Ron Dunn Podcast - Why Jesus Is Sufficient

Episode Date: December 16, 2015

Pastor Ron Dunn preaches a message from Galatians chapter 1. This Message focuses on the sufficient of Christ in our lives.

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. Thank you, Pastor. Always makes me a little nervous when somebody I've known a long time gets up to introduce me. There's no telling what they may say or stories they may come up with,

but now that he is the president of the convention, it is beholding upon him to speak and act with more dignity than ever before. And I know that is just killing him. He can't wait for his last term to be over so he can start acting like he really wants to act. But God bless you. It's a joy to be back in your church. This is something we look forward to every year,

mainly because we need the work, but also because this is one of our favorite spots and one of our favorite fellowships to minister the Word of God in. And I want you to open your Bibles this morning to Galatians chapter 1. And we're going to read well the first 10 verses we may be referring to some other verses Galatians chapter 1 verses 1 through 10 I have been traveling for now for 21 years I do about 45 meetings like this a year, and I do overseas trips. I've just come back in May from a two-week preaching tour,

a three-week preaching tour of England, and we're planning another one over there next year. And there is something that I'm finding over and over again that really has burdened my heart and is exercising my spirit to no great end. And it is this. I find that so many of us and so many of our churches are becoming bored with Jesus and are looking to other things.

Not that they're going to cast aside our Lord, not that they're not going to preach Him to a certain extent, but as far as having total, absolute confidence in what Paul said in 1 Corinthians, that it was by the preaching of the cross that God said He would save those that perish. We do not have that confidence today. I find it slipping away. And I find that there are others who are trying to add things to the gospel, to supplement it, to make it more relevant, to make

it more attractive, to make it, if you please, more contemporary. And what disturbs me is that any time you add something to Jesus, you take away from him. Jesus is that kind of person that to add anything is to subtract from him. And if it's Jesus plus the law or Jesus plus this or Jesus plus anything else, then it is absolutely nothing. And I guess what grieves me so much is I grew up in a day when preaching had its primacy in the pulpit and in the church, and yet I'm finding that now in our contemporary society with our fawning over society as it is

and trying somehow, please notice us. Please don't pass us by. Please give us a place in your life. Please don't ignore us. We're just looking for some handout from the world, and so we're trying all of these other things. And it reminds me that what was sacred to the fathers usually becomes silly to the children.

I have found that the farther you get from the origin of a great movement, the more liberal it becomes. You take our Constitution, for instance. Is there anybody here that would be foolish enough to stand up and say that we haven't moved far beyond what the framers of the Constitution ever meant the Constitution to do? And as the time goes, the world has a, I think this is called the second law of thermodynamics. I don't want to expose too much ignorance here. I'll expose a little bit. But that's what empathy is all about, that things are disintegrating.

Things are disintegrating. And it's the same thing with the church. The farther we get from the origin of the gospel, the farther we get from the origin of the church, the more liberal the church becomes. The more liberal our attitude towards the Word of God becomes. And what was once hallowed by our grandparents is now just plain old hollow by so many of us today. And so I'm exercised over what Paul is. And Paul was writing to this church at Galatia, and you'll

never find a more fiery letter from Paul. I mean, Paul's upset, if you don't mind my saying so. He has just about had it. He's angry, and it's with a righteous anger, because these people that he had preached to so clearly and plainly were being led astray by false teachers into false ways of completing their salvation. And so Paul's, if I had to give a theme for the book of Galatians, it would be set free and staying free. It is one thing to be set free. It is another thing to stay free.

It has cost our nation far more lives and money to maintain our liberty than it was to obtain it in the Revolutionary War. And we've been fighting wars ever since and always will. Why? To maintain that which we gain. It's one thing to gain something. It's another thing to maintain it and hold it true. And this is why Paul in chapter 4 talks about how he's travailing all over again in birth until Christ be formed in you now I've never brought a

child in the world thank God would never call them the weaker sex they're able to go through that but I know this that if the only pain in having children was just the pain of childbirth, that would just be a walk through a picnic. It is the pain of bringing that child up in the world and seeing them grow and seeing them fully formed. Wouldn't you agree with me? That the greater pain is not when they're born

and they're nice little babies, but as they grow up into adolescence and teenagers and young men, and you have to travail all over again, just like having a baby all over again, trying to guide them into that. Well, it's the same thing with the gospel. So we need to be brought back and once and once again to be confronted with the sufficiency of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the sufficiency of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is the point at which we're losing it today. We're losing our confidence that the gospel and the gospel message alone is sufficient to bring men to Jesus Christ. I'm talking about signs and wonders and signs and wonders,

and we have to have this to impress the world. But John in his gospel said that he wrote down seven signs that Jesus did, and he says these signs are enough for anyone to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and have life through his name. And when we begin saying there's got to be additional signs and additional wonders, then we're saying the Word of God is no longer competent to convert the hearts of men. The gospel of Christ is alone sufficient

for all that God wants to do in our life. So let me read again in verse 3 where Paul says, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of God and the Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. What a statement. There it is.

Paul bypasses his usual salutations and greetings because he doesn't have anything very happy to say to these Galatians. And right at the beginning, he nails down what the subject is going to be. And the subject is going to be the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. And let me just share with you several reasons why Christ and Christ alone, not Christ plus Moses,

not Christ plus human effort, not Christ plus anything else, but Christ and Christ alone is sufficient to build the church and to bring men to Christ. And the first reason is because of His death on the cross. That's what makes Him sufficient. of his death on the cross. That's what makes him sufficient,

because he died on the cross. There had to be a death, because the Bible says that every sin must be paid for. Every sin bears in it the seeds of judgment, and God cannot be a just God and excuse or allow or turn his eye away from that sin. And so what makes Christ absolutely indispensable is that he is the one that died for our sins and that while he was hanging on the cross, God took all the sins of mankind, past and future, and placed them upon the body of Jesus Christ. And so Peter can say, He bore away our sins. Christ is sufficient because He died on the cross for our sins. It was, as you know, a vicarious death in which Jesus Himself did not deserve to die. He had lived a perfect life.

He was the perfect man. He did no wrong. Even when he was brought in front of his accusers, they said, can anybody point out anything wrong in this man's life? Nobody could. You know, they tried. They tried desperately, and finally they made up some stuff.

Jesus was absolutely pure and holy, free from the taint of sin. And then what did God do? What did God do? Folks, this is the gospel. And this is the only hope. God took all our sins, all of our sins of all their ugliness

and hatefulness and meanness, all the hypocrisy and self-righteousness and the judgment and the lack of love and all of that, and he heaped it upon the shoulders of Jesus, an unbearable burden. You see, the reason people don't see Jesus as absolutely sufficient today is because we are trying to forget that sin is the main problem. That sin is the main problem.

I invite you to look at some of the evangelistic appeals that are going around today. Whole seminars and whole ministries are based upon this, that you come to Jesus and he'll give you rest. And you come to Jesus and he'll give you peace. You come to Jesus and he'll heal your body. You come to Jesus and he'll bless you with prosperity. You come to Jesus and you'll be a greater citizen

than you've ever been. You'll hit a greater citizen than you've ever been. You'll hit a baseball farther than you've ever hit it. You'll be a better father and mother than you've ever been if you come to Jesus. Now, I'm not saying those things are true, but what I'm saying is the gospel never makes its claim on anything like that. The claim of the gospel is we have sinned against God. His wrath is coming and you better flee to the Son

or you'll endure and suffer the wrath of God. But we don't preach that way anymore because too many churches, they don't want to offend anybody. I get so tired of hearing that. I was in one of these churches and he said well what we try to do in our churches we say nothing do nothing they've even advertised it on a billboard we promise we won't say anything at a membership and uh and so they come in you know and they talk

about family relationships and 10 ways to freedom and 10 steps to better self-esteem and everything and I'm talking about this and I I said well tell me what's going on what's what's your philosophy and ten ways to freedom and ten steps to better self-esteem and everything. And I was talking about this, and I said, well, tell me what's going on. What's your philosophy? He said, our philosophy is never to say or do anything that makes the lost person uncomfortable. I said, well, I guess that means you can't preach against sin. And he just smiled and never answered.

I want to tell you this morning, well, I'll tell you what Paul tells you. Down there in verse 11, he said, I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ.

And then in verse 10, now am I trying to win the approval of men or of God, or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Friend, that makes it about as clear as it can be. If you're going to try to please men, then you can't be the servant of Christ.

You just can't. Well, let's take down the cross because it offends some. Good, they need to be offended. That's what the cross is all about. Paul said that's where the power was, that it was a stumbling block to some and an offense to others. People don't need to hear about, you know, I mean, in counseling sessions and all the things you know I understand we need we need counseling and all this sort of stuff but I want to tell you something for the basic needs of man today we don't need to hear about this other stuff we need to hear that God has solved the sin problem through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and that is the answer and until we have

faith once again in the power of the gospel. You know, it was an interesting thing, Tom. I was at the Union University last week at their pastor's conference and a man came up to me and in 1959, when I was a student at seminary, I held a revival at Mariana, Florida.

Now that's been nearly 40, 50, 40 years ago. And one of the men came up to me and introduced himself, and he said, you don't remember me, but I led the music for you at Mariana, Florida. I just couldn't believe it, you know. I didn't remember it. But I tell you what I do remember about Mariana, Florida. Mariana, Florida was a changing point of many in my preaching life.

Up to that time, I'd been a holler and a screamer and a yeller, and I thought that the louder you yelled, you know, in the heart of your stomp, the more effective you were. It was at Mariana, Florida that God showed me that the power was in the Word. The power was in the Word. And I couldn't make it more powerful by shouting it. I couldn't add to the power by waving my arms or doing this, you know, or stomping around.

That the power was in the Word itself. That's where the power is. And what we have done today is we have lost our confidence in the power of the Gospel to change men's lives. And Paul says, God Christ is sufficient.

Why? Because He died on the cross. But notice, not only that, because of the death of the cross, but because of the deliverance of the cross, he says in that fourth verse that he died to rescue us from the present evil age, from this present evil age.

Now notice it doesn't say here he died to rescue us from hell. That's included. That's sort of bonus thrown in but he died to rescue us from this present evil age now there are two ages in the world today there is the old age the age of the world

the cosmos and then there is and please don't misunderstand what I mean by this term there is the new age. And when I say new age, you understand I'm not talking about all this psychic stuff and contemplating your navel and thinking positive thoughts and all that and trying to get in touch with the God that is within you. You understand I'm not talking about that.

That's nothing more than pagan heresy. That's all that is. I'm talking about the new age that Christ promised to bring and usher in the kingdom of God when he came, and he did. And so while it may not be visible to people today, our world is running on two tracks. We're living in two ages. There is this old age, the worldly age, evil present age, and then there's this

new age of the kingdom of God in Christ. Now, notice what the apostle says, Christ died to save us, to deliver us, to deliver us. The word means to rescue from danger, to deliver us from this present evil age. Folks, there's something dangerous about living in this age right now. I'm not talking about going to hell. I'm talking about right now just the very fact that you live in this world and you adopt the ways of the world and the means of the world and the philosophy of the world and you make friends with the world. There is something deadly dangerous about living.

You need to be delivered from that. You need to be delivered from that. My heart breaks everywhere I go. I have to counsel with parents and others whose children or husband or friends or family have been caught up in this present evil age. This present evil age. This present evil age. They're living only for the present.

Only for what satisfies now. If it feels good, do it. There is no future. There is no expectation. Don't plan for the future. Right now is all that counts. Get all you can. Can all you get.

And set on the can so nobody else can get it. And it's that type of thing, and it's dangerous because it destroys men's faith in themselves. It brings out hatred, and it brings out suspicion. It brings out competition and jealousy. It brings out a person being controlled by drugs or alcohol, And it brings out all of these things where a man is made a slave to the sin of this world. And Christ has come to deliver us, to rescue from the danger of this present evil world. And one of the great blindnesses that the devil has set upon us

is that we do not see the danger of living in this present evil world. But all you need to do is to look around, watch the television, read the newspapers with an open eye, and you'll see, folks, that it's dangerous to make your home in this present evil age. And Christ has delivered us, he has saved us to deliver us, to rescue us from danger, from this present evil world. But there's something else about this. That's a reflexive verb, by the way, and it means that He rescued us for Himself. He rescued for Himself.

Possession is there. Ownership is there. Not only did He deliver us out of this present evil age, but He rescued us and joined us to Himself. We belong to Him. We belong to Him. We are no longer children of this world. We're no longer children of this age. We're children of God and children of the new age.

And that's why Christ and Christ alone is sufficient. Nothing else can do that. Nothing else can do that nothing else can do that it's sad to see people trying to be delivered from this present evil age by using the techniques of the present evil age have you noticed that no you can't do it something new something totally different has to come in. What is that? The gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ died for our sins,

and our sins were worth dying for. You see, we have gotten a low opinion of sin, that our sins were just mistakes and erroneous habits, but they were worth dying for, so deadly, so damning, that God sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins. He is sufficient. Well, there's a third reason I'd like to point out this morning

why Jesus Christ is sufficient, and it's because of the design of the cross. Notice he says it's according to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. It was according to the will of God and our Father. We talk about wanting to do the will of God. We sit around and saying, let's search and see if we can find the will of God. I want to tell you what the will of God is. The will of God is that men and women be changed and saved through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's according to his will. There is no other way. There is no other plan that God ordains or that God approves of.

He was crucified according to the will of God. It was divine in its origin. Where does the gospel have its origin? Is it man-made? Listen, let's try this morning to distinguish between that which is revelation and that which is man-made. We are suffering today under the burden of the traditions of men

that are binding us back into legalism. What is the difference between that and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? I love what Paul says. I tell you what, he's serious about this business even if we're not. In verse 6 he said, I am astonished that you are so quickly discerning the one who called you by his grace of Christ and who are turning to a different gospel,

which is really not good news at all. No wonder it's not good news because it means that you are completed by self-effort. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But now watch this. But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned.

As we have already said, so now I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than that you accepted, let him be eternally condemned. Well, that's pretty strong words. Do you and I feel that strong about the gospel message of Jesus Christ? And he said, this was all God's will. In verse 11, he said,

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, whether I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Boy, that's good. He says over there in verse 16, verse 17, he said, I did not consult with any man nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see what those who were apostles before I was,

but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. And verse 6 of chapter 2, he said, As for those who seem to be important, whatever they were makes no difference to me. God does not judge by external appearances. Those men added nothing to my message. Paul said, I got my message, direct revelation from God.

I didn't go up asking other preachers, Well, how do you think about this? From God. I didn't go up asking other preachers, well, how do you think about this? How do you think we ought to interpret this? And what is this and what is this? He said, I didn't go up to any of them. I didn't go up to any of them. Whoever they were, some seemed mighty important,

but it makes no difference to me. God looks on no person. All I know is this, that I went into Arabia for three years and God revealed his Son in me, it says, and he just filled me with revelation. And my message is from direct revelation to God. And when I got back, I preached what God had given me. Gospel is source. It's divine in its source.

It's divine in its subject, it's divine in its subject, in that its subject is Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. And then finally, it is divine in its results. He says, it is called good news, by the way. The gospel is called good news, by the way. What is good news? What is good news? What is good news?

Good news is when the doctor has said you're incurably ill and you have three to six months. Good news is when the doctor comes and says we were wrong and you've been healed and your body is perfectly healthy. That's good news. Good news is when you hear the word and it says that we've been condemned by our sins and there's nothing we can do

in order to appease a holy and righteous God and we're going to hell. Good news is that God Himself has taken upon Himself our sins and through Jesus Christ died on the cross that we might be set free. That's good news, friends. That's good news, friends.

Well, there's one last word. God's cross is sufficient, not only because of the death of the cross or the deliverance of the cross and the design of the cross, but because of the doxology of the cross. This is the main thing. The doxology of the cross. Verse 5, To whom be glory forever and ever. Can I hear an amen?

That's what Paul says. To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now, what difference is that between those who add other things to the gospel? Well, if you'll turn to chapter 6 for just a moment, what some of the enemies of the gospel were, there were others, but these were some of the primary ones were Christian Jews who came into that church and said, well, Jesus is all right, but he's not enough. You need to add the Jewish law. You need to be circumcised.

You need to observe rites and days. But notice what Paul says. Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised

that they may boast about your flesh, you see. A lot of boasting going on today. I did this and I did this and I did this and I tell you I'm afraid too many of us who stand in the pulpit are after converts not because we particularly love them and want them to be saved from their sins because it makes us look good.

No, but when the true gospel is preached, there's only one person who is ascribed glory and boasting, and that is God the Father. There'll be no strutters in heaven. Though I think that when you and I think about these things, we need to think about it this way. What will bring the Father the most glory? What is his will as to which way he should be glorified?

It is through men and women coming to the Savior as a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He and he alone is sufficient. For your sins, as we'll see later on, for your life as you live it day by day. Have you ever experienced that gospel? I don't mean have you heard it or have you read it, but I mean has it ever become real in your life

when you recognize that you're a sinner separated by God, that Jesus died in your place for your sins, and that you came to him in prayer and invited him to come into your heart? You've never done that, I trust, as the Holy Spirit leads you, that you'll do it this morning.

Would you bow your heads, please, for a moment as we pray? As our hearts bow before the Lord, would you just ask the Lord to speak the truth of this message to your heart? Then ask yourself, has my life been changed by the awesome insufficiency of Christ? Do I know, and know that I know, that I possess that life which he and he alone can give?

The forgiveness, cleansing of sin, his eternal life. Is that a settled issue in my heart this morning? Father, I pray thanking you for your word and for the sufficiency of our Lord your word for the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus and for the sufficiency of the cross that we need no other implement our instrument in order to accomplish in our lives what you want to accomplish father I pray that anyone here hearing this message this morning who has not come to the cross and believed on Jesus

but come today to receive Christ by faith as Savior and Lord turning from sin turning to the Savior our Lord Jesus and I pray these things in Jesus matchless and marvelous name with your head bowed with your eyes closed, let me say that in just a few moments we're going to stand together. And our choir is going to lead us as we sing a hymn of invitation. I'd like for us to sing,

Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, Lamb of God, I come. And this is your invitation to receive christ to trust in him to receive the sufficiency of what he did on the cross to receive him as a resurrected lord and savior this morning and i would urge you to make that decision and many people will be coming forward i'm going to ask our counselors will be coming

forward prayer warriors will be here at this altar i'm going to ask those who've made decisions in earlier services we've not introduced, such as these who are baptized this morning, to come and be seated over here where it says seating for new members. And this is your invitation to receive Christ. God is speaking to your heart about becoming a part of this church family. This is the perfect time to do it, the absolute time he's spoken to your heart you know what you need to do what you ought to do and I would encourage you to make your way to an aisle in a few moments when we stand make your way forward find one of these counters and say look I want to join this church or we our family wants to

join this church we want to be a part of this you may be here this morning for the very first time you may have been time. You may have been here before. You may have been here many times. Maybe you've been visiting for a year or years, but you've never just affiliated in this sense. I want to become accountable as a part of the body of Christ here at First Southern. I want to join these people in reaching around the world with the message of the cross.

Well, I would urge you to make that decision this morning. So when we stand, just step to an aisle, make your way forward, find the hand of the cross well I would urge you to make that decision this morning so when we stand just step to an aisle make your way forward find the hand of a counter and say look I'm coming we're coming to join this church you'll be joining others who are coming could be that God's calling you to some specific ministry you need prayer for some issue come find a counselor just express what's on your heart and I believe that there are those this morning to whom the Lord is saying, today is your day of salvation.

And I would urge you when we stand, make your way to an aisle, come down this aisle, find one of these counselors, and you're just verbalizing what's going on in your heart. Jesus asked people, he said, look, stretch out your hand. Stand up. In other words, there was always this invitational aspect of it. And this morning I would ask you to come

and to receive Christ as your Savior. Your coming is an indication that that's your desire, that that's the decision that you're making. You find one of these counselors, and you might want to say something like this, I want to trust Jesus this morning. I want to trust in Jesus this morning. They'll talk with you, pray with you,

and give you some information which will help you to grow in your brand new relationship with Christ. And you can leave knowing that your sins are forgiven forever. That Christ is in your heart forever. Absolute sufficiency of Jesus and the cross. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Let's stand

together. Father in heaven, my prayer is a prayer that your Holy Spirit, moving in this place this morning, will bring to this altar each person deeply convicted of sin, desires to receive forgiveness and cleansing and eternal life, to be saved from this present age. And Father, I pray there'd be many who would say yes to you this morning. Bring others, Lord, and by their coming, encourage others, still others, to say yes to you. And we pray, Heavenly Father, believing that you have a will for each of us,

a plan for each of us, and the greatest thing we can do is to surrender completely to you and your plan for our lives. And we pray these things in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Let's begin singing together. Some are already coming.

I urge you to join. Amen. Today, I'm saying yes to Jesus. Today, I open my heart to him. Amen. God bless you, dear family. God bless you. Lamb of God, I come. Amen. God bless you, dear family. God bless you. Lamb of God, I come.

Amen. As others are coming, would you join? Amen. God bless you. Amen. God bless you, son of man. God bless you, dear family. Lamb of God, I come.

Amen. Still others are coming. Would you join them right now? God bless you, dear couple. God bless you, dear family. Amen. Bidings within. Within and without. with many a cross, with many a doubt, fighting's revenge, and death is revenge, with and without, without a word,

of God and God. Amen. Still others are coming. Would you just join them right now? Just as I am, full of flesh and blood, I plead to thee, Lamb of God. Amen. As these go to the counseling area,

would you come and join them this morning? I'm saying yes this morning. We're saying yes to Jesus. Would you bow your head for just a moment? In just a moment, while our heads are bowed and while our eyes are closed, I'm going to ask the choir to sing once again that first stanza of this wonderful hymn of invitation. And this is your personal invitation to come to Jesus.

Now, it may be that God has put in your heart a concern for someone close to you, and the most wonderful and missionary thing that you could do would be to turn to that person and say, look, if you want to go to say yes to Jesus, and there's something about the distance or that altar down there that is of concern to you, I'll go with you. I mean, I'll go with you. It could be you just need to turn to them, put your hand on their arm and say, look, I'll go with you. It could be you need to turn to someone and say,

look, I want to make a decision. For Christ, would you go with me to that altar? Many times people who come to the altar are brought to this altar by a friend or they've come with a friend beside them to encourage them. The issue is this. If God is speaking to your heart

and leaving at this moment without making a decision would be to say no to him. You say, well, I'm not saying no. Well, not to say yes is to say no. Well, then I would urge you to come right now. Father, I pray trusting in this moment you'd bring to this altar those who will say yes. And I pray it in Jesus' name.

Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Ch closed choir would you sing one of the stanza of our invitation you know that's it Amen. Thank you. Would you be seated, please? Ushers, would you make your way to the aisle to help us as we give of our tithes and of our offerings this morning? Bill Spain handed me this note about the Gaffords, these retiring missionaries who returned from Japan.

But, Brother Bill, they came to join church this morning, so I'll not introduce them right now. We'll introduce them later on. You know, the Prickets are back from Barbados. They're some of our wonderful missionaries, and they live up northwest. And last Sunday morning, we're in our first Southern Fellowship up northwest.

And yesterday morning, we had 24 of the people in our fellowship out handing out informational flyers to people in various blocks around the school where we meet. And the Pricketts, these brand-new members, returning missionaries, you know, just in your blood. They were out there on the streets walking door to door handing out those flyers as well.

I love these missionaries. Thank God for them. Now, would you reach forward and get an offering envelope if you don't already have one in your hand? It's time to give. What a thrill it is for us to give of our tithes and of our offerings. And I encourage you, you know,

tithing is just God's irreducible minimum. That's where we start. And so I'll encourage you to give and to give generously. And then, of course, the offering time. Many of you have given to three and three. And if you want to do that this morning, I encourage you to use that little blank area down there, the offering envelope.

That will enable us, by the grace of God, by the time we get That will enable us, by the grace of God, by the time we get to December of 1999, to have a million dollars a year more for ministry and missions than we have, we've ever had. And I encourage you to give. It's going to be a wonderful experience to do that. So I encourage you to give and to give generously. Also, in every one of our services, we're going to have the privilege of giving a love offering for Brother Ron Dunn as he's come to share with us.

And I want to encourage you to give to that as well. And if you want to do that, use that blank spot on that offering envelope and just write love offering in it. And that, and I say this for our financial people, all that's loose in the offering plate, you say, I don't have an offering envelope, but I want to give.

And so you put something in the offering plate. You say, I don't have an offering envelope, but I want to give. And so you put something in the offering basket, just loose, all that's loose in the offering basket and all that you specifically designate as a love offering will go to our Bible teacher and preacher for this week. And I know you want to join me in expressing your appreciation to him.

My, what an exciting four days these are going to be for us amen and aren't you glad that once again God sent brother Ron Dunn our way to bless us during these days I am excited about this study the book of Galatians one of my favorite books of the New Testament little Romans I've always called it because I love the teachings of the book of Galatians. Well, let's pray together and prepare to give. Father, I pray trusting that your Holy Spirit will stir our hearts as we prepare to give.

Lord, help us to be sensitive to you. You've spoken to us. Many people by coming this morning have indicated that you have drawn them to this altar to say yes to you. Bless them as they are ministered to in the counseling room. And Lord, these whom we'll introduce this morning, how we thank you for them. Bless the offering, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, these men are going to help us. Let me remind you men, if you will please, to sign up for our men's ministry outdoorsman outback odyssey also ladies genie is going to be out at the table in the vestibule if you have not signed up for our fall ministries for the ladies and guys let me just tell you the best gift you could give your wife would be to say look why don't you go out there find a ministry that would bless your life sign up for it and if there's any cost involved I'll take care of it it could be minimal at the most but go out there and encourage your wife to go out there rather and sign up for one of these ladies ministry Bible studies or outreach meetings there are all kinds of

things for our ladies ministries sign up for them out there at the table pray for us we'll be going over to the Northwest fellowship just now where brother Ron will speak and also be back tonight 515 teachers 6 30 church family for a wonderful time of refreshing it's informal so relax and just come tonight bring your friends as we worship the Lord well thank you pastor and again I want to remind you, all of our Sunday School workers, if you're a director, a teacher, a care group leader, if you're a missions director, prayer director, secretary, whatever office you may hold in Sunday School,

we know that you're going to benefit greatly from the leadership training tonight. So be sure and go to the marked areas. We'll be meeting divisionally, preschool and preschool area, children's division will be meeting up in the children's area. And then all the other meetings will be taking place right here in this auditorium under the balcony in those classrooms back there. So be sure and read your bulletin about that. This coming Sunday is August the 17th, and we're going to be kicking off our fall campaign. And at that same time, we are also going to be, in our youth through senior adults,

we're going to have new Sunday school lessons, and these Sunday school lessons for three weeks are going to be on strategic prayer. Folks, they're going to be exciting lessons. They'll change your life. So be looking forward to that. Our teachers will be able to find their booklets, their quarterlies in the record stores

this morning in your classrooms Guess we're delighted that you're with us today, and we want you to feel right at home We want you to be part of sunny school this next hour 1045 will be meeting for sunny school So I have no idea where I'm supposed to go. Well, if you will simply go to the back doors and To your right, and you'll see a guest information desk there. Not only will we help you to figure out where you're to go, give you a map,

and talk to you about the classes involved, but we'll also give you a personal escort. There are folks who have it as a very special ministry just to wait on you, to help you find your class and answer any questions that you may have about Sunday school or the church. So again, thank you for being here today. We have some people that we'd like to introduce to you at this moment.

Al? I'd like to introduce to you some new members of our church. David and Peggy Brocksterman come to us by statement. I'd like to also introduce their children, David, Daniel, and Jeremy. Oh, we are delighted to have this family. My, we are filled. God bless you for coming. Fine-looking young men we have here.

And God bless you as you become a part of our church family. Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. For more Ron Dunn materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.