Sermons on Summum Bonum:

Where Is Your Treasure? Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Feb 6, 2016

Christ the Lord challenges us who follow Him to determine who we serve. He gives us a test to reveal the one we actually serve.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24

Denomination: Baptist

Strength For The Conflict Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Sep 26, 2009

We are at war with spiritual wickedness. However, God has equipped us for victory. We need but draw on what He has already provided to be assured of victory.

“Take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”[1] "If you don’t want trouble, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, don’t be anything.” This sage advice was offered by a man who frequently stood in the midst of battle. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:13

Denomination: Baptist

The Gift Of God Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Oct 2, 2016

Enjoyment of what we hold is the gift of God.

ECCLESIASTES 5:18-20 THE GIFT OF GOD “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Denomination: Baptist

United With Him Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on May 29, 2011

What was confessed through baptism reflects your understanding of relationship to Christ.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

Their Rock Is Not As Our Rock

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jun 30, 2018

What has God done for me lately? We need to remember the distinction of God as contrasted to the varied "gods" of this dying world.

“Their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.” [1] Our world adulates success; however, the world defines success by a standard of its own making. To a far greater degree than we might ever admit, we Christians have been infected with the attitudes of this fallen world. We ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Futility Of Wealth Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jun 4, 2016

Materialism ensures that we can never fully enjoy the blessings of God

“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

Denomination: Baptist

My Kingdom Is Not Of This World

Contributed by Michael Stark on Mar 26, 2016

Christ was crucified and raised from the dead to deliver a people for His Name into His eternal Kingdom.

In the midst of darkness, God’s glory blazes. When evil appears to triumph, grace prevails. When dark denizens of this fallen world convince themselves they have defeated grace, righteousness conquers. These themes are written large in accounts provided of the brief hours leading to the ...read more

Scripture: John 18:33-37

Denomination: Baptist

How Can Anything That Feels So Right Be So Wrong?

Contributed by Michael Stark on Feb 12, 2021

A Valentine's Day message emphasising the sacred nature of marriage.

“God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28

Denomination: Baptist

An Interview From Hell

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jan 27, 2022

What would a person in hades ask of us if we were able to hear them? Jesus provides us insight into this dark situation when He reveals what a lost man asked.

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Denomination: Baptist

When Does Life Begin?

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jan 18, 2015

God has worked in the life of His people since before the foundations of the world--preparing and appointing them for service.

“Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” [1] It is most humbling to realise that we cannot boast of anything we possess or of who we ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-5

Denomination: Baptist

Why Does God Judge A Nation?

Contributed by Michael Stark on Aug 8, 2020

Through the Prophet Amos, God provides the reasons for judging the nations around Judah and Israel, as well as His own people. The reasons for His judgement stands against nations to this day.

“Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. I will break the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

After The Whirlwind

Contributed by Michael Stark on May 15, 2020

Do we learn anything by passing through difficult times? A study of Job will encourage the people of God to realize that God always instructs us through the trials we are called to pass through.

“Job answered the LORD and said: ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. “Hear, and I will ...read more

Scripture: Job 42:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

He Is Able Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jun 28, 2015

In the darkest times, God is prepared to accomplish great things to the praise of His glory. He is able.

“I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” [1] Unapologetically, the message today is meant for Christians—followers of Christ the Lord. This is appropriate since the text was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:12

Denomination: Baptist

What The New Year Holds Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Dec 29, 2017

The desperate times in which we live provides some of the greatest opportunities to advance the Faith. Now is the time for the faithful to seize the initiative and push back against the night.

“I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” [1] “X-rays will prove to be a hoax!” So said Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, in 1883. “Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

When The Bottom Drops Out Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jul 20, 2024

Even the righteous suffer when judgement is poured out on the nation. God's people are what holds back judgement at this time.

“How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. “The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands!” [LAMENTATIONS 4:1-2] [1] What a dramatic ...read more

Scripture: Lamentations 4:1-22

Denomination: Baptist