vassal of the King

HUSBAND: LEAD BY EVANGELIZING! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and as one who has been sought by God, selected by God, saved by God, secured by God, and satisfied in God, you have the heart-thrilling duty to speak of Jesus Christ to the lost. This is every Christian’s responsibility. In fact, if one could boil down the mission of every single Christian who is still alive in this world, that mission could be simply stated as follows: you are alive to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You are to be the mouthpiece for the Lord by speaking His gospel to the lost so that He can draw His own to salvation through the hearing of the gospel. Maybe you have an unconverted wife. Maybe, O husband, as you read this, your heart sinks in discouragement because you are married to a woman who has no love for the things of God and no yearning for this glorious Christ! Maybe you l

I have the marvelous privilege of being called by God to devote myself to prayer and to the ministry of the Word as I serve Christ's blood bought sheep at Christ Fellowship Bible Church of St Louis. There is no higher calling in all the world that God could have given to me. To meet with God every day in prayer and to go deep in God's Word in study fill my heart, mind and affections with God-enthralling joy every day. What a privilege to serve Him and the flock at CFBC. I wrote this 10-part series well over 3 years ago but I find it to be just as true now as it was then when I penned the blogs. I truly do love my church. CFBC is not a perfect church. There isn't a perfect church. But it is a place of God-glorifying worship. And also, it's not my church; it's God's church. Christ is the Head over His church. I know that. But it is the local assembly to which I'm committed with all my heart and with all my devotion. For that, I joyfully call CFBC my

Join Christ Fellowship Bible Church for the next 3 Wednesday nights, 7:00PM, as we engage in a series: THE WONDERS OF OUR INCARNATE KING .  PART #1 - Jesus Christ, our HOLINESS Wednesday, December 14 We'll sing the Word We'll study the Word We'll pray the Word PART #2 - Jesus Christ, our HELPER Wednesday, December 21 We'll sing the Word We'll study the Word We'll pray the Word PART #3 - Jesus Christ, our HOPE Wednesday, December 28 We'll sing the Word We'll study the Word We'll pray the Word Join us at 7:00PM on Wednesday nights. All sermons & PDF handouts will be here .  www.CFBCSTL.org

HUSBAND: PRAY FOR YOUR WIFE! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church There just might be some news that would toweringly soar far above any other news you could receive today. That news is that you have, at this present instant, a Great High Priest who intercedes for you before God’s heavenly throne. At this moment, wherever you are , whatever you’ve done, and however you may feel, if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a Surety in heaven who pleads His own merits before God the Father on your behalf. Jesus, right now, prays for you. In fact, He does not stop praying for you. He loves you and brings you incessantly before the Father’s throne in prayer. Dear Christian, this is what your bridegroom does for you! So husband, strive to emulate this by praying for your wife. Just as your Savior brings you before the Father, so you should bring your wife before the Father frequently.  Just as your Savior intercedes for you out of fervent love, so you can intercede o

HUSBANDS: SACRIFICE FOR YOUR WIVES! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church (St Louis, MO) Love costs a lot. It’s easy to get and to receive and to take, but that’s not love! True love is a sacrificial giving of oneself to another for their good. It’s easy and natural to get things from others. But it’s unnatural to sacrifice self for the blessing of another. But that’s precisely what Christ has done for ungodly sinners. And as Christ, the Bridegroom, as loved His Bride with this kind of sacrificing love, so husbands are commanded to emulate this love by sacrificially loving their wives. “Got it!” men say. But what does it mean to sacrifice? How does it look in the marriage relationship? The more that husbands understand the kind of sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated for His people, the more will they will see how to love their wives. A sacrificing love is a time-consuming love. Think of how Jesus spent time with people. He maximized moments with people. H

WHY I PREACH WITH AN OPEN BIBLE. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Blogs and articles abound in promoting myriads of ideas relating to preaching and of being relevant to the audience and clever in the delivery. My commitment has been and will continue to be simple: to open the Bible, to read a biblical text, to explain that biblical text, to press home its application to the hearer’s heart, and to proclaim the saving gospel and call sinners to repent and believe. In doing this, I preach with an open Bible -- always. I’ve compiled a few reasons why I preach with an open Bible. 1. it conveys my only authority. When the preacher speaks, he has only one authority -- the voice of God that goes forth in the declaring of divine truth as it is sourced in the written Word. Other than that, the man has nothing to say. When I open my Bible and preach from it, it conveys to the congregation that my only authority to stand before them and speak is simply and solely is the writte

HUSBANDS: AFFIRM YOUR WIVES! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Just read The Song . Yes, open the book of Song of Solomon and marvel at how Solomon verbally affirmed his bride. And let this serve as a Spirit-inspired, divinely given model for godly men to speak affectionately, honestly, and encouragingly to their own wives. It may accurately be said that there is no example anywhere in all of Scripture of a husband and wife so passionately, tenderly, and edifyingly affirming one another to the glory of God! All things must be done for the upbuilding of God’s people. The Apostle Paul states this truth throughout 1 Corinthians 14. If this applies to the Christian church at large, how much more does this apply to Christian couples at home! Let all things be done for the edification of the saints. So, then, dear husbands, affirm your wives for their edification, for their strengthening, for their encouragement, for their upbuilding. It should be said at this point

HUSBANDS: LEAD AT HOME IN REPENTANCE! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Husbands should be the leading repenters in the home. This does not intimate that he does so merely to earn a prideful title. Rather, it means that out of every person in the home, the husband must be the one who leads the entire household in a proper understanding of God which will lead him to a proper understanding of self which will then cause him to realize a deeper understanding of his sin which will then catapult him to a regular lifestyle of repentance. The husband must lead his wife by repenting first. The husband should lead his family by repenting honestly, humbly, and quickly. This requires, however, that the man have a proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of repentance. Some suggest that repentance means no more than a change of ‘mind.’ Though repentance certainly includes a changing of the mind, true repentance always includes much more. To repent is the vomit of a soul

HUSBANDS: LEARN YOUR WIVES! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Husbands must live with their lives in an understanding way (1 Pet 3:7). The Greek phrase for “an understanding way” literally could be translated, ‘ according to knowledge. ’ Every husband must dwell together with his wife in such a way that he knows her -- very well. That means, quite practically, that husbands must date (and continue to date!) their wives. The wedding ceremony doesn’t mean the work of learning one another has ceased. Rather, it only has launched! What does it look like for husbands to learn their wives? First, learn her intentionally . This means that the husband must actually try and remember that he must be deliberate and proactive in reaching her heart and learning more about her. Because, naturally, this won’t happen automatically. Men can so quickly fall into laziness and apathy which can be utterly catastrophic for a thriving and holy marriage relationship. Thus, the man mu

How to actively serve in worldwide missions where you are in your local church. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church We must labor hard for the global spreading of the gospel because God’s heart is for the nations. He beckons the nations to worship Him! Indeed, He deserves worship from every creature that He has made. How can Christians who find themselves established in a season of life vocationally in a particular place, serving in a good ministry, and rooted with family in a particular city? How can a Christian actively serve in worldwide missions where they currently reside in the ministry context in which they already serve? The New Testament can simply be broken down into two imperatives: GO! or SEND! There are no additional options. Apathy is not permitted. It has been said that one either goes, or sends, or disobeys. Are you a goer? Are you a sender? James Fraser, a missionary to the Lisu people in China, wrote to his prayer partners back home, “I believe it wi

HUSBANDS: LOVE YOUR WIVES! Love ! It might as well just be one of the most misunderstood words today. What is love? Songs are composed asking the question and countless lyric-poems seek to define what love is. But when God is not the root and when Christ is not the ultimate example and when the gospel is not the foundation, then all endeavors to define and explain love prove, in the end, to be fruitless and empty. True love is a self-sacrificial giving of oneself to another for their good regardless of how they respond. Who would do this? Honestly, who in their sane mind would embark in a lifestyle of love that is foundationally characterized by self-sacrifice and self-giving -- even if nothing comes in return! Who would do this? And where in the world can we go to see this modeled? We must turn to the ultimate one who is Love, God Himself. The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). Indeed, God has loved His covenant-people with an ‘everlasting love’ and indeed He draws he

HUSBANDS, LEAD YOUR WIVES! LEAD ! How do you lead? Every husband is a leader. The question is not whether the man is a leader or not; rather, the question is, what kind of leader is he really? God calls the husband to lead his wife well and to do so with utmost integrity, faithfulness, care, and gentleness. And wonderfully, God has not left men without an example in this call to lead. Christ Jesus leads His own people just as a shepherd leads his own sheep. Christ died for His own and cares for them and leads them to pastures. Christ goes before His people and paves the way for them. He never calls them to do something that He Himself has not done. He would never demand a believer to do something that He is afraid to do. A leader leads by example. And yet, a leader leads with integrity. What does this mean? To lead well demands that one be truthful thoroughly and faithful perseveringly. A leader does not lie or stretch the truth. Nor does a leader give up when times are tough. Mor

REASONS WHY OPEN AIR PREACHING IS ALWAYS EFFECTIVE. by: Geoffrey R. Kirkland and Mike Stockwell Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Because Christ’s Name is worthy to be exalted in the open air (public venues). Because the Word of God never returns to Him void and always accomplishes what God sends it out to do. Because the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword that pierces and divides. Because for some it hardens for judgment, for others it softens to salvation and still for others it encourages for growth in sanctification. Because preaching is the primary means by which God saves sinners. Because it delivers the one message of eternal life to spiritually dead souls. Because it is good news of Jesus Christ. Because it obeys the clear commands of God to preach the Word. Because the preacher heralds with absolute confidence that only God can save His elect. Because God’s sheep hear His voice, He knows them and He gives them eternal

How do I speak of Christ? I don't feel equipped! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church As society raises its intolerable fist at evangelical, Bible-believing Christians, there are many believers that simply don’t feel equipped to speak of the gospel of salvation.  Many attend church faithfully, they read their Bible regularly, they pray with diligence, and they even want to speak of their Savior. They just feel ill-equipped and incompetent to be a mouthpiece for the Lord in the midst of a hostile and hellbent society. What is to be done?  This brief essay provides five helpful encouragements for every Christian so you can speak of Christ as His ambassador and for His glory! 1. Speak what you know.     PROCLAMATION Every Christian is called to evangelize. None are excluded. ‘But how can this be?’ one may reply. Simple: if you are a Christian then you have heard the truths of the gospel and you have come to believe it to be true. If you yourself are saved, then you kn

From Charles Spurgeon: "In our schools you do not try to bring children to the baptistry for regeneration, you point them away from ceremonies; if I know the teachers of this school aright, I know you are trying to bring your classes to Christ. Let Christ be the sum and substance of your teaching in the school.  Young men and young women, in your classes lift up Christ, lift him up on high; and if anybody shall say to you, "Why do you thus talk to the children?" you can say, 'Because my soul yearns towards them, and I pant for their conversion;'" From a sermon from Mark 10:13-16

John Calvin has a wise word from Luke 18:15-17 text when little babies were brought to Christ. Calvin affirmed: "Those little children have not yet any understanding to desire his blessing; but when they are presented to Jesus, he gently and kindly receives them, and dedicates them to the Father by a solemn act of blessing …   To exclude from the grace of redemption those who are of that age would be too cruel … it is presumption and sacrilege to drive FAR from the fold of Christ those whom he cherishes in his bosom, and to shut the door, and exclude as strangers those whom he does not wish to be forbidden to come to him.”  

Why DEFINITE ATONEMENT (Particular Redemption) Must Be True Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The doctrine of definite atonement or particular redemption refers to the biblical truth that Jesus died on the cross only for His elect and actually procured their eternal salvation at Calvary. All that the Father gave to the Son are those for whom the Son died. And all that the Spirit regenerates are those that the Son redeemed. This is contrasted with what is sometimes called unlimited atonement or universal redemption (Jesus died for everyone). The atonement of Christ is limited in scope, not in extent. All that Christ died for are fully and everlastingly redeemed by Christ since He ‘accomplished redemption’ at Calvary. What follows are nine reasons why definite atonement must be true. 1. Because of the UNITY OF THE TRINITY The Lord Jesus prayed in John 17 and repeatedly referred to those people that the Father had given Him. From eternity past, the glorious Fath

REJOICE, YOUNG MAN!  [Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1] Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Young men, God calls you to rejoice! Perhaps nothing will distinguish you as a young man of God more than a happy, joyful, satisfied Christian. This most surely will set you apart from the world. But you, young man, may ask: is it even possible for me to rejoice? I have so much going on, so many emotions, so many hardships, so many hurt and broken relationships, so many confusing changes in life, can I rejoice? Indeed, you may ask: how can I rejoice? To that question, I want to provide 5 words of counsel to you, young people, so that you would rejoice in your God! 1. WATCH THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART. God calls you, young man, to rejoice in Him! Indeed, you are to rejoice in your youthful years. And the way that God instructs His people to do that is to let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. This provides a wondrously helpful clue into living a life of true joy a