vassal of the King

At Christ Fellowship Bible Church , we just concluded a series called: "A Godly Home" where we looked at God's Word on various issues related to home/family life so as to understand God's perspective and to glean God's wisdom on the family . A GODLY HOME teaching series at Christ Fellowship: 1. Introduction to the series: "A Godly Home"   |  audio Geoff Kirkland   2. The meaning of marriage (Genesis 2)  |  audio Geoff Kirkland 3. The husband's duties to his wife (Ephesians 5:25-33)  |  audio Geoff Kirkland 4. The wife's duties to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-24)  |  audio Geoff Kirkland 5. Godly communication in the marriage (Selected Scriptures)  |  audio Geoff Kirkland 6. The intoxicating delight of sexual intimacy in marriage (Selected Scriptures)  |  audio Geoff Kirkland 7. Forgiveness in a godly marriage (Matthew 18:21-35)  |  audio Randy Kirkland 8. The goals of Christian parenting, part 1  (Selected Scriptures)

WHY I PREACH THE WORD Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church 1. obedience. I preach the Word because God commands me to do so. In obedience to my Savior, I herald His truth from His Word to listening ears. Why must I preach the Word? Because God calls His prophets to take His words and speak them to His people (Jer 23:28). God has given us His Word and all men everywhere must hear His truth. Christ tells me to “preach the Word” and to be ready “in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:1-5). I preach because God commands me to do it. I preach to be obedient to my Master. 2. trust. I preach the Word because I trust it will accomplish supernatural results. The preaching act is the most powerful force that the universe has ever known. Faithful preaching is the word of the living God going forth through His mouthpiece to hearers. Nothing in all existence carries as much power and authority than does the heralding of God’s truth from His Book. So, I preach because I trust

Make the Most of Your Winter Break Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Many students will return home from college after finals week and will have a few weeks off of school. Some students may go to previous employments to work for the break. Others will not work for the few weeks that they’re home and will choose, rather, to relax and spend time with family and friends. It is my goal in this brief essay to strongly plead with you, precious young men and women, to not squander these days but rather to use them wisely and make the most of your winter break.  I want to provide for you six loving exhortations for your serious consideration. 1. Read your Bible. Either you will proactively resolve to read your Bible or you will not determine to do so with the result that it probably will get left on the shelf without finding the place of priority in your schedule. Young people, remember that nothing in all of the world so profits your soul and satisfies your heart than th

The Benefits of Handing Out Gospel Tracts. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The Word of God reminds believers to always be ready to give a defense for the faith (1 Pet 3:15). Christians long for the unsaved to hear the gospel and to be converted. The gospel of God’s saving grace revealed in Christ goes forth in a myriad of ways. But one such way in which believers can proclaim the gospel and evangelize the lost is through the distribution of gospel tracts. A gospel tract is a printed piece of literature that presents the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ and calls the sinner to repent of sin, trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, and to follow Him. In this short write-up, I endeavor to present some reasons why Christians should hand out gospel tracts. That is to say, there are many benefits in the handing out of gospel tracts. I will list fifteen of them. 1. A good gospel tract faithfully proclaims the biblical gospel.  A good gospel tract is a piece of liter

Reminders for Christian Parents. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Parenting is just hard. It’s tiring. It’s busy. It’s laborious. It’s unending. It’s continuous. It’s demanding. But with all these realities, we as parents must remember that parenting is supremely rewarding! We won’t see the acorn sprout into a towering oak tree overnight but with earnest prayer, diligent labor, Christ-exalting zeal and loving discipleship, we trust God that He will do a mighty and supernatural work in the souls and lives of the children that He has entrusted to us. So in this brief essay, I want to present five simple reminders to Christian parents. 1. Be a faithful Christian. ( Piety ) Perhaps the simplest and most foundational reminder that I could proffer to Christian parents is simply to be a faithful Christian. Live what you speak. Practice what you preach. Emulate your Bridegroom. Love like He loved you. Forgive just as He forgave you. Pray as a child of God who love

The Necessity of Serious-Mindedness in Corporate Worship Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The wisest man who ever lived in ancient Israel spoke wisdom when he counseled believers to guard their steps as they go to the house of God and to draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools (Eccl 5:1). A little later, Solomon uttered another word of wisdom in the context of one’s attitude toward God in corporate worship: Fear God! (Eccl 5:7). Having an attitude of seriousness seems to be a concept that has long-since deceased in our entertainment-driven, fast-paced, consumeristic-mentality society that has even crept into the church. To be serious-minded does not mean to be sour nor does it mean to be angry or depressed. It does not mean that one must enter with a frown on his face or a chip on his shoulder. To be serious-minded means that one is overwhelmed with the sense of divine things that are taking place and with a very real sense of God’s almi

EVANGELISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The most happy Christian is an evangelistic one. The believer in Christ refuses to go to heaven alone. So he makes it his glad thought and incessant mindset to be a soul-winner. Every Christian, without exception, must see it as his blessed task to be a disciple of Christ and be a disciple-maker for Him! So, what exactly does evangelism look like in the life of the Christian? It will never look exactly the same because God has placed people in different settings in life where they can share the gospel but a few principles can guide one to a proper understanding of evangelism. The gospel message never changes but there are many different ways that believers can — and should! — take the gospel to the lost. 1. The JOY Evangelism should spring from a joyful heart. The source of Christian joy comes from the believer’s union with Christ and the unchanging reality that one’s name is recorded

Biblical Parenting —  Foundational Essentials for Faithful Dads and Moms Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church My son, keep my words, And treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.     —Proverbs 7:1–2 No one can overstate how important parenting is. God entrusts the important duty and joyous privilege of caring for His precious creatures by pointing them constantly, passionately, urgently, and Christocentrically to the gospel of grace. But how could one summarize biblical parenting? What are some foundational essentials for faithful dads and moms? This essay will provide a few. 1. INSTRUCT your children. Teachers disseminate information to their pupils. Parents must, in like manner, pass on God’s truth to their children. The parents have the primary duty and responsibility in all of life’s ambitions and endeavors to take biblical truth and teach the next generation to fear the Lord. If parents do everyt

Dear Daughters: Know This Husband. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church God has mercifully entrusted to me four daughters. They are precious and they are blessed gifts from God. My ultimate passion for them is to know Christ and to serve Him with all their might. I pray that they would not just know about God but that they would truly know God Himself and fall in love with Him more and more each day for He is the supreme joy and the fountain of infinite delights. This essay provides a father’s longing. Daughters: know Jesus Christ, the ultimate Bridegroom. 1. A loving bridegroom. The Lord Jesus Christ is a loving bridegroom. He displays the true meaning of love. Far more than sappy emotions and flittering feelings, the love of Christ compelled him to self-giving action on behalf of His bride. He initiated. He sacrificed. He gave Himself. He unconditionally served His bride for her benefit. His is the ultimate, supreme love. Daughters: know this Jesus! 2. A sacrificin

This is one article in a forth-coming eBook on "Homosexuality: Providing Answers from the Sufficient Word to Many Common Issues"   Homosexuality & Persecution. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Let no one ever think that Jesus promised His followers comfort, ease, prosperity, and receptiveness from the world. He did, nonetheless, provide many promises to His people. But He promised that suffering would come, that they would receive hostility from the world, and that just as they treated Christ, so the world would also treat His followers. No believer who is light should expect warmth, acceptance, tolerance, and receptivity from those who are darkness. 1. The Intolerance of Tolerance. Perhaps no wave of coming persecution in the western world is as widespread and sweeping as the one coming from the homosexual community. Those who live and herald their tolerance of all people, all backgrounds, all races, and all religions just cannot handle one gr

Duties of the Minister of the Gospel Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church As a minster of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I do well to remember simple and essential truths from Scripture regarding my duties. I know myself and my tendency to veer off course, to pursue hobby-horses, and to do what’s comfortable and to neglect what’s difficult. But to remember God’s glorious, gracious, wise and clear precepts for me to follow as a pastor benefits me and the flock that God has called me to shepherd. Furthermore, it glorifies God for me to remember my God-given duties and my blessed responsibilities as a minister of the gospel. In this essay, I’ll list 5 of them. 1. Pursue God Supremely. ( Pursuit ) The Apostle Paul exemplifies a shepherd-like heart with a supreme pursuit in his ministry. He noted that his preeminent desire is to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil 3:10). Thus, a pastor’s primary pursuit must not be to buil

APPROACHING THE HEAVENLY ZION Lessons from the Psalms of Ascent [Psalms 120-134] Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The collection of 15 Songs of Ascent comprise a hymnal within the hymnal [Psalms 120-134]. This set of poems aided the Jewish pilgrims as they journeyed from their homes to Zion to worship the Lord, with His people, in the Temple for the three pilgrimage feasts (cf. Deut 16:16). For the New Testament people of God, we do not embark on a pilgrimage from our homeland to the Temple to worship God. But we do, however, live as strangers and aliens in this world as we journey from this world to the heavenly Zion. As the Israelites of old meditated on Scripture, sung biblical truths, and anticipated the assembling with the redeemed, so believers today can learn how to approach the heavenly Zion as we trek through life. In this essay, I will provide six reminders as to how we must approach the heavenly zion. 1. Remembrance. The Songs of Ascent served to remind

“The Pilgrimage Songs: Journey On & Sing On…” The Songs of Ascent for the New Testament Christian [Psalms 120-134] Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Psalms 120-134 all have the same superscription (title): “A song of Ascents” [‏שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת; shir ha’maalot ]. Scholars have presented various viewpoints as to how ancient Israelites incorporated these psalms as they journeyed to the Zion to worship the Lord. But it seems that the best understanding is that this collection of 15 hymns comprised the devotional hymnbook for Israelites as they would journey to Zion for the three annual pilgrimage feasts (Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost). And as they began far away (at home) and traversed upward to Zion they would reflect on divine truth, meditate on these hymns, anticipate the community of worshipers, and long for true Shalom [peace]. But how can New Testament believers today interpret and apply these precious psalms? There is no temple for us. There

PREACH AS IF YOU WOULD DIE & GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church If it were revealed to you that you were about to preach the last sermon you would ever give, how would you preach and what would you do different? 1) Preach Christ & Him crucified. Every preacher must have a central thrust and focus and centerpoint in every sermon. He must herald the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work. Not every sermon is a gospel, evangelistic sermon but every message must proclaim Him. 2) Preach with the Spirit's power. The minister must beg earnestly for the Spirit of God to come upon him and anoint him with power and unction. The Spirit makes the words he utters effective. Let every man of God preach every sermon with the Spirit’s empowerment. 3) Preach God's Word faithfully. Preaching takes the Word of God and proclaims its eternal message to the hearers that have gathered so that they know what God has said and that t

WHAT IS WORSHIP IN HEAVEN LIKE? Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Enhancing worship on earth would greatly increase if believers understood what worship in heaven is like. So, in this brief write-up, let us examine how the Scriptures describe heaven. Let us seek to model heaven’s worship on earth. 1. God-focused. The worship in heaven focuses on one central, dominant, and inexhaustible subject -- the person of God. The triune God is the focus of heaven and thus is the focus of all worship. If the worship in heaven is saturated with the person, work, glory and personhood of the triune God, then how much more should believers’ worship here be like that. 2. Christ-exalting. The Lamb of God, seated on His throne, receives praise, worship, adoration, honor, glory, and blessing from the vast multitude of worshipers in heaven. The Lord of glory, the risen and exalted Christ, receives worship as He sits on his sovereign throne. Heaven is Christ-exalting and it is full of de