The Glad Tidings of God's Faithfulness (Luke 1:5-25)

Audio

The text of this sermon is now Chapter One of my book We Hear the Christmas Angels, available online here. 

What is the Cross?

Reading the background material on John in D. A. Carson's commentary in the Pillar series, I am awestruck by this statement:

" ... the cross was there from the beginning of Jesus' ministry (Jesus is early announced as the Lamb of God, 1:29), and ... the cross is at one and the same time nothing less than God's own plan, the evidence of the people's rejection of their Messiah, the means of returning Jesus to his Father's presence, the heart of God's inscrutable purposes to bring cleansing (Jn. 13) and life to his people, the dawning of the promised eschatological age, God's astonishing plan to bring glory to himself by being glorified in his Messiah." (p94)

"The cross is not merely a revelatory moment ...: it is the death of the shepherd for his sheep, the sacrifice of one man for his nation, the life that is given for the world, the victory of the Lamb of God, the triumph of the obedient Son who in consequence of his obedience bequeaths life, his peace, his joy, his Spirit." (p97)

Yes. That is what the Cross is. 

Brian Davis Preaching on Psalm 115

We were very glad to have our intern, Brian Davis, in the pulpit on November 20. He preached a wonderful message on Psalm 115 dealing with Living for the Glory of God. I was particularly fond of his sweater vest. The audio of his sermon can be found here: http://ibcgso.org/MP3s/Brian%20Davis.mp3

Looking at Christ through the Bread and the Cup

On November 13, we were blessed to have our Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Paul Early, and former Pastor Larry Thompson in worship with us. As we celebrated the Lord's Supper, I had these men join me at the table as we served the elements. It was a joyous time.

The audio file of the message I preached can be found here: http://ibcgso.org/MP3s/Nov%2013%202011%20Lords%20Supper.mp3

Jonah: An Expository Commentary .... Now Available

I am delighted to announce that my book on Jonah has been released today. You can order copies of it here: https://www.createspace.com/3709416. The book consists primarily of my sermons on Jonah which I delivered at Immanuel Baptist Church from May through November, 2011. In the book, they are "expanded" ... well, not really "expanded." Actually, they are in their original form, which gets shortened significantly for the pulpit. The book also contains a background study on Jonah dealing with issues of authorship, date, genre, history, etc.   

It is a humbling thing to put one's ideas into print. After reviewing the "proof" copy, I was embarrassed by all my typographical errors! Efforts have been made to correct them, but there may still be some in the book. If you should discover any, please feel free to contact me and I will make necessary corrections for upcoming printings. That's a nice thing about self-publishing.