Mike Riley Sermon Outlines, Articles, Lessons, etc.

The Church (Kingdom)

The church is the spiritual kingdom of Christ on earth. The kingdom and the church have the same identifying marks. A study of the following scriptures reveals they are not separate institutions on the earth: 1) Used interchangeably – Kingdom (Matthew 16:19) – Church (Matthew 16:18). 2) Comprised of saints – Kingdom (Colossians 1:13) – […]

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Direct From The Minting House

After mastering the Scriptures and sensing that God had spoken to him again and again through its inspired pages (2 Timothy 3:16), John Bunyan went on to be a preacher and an author of more than sixty books, including his classic allegory, “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (see review). Regarding Bible study, Bunyan once stated:

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What About The Spanking Of Our Children?

This writer grew up in a time (1940‘s and 1950‘s) when spanking was considered one of the standard methods for disciplining and correcting a child’s behavior. It was not considered abusive in any sense of the word. However, for the past twenty to thirty years, so-called child psychology “experts” have been telling us that spanking […]

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Preaching The “Offensive” Gospel Of Christ

In Acts 17:2-7, the scripture states the following concerning Paul: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, […]

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God's Word — Like A Firewall

In performing our day-to-day tasks, there are days our computers help us to “fly like an eagle.” Other times, they bog us down like quicksand. On “eagle days” we’re grateful for our computers, but there are those “quicksand days” when we probably rue the day we ever bought one.

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The Importance Of Biblical Education

While secular education is certainly important (we all have to make a living in some manner), being educated biblically is far more important because biblical principles teach us how to properly relate to God as well as to our fellowman (Matthew 22:37-40; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 30:6). The teaching of spiritual and moral […]

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“Anyway”

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered, LOVE THEM ANYWAY If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives, DO GOOD ANYWAY If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies, SUCCEED ANYWAY

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Effective Bible Study

The story is told of a man who had an unusual mode of Bible study. He would quickly flip through the pages of the Bible with his eyes closed, would bring his finger down on a verse, open his eyes, and that verse was supposedly his God-given inspiration and

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A Question Of Obedience

When the Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9), he asked two questions. The first was, “Who are You, Lord?” Realizing he was in the presence of the living God, the only other question that mattered was:

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The Psalms – Some Topical Classifications

The Psalms are not only useful for singing praises to God, they are also useful for teaching and confirming that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah. Note the use Jesus made of them in Luke 24:44-47, cf. Psalm 22, and Peter’s use of them in his first gospel sermon (Acts 2:25-28, cf. Psalm 16:8,10-11). It […]

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An Equal Opportunity God

From the Winter 2010 issue of “The Bible Truth,” published by the 39th Street congregation in Independence, Missouri, comes the above titled article by Brother Jim O’Connor,

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A “Search And Rescue” Effort

FidoFinder.com is a website devoted to finding missing pets around the country. It’s obvious that pet owners put much effort into searching for their lost pets, in hopes of rescuing them.

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Thinking About The Important Things In Life

The following thoughts were received this morning via an email from my brother who lives in Amarillo. Because of the fast-paced world that we live in, I thought it was worth posting to my blog. I’ve added some article links at appropriate places:

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A Testimony To Faithfulness

History tells us that in 79 A.D., the Roman city of Pompeii (near modern-day Naples) was literally buried in lava by the violent eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano (see Pompeii history). The city was lost for nearly 1,600 years

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Five Keys

In Durham Cathedral, there is an iron-clad, oaken chest with five locks. In olden days, each of five church officers held a key to one of the five locks, and they – the bursar, almoner, sacrist, hosteler, and verger – all had to be present and in agreement before the chest could be opened.

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The “New Song”

As we view Revelation 5, we see a magnificent scene of prayers and praise to the One who was able to open the book (Revelation 5:5). The book symbolizes God’s eternal purpose for man’s salvation

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Unless You Are Converted

Conversion is a process of change. Jesus talks about a very real change in our hearts, minds and souls (Matthew 18:1-6). In order for this to happen, we must change the one we are trying to please.

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Making “Today” Your Own!

How do you spend the blessed currency of time? Do you have a “pocketful” of day or have you “spent” your day already? “Today” is the most important time for each one of

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The Powerful Influence Of Our Lives

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m a Christian today because of the godly influence of my parents and grandparents in my early childhood. They taught me not only by example, but from the Bible as well. Just as Timothy was reminded by Paul of the faith of his mother and

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Don't Just Belong

The following poem by an unknown author, is from today’s Montana Street bulletin. It asks some very personal questions that only each individual member of the Lord’s church can answer. Hopefully, the content will make us think and cause to examine ourselves from time to time (2 Corinthians 13:5):

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