Bethesda Shalom

John 4:28 May the Lord bless you through His servant Jason.  There is something for everyone in this timely sermon.

1 Corinthians 12:31 The Church of Jesus Christ is first and foremost a spiritual body of believers who have had a supernatural encounter with the Living God, and through the new birth have been grafted into Christ’s spiritual body.  Jesus Christ is the spiritual head, and from Him flows down to each member, every spiritual blessing and spiritual gift needed for the sound nourishment and spiritual growth of the entire body.  These spiritual gifts are not mere niceties that make for a cosy addition; instead, they are crucial components required for the spiritual building of Christ’s Church.  In this eleventh teaching part, we examine the proper attitude that is required to excel in these gifts for the blessing of the Body.

Acts 20:33-35 Does God bless His people financially?  ABSOLUTELY!!  But the immediate question that must arise following this answer is What for?  Why does God bless His people financially?  So that we might be a giving people!!  This attitude ought to be at the heart of our giving in the Church. 

Ephesians 5:19-21 So much of what is deemed as corporate worship today is so bereft of any substance!  Could it be that we lack so much zeal and passion in our worship because our theology is so meagre?  In other words, our view of God is so pathetically small?  Why worship God?  BECAUSE HE IS WORTHY!!!  Is that not a good place to start?  May God minister to you through this ninth sermon part in a series looking at the Church.

This sermon was preached at the West Midlands Messianic Testimony Rally 2025.  A look at the godly King Jehoshaphat with lessons applied.  https://www.messianictestimony.com/      

Acts 2:42 If one takes a cursory look through the first few chapters of the Book of Acts, one will see that prayer permeates its pages.  The Church of Jesus Christ was birthed in prayer and sustained in prayer!!  She was at her most radiant when she was found on bended knee.  She was never more clothed in grace than when she talked with her God!!!  That first Church of Pentecost Jerusalem knew something of the power of prayer that the Church today knows nothing of!!  This sermon is a call for the Church of Jesus Christ to return to the place of prayer and supplication. 

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Dr Egerton shares from his heart on the prayer of Jabez.  

Acts 2:42 As well as the Lord’s Supper being a place of tremendous remembrance, it is also a place of immense self-examination.  In this teaching part, we rediscover the importance of the Lord’s Supper and refute in part the false doctrine of transubstantiation. 

Hebrews 10:23-25 So many of the New Testament exhortations calling the child of God to humility and love, forbearance and kindness, forgiveness and patience can only be carried out if one is found in fellowship as part of a local assembly. God has designed the Church and placed you as a member to perfect you in sanctification. As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron, and friction, when brought to the cross, begets holiness! 

Acts 2:42 The mindset of so many when coming to the house of God is WHAT AM I GOING TO GET OUT OF IT, when instead the mindset ought to be, WHAT ARE OTHERS GOING TO GET OUT OF ME!!  That’s a different proposition altogether, and these sentiments lie at the root of true Christian fellowship!!  The Greek word for “fellowship” is the Word KOINONIA.  Being translated, it means a common sharing together/communion.  Koinonia is not one-way traffic; it involves mutual participation between two or more parties.  One can think of Koinonia as a bring and share!!  I’ll bring the sandwiches and you bring the salad, I’ll bring the rice and you bring the meat; I’ll bring the drinks and you bring the cups!!  When we gather as the Body of Christ, it ought to resemble a picnic, and I don’t just mean food.  I mean a sharing of one's life!!  Let us then see what Koinonia looked like in the first Church. 

Acts 2:42 Mention the word doctrine today in the vast majority of congregations up and down the length of this nation, and you will be met with suspicion on the one hand and scorn on the other. From my observations, the appetite of so many within the professing Church towards doctrine is like that of children towards sprouts!  Mom and Dad know that they’re good for their little darlings, but their little darlings have no stomach for them!  Give us baked beans, fries, tomato ketchup and pizza, anything so long as it is not green!!  The Apostle Paul warned some 2000 years ago that this would become the heart’s attitude of God’s people towards sound doctrine. In this fourth sermon part, we examine the place of doctrine in the Church. 

Ephesians 4:1-6 Having laid the foundation for the unity of the Church in the previous sermon, we focus in this sermon on the functional unity of the Body.  Why so much division in the Body of Christ?  Why so much discord?  At the heart of the problem lies the root sin of pride.     

Part 10 In concluding this series on the Seventh-day Adventist Church, examination is given to some of the common heresies shared among the sister cults that emerged from the broader Adventist movement in the mid-nineteenth century, arising from the failed predictions of William Miller, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christadelphians.  In this teaching, these common doctrinal heresies shall be explored and briefly refuted.   To wrap up this series, consideration shall be given to the different positions within Adventism, namely the traditionalists vs. the progressives.  Which side of the fence does the Adventist Church fall on today, and in the final analysis, is Seventh-day Adventism a cult? Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/10_Common_Cult_Heresies.pdf  

John 10:16 In this second part of the series, we explore the riches of the mystery of the Church of Jesus Christ.  That Gentiles should come to the knowledge of the Saviour was foretold by the Prophets of old.  But how it would be possible for Jew and Gentile to be united in one body in Messiah was a mystery hidden from ages past, but has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.  Come with us as we explore this fascinating mystery!

Part 9 It has been well said that the only distinctive doctrine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment.  This doctrine lies at the heart of Adventism and is woven into the fabric of how the Adventist Church views atonement.  In short, the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment teaches that in 1844, Jesus Christ began a work of judgment, examining the records of all professing believers to determine their worthiness to obtain heaven.  When one asks what is the standard by which they shall be judged, the answer is returned, the law of God!  According to Ellen G. White:  “All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life.”   The

Hebrews 10:24-25 We are living at a time in history where anything that is of long-standing tradition is being called into question.  Renewed calls go forth on every hand, calling for change.  Out with the old and in with the new is the resounding cry of this post-modernist generation.  Whether it’s marriage, the family home, politics or education, that which once served our forefathers for eons is being re-examined in light of new-fangled philosophies offered by the so-called experts of our day.  Sadly, as one looks to the Church, it follows suit, having an insatiable itch for that which is new.  In an age where Church attendance in the West is in decline, and atheism, secularism, and New Age spirituality are on the rise, we are told that unless the Church becomes relevant to this youth-driven generation, then it will disappear from society and die from old age.   In this first part of a series examining the Church (Ekklesia), we seek to answer the question, “What” or “Who” is the Church of Jesus Christ?    

Part 8 When asking a well-versed Christian, “Is there anything forbidden for a Christian to eat?” they will immediately answer with a resounding “no,” then follow up with a few qualifying comments, turning to key passages in the New Testament, such as Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 and 10.  When the same question is asked to a Seventh-day Adventist, they will respond with a resounding “yes” before turning to key passages in the Old Testament, such as Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.  Who is right?  Both appeal to the Bible, yet only one can do so using the Bible as the sole authority for determining the truth.  Adventists are in a very precarious position since whether they admit it or not, in one hand they hold the Old Testament and in the other, the writings of Ellen G. White.  When asked what their source of authority is for determining all matters of faith and doctrine, they will respond by saying the Bible and God’s infallible interpreter, the Spirit of Prophecy.   The purpose of this teaching is to exami

Hebrews 12:1-2   Have you ever heard of an athlete on the field with a sack of potatoes bound to his back?  Why would an athlete be so foolish to do a thing like that?  It’s unheard of, and yet, as I look around the stadium of Christendom, some believers are doing this very thing, and they wonder why they’re out of spiritual breath a few laps into the race!  Brothers and Sisters, could it be that they’re carrying too much weight?  This sermon is an exhortation to lay aside every weight and to run the race set before us!!

John 2:1-11 Some say that being a Christian is complicated.  However, it is we who complicate matters.  Mary the mother of Jesus summed up the secret of following the Lord when in her last recorded words she said, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it" (Jn. 2:5)  

Part 7 As one combs the pages of the New Testament Epistles, one will find that nine of the ten commandments written on tablets of stone are also explicitly prohibited by the New Testament writers except for one, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8).   Ironically, the only commandment of the ten, not brought across into the new, is the commandment which Seventh-day Adventists major on the most. To understand why the Seventh-day Adventist Church places such emphasis on the seventh day, one has to first understand the emphasis placed upon this day by its prophet, Ellen G. White.  In this teaching, we shall take an in-depth look at what Mrs White and the Adventist Church teach regarding the continuing biding nature of the Sabbath and ask ourselves whether it is the same as what the Bible teaches. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/7_Should_Christians__Keep_the_Sabbath.pdf