Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ, This past Sunday we concluded our sermon series on the seven letters from the Risen Christ to the seven 1st century churches as found in Rev. 2-3. Either by way of affirmation for its presence, or rebuke for its absence, each of these letters
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, How is your vision? By that, I am not referring to how well you see, but rather from what perspective you see things. Some people see the glass half-full, others see it half-empty. Last Sunday we examined the ancient Church at Philadelphia and the message Christ
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, As we saw last Sunday, the ancient church at Sardis had a serious problem: they had a reputation for being alive, but Jesus said they were dead. While others thought well of them in light of all the activity taking place in that church,
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, As we continue our study of the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation, last Sunday we examined the church at Thyatira. In many ways this was a healthy church, and the risen Christ commended it for growing in love, faith, service and
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, In our continuing preaching series on the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation, last week we looked at the church at Pergamum. Pergamum was a city filled with many pagan cults, temples dedication to idols, and worship of the Roman Emperor. It was
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, The sermon last week focused on the Church at Smyrna, as found in Rev. 2:8-11. The risen Christ warned this church of coming persecution which would be more severe than what they had already been experiencing. While we are likely not facing genuine persecution,
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, Last Sunday I began a new preaching series from Rev. 2-3, which records the messages the risen Christ gave to seven first-century churches in a vision to the Apostle John. We will consider these seven messages week-by-week. Last week we focused Jesus’s message to
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, I Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The labourer deserves his wages.” One of the saddest sermons I think I ever heard was preached on the above by the minster of
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, A couple months ago we finished our study of the life of Abraham. He has so much to teach us! There are, of course, other characters from the Old Testament from whom we can learn much. But there is also something about them that
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, Last Sunday in worship we considered God’s wonderful gift of joy. As we saw, joy is much deeper than happiness, which is dependent on outer circumstances. Joy is rooted in the character, faithfulness, and love of God. Knowing this is how God always is,
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