Bethesda Shalom

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 The athlete on the field of games is not passive.  There's no passivity about him — see him on the starting line, he's not passive; he is thinking through the race before him, he's focussed.  Everything about the life of an athlete is disciplined.  You name the sport, and I'll show you an Olympian that's under the rule of discipline.  What he eats, what he drinks, what time h...

2 Chronicles 26:1-5 When God brings His people from one season into another, they must give careful attention and purposeful thought as to how they intend to meet this new environment.  I've come to learn over the years that change for some, while it ought to have been the best thing to have ever come their way; proved at last to be their undoing! A man can begin in the lowly shadows of obscurity,...

Luke 9:51 Many are waiting upon God in the place of prayer, and one day, God is going to answer.  On the day of His answering, the day of waiting has come to end, and the time for action has now come!  Play the man Christian soldier, God shall not fail thee!!  When God says GO, it's no time to procrastinate, it's time to act!

Proverbs 29:25 When you're standing at the crossroads of life and you don't know what to do.  Far from being at a place of loss, the child of God is afforded an opportunity to enquire of the Lord.  "If any man lacks wisdom (James says), let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him".  Brothers and Sisters, in the presence of fear and uncertaint...

Matthew 9:37-38 In November of last year, thousands of care workers up and down the UK were forced out of their jobs in a sector which as it stands is already facing a daunting shortage of more than 100,000 workers.  The care sector is not alone in this crisis.  The NHS is facing the same problem. According to the latest NHS figures, 85,000 of its staff have still not had a Covid vaccine and a fur...

Acts 2:41-47 We live in a world where we're continually told that change is good.  Whether it be the political sphere or the workplace environment; education or the arts — to remain constant and the same is deemed to be a failure. I remember as a teacher, working in secondary education, it was frowned upon if you stayed too long teaching in the same school.  It was an unspoken rule that every five...

Romans 6:1-14 What soldier is armed with an ornamental sword, to take to the field of battle?  Outwardly, it appears shiny behold, but when drawn from its sheath the soldier finds the blade is blunt!  So many Christians, arm themselves with the great positional statements of Holy Scripture, and yet when asked to see the evidence of such truths in the life of their experience, they are unable to fu...

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Just this past week, I was enjoying a moment, reading a book when I came across a statement that beautifully ministered to my heart.  It involves a Pastor and a particular lady who came forward in one of his meetings.  I'll allow the Pastor to tell it in his own words: "She was somewhat timid and quiet, and she brought with her another lady for moral support. She said, "Broth...

Acts 2:1-4 God's ways are never discernable by sight!  So many desire that God would speak while the conditions appear favourable.  But this is not how it works.  While Sarah was yet barren, God said to Abraham, "I will make of thee a great nation" (Gen. 12:2).  While Elizabeth was yet barren and past the age of childbearing, the angel said to Zachariah, "Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is hea...

Colossians 3:15 We live in a generation where a growing disregard for basic manners is fast becoming the norm.  One can teach a youngster the practice of good etiquette — "Don't speak with your mouth full", "Don't interrupt a conversation", "Knock before you enter" — the P's and Q's — yes please, no thank you, excuse me.  All of these we can and should teach our children; yet I find, for all our i...

Ephesians 4:1-6 This world that we presently call home; this fading temporary abode, is a world that stands fiercely divided.  Now, of course, I don't refer to the physical landmass we call planet earth, I speak of the people who populate it.  On every hand as one beholds, one sees division and schism — person against person, tribe against tribe, kingdom against kingdom and, nation against nation....

Jeremiah 12:1-5 The year was 1944 when the Communist party seized power in Romania.  Literally overnight, a million Russian troops poured onto the soil of Romania.  In what was heralded as the "freeing" of Romania, saw instead, women raped, shops looted, men robbed and murdered.  Christians were imprisoned, tortured, kidnapped, and murdered for possessing the same faith as you and I.  Romania, whi...

Deuteronomy 8:1-6 Horatio Spafford was a Presbyterian layman from Chicago and was a successful lawyer and businessman. Humanly speaking, this man had everything going for him.  He loved the Lord and was happily married with five beautiful children.  However, things were about to take a drastic and sudden turn, in a series of events reminiscent of the life of Job.  Spafford had heavily invested in...

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 There is a war that has been raging for the last two-thousand years.  On one side stand the Saints of God — the army of the Church of Jesus Christ; and on the other side, principalities, and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places.  If one was to stop the average person in the street and to tell them of this mighty conflict, they would...

Romans 5:20-21 I find increasingly of late that cardinal and principal doctrines of the Christian faith are being called into question, not (I might add) from those outside the fold, but on the contrary, from those who claim to be inside the fold.  Long established doctrines of the most immanent importance are simply being brushed aside and labelled as questionable.  One such doctrine that is bein...

2 Peter 3:1-15 From way back when and from days of old, there have been scoffers and mockers that have made it their duty of responsibility to poke fun at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  "You Christians have been saying that Jesus is coming back since supposedly He left the first time!!" "Two thousand years have passed and where is the promise of His coming?"  "Grandad Mack said He was coming...

Pastor Jason Wright brings a thought-provoking and sobering word.  Much to chew upon and to take heed.

1 Peter 5:7 In 1740, Charles Wesley penned the words to the timeless hymn, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". Without question, he had in his mind the words of the sweet psalmist David when he fled from Saul in the cave. "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast" (Ps. 57:1). The...

1 Peter 2:2-3 A lot can be gleaned from newborn babies that teach the children of God what it is to hunger and thirst. Peter, instructs believers, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). In the natural, newborn babes have an insatiable thirst and hunger for milk. Peter is saying that this ought to characterise the appetite of the believer in...

Mark 10:46-52 Christianity is no passive religion.  You don't get to be an idle bystander while others around you participate.  Each and every one of us is called to step into this arena of faith personally, and to walk with God for ourselves; to experience His covenant blessings, to taste of His goodness such that we can appeal to others first-hand (not on the basis of hearsay or another man's te...

Ephesians 1:13-14 Seldom does the child of God really ponder the eternal treasure laid up for them in heaven.  In this sermon, we endeavour to set forth this blessed hope and in so doing, call the Christian to take his eyes from off this world and to put them on the eternal glory to come!

Proverbs 23:22-26 If there's one Last Days characteristic that has come swiftly upon Western society over the last 60-70 years, it is the flippant and widespread rebellion of children against their parents.  It is almost an accepted norm that when children turn teenagers, the relationship between them and their parents breaks down.  It used to be that the most important unit in the life a young pe...

Hosea 14 As one reads through the Prophets, whether Major or Minor, Pre-exilic or Post, one is met with a single voice that is unanimous in its cry, certain in its proclamation, and absolute in its conclusion. Though Israel lies presently in a state of unbelief, far away from their God on account of their iniquities; a cry sounds forth from the pages of this precious book that what is at present,...

Session 7 of 8 https://www.sanctuaryconference.org/

Session 5 of 8 https://www.sanctuaryconference.org/