Sermon

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Sermon of the week: “The Centrality of the Home” by Voddie Baucham.

Your sermon of the week is The Centrality of the Home by Voddie Baucham. This is a must-hear for all church pastors, youth pastors, parents, expecting parents, kids, teens, and you! But be warned, Voddie steps on toes. You can download this message from Sermon Index by right clicking here, or from Go Therefore by right clicking here.

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Sermon of the week: “Church Discipline” by Jeff Noblit.

We wrap up October’s theme of church discipline with Pastor Jeff Noblit’s sermon aptly entitled Church Discipline. I hope the Wednesday sermons of the week throughout of October have helped you better understand the mandate and purpose of discipline within the Church.

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Sermon of the week: “Protecting Church Purity” by Jeff Purswell.

jeff-purswell.jpg We continue our five-week series on Church discipline with week four’s sermon Protecting Church Purity by Jeff Purswell.

The doctrine of Church discipline is one that most American Christians are unaware even exists and which many others choose to ignore. However, not only is it a reality, it is a biblical mandate for the Church regardless if most pastors in America choose to ignore it (many times for fear it will hurt their church attendance numbers).

Jeff Purswell is pastor of Covenant Life Church.

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Sermon of the week: “How to Conduct Church Discipline” by Chuck Betters.

This week DefCon presents the final installment of Pastor Chuck Betters’ three part series on the lost art of Church discipline.

Chuck Betters’ final sermon on this matter is How to Conduct Church Discipline. I highly recommend this series on this much-neglected doctrine of the Church (you can listen to part one here and part two here).

Chuck Betters is pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware.

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Another special message: “Salt, Light, and Politics” by Phil Johnson.

For the second week in a row DefCon interrupts our regularly scheduled Saturday sermon series Studies in Ephesians to bring you a timely message regarding the role of Christians in politics with a sermon by Phil Johnson entitled Salt, Light, and Politics. If you didn’t catch Phil Johnson’s other sermon on this topic, “Politically Incorrect,” I encourage you to check it out here.

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Sermon of the week: “Why Church Discipline” by Chuck Betters.

October is “Church Discipline Month” on DefCon. All of our featured Wednesday sermons of the week (there are a total of 5 in October) will be on the much neglected subject of Church discipline.

Last week we began with part one of a 3 part series on the lost art of Church discipline by Pastor Church Betters (you can check it out here). This week we continue with Pastor Betters’ series with part two entitled Why Church Discipline?

Chuck Betters is pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware.

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A special message entitled “Politcally Incorrect” by Phil Johnson.

DefCon interrupts our normally scheduled Saturday sermon series Studies in Ephesians to bring you this very important message from Phil Johnson Politically Incorrect: How to Shepherd Your Congregation in an Election. The elections are just a month away and this message should be heard by all Christians.

Phil Johnson hits so many nails on the head in regards to the Christian’s role in the political process that if I didn’t know better I’d think he’d been listening to my conversations over the past year when he prepared this sermon.

This was a message delivered earlier this year to pastors at the 2008 Shepherd’s Conference but every Christian (in leadership or layperson) should hear this message as well.

I’m grateful that Phil Johnson addressed this issue. It’s refreshing to hear someone else saying the same thing I’ve been saying for over a year now. Something that has sadly fallen on so many deaf ears.

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Sermon of the week: “The Mandate of Church Discipline” by Chuck Betters.

October is “Church Discipline Month” on DefCon. All our featured Wednesday sermons of the week (there are 5 in October) will be on the much neglected subject of Church discipline.

We start off with part one of a three part series on the lost art of Church discipline by Pastor Church Betters entitled The Mandate of Church Discipline.

Chuck Betters is pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware.

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Your Sermon of the week: “Romans 3” by Paul Washer.

Your sermon of the week is Romans 3 by Paul Washer. Many of the sermons featured on DefCon are directed toward those already converted (or at least warming a pew). I have been looking for a good sermon for the lost and I think this one may be it.

I think this message provides a clear presentation of the gospel, one that the unconverted outisde the church needs to hear as well as the unconverted inside the church.

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Sermon of the week: “The Soul of Modesty” by C.J. Mahaney.

This message unexpectedly welled up emotions inside of me.

Pastor Mahaney delivers a powerful sermon on modesty in dress and he also reads a few touching and inspiring accounts of those who are battling with this issue, and the stumbling blocks it creates for others.

This is a message that everyone should hear, especially young women. This message will help the women better understand the daily struggles men deal with in their battle against lust and how women (especially in the Chruch) can help or hurt us in that battle simply by how they dress. Gather the family around to listen to Pastor Mahaney’s message The Soul of Modesty.

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Sermon of the week: “Sermon at Barbra Washer’s Funeral Service” by Paul Washer.

This week’s sermon is a message that Paul Washer delivered at his own mother’s funeral service. It is only 19 minutes in duration and is entitled Sermon at Barbra Washer’s Funeral Service.

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Sermon of the week: “The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God” by John Piper.

Your sermon of the week is The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God preached only as John Piper can. You can also watch the video or read the transcript by clicking here.

This sermon is actually part two of his teaching on God’s wrath (part one can be found here).

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Sermon of the week: “The Believer’s Frustration and Discovery” by Brian Borgman.

Your sermon of the week is: The Believer’s Frustration and Discovery by Brian Borgman of Grace Community Church. It is a timely message for those struggling with sin as the Apostle Paul spoke about in Romans 7. Pastor Borgman provides comfort and assurance to the believer who is wrestling with sin, whereas he extends a warning to those who have no compulsion to resist (nor are even cognizant of) their sin, and that it’s perhaps because they’re not born again. Overall, this is a very good message.

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Sermon of the week: “TRANSformed or CONformed?” by Russ Sukhia.

sukhia.jpg Your sermon of the week is TRANSformed or CONformed by Russ Sukhia.

“The first century world into which the gospel of Christ exploded was a world of pagan darkness, a world of idolatry, drunkenness, prostitution, homosexuality, fornication, infanticide, etc. As men and women were turned from darkness to light, they were still living in a pagan society, where friends and family continued in their pagan lifestyles. So the Lord’s ambassadors, filled with the Spirit of a holy God, were compelled to continuously warn believers to avoid contamination from the world system that dominated their culture. We are in need of the same warnings today. Are you being TRANSformed or CONformed?”

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Sermon of the week: “God’s Wrath: Vengeance is Mine, I Will Repay” by John Piper.

piper-pic.jpg Your sermon of the week is a fantastic message by John Piper entitled God’s Wrath: Vengeance is Mine, I Will Repay. This message is a must-hear for Jehovah’s Witnesses and others who deny Hell’s existence. It is also for those who limit the reality of Hell’s punishment, intensity, eternality, severity, etc.

This sermon destroys the “no-such-place-as-Hell” lie being espoused by so many false teachers today.

This sermon will lead you to a better understanding of the holiness, wrath, and fear of God. This message will not sit well with those who believe that God’s love means no wrath, but it will be a refreshing teaching for those who really want to know more of God’s holy and righteous nature, and to understand better God’s judgment, wrath, and the inevitable destination of those who reject Jesus Christ.

You can download the sermon for yourself, watch the video, or read the transcript here. You can also listen to part two of this message found on this post.

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Sermon of the week: “America’s Greatest Need” by Russ Sukhia.

sukhia.jpg Your sermon of the week is America’s Greatest Need by Russ Sukhia.

“As we celebrate our country’s birthday, many Americans, as grateful as we are to live in this land of freedom and opportunity, are aware that in some critical areas, America seems to have lost her way. In fact, Christians can see some striking parallels between modern America and Israel and Judah before they were taken captive centuries ago. Perhaps no passage of Scripture speaks to our nation more directly than Jeremiah 2.
It is a powerful warning of impending judgement, and a call to national repentance.”

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Sermon: “Are signs and wonders for today?” by John Piper.

piper-pic.jpg I interrupt your previously scheduled Saturday sermon series, Studies in Ephesians, to bring you the following thought-provoking and brutally honest sermon by John Piper.

There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt lately regarding all the hoopla going on with Todd Bentley’s circus show in Lakeland, Florida. This has brought up some serious questions about whether or not signs and wonders are for today. Well this message by John Piper (from the early 1990’s but rebroadcast now) is very timely and I recommend it to all those who want a serious look into the matter.

Are Signs and Wonders for Today – Part One (Sermon starts approximately 5 minutes in)

Are Signs and Wonders for Today – Part Two

Now in case anyone’s wondering, I personally don’t ascribe to the complete and utter cessation of all signs and wonders, and I base this solely on the fact that God can use any sign, wonder or healing at His will. He’s God.

I do not, however, believe what we are seeing from Bentley (or any of those other charlatans on TBN) is genuine. Some of the most godly people I’ve ever known don’t speak in tongues, heal the sick, etc. Yet when I was in the charismatic circles back in the 1990’s, every Tom, Dick, and Harry (and every Julie, Sally, and Sue) had some “gift” or were prophesied to one day possess some gift. Even though so many of their lives in no way reflected true, regenerated followers of Jesus Christ and Biblical Christianity, I was still supposed to believe that God was pouring out His anointing on them. Oh what foolishness I embraced. I am so grateful that gone are the days of “activations” and coaching someone to speak in tongues. “Repeat after me . . .”.

And by the way, I’m still waiting for my “healing ministry” that my former (and recently divorced) female pastor (who now heads the church without her husband) prophesied that I would have. It’s only been a decade and a half and she’s still giving out prophetic words like candy and the sheeple still keep eating it up.

But I digress. When a gift happens, it will just happen. It’s not something anyone can conjure up, force, or make happen (as if God’s our puppet and we’re some pagan witch doctor barking out our orders to the Almighty that He must obey).

And when it happens there won’t be big healing revivals or conventions. That’s not the way it was done by the Apostles and that’s not the way God would do it today. To borrow a favorite verse from Charismatics–no, not “touch not my anointed;” their other favorite verse–“God is the same today, yesterday and forever.” If the Apostles didn’t batter people or market themselves as “healing prophets” (and thus draw attention away from the Savior) then those who God chooses today to heal through will also be humble, not market themselves, and not expect God to act upon their every demand.

So in a nut shell, I believe that God can perform any miracle through anyone He chooses, I just have yet to meet someone who has performed a genuine and legitimate sign or wonder. And every time someone claims to be anointed with these gifts, I do the following:

1) Test the spirit.

2) Watch to see who is really getting the glory.

3) Examine their lives.

This is a very effective way to tell a genuine from a counterfeit and to keep from being deceived and led astray.

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Sermon of the week: “How to Witness to the Lost, the Biblical Way” by Paul Washer.

This new message from Paul Washer is–in my opinion–one of his top five sermons (if not in the top three). What he preached to the church youth in his famous “Shocking Sermon” (audio here, video here) regarding false conversion, he now delivers to the preachers, teachers, and pastors who are creating all those false converts. If you only listen to one sermon this week, or month, make it How to Witness to the Lost, the Biblical Way, then pass this on to someone who is making false converts; it is a message that must be heard.