Beholding His Glory ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Psalm 139:1-3, 13-18 ~ Directing and Shaping Your Arrows ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

What is the promise of Proverbs 22:6? That our children will drift or go away from their Christian faith for a time, but if they have been reared correctly they will find their way back? Or is it a promise that they will not depart?

Proverbs 22:6 can be translated this way:

Adapt the training of your child

so that in keeping with his or her

God-given tendencies

--when he or she comes to maturity--

they will not depart from the training

they have received.

Psalm 127:3-5 ~ Like Arrows in the Hand of Warrior ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

How do we know that when our children grow up and leave home, that they will be loyal to God?  How do we know that when they face the giants of life and experience struggles, temptations, and suffering, that they will put their confidence in God? How do we know that they will not forget the works of God and that they will obey Him in spite of their circumstances?

Psalm 78:7 says that the answer to these kinds of questions is the main goal of parenting. That when our kids leave home, “That they should put their confidence in God; And not forget the works of God; But keep His commandments.”

Pastor Bill’s message on "Arrows in the Hand of Warrior" is a must listen for every parent.

Ephesians 5:15-33 ~ The Spirit-Filled Marriage ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers in the 19^th Century, said, “When home is ruled according to God’s Word, angels might be asked to stay with us and they would not find themselves out of their element.”

It could be added to that, “Where Christ is Lord in the home, angels might be asked to stay with us and they would find themselves right at home.”

Both of  these statements are the result of a Spirit-Filled marriage. The secret of harmony and unity in the home is the fullness of the Spirit. It is power from within not pressure from without that holds the home together. And the fullness of the Spirit is how a home becomes a godly home of influence for the Kingdom of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:22-33 ~ God's Pattern for Marriage ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

When I love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, I serve her and minister to her a servant of Jesus Christ. When my wife respects me as her husband, she ministers to me as servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first thing required of every wife, required of every husband, is a servant’s heart toward one’s mate; to be submissive to one another in the fear of Christ, to minister to one another as Christ would minister to your mate if He were physically present in the home.

Husband, God gave you your wife so that you might be a minister of Jesus Christ to her.

Wife, God you your husband so that you might be a minister of Jesus Christ to him.

Ephesians 5_22-33 ~ The Mystery of Marriage ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

The Apostle Paul’s teaching on marriage creates a head-on collision with the beliefs and practices of our culture. A congressman once argued, “We need to get past the medieval ancient concept of marriage between a man a woman.” Much misunderstanding concerning marriage occurs today because we fail to understand the great mystery of marriage that Paul reveals in Ephesians chapter 5.

 The “great mystery,” as Paul calls it, is that marriage was designed by God to be a living illustration of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church. The question if not what same-sex marriages and unions say about our culture and society, but the question is, “What do same-sex unions communicate about the relationship of Jesus Christ to His Church?” That is why we don’t mess with the institution of marriage because in doing so, we miscommunicate and profane the spiritual reality. It takes what is holy and makes it unholy.

Psalm 127 ~ God's Blueprint for a Godly Home of Influence ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

This is the introductory message in a new expository sermon series on Psalm 127 by Pastor Bill Slabaugh. He takes his experience as a licensed architect and applies it to our understanding of God's Word as to what it means when the Lord Builds the House.

Part One of the series is based on Psalm 127:1-2 and is called. "The Lord: the Architect of the Home." In Part One we will look at God's blueprint for a godly home in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. What is God's pattern for husbands? For Wives? For Children? Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." 

Part two of the series is based on Psalm 127:3-5 and is called, "In the hands of the warrior." How do we rear our children to be godly men and women of influence who will impact their community and world for the Kingdom of God? The goal of parenting is not just that our kids will survive, or that they are educated, or they will thrive. The goal of parenting is to rear children who are holy and make a difference in this world with gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:23-25 ~ The Believer's Groan for Glory ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

“It’s Better Higher Up”

The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building.

 A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman -- a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator in the building the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, "What a dark and filthy place!"

Her friend replied, "It's better higher up."

When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, “Things look even worse here."

Again the reply, "It's better higher up."

 The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, "It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!"

Without a moment's hesitation the shut-in responded, "It's better higher up." She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true  satisfaction and contentment.

 

Romans 8:18-22 ~ The Sufferings and Glory of God's Creation

Why is there suffering in the world?

Will it ever get any better?

What does it mean that all creation groans?

 The Apostle gives us the answers to these important questions

in Romans chapter 8.

Be forewarned.  The answers might surprise you.

Romans 8:14-18 ~ The First Fruits of Our Inheritance ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

As parents, we try to do everything that we can to protect our children from suffering. We try to alleviate their pain whether it is physical or emotional.

So if God is our all-powerful and all-loving Father, then why doesn’t He do the same with His children?

Several years ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a bestselling book called, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”  Kushner proposed that God cannot be both all-powerful and all-loving.  Because if He is both, a loving God would certainly do something about our suffering.  Because it was more comforting to him personally, Kushner chose to believe that God is all-loving so He can’t be all-powerful. He believes that God just can’t do anything about our suffering.

In contrast to Kushner’s popular view, in Romans chapter 8 we learn that our suffering in this world is not at odds at all with God’s love for us as His children. 

 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worthy to be compared with the glory

that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18

Romans 8:14-16 ~ The Marks of the Child Adopted by God ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are immediately adopted into God’s Family. J. I. Packer has a wonderful chapter in his book Knowing God which is called  “Sons of God,” where he writes on the subject of our adoption as children of the Father.

Packer writes,

You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.

If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.