DVD Individual Messages

Listen as Alistair discusses the role of 5 non-essential issues in the life of the church.

Who is Jesus? The answer to that question matters for eternity. The Bible answers clearly: Jesus is both the Son of David and the eternal Son of God.

Jesus taught in the synagogue, not as a teacher of the law, but as One with authority. The very Scriptures to which He turned were the Scriptures which pointed to Him as the Messiah and King of Kings. The inauguration of His kingdom, however, brought with it the invasion of darkness and confrontation by Satan. But the Son of God came to destroy the devil’s work, and the demons immediately understood that the ministry of Jesus will destroy them.

When Jesus healed the demon-possessed and sick, He did so in a way that clearly demonstrated His compassion, power and divine nature. These displays of love and mercy were not only meant to show Christ’s marvelous attributes, but they illustrated the fact that Christ came to spiritually restore a defiled people unto Himself. He promised to heal men and women who are held captive by the disease of sin. He was, and still is, the Great Physician that heals the eternal souls of men.

As the church, Christ calls us to “declare the praises” of the God who reconciled us to himself through the death of his Son. How are we doing? Is the preaching and proclaiming of the Gospel central as we gather each Sunday? Do our attitudes toward our worship services proclaim God’s praises to those who are watching us?

It's a staggering thought: Someone who had seen all Jesus' miracles - heard all His sermons - participated in His ministry - still made the choice to betray Him. Judas' hypocrisy was so well disguised that the other disciples never suspected a thing, but his choices had an eternal impact. Ours do, too: Are we being truly honest when we call Jesus "Lord"?

Becoming a follower of Jesus is not like adding optional extras to an already complete life – rather, it is the essential element to be complete. In this sermon, Alistair Begg takes us to Mark 8, where we learn Jesus’ terms and conditions of service.

“They do the basics well”, these six words from a Liverpool football coach in response to why his team was so successful. Likewise, for all pastors, we too must learn to do the basics well. Pastor John Shearer unpacks four basics no preacher should be without from Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 4. With a simplicity that belies its importance, Shearer exhorts the pastor as he does, ‘the greatest work in the world’.

Because our salvation - past, present, and future - is a gift from God, we do not approach biblical commands as an external code of behavior. Rather, God's grace works in our lives to create an atmosphere of holiness and love that emerge from within.

Because marriage is part of God's purposes from creation, the Bible's instruction about marriage and divorce speaks to all marriages everywhere. Jesus' instruction in Mark 10 is unequivocal, and we cannot disregard it. But believers must apply it within the framework of gospel truth.

When the Pharisees challenged Jesus on the topic of divorce, in Mark 10, He did the same thing we should do when facing difficult issues: Return to First Principles - in this case, that marriage is a Creation ordinance, instituted by God as a pattern for all humanity.

When you read Scripture, do you understand what you read? Or do you miss the underlying point? Just as Christ used the feeding of the 5,000 to reveal something deeper to the crowd- namely, his divinity- perhaps we too need to see Scripture through God’s interpretive lens.

When Mark writes with great detail about an encounter between Jesus and a man who is deaf and unable to talk, Alistair draws parallels between Jesus’ response and body language to remind us of the importance of meeting unbelievers at their point of need.

It was mere millennia past when Paul wrote to his young son in the faith, Timothy to be a ‘man of God’. The admonition has lost neither its impact or its timeliness in our day and culture. As false teachers assailed the early church, Paul sought to encourage and strengthen his protégé in the faith to hold tight to what he had been taught. Drawing from 1 Timothy 6, Pastor Shearer encourages pastors everywhere to flee errant approaches to gospel ministry, follow after virtues of righteousness and godliness and fight the good fight of faith.