Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). Jesus said that with our tongues we either bring forth good or evil things in our lives (Matthew 12:34-37). The course of our life and our spiritual growth is greatly determined by our use of our tongue. James 1:22-25 tells that we must not just be hearers, but also doers of the word and that we will be blessed in our doing (obedien...

We should be on a journey of ever growing faith (2Thessalonians 1:3). The Bible promises if we SEEK God we will FIND Him. (1) First, we discover Him as the almighty CREATOR of the universe and of us. We are created by a Personal God, the FATHER, who wants us to know Him. (2) Then, we discover He has revealed Himself in His Word, and ultimately in His SON, Jesus Christ, and we come to know Him as o...

The origin and basis of Holy Communion is the Passover Meal, for in it we remember Christ our Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed for us. He fulfilled the prophetic picture of Passover, for by His Blood He released us from slavery to sin and from the dominion of the kingdom of darkness, and sets us free to live a new life with Him. Derek describes the original Passover in Exodus 12. The Passover Lam...

The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) is the master Parable of Jesus, describing the operation of God's Kingdom in this Age. God works through the seed of His Word, being sown into the soil of men's hearts, producing good fruit, therefore: "He who has ears, let him hear, and keep on hearing, the Word" (Mark 4:9, 23). The harvest of fruit produced depends on the measure of priority,...

Pastor Derek shares from the 3 classic passages on the Rapture of the Church (John 14:1-3, 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1Corinthians 15:50-58), showing how it will take place in 2 phases, heralded by 2 trumpet blasts. The first blast will resurrect the dead in Christ, and then cause them to rise to meet the Lord in the air. The second blast will cause those who are still alive to receive immortal bodie...

Derek shares the key scriptures that tell us how we can quickly rebound from (1) sin, (2) setbacks, (3) success and (4) hurts.

Spiritual warfare is being waged over the battlefield of men's hearts and minds. Join Derek as He shares about the war between the Romans and Pirates in 63 BC, which gives the background to 2Corinthians 10:3-6, which talks about the weapons of our warfare being mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Paul used this war, where the Romans defeated the Pirates, as a picture of how we c...

When we trust in Christ as our Rock Foundation for our being, life and eternal salvation, we are unshakable (Matt 16:18, 1 Cor 3:11, Isaiah 28:16, Matt 7:24-27). As we look to Him and trust in Him, He upholds us by His power, so we will not fall, as Peter discovered when he walked on water. The Christian life is based on a personal relationship with God. By knowing and trusting the Lord, we experi...

Love is the measure of who we are (1Corinthians 13:2,3,8,13, Matthew 20:26). Although feelings, decisions, thoughtfulness are manifestations of love, they are not the ESSENCE of LOVE, which is SPIRITUAL, coming from the Presence of God in us, for God is love, and all love is of God (1John 4:7,8,16), and the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22). God is the Source of love and He pours His lo...

Two miracles of Jesus demonstrate how we can walk in victory over the power of sin, circumstances and satan: (1) crossing to the other side of Galilee through a storm, and (2) walking on the water. God has called us to be overcomers, who go over, not under!

The first sign-miracle of Jesus in John 2 was turning water into wine, which was a demonstration of what He will do for us if we believe in Him. This is a picture of our New Birth and our ongoing transformation by the Spirit of God. The way this miracle happened shows that we must give Jesus the right to turn our water into wine, by submitting to His Lordship.

There are 3 foundational BAPTISMS that should take place at the start of our Christian life: (1) BAPTISM into CHRIST, (2) BAPTISM in WATER, and (3) BAPTISM in the HOLY SPIRIT. The word ‘BAPTISM’ means to DIP or IMMERSE into a medium – effecting a union, resulting in a permanent change. The 3 Baptisms are distinguished by WHO does it and the MEDIUM into which the person is baptised. *1. BAPTISM int...

God's mighty power is in us, through the Holy Spirit, and it is available to us, but we need to have a revelation of this power, so that we can draw upon it by faith, as well as the wisdom to walk in that power, for it is released through our obedience. Ephesians 1 gives us a revelation of this mighty power, by describing what it has already accomplished when it was released in Christ, when He was...

Derek describes the triune nature of man (spirit-soul-body), made in the image of our Triune God, and how every part of man was affected by the Fall. Since man lives on 3 dimensions, he needs a 3D salvation, which only God can accomplish. If we trust in Him, the God of peace Himself will sanctify you completely; so that your whole spirit, soul, and body will be blameless at the Coming of Christ (1...

In these evil times, it is essential that we stand firm in the Lord and do not compromise our faith to the spirit of the world. The Lord is seeking those whose hearts are loyal to Him, so that He can show Himself strong on their behalf (2Chronicles 16:9). Derek relates the events in 2Chronicles 16 to our present life in the world, and reveals from Ephesians 6:10-17 the keys to being able to stand...

Pastor Derek shares about God's general will and His specific will for your life, and gives 5 major keys to how you can miss God's will big-time. These concern 5 areas, where God highlights what His will is for all of us, including baptism, thanksgiving, submission, sexual morality and overcoming spiritual lust (the occult).

JESUS CHRIST Himself is our FOUNDATION both for salvation, and for our daily life (1Corinthians 3:11). Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a SLAVE of SIN... if the Son sets you FREE (from SIN), you will be FREE indeed” (John 8:34,36). The the New Birth, He has already set our spirit free from sin, through His indwelling Spirit (1Corinthians 3:16, 2Corinthians 3:17, 5:...

Through Adam’s sin, (1) we were put into in a state of sin and were counted to be guilty before God, just because we were in Adam (imputed sin), and (2) we inherited from Adam a sin-nature (called ‘sin’) in the flesh through physical birth. In Romans 5-8, Paul describes how to come out of bondage to the sin-nature into the liberty of the Spirit. In this message, Derek goes verse by verse through R...

Living by faith starts by (1) submitting our heart to Christ as our Lord and trusting in Him as our Source, and then (2) building our lives upon Him as our Foundation by HEARING and DOING His WORDS (1Cor 3:11, Matt 7:24-25, Col 2:6-7). There are 3 Dimensions to the problem of SIN: *(1) IMPUTED SIN. Through our union to Adam, we were in a legal state of guilt in Adam. *(2) IMPARTED SIN – we inherit...

The Foundation for our being, character and life is the PERSON of CHRIST Himself (1Cor 3:11, Isa 28:16, Col 2:6-7). He is not just the Foundation for our eternal salvation, but for our very being and everyday living (Ro 1:16-17). "The RIGHTEOUSNESS of God is revealed from (saving) FAITH to (living) FAITH; as it is written: “(1) The JUST (by FAITH) shall (2) LIVE by FAITH” (v17). (1) First we are J...

The 3 Foundational Baptisms: (1) BAPTISM into CHRIST by the Holy Spirit. (2) BAPTISM in WATER by representatives of the Church, and (3) BAPTISM in the SPIRIT by Jesus Christ. WATER BAPTISM is a Sacrament - a symbolic physical act, that has a spiritual effect. BAPTISM in WATER is commanded upon all believers, for them to testify outwardly and publicly of their Baptism into Christ (which happens at...

There are 7 Foundational Doctrines in Hebrews 6:2: “The FOUNDATION of (1) repentance from dead works and (2) of faith toward God, (3) of DOCTRINE, (4) of BAPTISMS, (5) of laying on of hands, (6) of resurrection of the dead, and (7) of eternal judgment.” The doctrine of DOCTRINE (the TEACHING of God's Word) refers to the Bible's teaching on the importance and centrality of the WORD of God in our li...

REPENTANCE from dead works (Hebrews 6:1) means turning away from our old way of living by the flesh, depending on ourselves, living out from our own self, living from our own soul as our base of operation. Flesh (what we produce from ourselves) has no lasting value and does not please God (dead works). We need to learn live a new way: LIVING by FAITH, depending on GOD as the SOURCE of our LIFE, li...

After receiving Christ, we are being transformed by God's SPIRIT as we HEAR and DO God's WORD (Romans 12:1-2, 2Corinthians 3:16-18, James 1:21-25). (1) A man must first receive GOOD TREASURE into his HEART, by meditating on the Word of God and receiving His transforming life into your heart from the Spirit. This way his heart has an abundance of good treasure. (2) He must then BRING FORTH those GO...

Join Pastor Derek as he reveals the origins of the Gospel in the Year of Jubilee, which took place on the Day of Atonement, when the Jubilee trumpeters proclaimed forgiveness, release and restoration for all, throughout all the land, on the basis of the great sacrifice made on that day (Leviticus 25). Jesus initiated the preaching of the Gospel, and commanded us to continue preaching this same Gos...