The early section deals with church leaders exploiting the congregation, with parallels in today’s church strongly emphasised.

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TRANSCRIPT OF THE SERMON

This will be uploaded … soon

There is a “button” labelled “Save Video” (or “Download Video” sometimes). See below (“PS0” for full info)

PS2: ::: The latest development on the “Transcript” section is that the text-file will be subject to far less preparation than before – less editing and correction. It will still be converted to sentence-column form as before, but any trimming and polishing will be left to the user. Any shortcomings in the transcription software should be pretty obvious and so not a problem in getting the meaning (and the audio file will provide the necessary clarification if required )

PS1: ::: {not-so-}NEW FORMAT of the transcript.
To ease the processing and preparation of the transcript, and we hope improve the readability of the text, a new format was been adopted in mid October. This breaks the text into sentences instead of arbitrarily-sized “paragraphs”. When the reader opens the file in a program such as Notepad (in MS Windows), then the appearance can be just like a newspaper column. The format is such that the user has many options available, depending on preferences and what software they like to use.
Any feedback on usefulness, improvement suggestions, or whatever, would be most welcome.

PS0 ::::: TRANSCRIPT OF THE SERMON
There is a “button” labelled “Save Video” (or “Download Video” sometimes). This actually links to a text-file to download. It is a transcript of the sermon. At present it is at an experimental stage: it is an aid to getting the most out of the sermon audio. There is no substitute for listening to the verbal delivery of a sermon. However, searching through an audio file lasting the best part of an hour can be somewhat difficult. When you approach the search knowing that you’re sure there is something about “redemption”, for example, then a transcript text-search can take you right there and show you the time in the recording where you will find it! The file is simple “text” rather than a more sophisticated form so that you can edit or reformat as you prefer. This transcript is in 2 forms (in the one file). One half consists of normal text arrangement. These ‘blocks’ were at purely arbitrary boundaries (boundaries were inserted at about 800 character intervals, purely to avoid having one huge unbroken deluge of text, i.e. no attempt at grammatical accuracy). The format has now been changed as described above in PS1. The other section is short bunches of words (8 to 12 nomally) beneath the TIMES at which they occur (for the whole sermon).
This facility is in development (“experimental” as mentioned above) so any feedback on usefulness, improvement suggestions, or whatever, would be most welcome.

The post Ezekiel Chapter 34 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

In Chapter 1 Paul instructs Titus to ‘set things in order’ in the church on the Island of Crete.

In the second chapter, the focus is turned to the vitally important subject of sound doctrine.

Here in this final chapter of this short, but powerful letter, Paul reminds Titus of the importance of the ‘good words’ that should accompany salvation, stating that we should be “careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men”.

• Good works are good for two reasons:

–1. they are good (so bring blessing to the recipient/s)

–2. they help to maintain focus and direction for the doer  (Prov 29:18)

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The post Paul’s Letter to Titus – Chapter 3 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

The Powerpoint slides used by Pastor Barry for this teaching are available for free download (in PDF format).

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

The post Paul’s Letter to Titus – Chapter 1 10 – 2 15 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

In this letter, written around 64-67A.D., Paul writes to encourage his faithfull co-worker, Titus, and to exhort him to:

Chapter 1:  All things set in order in the churches on the Island of Crete (many there were young believers that lacked maturity)

Chapter 2:  To uphold Sound in doctrine, for the good of the church and to counter the false teaching of those who thought ‘godliness was a means for personal gain’

Chapter 3:  To encourage Titus to impress upon the various congregations on Crete the need to perform good works as evidence that their Salvation was genuine!

In the first chapter, Paul reminds Titus of the three commissions he had been given:

1.Preach God’s Word   1:1-4

2.Ordain Qualified Leaders   1:5-9

3.Silence False Teachers   1:10-16

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The post Paul’s Letter to Titus – Chapter 1 1-9 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

TITUS

Titus is seen by some as Paul’s troubleshooter; he took the ‘severe’ letter to Corinth for Paul, and was left in Crete by Paul to ‘set things in order’ (1:5). Titus seems to have been a strong character, physically and spiritually, and Paul certainly expresses less concern for Titus’ welfare than he did for Timothy’s. Titus was a Gentile, and when Paul took him to Jerusalem he refused to circumcise him (see Gal. 2:1–3). He had Timothy circumcised because they were going to go into the synagogues, but there was no need for Titus. Notably, in the great council of the church in Jerusalem, the liberty of the gospel was at stake, and Paul would not permit one bit of legalism to slip in (see Acts 15) – the church is built on grace not Law. Titus was a Gentile saved by grace and walking in faith. In this letter Paul lays out what the ideal church should be like. Firstly, an orderly organisation (ch1); then, it must be sound in doctrine (ch2). Finally, it should be pure in life and character, ready to every good work (3:1).  It was Titus’ job to action Paul’s request.

PHILEMON

The short and beautiful letter to Philemon tells the story of our redemption through the actual account of a runaway slave called Onesimus. Onesimus was a slave owned by Philemon who had fled from his master, only to later become a believer and friend of Paul. Paul sent him back to Philemon with this accompanying letter. Paul not only tells of the transformation in this young man which he had begotten to a new life (v10), but also offers to pay any outstanding debt on his behalf. In just the same way, we were slaves who had fled in rebellion from our Master. We were then begotten to a new life and a way was made for us to return to our Master, all our debts being paid in full. We can hear Christ agreeing to take our place and to have all our sin imputed to Him. He took our place in death, but He gives us His place in life. “If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself” (v. 17). By grace, we now have the standing of Christ before God

HEBREWS

From Adam to Moses, through 2500 years, from Moses to Malachi, through 1100 years, the prophets were speaking for God to man. Yet at the end of 3600 years their revelation of God was only partial. Then, after a silence of 400 years, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, and in Him the revelation of God is perfect. That is the theme of Hebrews.

For believing, yet zealous Jews, brought up under the Law of Moses, steeped in tradition, the dilemma was what to do with their God-ordained tradition? Hebrews systematically shows in the opening chapters that Jesus is the fulfillment of their tradition; a God-Man better than angles, an Apostle better than Moses, a Leader greater than Joshua, and a High Priest better than Aaron. We then have the new covenant contrasted with the old: the new covenant offers better promises, opens a better sanctuary, was sealed by a better sacrifice, and achieves  far better results (the new covenant has the power to purge even the conscience –9:9). Rather than by a system of works, the new covenant is appropriated solely by faith; and Jesus is the author and finisher of that faith.

May this overview prompt you to undertake your own study of these divinely inspired books.

The PDF slides are from the PowerPoint presentation used during the teaching session.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for later listening.

The post Session 44 – Titus Philemon & Hebrews first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.