Bethesda Shalom

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

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 pers

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 seaso

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?  Suddenl

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 — Bro

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

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,

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 tha

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 ch

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

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!!!

Hebrews 4:12 Once upon a time the preacher hastened fearlessly to climb the stairs of the pulpit, burdened with a message from heaven, armed in hand with a open Bible.  Book, chapter and verse was his modus operandi and for the unction of God He pleaded!!  Brothers and Sisters, it is the last part of this statement that has become my soul’s burden over the last number of years — O for the unction of God upon the Word!!!  It is simply not enough to have the letter of the Word, we need the Word and the Spirit.  The preaching of God’s Word in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.  Paul understood this and saw the mighty effects of it in Thessalonica. What does he say? “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power (Lit. force), and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake” (1 Thess. 1:5).  This sermon is a plea to surrender!  A call to yield!  “Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts”

Overcoming the Fear of Man – Paul M. Williams Proverbs 29:25 There are over 500 recognised phobias in our world today For the most part, the fears that we experience as we walk through life are not good.  Rather than serving to be of benefit to us, they serve to be a hindrance.  Of all the fears I could list that are common to man, there is one fear in particular that has proved to be his downfall repeatedly. You say, Brother Paul, what is this fear? It is the fear of man!!!  King Solomon writing some 3000 years ago put it like this; “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Prov. 29:25).  In this sermon, we look at how to overcome the fear of man.

Genesis 12:1-4 It would seem on paper that man has more time on his hands than ever he had since time began.  Please don’t misunderstand me, there are no more hours in a day — the same 24 that have always been are the same 24 available today — yet the sheer amount of what can be accomplished in a single hour is breathtaking!!  One study concluded that modern technology is saving the average man, two weeks each year!!  Despite all the innovations and successes in technological breakthroughs, give a man an extra hour you can guarantee, he’ll find something to do with it and thus what you find is rather than becoming less busy, society becomes more busy. On every hand, I find myself having to fight to preserve what matters most in life.  There are ONLY 24 hours in a day and if you have not got a priority for what matters most in your life you will be swallowed up by the system and spat out ruined! 

Genesis 12:1-4 As I look back over the 23 years that I’ve had the privilege of walking with the Lord, every major turn in the road of my life, has been marked by the call of God.  Before ever I knew the Lord and at every junction since coming to saving faith in Him He hath called and faith’s obedience has met that call!!!   In this sermon, Paul shares his testimony of God’s call and faith’s obedience. Shared at Lifeboat Fellowship (10/12/23) - Sunday (pm)

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Being raised in 21st-century Britain, I’ve never had the painful displeasure of attending a slave market. Yet in the days of the Roman Empire in the first century AD, it would have been commonplace. Under Roman law, slaves were regarded as the personal property of their masters, to be bought, sold, and mistreated at will. They had no rights of their own, no privileges to their name, they could not so much as own a piece of property, nor enter into a contract with their fellow man; they could not legally marry should they see a bride. If the truth be told, slaves were the lowest class of society, and even freed criminals had more rights than them.  Having painted this despairing picture, I want to invite you to come with me for a moment in the imagination of your mind, to the slave market where once you stood on the blocks for sale. Maimed and stained by the vice of sin, bound by the shackles of iniquity — a thoroughbred reprobate of whom the placard which hangs about your necks reads “N

John 10:22-23 The Intertestamental period dated from the prophet Malachi’s time (about 400 BC) to the preaching of John the Baptist (about AD 25) has been called the silent years. God is never silent! A lot happened in these 400 years.  In this teaching, we are going to explore one amazing event – The Feast of Dedication – in which we will discover who the Shammash of God is and where you and I fit in.