Mike Riley Sermon Outlines, Articles, Lessons, etc.

Content To Wear The “No Brand” Name

A marketing professor at a well-known university once asked his students to make a side-by-side taste comparison of two soft drinks — Coca-Cola, and Sam’s Choice Cola. Each student was asked to taste both colas and indicate which tasted better. The majority of participants stated that the Coke tasted better to them than the house […]

Continue Reading...

Living The Way We Pray

The following poem by an unknown author, is designed to make us “think” about living the way we pray:

Continue Reading...

The Very Best School Is….

The above title is taken from a Rocky Creek congregation bulletin article that is worthy of reproduction here. I’ve added appropriate Scriptures.

Continue Reading...

“Surely The Fear Of God Is Not In This Place”

Through a study of the Scriptures, we see that the fear of God has a restraining effect upon the lives of godly men and women (Genesis 39:7-12), but is found absent in a calloused, deluded, unbelieving and godless society (Romans 3:10-12; cf. Psalm 14:1-3).

Continue Reading...

Calling On The Expert Repairman

As men, if we’ve ever tried to repair something and failed, we know how miserable a feeling that can be. Married women should appreciate the sign that I recently saw outside an automotive repair shop: “We Will Fix What Your Husband Fixed.” Whether the problem is the car or the plumbing, it’s usually better off, […]

Continue Reading...

One Must Study…..

There are many and sundry reasons the Bible gives for our studying the sacred volume. The following are just a “few” of those reasons:

Continue Reading...

There’s Still Time To Obey The Lord

Marcus Tullius Cicero, an orator and statesman of ancient Rome once said, “While there’s life, there’s hope.” As Christians, we have the promise and hope of eternal life, because the risen Christ lives (1 Corinthians 15:19-22; 1 John 2:25; 1 Peter 1:3). There are some things in this life, however, that are irreversible, and any […]

Continue Reading...

The “Risk” Of Being A Disciple Of Christ

On Saturday morning, February 1, 2003, as most of us were awakening, President George W. Bush spoke seven saddening words to the nation: “The Columbia’s lost. There are no survivors.” When an fiery accident destroyed NASA’s oldest space shuttle moments before the scheduled end of its twenty-eighth voyage, seven people — five men, two women […]

Continue Reading...

Sowing The Seed Of The Kingdom

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast and displaced an estimated 1.3 million households. With cities and towns evacuated, homes destroyed, and jobs gone, people relocated to communities in every state. Because Christians are

Continue Reading...

Slowing Down The Pace

As I observe the speed limit of 60 miles per hour on our I-10 freeway here in El Paso, I also observe other folks who are seemingly obsessed with speed. They swiftly pass my vehicle at speeds that have to be exceeding 75-80 miles per hour.

Continue Reading...

Respecting God – Why?

The question might be raised: “What right does God have to demand our respect?” The answer is seen in the following four categories: 1) His Perfect Justice (Deuteronomy 32:4). God had been true to His covenant with the Jews and their fathers. “Nothing” that He had promised had failed (1 Kings 8:56). If any severe […]

Continue Reading...

Feeding Jesus' Sheep – Our Motivation

What will keep us serving the Lord in His church (Matthew 16:18) and our community when the going gets tough? Although we may be sensitive to the needs of others, that alone isn’t enough. Nor should we be driven by a need that we all have  a desire to be appreciated or loved by others.

Continue Reading...

Barbs …. With A Point

The following barbs of wisdom come from the current The Sword and Staff publication, 2010, Vol. 48, No. 1, pg. 13 (appropriate Scriptures and related articles have been added):

Continue Reading...

Rules Of Interpretation (1)

The following rules of interpretation are not some “special rules” belonging only to Bible study. They are identical to the rules that we ordinarily employ in our daily interchange of thoughts

Continue Reading...

Bible “Faith” and “Evidence”

In Hebrews 11:1, the Hebrew writer gives us not so much a definition of what constitutes faith as a description of what faith does in the lives of men in the verses following (cf. Gal. 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Hebrews 6:10; James 2:24). New Testament Christianity is a religion of “faith” (Romans 10:17). Faith is […]

Continue Reading...

The Loom Of Time

Man’s life is laid in the loom of time To a pattern he does not see While the weavers and shuttles fly Till the dawn of eternity.

Continue Reading...

Are We Worshipping A Golden God?

In Exodus Chapters 7-12, we see that God seized the attention of Pharaoh and the Egyptians with a series of plagues. Now they were dying to be rid of their Hebrew slaves.

Continue Reading...

Today Is Planting Time

Somewhere in our world at this very moment, a farmer is dropping seeds into the ground. Soon those seeds will begin to change the surrounding soil in which they were planted.

Continue Reading...

Let There Be No Gossipy Ears

About two generations ago, preachers used to present sermons condemning gossip. We don’t hear too many sermons on gossip these days, but gossip still

Continue Reading...

The Kind Of Doctrine We Believe Does Matter!

For the past few years, the book entitled, “The Purpose Driven Life” by author Rick Warren, has been extremely popular in the religious world. While the premise and purpose of the book is a good one, much religious error is propagated throughout its pages. It is not a book that should be read or studied […]

Continue Reading...