Paul and Silas been silent for just another minute or two, they could have walked out of that jail and stepped over the body of the only remaining obstacle between themselves and freedom. But they didn’t do it. This man had a soul, too. He needed Jesus in his life just like they did. Just like the other prisoners did. So they stayed. At the risk of being misunderstood again and maybe beaten again, or perhaps incarcerated indefinitely, they stayed. That’s compassion! That’s caring! That’s putting others before self! That’s trusting God! Such compassion has a powerful impact on people. It changed a jailer’s heart. It stopped escaping prisoners in their tracks.
	Champions of Truth - Champions of Falsehood: Part 1 - Acts Series Part 31 Acts 16:16-24 (Redick) These men didn’t care for the condition of this young girl or what their exploitation would ultimately do to her. I’m sure if they were alive today they would argue with us on that. They would probably point out that they took good care of her and gave her a roof over her head and food and clothing.
	Champions of Truth - Champions of Falsehood: Part 2 - Acts Series Part 32  Acts 16:24-40 (Redick) What a great confidence to know that God is with you – that heaven is on our side! What a great weapon to wield against falsehood.  David had it when he fought the giant. Joshua had it when he took Jericho. Nehemiah had it when he built the wall. Moses had it when he marched into Pharaoh’s court. God supports promoters of truth when their hearts are aligned with Him.
	Preaching the Word of the Cross - Acts Series Part 33  Acts17:1-14 (Redick) This idea that the word of the cross seems foolish to the arrogant is easy to see today in the way many churches are changing. They are ashamed of the gospel because they know it offends people. As a result the very first thing to go when a church buys into the marketing philosophy of church growth that is so popular these days is the heart of the gospel message which people find offensive. The reasoning goes this way: You don’t do everything you can to attract “customers” for your message, and then tell them something that will repel them! That’s poor marketing. So the mention of the cross with its humiliation and suffering and pain and death, along with preaching about sin so people will understand why they are separated from God, and why Jesus had to die, is abandoned – or if not abandoned, studiously avoided and shoved into a corner somewhere.
	Preaching the Word of the Cross - Acts Series Part 34 Acts 17:15-34 (Redick) Far from being a text on marketing evangelism that advises us to cut back and become like the world in order to win people to Christ, this passage underscores that the message of the gospel should not be minimized, cut down, altered, or eliminated in any way in order to draw crowds or eliminate its built in offense and appearance of foolishness to arrogant people.
	Encouraging God's Servant - Acts Series Part 35 Acts 18:1-17 (Redick) Paul knew firsthand what it means to be discouraged. Yet with God’s help he did not give in. He would go until his dying day as a dedicated servant of the gospel. Perhaps this illuminates his words in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that we mentioned earlier: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” Paul knew that of which he spoke.
	Rebaptism and the Teaching of John - Acts Series Part 36 Acts 18:18-19:7 (Redick) So Paul baptized these people – even though they had already been baptized. Why would he do that? Because John’s baptism, though effective in its time, that is, in the time when Jesus walked the earth, was now obsolete. John’s was a baptism of repentance that came with instruction that people believe in the one coming after him. It was preparatory – the pre-game show, if you can think of it that way. But Jesus had died for the sins of the world. Full atonement was attained on the cross with Jesus as God’s great offering for sin. Then three days later He had risen mightily from the grave. Before Jesus ascended back into heaven He had said in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit....” A new baptism was now in effect – the baptism commanded by Jesus. All authority now belonged to Him so that baptism could be by His authority – or, as we see here, “in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” This could not happen before Jesus died.
	Evangelizing Ephesus - Acts Series Part 37 Acts 19:8-20 (Redick) As the smoke of those burning books curled up into the Ephesian air, maybe some of it drifted back over the Temple of Artemis and some of the other of Satan’s strongholds in the city. Perhaps, too, some who witnessed it asked that same question that I asked my sister so many years ago. “What is going on? What has gotten hold of you?” What gets hold of people in cases like this is the love of Christ – that “forsaking all others” kind of love that throws out all the rivals and leaves only Christ to be honored.
	This series is currently being written.

Return to Archive