Independence Day:God's Closeness in Uncertain Times

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    I. Grant Spong

    Contributing sermons since Jan 18, 2014

    Church Name: Cairns Baptist Church

    Job Position: author, retired pastor, YouTuber

    Sermons Contributed: 1083

    Denomination: Baptist

I. Grant's church

Cairns Baptist Church
, Queensland 4870

About I. Grant
  • Education: Bachelor of Arts in Theology, Master of Theological Studies
  • Experience: Over 50 years pastoral experience in churches in Australia, USA and Europe. Author of dozens of books, mostly on Christian topics.
  • Comment to those looking at my sermons: My sermons are not the last word. They are conversation starters. Please feel free to disagree with me, just don't be disagreeable and argumentative.
  • Sermon or series that made a difference: Gospel sermons.
  • One of my favorite illustrations: The best ten minute sermonette I remember is one my father-in-law preached. He spoke about his experience plowing with horses, and that to plow a straight furrow, you have to keep your eye on the goal, and not look back. Those who look back plow a crooked line and are not fit for the kingdom of heaven.
  • Family: Family in both the USA and Australia.
  • Best advice given to me about preaching: Preach what Jesus taught. Don't preach feel good, gimmicky, empty headed fluff. Just preach Jesus.
  • Books that have had an impact: I am an eclectic Christian who sees value in 2,000 years of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant literature where that literature is faithful to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.
  • Hobbies: Music, painting, writing, videos.
  • If I could Preach one more time, I would say...: Nothing satisfies like Jesus. Listen to him. Read what he has to say. Stay in a church where Jesus is preached.
  • Something funny that happened while preaching: I was in Czechoslovakia at a church festival and about to introduce some special music. The services were in German. My German was imperfect. I introduced the music as being played on the Geflügel (poultry) instead of the Flügel (grand piano). I was preaching behind the iron curtain and heard that the KGB was listening in, so I said I was also KGB, Kingdom of God Boys. Later that day a hotel staff member told me that the KGB was indeed listening in and they liked my joke.
  • What I want on my tombstone: He preached Jesus.
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Newest Sermons

  • Elijah Stands Alone (1 Kings 18)

    Contributed on Jul 4, 2025
     | 37 views

    Must a servant of God sometimes stand alone? Let's look at 1 Kings 18.

    If we speak for God, must we be willing to stand boldly alone in the face of opposition? Are we really alone? Let’s look at Elijah’s loneliness in 1 Kings 18. What did Ahab assign to Obadiah because of the famine in the land? Now it happened after many days that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah ...read more

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  • Elijah's Drought (1 Kings 17)

    Contributed on Jul 3, 2025
     | 62 views

    What can we learn from a lonely, rejected prophet that fits the life of a true believer? Let's look in 1 Kings 17.

    Did God provide for a man who told the truth, but was ignored by the world? Is the life of a true follower of God often lonely? Let’s look at 1 Kings 17. While God punished Israel for its idolatry by a drought, did He provide for a prophet? Elijah from Tishbe, who was one of the settlers in ...read more

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  • Five Bad Kings (1 Kings 16)

    Contributed on Jul 3, 2025
     | 80 views

    What can we learn from five bad kings of Israel? Let's look at 1 Kings 16.

    What characteristic was common to the kings of Israel that made them bad? What can we learn from this? Let’s look at five kings of Israel in 1 Kings 16. What was God’s message to King Baasha king of Israel by the prophet Jehu? Now the word of Yahweh came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, ...read more

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  • Good King Asa (1 Kings 15)

    Contributed on Jul 2, 2025
     | 16 views

    What can we learn from 3 bad and one good king? Let's look at 1 Kings 15.

    Were all Israel’s kings bad? Were some kings of Judah good? Are there good and bad leaders in the church? Let’s look at three bad kings and one good king in 1 Kings 15. How could we summarize bad king Abijam’s reign of Judah? Abijam began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s ...read more

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  • Both Kings Die (1 Kings 14)

    Contributed on Jul 1, 2025
     | 45 views

    Why did both kings of Israel and Judah die? Let's explore 1 Kings 14.

    Why did the kings of Israel and Judah face punishment? Did either of them repent? Do we? Let’s look at 1 Kings 14. Did Jeroboam’s wife visit the prophet Ahijah about her sick son Abijah? Did she come disguised, not realizing that God sees all? About the same time, Abijah son of Jeroboam got sick. ...read more

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Newest Sermon Illustrations

  • Poem Of The Sheep & Goats

    Contributed on May 16, 2022
     | 1,733 views

    Song of the Sheep & Goats When the Son of Man comes again In his glory All the holy angels with Him Throne of glory Throne of greatness He'll sit on then I was hungry; you gave to me I was thirsty; you nourished me I was foreign; you welcomed me I was naked; you covered me I was sick; you ...read more

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  • Mark 11:1-11

    Contributed on Mar 20, 2018
     | 5,121 views

    Jesus’ Mock Parade Imagine for a minute a grand parade. It might be one of those that celebrates military might with tanks and rockets. It might have brass bands, flags waving and marchers goose-stepping in rhythm, with a dictator either clapping from a grandstand or even at the head of the ...read more

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  • Fail In Order To Succeed

    Contributed on Jul 15, 2017
     | 4,709 views

    An old axiom says that failure is the stepping stone to success. Are we afraid of failure? The road to success is paved with failures. Before the farmer in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) had a successful crop he failed in three areas. We fail in these same areas. We allow the devil to snatch ...read more

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  • Sow Indiscriminately

    Contributed on Jul 15, 2017
     | 5,205 views

    In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven being like an indiscriminate sower. This contradicts theories surrounding church growth of targeting certain statistically measurable demographics. There is no such target audience in this parable. The seed of the kingdom ...read more

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  • How Urgent Do We Approach The Harvest

    Contributed on Jun 13, 2017
    based on 1 rating
     | 6,576 views

    In Matthew 9:38 Jesus describes driving workers into the field with the urgency of a harvest that cannot wait. Yet, so often our churches have become ho-hum about God's harvest. How can revival come to our land when our churches are so Laodicean in attitude? How can our dying western ...read more

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