Articles

Sermon Notes of Pastor Mark Downey

February 14, 2016

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 5:11-14

The progressive understanding of God's will is learning how to yield ourselves completely to God. Our actions determine our destiny.

Any White person can mature spiritually if they develop practical action steps and everyday habits. As we deal with things in life, we learn to use the Word of God as our standard of measure. As we see the vision of overcoming the adversary, we mature in Christ as we approach a closer proximity to the Kingdom. But we need the glue that connects our people; that bonding agent which is the shining light of glory.

by Jim Jester

Three main points about Jesus' beliefs and what His platform would be if he were running for President today.

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

February 6, 2016

Scripture Reading: Obadiah 1:14

Today's scripture reading is the only reference to a crossroads that I could find that is located in the Bible.  It tells of the evil that the Edomites did when they cut off the Israelites that had escaped the destruction that they were facing in their captivity.  The Edomites stood in the crossroads and killed the escapees.   

The father of rock ‘n’ roll and king of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson, met the devil who had taken the form of a huge black man at a crossroad. The devil took Johnson’s guitar, tuned it, and proceeded to play before handing the guitar back to Johnson. From that point on, Robert Johnson had mastery of the Blues and the guitar. He was able to play incredible new songs instantly without taking the time to write the lyrics or compose any music.

A memorial to Johnson reads: “Robert Johnson stands at the crossroads of American music, much as a popular folk legend has it, he once stood at a Mississippi crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar-playing prowess.”

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

January 24, 2016

Scripture Reading: Revelation 18:4

Who is told to “Come out of her” [mystery Babylon]?  It is “My [the God of Israel’s] people.”  There is a warning for the covenant people of God to come out of something that is “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” Revelation 18:2.

It says that “all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication….”  And that “all the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” Revelation 18:3.  So, God’s people can be in something that is world-wide, rich, powerful and wrong.  It is so wrong, that our God warns us “to come out of her.”  If we stay in, then we will partake of her sins and receive her plagues.

by Pastor Don Elmore

Part 1: Is the Roman Catholic Church a true church or is it a false Christian Church?  What about the Protestants?  Have they changed in the last two hundred years?

Part 2: Do you know how Crossroads Church got its beginning about 20 years ago?  It is a fascinating story.  It is one of the fasting growing churches in the world.

The Wake-up Herald

Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher
January 25, 2016

Television, the Great Life-Waster
Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up. You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching. TV still reigns as the great life-waster.

The Wake-up Herald

Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher
January 23, 2016

Who Cares?

Do you know how many babies have been murdered in America since 1973?  It is a number that is almost too horrible to think about.  An astounding 60+ million American babies have been killed by various abortion methods since Roe v. Wade was decided back in 1973.  So what should be done to a country that kills 60+ million of its own people?  We rightly condemn other totalitarian regimes throughout history such as Nazi Germany, the USSR and Communist China that have killed millions (or tens of millions) of their own people. 

But what about us? 

Sadly, most Americans don’t even think much about abortion these days.  Most Americans consider it to be a “political issue” that has already been “settled”. The truth is that the percentage of Americans that consider themselves to be “pro-choice” has been declining over time.  Perhaps it is still possible to see a shift on this issue in the United States.  We just need more people to start standing up for those that cannot stand up for themselves.  

The following are 26 facts about abortion in America that every American should know…

The Wake-Up Herald

Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Sermon notes of Pastor Mark Downey

January 24, 2016

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:1-6

We are creatures of habit sometimes moreso than creatures of God.  The first thing most people do when they wake up in the morning is to wake up, stretching, yawning and other bodily functions.  Then you shuffle to the kitchen to get a pot of coffee going in order to wake up and smell the coffee, which is also a euphemism used to tell someone that they are wrong about one thing or another and need to pay attention to what is really happening.  I woke up last week to a smoke alarm blipping; there was no fire, it's just that the batteries were low.  It got my attention and I was immediately focused to correct the situation.  Most people wake up to their routines and are not yet focused on what is really happening.  Their only alarm is their alarm clock and you turn it off as it so rudely interrupts a dream you were having.  The body and mind are activated to get out of bed.  But, how long does it take to charge your spiritual batteries?  What if our habitual routine of things were preceded by something completely different.  What if the Holy Spirit took charge right off the battery of life before the demands of body and mind.  This is what is called a paradigm shift, a change from one way of thinking to another.  Let's suppose that the first thing we do, the first minute of waking from sleep, whether laying down or sitting on the edge of your bed, your eyes are open and you contemplate the invisible presence of God and your second thought is that this could be the day that He makes His presence visible.  Quite a profound prospect don't you think?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

January 17, 2016

2 Chronicles 15:9-15

What did the Kingdom of Judah do which enabled themto have rest from their enemies?  They made a covenant with their LORD God; just like the Vortrekkers of South Africa did in 1838. This covenant gave the covenant seed of Jacob/Israel another miraculous victory; one that saved their race from complete annihilation in South Africa by the Zulus.

In fact, the covenant that Judah and many of the righteous people of the House of Israel, who had come to Judah, was a covenant with a death penalty attached with it.  Any person who failed to participate in making this covenant was to be put to death.  It was a serious covenant that each person who was living in Judah made.