Month: February 2025

The sermon on March 2, 2025, will be from Romans 14:5-9– “Follow Christ; Avoid Quarrels”.  “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.” – Romans 14:8

The Apostle Paul possessed a great intellect. One only needs to reflect upon his deliberation with the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-31) and upon the first eleven chapters of his Letter to the Romans to see my point proved. But Paul often uttered short sentences or phrases which were chockfull of truth and which summed up great Biblical themes (Here are just a few – Romans 1:16-17; 3:28; 4:5; 5:1; 8:1, 28, 31). Such snippets are too numerous to count in his letters. Romans 14:8 beautifully asserts the motivating principle for the Christian (by the way, the “principle” is actually a person). He briefly echoes the same truth in Philippians 1:21 – “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon on February 23, 2025, will be from Psalm 107:1-3 – “Discovering the Evangelist Within You”.  “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.” – Romans 14:8

The Apostle Paul possessed a great intellect. One only needs to reflect upon his deliberation with the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-31) and upon the first eleven chapters of his Letter to the Romans to see my point proved. But Paul often uttered short sentences or phrases which were chockfull of truth and which summed up great Biblical themes (Here are just a few – Romans 1:16-17; 3:28; 4:5; 5:1; 8:1, 28, 31). Such snippets are too numerous to count in his letters. Romans 14:8 beautifully asserts the motivating principle for the Christian (by the way, the “principle” is actually a person). He briefly echoes the same truth in Philippians 1:21 – “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon on February 16, 2025, will be from Romans 14:1-4 – Welcoming the Weak. “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” – Romans 14:4

Jesus, in a funny, but riveting way, admonishes us about the danger of a judgmental spirit – “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:3). Now, Jesus never discourages proper discernment (See Matt. 7:6), neither does Paul (1 Thess. 5:21), and neither does John (1 John 4:1, 6). But a censorious spirit leads to hypocrisy and a surprise on the day of judgment (Matt. 7:2, 5). Paul, in Romans 14 verse three, reminds Christian disciples in every age – “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Such sobering truth should silence judgmental tongues (Ro. 3:19) – “It is before his own master that he stands or falls.” (Ro. 14:4).

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon on February 9, 2025, will be from Romans 13:11-14 – A Sanctification Wake-Up Call  “The night is far gone; the day is at hand.” – Romans 13:12
Since the 1st Century, critics and scoffers have lampooned the New Testament teaching on the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John the Apostle closes with this promise from Christ himself, “Surely I am coming soon.” (Rev. 22:20). The critic guffaws, “Jesus is a promise breaker, not a promise keeper!” But he fails to realize the eternal nature of the Triune God. He does not measure time as we measure time. According to Peter, to the Lord, “… one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Therefore, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise …” (2 Peter 3:8-9). We see 2,000 years; the Lord sees 2 days. An old gospel song used to say, “Soon, and very soon, we are going to see the King!”

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA