Bethesda Shalom

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 4) When we speak of an epistle, we mean by this a letter.  The English word for epistle comes from the Greek word “epistolē” which means a written message.  There are 21 such Epistles found within the Bible which comprise a third of the whole New Testament.  The New Testament Epistles are vital to the Believer in Christ because they contain the doctrines which he/she is to live by!  In this teaching, we examine some of the key principles for interpreting the New Testament Epistles. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/3._Interpreting_the_Epistles.pdf

Matthew 13:44 The Parables of the Kingdom are among some of the finest parables given by our Lord in all that He spoke.  The Jewish people of His day looked for a kingdom that was coming in power and a king ruling on a physical throne in a physical location.  The King had indeed come into their midst bringing with Him a kingdom of power, yet this kingdom was one that was to be established in the hearts of men!  This sermon takes a look at these kingdom parables and in particular, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure.  May the Lord stir our hearts and may we meet Him again with passion and zeal, reviving our first-love love for Jesus our King!!  

John 14:1-3 Pastor Jason Wright delivers a very timely word, straight from the Bible, relating to the need in this perilous hour for every believer to have an upper room in their life.  A time where we can draw away from the many voices to hear from God. May you be encouraged by this much-needed message.

Matthew 25:1-13 In this sermon, we examine the Parable of the Ten Virgins and in so doing find that there are those who are going to be ready when the Lord returns to collect His bride, and those who are not going to be ready!  Getting ready for the Second Coming of the Lord is not something that we can prepare for when He comes, we must be prepared for when He comes. May the Lord speak to each one of us on this matter of preparedness.

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 3) In deciding to translate the Bible from one language to another, two questions must lie at the heart of the translation process.  #1, Accuracy and #2, Readability.  On one hand, one wants a translation that is as accurate and as close to the original languages as possible while at the same time being readable.  You may be thinking, why are we discussing Bible translations in a study looking at how to better interpret the Bible?  Isn’t the Bible just the Bible?  It is, but as will be demonstrated, one can make use of a range of different translations of the Bible in order to make better sense of the Bible.  In this third teaching part, we explore the various translations available to the student of God’s word and the pros and cons of each.  Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/2b_Basic_Tools_for_Bible_Interpretation_Pt2.pdf

Matthew 6:25-34 Some things I find in life are easier said than done.  As human beings, we’re generally better at giving advice than we are at taking it!  How many times have we heard the saying (and no doubt probably said it ourselves), “What’s the point in worrying? It won’t change anything...”, and yet we continue right on worrying!  What is worry but a manifestation of fear on account of uncertainty? In this sermon, we dig into the Scriptures and allow the Word of God to generate faith by looking at the great providential hand of God towards His children.  What have we to fear, if God be for us?  Let us cast our cares upon Him and bring our burdens to the Lord in prayer, finding in place of worry, a place of sweet relief. 

Matthew 14:23 Could it be that corporate prayer is so lacking in the Church today because God’s people have not first been found in private prayer?  It is my conviction and that also of the Scriptures; God’s people ought to have an appetite for prayer.  I say appetite because it’s not a laborious thing.  Is it laborious to eat?  If you’ve no taste buds...ye.!  But God has given us a wonderful pallet so that we can enjoy the many tastes and flavours, so that even though we must eat, we want to eat, and the whole experience is a most enjoyable one!!  Tell me, have you an appetite for prayer?  There is much instruction in the New Testament concerning praying for others; if we care enough for others, we’ll pray enough for others.  Yet private prayer is much more than a list of names and needs.  Prayer is personal and as such, when you and I go into our closets and shut the door, the most intimate exchange ought to take place in fellowship with God as we bear the secrets of our hearts to our heavenly Father, aided

1 Kings 21:1-16 Where the fear of God is absent from among the people of God, there you will find a breeding ground for every wicked sin.  It may begin as a soggy marsh, but it will end in a sewer of running evil!!  “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD (to the false prophets who bolstered Israel in their sins), and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” (Jer. 23:23-24). This sermon is an exhortation for the Body Christ to return again to a healthy fear of God, not least in our treatment of others.  The God who sees, will not hold those guiltless who destroy His people with their evil deeds—He shall exact their mangled bodies at their hands.  May God have mercy in bringing a people to repentance.    

Genesis 15:1-6 As one dear brother said to me not so long ago, “You can’t have faith on the other side of the fence”, you can only have it on this side of the promise!  Once the promise has materialised into its physical reality, faith has done its work and there’s no longer need for it!  It seems that as we go on in this Christian walk, God takes us up to every increasing cliff heights, and as we stand at the precipice looking down at the sheer drop beneath us, we hear the voice of God saying jump, with the full assurance of faith that as we do, He will bear us up with eagles wings and perform that which He said He would!  In this sermon, we follow the journey of faith in the life of Abraham and take great encouragement for our souls.  What God did for him; he can do for us! 

James 1:1-4 To the natural mind suffering and tribulation are concepts that run counter opposite to joy.  How possibly can discomfort, pain, and suffering exist in the same sentence as rejoice?  Yet, in a number of places in the New Testament, the child of God is exhorted to rejoice in the midst of their suffering!  How is this possible?  Why is this exhortation given? In this sermon, we seek to provide a biblical answer to the above questions and look intently at the role of tribulation in the proving and perfecting of Christian faith.  

Ephesians 4:31-32 So many in the earth begin life as bubbling happy youngsters, not a care in the world, unaware of the big bad world that they’re about to enter!  Yet, by the time they’ve reached their 30’s and 40’s, that youthful optimism has pretty much been blown out of the water and aged cynicism has begun to set in.  Naivety has given way to suspicion and by the time they reach their later years, full-blown pessimism has pretty much taken over every thought. As a Christian, I don’t ever want to become a cynic let alone a pessimist!  Yet, as the years pass so also do the offences committed against us.  The challenge facing every one of us as believers is to not allow our hearts to become hard so as to lose the tenderness.  This sermon digs into the Word of God and presents to the believer, the grace and power that is in Christ which allows us to overcome the sins of resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness.

Joshua 6:1-2 When I think of the wasted hours spent deliberating and calculating, reasoning and second-guessing how God is going to do what He said He would do; it is of great grief.  When everything has been said and done, what was it for? It was all for nothing!  When God is going to something, He doesn’t need our advice or counsel; He doesn’t come knocking at our door for a plan of action!  He will do what He will do, and the quicker that we settle that matter in our hearts is the more speedily one will come to enjoy the blessed rest that comes from simply trusting!!! We need at times to be reminded of the facts—the world is His and the fulness thereof; the cattle on a thousand hills and every beast of the forest belongs to Him; what have we that He hath need of, or what can we give to Him that He does not already own?  Oh God, forgive me for pigeonholing you into a tiny weeny space when your fulness fills the whole universe!!  It’s not my business dear soul, and nor is it yours, to work out how God is goi

Romans 8:12-13 There are many sermons that I’ve had the privilege of preaching over the years, but none perhaps is more important than the subject matter contained in this one.  I fear that in the day in which we’re living, when one mentions the cross of the Lord Jesus, one’s mind readily runs upon the ornate cross, you know...the 9ct gold one hanging from a chain, replete with diamond studs; rather than a rugged wooden one stained with blood!  It seems that the Church in our day and the world at large, have no stomach for a crucified Saviour, impaled to a bloody cross.  In the first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul writes; “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).  In what respect, is the preaching of the cross to us who are saved, the power of God?  It is this question that I would like to consider in this sermon and to furnish an answer on two main fronts.  First, the cross of Jesus Christ is the power of God to dea

Mark 6:45-53 There’s a propensity that is common to man; a saying that is often heard, and although we might not necessarily verbalise it with the words of our mouth, we nonetheless declare it loud and clear, by our actions.  You say, what is this saying and what is this propensity common to man?  It is summed up in this one single phrase, “I’ve got it!”  Oh, that we might come to understand in truth that we "Don’t got it", and that the only way to live this Christian life is in utter dependency upon the Saviour as we walk a closer walk with Him!

Jonah 3 Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, and Paul; all shared a common trait that in their day was seldom seen amongst their contemporaries.  Each of these men knew the mercy of God in their generation and as such were intercessors!  Would to God that such men would resurface in the day in which we live.  I am shocked and grieved at the type of remarks I hear being made by professing born-again believers who supposedly belong to the remnant stable when it comes to the talk of revival.  Nothing is sure to get their fangs showing than when one speaks of revival and awakening!!  Ah!  They say...that’s nonsense!  Great Britain has out-sinned its day of mercy!  In the days of Whitfield and Wesley, the sins of Great Britain were grave and shocking; yet, God saw fit to bring a national awakening to this nation.  Oh, that God would do it again! In this sermon, we behold the mercy of God toward a wicked city called Nineveh and the hot displeasure of a prophet by the name Jonah who rather than see God extend mercy, would rath

Matthew 25:1-13 When suddenly comes, there’s usually very little time if any, to prepare ourselves for its swift advance.  By very definition, “suddenly” carries with it an air of unexpectedness and yet at the same time, its approach is not without discernable signs for those with eyes to see.  On 25th January 2019, a mining dam that sat above Brumadinho—a large town in southeast Brazil, suddenly collapsed, unleashing a tidal wave of waste and mud that engulfed homes, businesses, and residents in its path.  It killed more than 250 people and has been dubbed one of the deadliest mining accidents in Brazilian history.  Though this disaster ensued suddenly and without warning, experts say that it wasn’t a surprise.  All the elements of a potential catastrophe had been present, and the warning signs overlooked for years!  Amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, God is speaking to His people and calling them to get ready for His soon return!  This is no time to slumber and no time to give heed to baseless conspiracy

Ephesians 5:14-18 There’s a season under heaven for every opportunity afforded unto man; an open door which for a moment remains open to him, before suddenly it closes.  What was available on Sunday evening may no longer be available come Monday morning.  There’s something about God-ordained moments for which there exists no rewind button and no command to undo.  God happenstances that seem to come so sparsely—perhaps every half a decade or so, where all of heaven appears to go out of its way to assist the Almighty in orchestrating the perfect set-up, placing before us an open door and beckoning us to enter through.  Without a doubt, we are living in unprecedented times of change with Covid-19 in our midst. It is my earnest conviction that we the Church of Jesus Christ find ourselves on the earth for such a time as this.  There has been afforded us in the providence of God, an open door through which to enter which shall not always be open to us.  It’s time for the Church to wake up and to cast off the old ga

1 Chronicles 12:32 This week has been a week like no other I’ve ever witnessed in my forty years alive on planet earth.  Coronavirus touched down and pandemonium struck.  Media hype fueled mass panic buying, where every man and his family headed towards the supermarkets in an effort to stock their cupboards to overflowing.  Stock markets across the world continue to be hammered with losses amounting to billions being slashed off the value of some of the world's most prestigious companies.  Thursday saw the biggest one-day decline in the FTSE 100 since 1987 and Wednesday witnessed the pound plunge to its lowest level in 30 years!  Every day has seen escalating measures being announced by the UK government as it has tried desperately to stem the growth of this virus which has now claimed the lives of more than 200 British citizens and more than 10,000 globally.  On Tuesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a whopping £350 billion bailout and by Friday, he’d effectively put the whole British economy on

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 2) It will never do to be hearers of the word only and not doers of it; James makes this very clear (Jms 1:22).  Yet at the same time, to be a doer of the word without first hearing what is being asked is to walk in ignorance.  How many, armed with good intentions and loaded with zeal have gone out of the starting blocks with pace, only to be later disqualified because they were in breach of the rules.  You cannot compete in a race without obeying the rules and you cannot obey the rules unless you first know what those rules are.  Thus, it is incumbent upon us as students of the Word of God, to rightly divide (Grk. to cut straight) the word of truth that we might not be ashamed (2 Tim. 2:15).     If the Bible was a single book, composed by a single contemporary author, that would be one thing.  If we had any questions or doubts about the meaning of what is written, we could simply ask the author.  What happens when you have a book written by upwards of forty different autho

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 When God put to Satan the question, “Hast thou considered my servant Job” (Job 1:8), Satan did not say, who is he?  Instead, he engaged with the question and responded by saying; “Doth Job fear God for nought?” (Job 1:9).  It appears from this verse that this righteous man was well known to the prince of darkness.  Have you ever considered that your name is also known to the armies of hell?  This puts a whole new dimension on spiritual warfare.  Having not just one scheme but many, Paul instructs us to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).  Satan’s wiles not only involve the planned assault of the individual believer but the planned assault of the Church body collectively.  There is one particular weapon in Satan’s arsenal through which is able to destroy a local Church more quickly than we can ever know!  The great deception of this sin lies in its seeming harmlessness.  This vice comes so readily to us as humans and i