Will You Run with the Horses?

What nation of the world was worse that the Canaanite nations that the LORD God of Israel destroyed and let His own covenant people in to take their place?  Who do you think was born during this time?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

October 2, 2021

During this time there was a terrific revival of religion.  The reform that the ruler of the land launched cleaned up the country and made the truth of God known and the worship of God popular.  Who could fail to be pleased that the Scripture was once again known and preached?

The most popular preacher of this time was a man of prominence.  When you saw him at the head of the flourishing religious establishment, you could not help feeling better.  His enthusiasms were electric.  When he stretched out his arm in blessing, everyone, from the least to the greatest, knew that they were included.  Everyone loved to hear him preach.  He was positive, affirmative, and confident.  He had the ability to draw out the best from everything.  He was able to search the Scriptures and find texts that made the darkest days bright.  But his messages were far from being accurate.

Hero or Villain or Both?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

October 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 29:7

When God’s people failed to follow the laws of their God, God raised up a couple of the countries nearby to invade the land and take the people of Israel into exile.  First, the Syrians took the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan River and then the Assyrians invaded the rest of the House of Israel and the House of Judah and then later the nation of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took the remaining captives of the House of Judah to Babylon.  Before the exile, false prophets had claimed that what Jeremiah prophesied was untrue and that the exile would only last for two years.  Jeremiah warned that the exile would last for 68 more years. 

“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for your children so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:5-7 NLT).

This sermon will begin with a short question: Who wrote the two paragraphs, which contained the above verse (Jeremiah 29:7), which will be given shortly in this sermon, which was taken from the author’s small booklet?  Everyone here will recognize the author’s name when it is given.  Was he a preacher, a teacher or just an ordinary believer?  Maybe he wasn’t a Christian at all.  Maybe he was an atheist or an agnostic or a skinhead.  Some say that he was a hero; many say that he was a villain.  Some say that he was both.

Unitarian Universalist Church

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

September 19, 2021

Scripture Reading John 12:32:

“And I, [Jesus, the Son of God] if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

Universalism has evolved beyond the traditional topics of salvation and future punishment, and now covers many other theological issues and topics.  Universalism began during the early days of Christianity and has fostered as a heresy ever since.  It received a big boost in Europe in 1569 when Transylvanian King John Sigismund issued an edict establishing religious freedom. The Edict of Torda expanded the limits of religious freedom far beyond the standard of 16th-century Europe.  The decree did not put a complete end to discrimination, because official status was granted only to the Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist clergymen; but Unitarian, Orthodox, Armenian, Jewish, and Muslim believers could also freely practice their religions.  Although neither the Calvinist nor Unitarian side was declared the winner of the debate at this session, John Sigismund accepted Unitarian ideas, which made him the only Unitarian monarch in history.

Grafted into Israel?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

August 21, 2021

Scripture Reading Romans 11:17, 18:

17) “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakes of the root and fatness of the olive tree:

18) Boast not against the branches.  But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.”

These two verses are a portion of the mystery of God that is mentioned, seven verses later, that pertains to the grafting of the branch of the wild olive tree into the good olive tree:

Romans 11:25“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles [nations] be come in.”

There are five important questions that need to be answered correctly in order to understand the mystery of the verses in Romans chapter 11. 

Cult of Baal

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

August 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 2:21-25

What do these verses mean?  What is Jeremiah saying to the kingdom of Judah?  Is it important to know today? 

God often pictures Israel as being planted as a noble vine or a goodly tree; a right seed.  Jeremiah then asks a disturbing question.  How did Israel change from a noble vine into a degenerate plant of a strange [or alien, or foreigner or adulterous] vine? 

Could Jeremiah, if he were alive today, ask the same question?  Is the House of Judah and the House of Israel turned into a degenerate plant of a strange vine or is it still a noble vine?   Is the kingdom likened to a well cultivated vine that has grown into a wild plant?  Is the kingdom likened to a filthy object that no amount of washing with soap can cleanse?  Is the kingdom likened to a woman who has left her husband for other men?  Is the kingdom likened to a person who has lusted after other strange women, like a camel in heat lusts for a mate?  Is the kingdom likened to the eagerness of a thirsty traveler who walks the desert searching for water till the sandals drop off his feet?  Could the same thing be said of the Israelite nations of today?  Are they being turned into a degenerate vine?

Man Versus Human

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

July 11, 2021

Deuteronomy 14:21a

There are three separate, diverse groups of people mentioned in verse 21:

  • “Ye”, “thou”, “thy” or “holy people”:  These are the seed of Jacob or the covenant people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They had the LORD God as their king, until they requested that one of their own people be king instead of Him.  They were forbidden to eat any animal that died of itself, but they were permitted to give the dead animal away or sell it.
  • “Stranger” [#1616, Strong’s]: sojourner.  To this group of people, the Israelites were told that they could give the animal that died of itself to them and then the people that they gave it to could eat it.
  • “Alien” [#5237, Strong’s]: alien, foreigner, outlandish. To this group of people, the Israelites were told that they could sell the animal that died of itself and then the individuals that bought it could eat it.

Is White Supremacy a Sin?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

June 13, 2021

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 10:14, 15

Are these introductory verses correct or not?  Did God say that He chose the seed of His covenant people to be above all people. Or did He say that His people would be below all people?  Or did He say that they would be equal to all people?

If there is a group of people who are above all people; is that not supremacy?   Is this not white supremacy, if you believe that the white race is the “seed” of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  Or is it really the supremacy of Almighty God, for He is the one who makes His chosen ones supreme?

Go To Hell

by Pastor Don Elmore

Part 1: This topic is very seldom preached in any of the many churches in our nation.  Would you be surprised as to who they say went to hell?  There are millions of Christians who say this, some every week, in  their church services.  What is meant by this?

Part 2: White people have forgotten their God. They have forgotten that a Christian must keep the laws that were given to him by His God, or they must accept His judgments against them. Look how many of the Laws of God have been discarded, and the laws of another god have been substituted in the United States. Then ask yourself if the blight of the large cities is a judgement against the acts of the White people of America?

Go To Hell - Part 2

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May 30, 2021

Scripture Reading  Psalm 16:10

“Systemic Racism in Chicago?

  1. 2,240 Shootings, 440 Homicides from January thru July 2020.  Almost every shooter and homicides were black -- 97.7%; but Black Lives Matter and Chicago’s Democratic Politicians blame police and systemic racism.
  2. The Chicago mayor is black.
  3. The Superintendent of Police is black.
  4. The Cook County State’s Attorney is black.
  5. The Chief Judge of Cook County Circuit Courts is black.
  6. The Illinois Attorney General is black.
  7. The Chicago Fire Department Commissioner is black.
  8. The Cook County Board President is black.
  9. The State Senate Majority Leader is black.
  10. The Illinois Lieutenant Governor is black.
  11. The Illinois Secretary of State is black.
  12. The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is black.
  13. The Cook County Clerk is black.
  14. The Chicago Treasurer is black.
  15. The Chicago Police Board President is black.
  16. The Chicago Transit Authority President is black.
  17. The CEO of Chicago Public Schools is black.
  18. The Commissioner of the Department of Water Management is black.
  19. 40% of the City Council belong to the Black Caucus.
    1. Their average pay is $122,304 annually each, PLUS $122,000 per year in expenses.  Their pension for life is 80% of last pay.
    2. Republican head count in the City Council is ZERO.
    3. William Hale Thompson was the last Republican Mayor of Chicago in 1931.
    4. For 90 years Democrats have controlled the Chicago Mayor’s Office.
    5. At the end of fiscal 2019 the Chicago deficit was $838,200,000! 

Can someone please explain how white people in general are responsible for Chicago’s horrendously dismal condition?”

This sermon will attempt to answer this question. 

Go To Hell - Part 1

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

May 9, 2021

First Half of the Apostle’s Creed:

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell …”

Was the Apostle’s Creed true or false regarding this four-worded phrase:  "He descended into hell"?  There have been millions of Christians who have repeated this Creed in unison in their congregations since it was first written over the last 1500 years.  Very few preachers ever preach on this subject. 

Modern liturgy and catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, the Moravian Church, the Methodist Church and the Congregational Church all participate in saying the Apostles’ Creed. What is meant by this phrase "He descended into hell"?