Bethesda Shalom

Luke 19:11-27 We have great need to remember that we no longer belong in this world, we are citizens of another Kingdom.  We live in an age and a generation where living is all about living for me!  My ambitions, my dreams, my desires!  We’re so taken up with self and self’s things.  Yet, when we get our hearts right, we’ll get our priorities right; and when we get our priorities right, the fruit of the Master’s basket will once again be full!! It WILL come at cost and it will also come at a loss.  Are you ready and willing to pay that price? 

1 Kings 13:1-10 As one peruses the pages of the New Testament, there stands on record a clear and visible warning to believers against the dangers of deception.  When asked by His disciples, “...what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world” (Mt. 24:3); before ever our Lord made mention of wars and rumours of wars, before ever He spoke of famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places, He first gave warning against the dangers of deception.  In a day of great spiritual deception, we need more now than ever to be vigilant against the smooth infiltration of imposters into the Body of Christ.  May this sermon serve as a reminder and a warning for us to take heed.

Sermon 4 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 14th April 2024

Sermon 3 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 14th April 2024

Sermon 2 of 4 Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 13th April 2024

Sermon 1 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 13th April 2024

Ephesians 4:31-32 Relationships matter!  How I treat my fellow man has direct bearing upon my personal relationship with God.  The two are not mutually exclusive. It’s not just me, God and forget everyone else.  Yet surprisingly, this is often how many Christians think.  Husbands can verbally abuse their wives and then turn up to the throne of grace like nothing ever happened.  Brethren, it doesn’t work like that, how I treat my wife is directly related to how God treats me.  Have you not read? “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered (1 Pt. 3:7).  My dear people, this is just one example of many.  This sermon is an exhortation to tenderness of heart; “… be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Eph. 4:32). 

1 Kings 17:1-5 Suddenly, without announcement or herald, one of the greatest prophets to ever have been born entered into the national arena like a thunder bolt! No record is supplied us of his birth and as to his departure from this world, he was taken up into heaven while still alive! Like Melchisedec coming before him, he was “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). Here before us in 1 Kings 17:1, the prophet Elijah hastily makes his public debut. There’s no time for airs and graces — bypassing the common man, he heads straight for the spiritual White House of Israel for an appointment with the King!!  Now you know the rules Elijah, don’t upset the king — yet the prophet of God knows no such rule, that is if he wants to live up to his calling!!  When a prophet turned up at the door of the royal palace, he wasn't usually bearing glad tidings of peace! Join us as we walk through a portrait of the life of this man of God.

James 2:14-26 Two farmers got down on their knees to pray.  One lived on the east of the village and the other on the west.  The farmer living in the east of the village longed so much for it to rain — it hadn’t rained for months! The crops were perishing and the livestock was famished.  He prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you are going to send rain on Monday!!” News travelled fast of this farmer’s praying efforts and it reached the ears of the farmer living on the other side of the village.  Ordinarily, he would have been the first to join his fellow farmer in prayer for he longed to see rain also; only on this occasion there was a problem.  Monday he had planned a great celebration, “...by all means let it rain on Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday — any day except for Monday or the planned celebration will be a washout!” Thus he got down on his knees and prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you won’t send rain on Monday!!”  Allow me please if I may, to ask a question; which farmer had his prayer answered?  If I were to ask that question in the vast majority of Christian circles, do you know what answer I would get?  The farmer with the most faith!  Now on the surface, this might well seem to be a good and proper answer, but it’s only half the picture, and if left incomplete, it is an unbiblical answer!  In this sermon, we look at the Biblical nature of true faith.

Psalm 46:1-3 They tell me, that Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage or backbone. “Christianity is for those who need a crutch, but as for me and my house, we’ll stand in our own strength!” There are two things that I want to address in the comments I just made.  On both counts, you find the remarks to be erroneous — flawed on every hand.  In addressing the first point, “Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage nor backbone”.  A precursory glance through the history of the first 300 years of Christianity will serve to amend such talk in an instant. Far from being a religion of comfortability, those early believers were systematically persecuted, first by their countrymen and later by the Romans. Bound by conviction, endued with power from on high; thousands upon thousands of courageous men, women and children embraced martyrdom, counting not their lives dear unto themselves that they might finish their course with joy!!   This sermon is a word of encouragement for those enduring persecution and affliction. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah” (Ps. 46:1-3).

Isaiah 61:11 Imagine a United Kingdom where there was no Spring; a Britain where instead of four seasons, we only had three — Summer, Autumn and Winter!!  How would the landscape of our beautiful country be changed?  Well, I’m no climate expert, but I do know from observation; that in summer, the sun comes out and temperatures are at their hottest; the birds are singing and trees are bearing fruit.  The days are long and the nights are warm!!  Then comes the cooler chill of autumn’s dawn.  Gradually the landscape begins to change and that which was previously thriving beneath the summer’s sun begins to die. The crisp autumn air soon makes way for the bite of winter’s frost and by mid-winter, everything is well and truly dead!  As winter draws to a close having stripped all things bare, what next? Well ordinarily, we’d have spring, but remember, for the moment, we’ve imaginatively axed spring from the seasonal cycle!  From where shall the new life come?  When spring comes and God visits His people with a season of refreshing, death gives way to life and the spiritual landscape once more teams with new life!!  How we desperately need such a visitation from the Lord!  May this final sermon part stir your hearts to seek the face of God for a heaven-sent revival! 

Acts 2:1-4 The word suddenly is an awesome word!!  Forty-one times it appears in the KJV.  It’s a word of wonder, of surprise and amazement! At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Their backs were bloody, beaten black and blue, yet they held a prayer meeting and got so full of the Holy Ghost that they burst forth into songs of praises unto God!!!  “And suddenly (without premeditation, God showed up) there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed”  (Acts 16:26).  As the wonderful events of that midnight hour died down, the best was yet to come - the jailor and his house were saved and baptised!  This sermon is about the suddenness of revival!  Here we are labouring in prayer — Lord, will we ever break through!?  Praying Saints, I want to encourage you, KEEP PRAYING — God will come through!  You say, Brother Paul, how will He come through?  Suddenly when you least expect it, in the midnight hour, the break will come! 

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 My dear people, there is a price to be paid for revival — it’s a painful affair!  Duncan Campbell put it this way; “If you want revival, get right with God. If you are not prepared to bring the "last piece," for God's sake stop talking about revival, your talking and praying is but the laughing-stock of devils. It is about time we got into the grips of reality”.  The Welsh revival of 1904-05 began with a young man seeking the face of God by the name of Evan Roberts.  For over a decade he had prayed in private for God to send a revival to Wales.  At the age of 26, Evan attended a meeting at which a preacher named Seth Joshua prayed these famous words, “Lord, bend us”.  As Roberts heard these words, the Holy Spirit pressed Him sore and said, “That’s what you need”. Upon bended knees, with tears streaming down his face, Evan Roberts cried aloud, “Bend me, bend me!!”.  That same year, God used Evan Roberts as an instrument of revival, as God swept into Wales. You say, Lord, send revival — Brother, don’t ever pray these words unless you’re willing for God to begin with you!!

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 Without question, even on a precursory level, as one picks up the history books and begins to read the accounts of past revival, you will be met with a common pattern again and again. Before the sound of the mighty rushing wind, the prayers of God’s people were heard!  “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1-2).  What were they doing gathered together with one accord in one place?  The same thing they were doing previous to this, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” (Acts 1:14).  The first business of the first Church of Jesus Christ was prayer!!  Quite literally, the Church was birthed in prayer.  When they hit upon hard times, they didn’t gather to deliberate and strategise, they held a prayer meeting and poured out their hearts to God!  Search the history books and show me revival  which was not preceded by prayer, I know of none!  May God be pleased to stir your hearts through this third sermon part to the end that you might seek His face in prayer to see a heaven sent revival in our day.

Acts 2:37-38 Before every divine visitation, God begins to awaken the consciences of His people first to the possibility of revival, and secondly to the need for revival.  How can a thirst for revival begin in the hearts of God’s people unless there is a conviction that such a work of God is even for today? Perhaps the greatest hindrance to God sending revival amongst the so-called remnant Church in this land is the sin of unbelief.  Simply put, we do not believe that such a work of revival is possible today.  Just mention the word “revival” and with a disheartened look of disapproval, you will be pointed to the headline news which daily announces the moral and spiritual decadence of our nation. But look, Biblically and historically, revival has always come out of moral lows.  When God’s people get burdened over the spiritual rot in their own lives and the lives of those around them, then they begin to cry out to God if perhaps He might do something about it!!!  This sermon is part 2 of a 3-part mini-series, looking at revival. 

Acts 2:37-38 My dear Brothers and Sisters, you don’t need me to tell you that we are living in a dry and thirsty land!  A land that once flowed with milk and honey is now a barren wasteland.  Once the Church of Jesus Christ stood as a bastion of faithfulness and a pillar of truth decrying the spiritual bankruptcy of a fallen world.  Once it stood as a blazing lighthouse, warning the wicked of their pending danger, guiding them into the Gospel harbour of saving grace. But now? Now it has made the world its bed-fellow, drinking from the same polluted cisterns, and eating from the same soiled troughs. Rather than it being the “ekklesia” - the salt and light of the earth, the Church of Jesus Christ has joined hands with the world and is marching in sync to the same humdrum tune. Horatius Bonar - that great Scottish light; in a day when giants still roamed the land, summed it up so well when he said; “I looked for the Church and I found it in the world; I looked for the world and I found it in the Church”.  If that could be said 150 years ago, what can be said of this generation?  Let’s just be honest, spiritual indifference plagues the Church!  The Word of God has been side-stepped, the prayer meetings abandoned, the pursuit of holiness replaced with the pursuit of pleasure, and godly discipline has given way to entertainment. Where’s the brokenness?  Where’s the mourning?  Where’s the sorrow over sin?  My dear people, I ask you in earnest, what are we to do?  By what means shall we recover to ourselves this dying corpse? Without hesitation I tell you; there’s only one hope for this backslidden nation and the dying Church that lingers within it. REVIVAL!!  This sermon is part 1 of a 3-part mini-series, looking at revival. 

Luke 15:11-32 Jason Wright brings an expository exposition of a parable that is so well-known to all of us.  May the Lord bless you as you hear the heart of our Heavenly Father!  

Exodus 40:33-38 If I were to ask you to tell me what the single greatest glory was attending the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness, I wonder what answer you would give?  Would it be the miraculous wonders — fresh manna by morning; the rock which was clave in two? Would it be the glory of the gold which adorned the holy furniture in the tent of the congregation? Would it be the precious stones that decorated Aaron’s breastplate or the two that rested upon his shoulders?  I’ve no doubt that each of these glories were wonders to behold, yet the glory that I have in mind exceeds the splendour of each of these as heaven exceeds the glory of the earth!! You say, Brother, tell me, what is in your opinion, the single greatest glory that for 40 years attended the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness?  Without question, it was the pillar of cloud that led them by day and the pillar of fire that led them by night! Brothers and Sisters, the single greatest glory that attended the children of Israel in their wandering journeyings was the very presence of God in their midst, leading them in the way that they should go! Tell me, in this dispensation of grace has anything changed? Doth not He that led His people then, still lead His people now? Ah, the visible column of cloud and fire might no longer be visible but does that mean that He no longer leads His people?  He leads, the question is, will His people obey? 

Philippians 3:12-15 As each of you begins this New Year, I wonder this morning how much of 2023 you’ve allowed to stick?  How much of last year has come across as unwanted baggage into this year?  Do you know that for many a soul, their future has been mapped already for them by events that lie in the past? The child who all their life was told, you’ll amount to nothing finds that those wretched words follow them into adulthood!!  The infant that falls from a tree and breaks a leg, in their later years rediscovers that old injury as it returns to bite with vengeance!!  I’m no skeptic, but the facts on this one speak for themselves!! To a large extent tomorrow’s future is shaped by yesterday's past; this year by the years preceding it, Brethren, if we’re not careful, we can become victims of past failings, prisoners of yesterday’s woes — serving a sentence that we’ve allowed to be imposed upon us when the text of this Holy Book states that Christ came to set us free!  This sermon is a call to leave the past behind and to reach forward to those things that lie before!

Jeremiah 5:31 Many today are happy to live in an echo chamber where the only narrative they ever encounter is the one they want to hear.  You all know what an echo chamber is, don’t you? Have you ever shouted from inside a cave?  What do you hear back?  More of the same!!  That’s an echo chamber, and Brethren, if we’re not careful we can find ourselves living in one!!  This sermon is an earnest call for Christians to walk in truth and reality with God.  As I begin a New Year, the desire of my heart more than ever is that I might deal honestly with the One who deals honestly with me!!  Lord, if my heart’s not right, I want to know!!! If my heart’s motivations are jaded, Lord reprove me!  If I’m veering off track, show me O Lord!!!