Please excuse the mess at our church website. We have recently changed companies, for various reasons. So it will take us a minute to clean up the site, add graphics to it, and place all of our resources back on it. When we finish, the site should be quite helpful and enjoyable. For instance, you will be able to download sermon audios. And you will even be able podcast our sermons. Thanks for your patience.

I am a manuscript preacher, sort of. Usually manuscript preachers write out the sermons in full and then take them to the pulpit and preach from them, word-for-word. I am a manuscript preacher in that I write out my sermons in full (most of the time). But I rarely take my manuscript to the pulpit. I would quite say that I memorize my sermons anymore, either. I use a word association method to remember the major progression of my argument. Likewise, most of my sermons are verse-by-verse expositions of some passage. So the structure of the message usually revolves around...

The past several days have been quite busy. Thursday and Friday, I had several meetings, deadlines, and study assignments. On top of this, I had to preach a revival meeting on Thursday and Friday at the New Revelation Baptist Church in Pasadena. The Lord blessed the two meetings. But I was absolutely exhausted by Saturday morning. But there was still work to be done. I had work for Sunday to complete. But before I could get to that, I had to prepare myself to speak at the Women's Fellowship Meeting meeting at the church. It was the first time I...

Here is the note I wrote in last week's bulletin about our January Book of the Month:In New Testament times, humility was not considered a virtue. In the minds of the ancients, it was a sign of weakness which was the result of being forced into submission by someone who is greater than you. So humility was actually considered a vice, rather than the virtue. And not much has changed in the passing centuries. The world around us does not view humility to be beneficial, commendable, or virtuous. Instead, we look up to the aggressive types, who get what they...

Here is my sermon skeleton on the second stanza of Psalm 119 from Wednesday night's Midweek Service:Title: "How to Clean Up Your Life"Text: Psalm 119:9-16Theme: The Purifying Power of ScripturePoint: Holiness is the result of your devotion to the word of GodOutline:I. God’s word purifies the person who is sincere (119:10-11)A. Seek the Lord with all your heart (v. 10)B. Store up the word in your heart (v. 11)II. God’s word purifies the person who is submissive (119:12-14)A. Praise (v.12)B. Proclamation (v. 13)C. Passion (v. 14)III. God’s word purifies the person who is steadfast (119:15-16)A. I will mediate on your...

This morning, I preached a message on Luke 12:13-21, the parable of the rich fool. Here is my "sermon skeleton."Title: "The Rich Fool"Text: Luke 12:13-21Theme: Jesus issues a warning against covetousnessPoint: Declare war on greed in your life before it's too late (12:15)Outline: In the parable of the rich fool, Jesus issues to stern warnings against covetousness.I. Jesus warns us about the focus of covetousness (12:16-19)A. Selfishness (vv. 16-19)B. Materialism (v. 18)C. Pleasure (v. 19)II. Jesus warns us about the folly of covetousness (12:20-21)A. It is foolish to ignore the limitations of your time on earth (v. 20)B. It is...

Yesterday was a blessed day of worship at Mt. Sinai. I have just begun a series of lessons in my Sunday School class on the "seven deadly sins." I'm calling it "Overcoming Sinful Attitudes." Yesterday, I finished the first lesson on "overcoming Pride." It is my intentional to teach through each lesson in one class session. But I was not able to finish this lesson in the hour I had. I hope this does not become a pattern for the rest of the lessons. I have not taught this class since the summer of last year. But I am glad...

Last night, Crystal and I attended the retirement banquet for Dr. Clarence J. Davis, Jr. It was a special event. And we were both honored to have been present. It was a "black-tie" event. I don't have a tux, and didn't think really be that dressed up. I was wrong. And I felt very under-dressed. It was a good thing we were seated toward the back of the room. Dr. Davis entered the room behind the rhythm section of the USC marching band, who made a special appearance to honor Dr. Davis. The MC for the evening was assemblyman Mark...

This is the "Sermon Skeleton" of the opening message on Psalm 119 I preached last night in our Midweek Worship Service.Title: "Living by the Book"Text: Psalm 119:1-8Theme: The blessedness of devotion to the word of GodPoint: The word of God is totally sufficient to meet every spiritual need in your lifeOutline:I. The Delight of Living by the Book (119:1-3)A. God blesses sincere devotion to his word (v. 1)B. God blessed steadfast devotion to his word (v. 2-3)II. The Duty of Living by the Book (119:4-6)Verses 4-6 gives us three ways to develop and maintain a life of obedience to God's...

Here are some Bible study works that I have found helpful in my study of Psalm 119:1. Living by the Book by James Montgomery Boice - This is a book developed from the late Dr. Boice's expository messages through the book of Psalms. The same material is found in the third volume of Boice's commentary on the psalms.2. A Guide to the Psalms by W. Graham Scroggie - Helpful introductory material on Psalm 119. Scroggie's expositions of the psalms are consistently helpful.3. The Treasury of David (Vol. 3) by Charles Haddon Spurgeon - This is a part of CHS's classic...

This evening, in the Midweek Worship Service at MSMBC, I will begin a verse-by-verse exposition of Psalm 119, "the Mt. Everest of the Psalms." It is both the longest psalm of the Psalter and the longest chapter of the Bible. It contains 176 verses, divided into twenty-two eight-verse stanzas. And the sections of the psalm are poetically arranged into a beautiful acrostic using each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The theme of this psalm is the total sufficiency of the word of God in the life of the believer.I intend to preach through the psalm stanza by stanza (or twenty-two...

I had a rather strange experience this week as I prepared for today's message. I simply could not determine what to preach this morning. I worked on about five different texts this week. I started the week with Psalm 139 on my schedule to preach. Today is "Sanctity of Human Life Sunday." And I thought that Psalm 139 would be an appropriate exposition. But when I got to work Monday morning, I knew that would not be what I preach. I don't think I am ready to do an exposition of a psalm with twenty-four verses in one setting. I...