An exposition of Mark 9:14-29. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday Morning, June 1, 2008.
Public prayer can be daunting. So very often we perform rather than pray. In today’s message we look at the story of a man whose desperate appeal to Jesus wasn’t much, but it got the job done. Herein lies a message of encouragement and hope. When we aren’t as strong as we ought to be, we are in a great position to be heard of God. The strength of our prayer is not in ourselves but in the one who responds to prayer.
- In verses 14-22 we see that life-changing prayer is born out of disparate need.
- In verse 24 we see that a life-changing prayer tenaciously clings to the person and power of Christ, when all else around says there is no hope.
- Life-changing prayer produces overwhelming results. For the full impact of this truth look at Luke’s account of this miracle in Luke 9:42-43.
What is the end result? “And all were astonished at the majesty of God.”
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An exposition of Ephesians 4:17-32. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, May 28, 2008.
There is a genuine transformation when someone becomes a Christian. So what should a transformed life look like?
- A life characterized by truthfulness.
- A life under control.
- A life of honesty and integrity.
- A life of purity.
- A life of compassion.
We are to be radically different from the world around us.
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Let’s see. Where do I start?
- SBC blogs are just like the soaps: No matter how long you stay away, when you pick it back up, nothing really has changed. There may be a few different names, but the same old story line is still there, chugging away, right where you left it.
- When I read the posts of most fundamentalists, these lines about chickens always come to mind:
And intellectually, they’re plumb light headed.
They’re not confused by the facts.
That’s why there’s no seeing-eye chickens, guard chickens,
Or trained chicken acts (or cogent thoughts).
- I’m also reminded of the old Arab saying “death by a thousand cuts” when I see a sane Christian trying to set above fundamentalists straight in the comments.
So I’m not even going to go there. The only criticism I have is: Dr. Finn, you never should have revised your post. You didn’t say anything offensive. I know you are not Jesus, but look what he said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. At the very least you should have left your “simplistic” history intact. And don’t forget about sufficiency; it is important.
Now, I’m going to watch a movie with my wife.
An exposition of Obadiah 1-21. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 25, 2008.
It is dangerous to assume that God owes us something simply because of some perceived “Christian” heritage. Are we really a “city set on a hill?” Our devotion should be to God and God alone. We should be longing for another city, the city of our King. But while we remain here on earth we should seek the peace of this land. How do we go about this and remain primarily devoted to God?
- Our nation, both its people and our leaders, must understand that God rightly pronounces judgment on proud arrogant people.
- We must find our comfort in the fact that God promises grace and peace toward his imperfect and often wavering people.
- We must make sure that we understand that God rules over all the peoples of the world.
The people of God need to rise up and speak God’s truth to the nation, and plead to God for his mercy over our nation.
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Well, in a fallen world these things will happen: yesterdays message (titled above) by our beloved Pastor Harris failed to record. I am not presently able to make Wednesday-evening meetings due to my work schedule, so one of my minions does the recording for me. We are not sure at present what happened, but figure that the proper connections were not in place. This is highly probable as several other ministries use the same sound system in fellowship hall where we have Wednesday services. Maybe I can persuade Pastor Rod to make the message the topic of next week’s pastoral letter. In the mean time, here is the passage that Pastor preached on:
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:7-16, ESV
An exposition of Jeremiah 23:1-8. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 18, 2008.
God’s judgment is not separated from his concern for his people. In times of severe trial the weary find hope in God’s zealous, passionate concern for his own.
- Our sovereign God zealously guards the well-being of his people (vs. 1-2).
- Our loving God promises to care for his scattered, wounded sheep (vs. 3-4).
- Our gracious God promises a just and righteous king to shepherd his people in peace and safety (vs. 5-8).
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An exposition of Psalm 37:1-20. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 18, 2008.
Pastor Rod appropriately leads this message off with “Doctrine is a wonderful thing, but sometimes it really makes me mad.” There is indeed a struggle inside of each of us to see and understand the bigger picture. These words are simply a reminder of some things you already know but sometimes forget in trying times. Peace in the midst of trying times demands a clear vision and a trusting heart.
1. Believers must take their eyes off their sorrows in order to look up and look ahead. This is accomplished by:
a. putting things in perspective.
b. looking up.
1. Trust in the Lord (v.3).
2. Delight in the Lord (v. 4).
3. Commit yourself to the Lord (v. 5).
4. Wait patiently on the Lord (v. 7).
5. Refrain from anger (against God) (v. 8).
c. looking ahead to the future.
2. Believers must rest their hope in God’s sovereign control.
Conclusion: Peace in the storm is the result of a clear vision and a trusting heart.
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An exposition of Ephesians 4:1-6. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, May 14, 2008.
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An exposition of Jeremiah 21-22. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 11, 2008.
It is a dangerous, dangerous assumption, to presume upon the grace of God.
1. Understand from chapter 21, verses 1-10 that a life of stubborn independence and indifference toward God has no claim on God’s grace.
2. A life lived in pursuit of possessions and power to the neglect of spiritual insight insure a devastating end. We see this in the life of the kings in chapter 22, verses 11-30.
God announces his devastating judgment in chapter 22, verse 30.
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A Mother’s-Day message from Proverbs 1:7-9. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 11, 2008.
Principles related to family:
- God created and ordained the family (Ephesians 5:31-33).
- God intends for the family to shape the children’s world view (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).
- God expects children to joyfully to submit to their parents’ instruction.
- God promises blessing in response to obedience. 29:25
Rejoice and give thanks if you have had a godly mother. If you are a parent, take seriously your obligation to honor God by raising your children to know God.
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