Sunday Morning Message from March 27th, 2005

This week, Pastor Joe takes a rest from the Acts study to examine Luke's account of the resurrection of the Messiah. Is there any real evidence out there? Why not click here to take a listen? This week's mp3 file is 44 minutes, and about 11 MB.

Recap of Luke 24:36-53
1. Jesus had to convince His disciples that He had been resurrected by the following proofs:
-He had a tangible, physical body
-He showed them His wounds (marks of the crucifixion)
-He ate food
2. The nature of the resurrection body:
-it was not a resuscitated body destined to die again (as Lazarus, others)
-it was not a reincarnated body (Hebrews 9:27)
-it was a resurrected body (still physical but "transformed and empowered")
3. The resurrection validates the uniqueness of Christ. The empty tomb makes Him unlike any other teacher or religious leader. Because of the resurrection Jesus can be known today.

Map of Paul's Third Missionary Journey

Click Map to view a larger image.

Here's a map of the portion of Acts that Joe is currently speaking about.
Courtesy of Goodnews Christian Ministry

Sunday Morning Message from March 20th, 2005

Click here to listen to Pastor Joe's Sermon, entitled "Lessons for Leaders". This week it's about 14.4 MB (1 hour and 3 minutes).

Recap of Acts 20:13-21
Paul's model of ministry- ministry should be characterized by:
-transparency and consistency (vs. 18)
-humility (vs. 19) - true humility is not thinking too lowly of ourselves or too highly of ourselves, it is freedom from thinking of ourselves at all which leads to true freedom to minister to others.
-tenderness, compassion, sorrow (vs. 19)
-boldness in preaching/teaching (vv. 20-21) - we must never shrink back from the truth of the Word in fear of others or in pandering to others.

Come Thou Fount (performed by Lawrence & Andy)

Click here to download (or listen) to our Offertory from this past Sunday. Lawrence (Guitar & Vocals) and Andy (Drum & Vocals) did an excellent job, but tech problems affected the recording. Sorry Andy! You pretty much only hear Lawrence and his guitar. Trust me -- it was much better live.
1. Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Sunday Morning Message from March 13th, 2005

Click here to listen to Pastor Joe's Sermon, entitled "Encouraged in Life and Death". This week it's about 12 MB (53 minutes).

Recap of Acts 20:1-12
1. Paul's ministry of encouraging the believers with many words entailed:
-reinforcing the importance of sound doctrine
-enabling them to answer false, heretical doctrine
-exhorting them to remain true to the true faith
-encouraging them in the face of persecution, difficult circumstances, etc.
2. The early church: met on Sunday; ate together and partook of the Lord's Supper; met at night; met in homes; and "the length of the meeting was not regulated by the clock" (Richards).
3. Church meetings brought comfort and encouragement because they were a reminder that:
-in the midst of death there is life
-in the midst of darkness there is light
-in the midst of confusion there is clarity

Joe's message on 6 March 2005

6 March Update: Smaller File

Here is a link to the same message audio file, but encoded at a lower quality setting to save download time. Click here to download the mp3. It's 11MB, and about 48 minutes long. Please see the post below for the scripture reference and outline.

Sunday Morning Message from March 6th, 2005

Here's our first audio post. Click here to download the .mp3 file. Caution: huge filesize! It's 22MB (48 minute message encoded at 64kbs). We're considering posting a second file at a lower bitrate to make it more accessible to those with dial up connections. Please leave a "comment" (click on comments below) if that would be helpful for you. Since we're very new at this, please leave us a comment (or email) if you're able to download it and listen to the message ... it would be much appreciated.

Joe's text from Sunday was Acts 19:21-41. Here's the recap:

1. Paul's desire to reach Rome, and beyond, sets the tone for the last third of the book of Acts. The rest of the book chronicles his path to Rome.
2. So many lives were changed by the gospel that the artisans who profited from the false worship of Artemis of the Ephesians were affected financially. They responded by causing a riot.
3. Paul and the believers did not organize a boycott or a petition against the immoral worship of Artemis, they did not have to. Preaching the gospel and nurturing believers in the faith turned the tide without pressure tactics.
4. The Evangelical church today has abandoned the power of the gospel for the power of economic and political clout.

The New Sermon Log for DRBC

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our Church's new ministry. We have been inspired by the development of new technology and trends that are making it easier to share the teaching we are blessed to experience each week at DRBC. Our goal is to post an audio file (.mp3 format) on this weblog each week, containing the message from that past Sunday's service. Our hope is that we are furthering our ability to answer our calling to go forth and make disciples through this service. Please enjoy listening to the ministry of God's word on your mp3 player while commuting to work, or just spending time at home listening on your computer.

These recordings are intended for everyone, including regular attenders who can't make the service on a particular Sunday, or someone who's never heard of DRBC before, and wants to hear what our pastor talks about on Sunday.

Please learn more about our church by checking out our homepage at http://drbc.delriolive.com

While you're there, please send along any suggestions for improvement to our webmaster. We're also interested in linking to other ministries' messages to "share the wealth," so please pass along any good ones you're familiar with.

Finally, please join us in praying that God will guide our Church, its leaders, teachers, and congregation members, and use His Good News (including this digital version) to bring many into His Kingdom.

II Timothy 3:16 !!!