Strength for the Task

Posted on June 10, 2007 by Wayne
"Strength for the Task" [ 36:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1468)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, June 10, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 1:11-19.

How do you wrap your arms around the kind of task that God gave to Jeremiah? “How do you eat that elephant, anyway?” The problem is in the doing. God has spoken clearly Jeremiah’s task, now in the passage before us, He gives Jeremiah a little nudge, a push.

When called to a monumental task God graciously preserves and enables His servant.

  1. vs. 11, 12: God reminds Jeremiah of the certainty of His promise.
  2. vs. 13-16: God warns Jeremiah of the fierceness of His judgement.
  3. vs. 17-19: God assures Jeremiah of the abundance of His provision.
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Sowers, Seed and Soils

Posted on June 10, 2007 by Wayne
"Sowers, Seed and Soils" [ 39:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1288)

This message by pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, June 10, 2007, and was taken from Mark 4:1-20.

Jesus tells the parable of the sower. The focus of the text: Why does the same message have different results with different people?

Intro:

  1. vs. 11, 12: And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus. Is Jesus saying in this section that He is purposefully keeping people from understanding truth. No, for those who do not care for the things of God hear but do not hear to the point of action, because they are not interested.
  2. The focus of the passage is not the content of the gospel, but the hearts of men.

Four Kinds of Hearts:

  1. v. 15: Mere exposure to the gospel is insufficient for salvation. (Ezekiel 33:30-32)
  2. vs. 16, 17: Enthusiasm over the gospel is no insurance of eternal life.
  3. vs. 18, 19: A passing interest profits noting.
  4. v. 20: A heart that is genuinely receptive to the gospel will produce good and abundant and abiding fruit.

Conclusion:
This requires of us careful examination: Which of these soils represents your heart?
If you are in the first three categories, flee to Christ. If you are in that last category, are you producing fruit?

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A Return

Posted on June 7, 2007 by Wayne

Well, I have not really been gone, but you know what I mean. I have been posting by way of the sermon podcasts that I have been putting up on the internet, but I have not been actually posting anything else. No views of what is going on in SBC news, no insights into faith or life in general, nothing. Hopefully, with this post, that is changing. I am sure I am not going to burn up the internet with my august wisdom – I never did – but I plan to put my oar in from time to time, just because I can.

Well, my wife and I are set to go to San Antonio next week. This will be our second convention. It may be our last. I plan to comment on that in the next few days leading up to our departure. There was a lot that disturbed me last year. I didn’t find what I expected. I saw a fight that I thought was worth fighting, but on reflection I am not so sure. It is not that I have come to see the positions of those anti-reformers of the Conservative Resurgence, because I haven’t. I have come to believe that, one, the problem runs deeper than one side is right and one side is wrong, and two, reform begins at home.

This second issue is the reason why I have been silent, so to speak, on the internet lately. I have been busy helping to take care of the issues that I see in my own home church. That is where I hope to concentrate the few future comments that I do make online.

That’s all for now. Now you can wonder for a while what bee is in my bonnet.

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He Still Guides

Posted on June 7, 2007 by Wayne
"He Still Guides" [ 40:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1276)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, June 6, 2007, and was taken from Numbers 9:15-23.

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God’s Good and Gracious Provision

Posted on June 4, 2007 by Wayne
"God's Good and Gracious Provision [ 36:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1406)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, June 3, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 1:1-10.

Intro: We are living in a pivotal, a monumental moment in history. Whether it be the end of all things or something on the scale of the Protestant Reformation, we are on the verge of great change. We are living easier, but are we living better? Who will lead us out of this age of moral relevance? God is still in the business of providing leaders to guide people out of darkness.

In the call of Jeremiah to the ministry we learn three facts:

  1. vs. 4,5: God sovereignly calls individuals to assigned tasks.
  2. vs. 7-9: God graciously equips those whom He calls.
  3. God in his own wisdom determines the length of service, and the message to be proclaimed. Jeremiah served 40 years

What does this mean to us in the context of the local church?

  1. God calls his people to work in the church with assigned tasks.
  2. God equips us to do what he has called us to do.
  3. God determines when we are through.

It is our responsibility to be faithful to what He has called us to do.

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What Will You Do With Jesus?

Posted on June 3, 2007 by Wayne
"What Will You Do With Jesus?" [ 39:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1245)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, June 3, 2007, and was taken from Mark 3:20-35.

Introduction: When the kingdom of God comes, the kingdom of men have to give way. There is no neutral position. What will you do with Jesus?

This passage describes three encounters with Jesus and three responses:

  1. vs. 20 and 21: A response of a warm regard and tempered respect, but nothing more.
  2. vs. 22-31: A response of dismissal.
  3. vs. 32-34: A response of loving obedience and passionate devotion as Lord.

Conclusion: What will you do with Jesus?

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A Designer Religion

Posted on May 29, 2007 by Wayne
"A Designer Religion" [ 35:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1297)

This message by guest preacher, Rev. Bowden McElroy, was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 27, 2007, and was taken from Judges, chapters 17 and 18.

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What is the Church?

Posted on May 24, 2007 by Wayne
"What is the Church?" [ 34:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1357)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, May 23, 2007, and was taken from Acts 2:41-47.

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Maintaining Faith in the Face of Faithlessness: A Study of Jude

Posted on May 21, 2007 by Wayne
"Maintaining Faith in the Face of Faithlessness: A Study of Jude" [ 39:46 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1323)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 20, 2007, and was taken from the book of Jude.

Introduction: Pastor Rod comments on the comments he read on the internet on the passing of Jerry Fallwell. This is the world we live in. This is the culture that surrounds us. This is the dead, dark world that we are to be salt and light in. The world is changing. It is an increasingly faithless world. What does the book of Jude have to teach us?

  1. vs. 1,2: We must faithfully, regularly remember our glorious salvation.
    1. We are called: “those who are called”
    2. God loves us: “beloved in God”
    3. Christ keeps us: “kept by for Jesus Christ”
  2. v. 3: We must fervently fulfill our sacred obligation: “contend for the faith”, or stand for the truth of the gospel. This is one thing worth fighting for. This is one thing we can contend for without being contentious. Why must we contend? see v. 4
  3. vs. 17-23: We must perform our solemn duty. Together we are commanded to build up one another.
  4. vs. 24, 25: We must tenaciously cling to our future hope. Jude, in this doxology, finishes where he began in verse 1. “kept for Jesus . . . Now to him who is able to keep you”.
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Principles of Gospel Ministry

Posted on May 20, 2007 by Wayne
"Principles of Gospel Ministry" [ 34:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1361)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 20, 2007.

What do we do when the path seems overwhelming? Every child of God is called to ministry. Therefore we must look to Jesus for instruction on how to faithfully deliver authentic gospel ministry.

Two principles of authentic gospel ministry.

  1. An authentic gospel ministry refuses to be pressured by the crowd, neither do past successes sidetrack the primary mission (vs. 7-12). Jesus healed many, but there were many He did not heal. Jesus’ primary mission was to save the lost. The church must meet the physical needs of those who are hurting, but we must never neglect the main task of preaching the gospel of grace found only in Jesus Christ alone.
  2. How do we respond to this pressure? An authentic gospel ministry also recognizes the need for rest (v. 13), renewal (vs. 14,15) , and reinforcements (Luke 6:12,13).
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