Sermons on The Brook Cherith:

Church Membership: Expect What The Bible Expects

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 19, 2020

True and genuine church growth comes not as a result of mere addition but multiplication.

Rev. L. B. Williams, in his book on "Holiness Illustrations," relates the following: "A young man who was desperately in love with a young lady, wrote her that he would be willing to endure the cold of the frigid zone, or cross the burning sands of the desert, or climb the highest ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:2-4

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Need For Church Revival: Remember

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 19, 2020

The remedy for a dying church is not to give up and close their doors...

Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. He writes on his website, thomrainer.com, “There are certain metrics and issues physicians check when we go to the doctor. They want to check our blood pressure and temperature. They do blood tests to see if there are any ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:1-5

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Spiritual Gangrene: Necrosis Of The Body Of Christ

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 3, 2020

Paul warns Timothy to avoid godless chatter because it will spread like gangrene. Sin, like gangrene, has a way of spreading and causing division in the congregation.

When it comes to the church, church growth is naturally related to church health. Healthy churches, like healthy people, must grow. In his book, The Purpose Driven Church, Pastor Rick Warren says that if our church is healthy, attendance will be the least of our problems. He writes that ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-2

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Passion To Serve

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 3, 2020

There is this big disconnect between loving the Lord and serving Him because many who say they love the Lord really don’t love Him. We will learn today that Jesus links together love and service.

If one were to take a survey and ask Christians the question “Do you love the Lord” the results of the survey would probably indicate that 99.9% of all surveyed "loved the Lord." Most would even say they "loved the Lord a lot." If one were to survey these same people and ask ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:18

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Act Like A Man

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 10, 2020

Paul says to men: If you want to be a real man, “stand firm in the faith!” Men are to stand firm in both holding and defending the truths of the Gospel.

On an Internet discussion board I found the following comments: Designer duds, hair gel, waxing appointments, manicures, and facials -- once upon a time, these terms were only associated with women, but nowadays, it seems, men are spending more time and money on looking good. Do the men you know ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:13

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Babbling About Jesus

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 10, 2020

Today, even in our sophisticated, highly technological culture, men, women, boys and girls worship idols...

Background: Acts 17:1-15 (Acts 17:16 NKJV) Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Athens was home to the most renowned philosophers in history, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who was arguably the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:1-15

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Backsliders

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 10, 2020

God begins to lament concerning his people’s backslidden condition. He was grieving that His people had turned their backs on Him...

Jeremiah was a prophet who prophesied for 42 years, ministering from the reign of the last good king of Judah, Josiah, to the final destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Politically, the region was going through many changes as the Assyrian Empire got smaller and Egypt, Babylon, the Medes, and ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 3:14

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Witnessing And Baptism

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 14, 2020

Today, we'll be looking at the story of Phillip and the Eunuch...

(Acts 8:26 NKJV) Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. (Acts 8:27 NKJV) So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:26-39

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Behold, What Manner Of Love! - Part 1

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 14, 2020

John is writing about a kind of love that is a strange kind of love, an unusual kind of love, a kind of love to which we are not accustomed.

A Christian daycare provider (let’s call her Anne) tells the story of how one day a beautiful, but very troubled little girl came through the door of her center. From the very beginning Anne became captivated by this child who had so little but needed so much. She was heartbroken that a ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Behold, What Manner Of Love! - Part 2

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Sep 14, 2020

Last time we left off in the text where John says: …we shall be like Him…

Objective: To exegete 1 John 3:2-3 emphasizing the point that our Savior’s sure and imminent return should motivate the believer to live holy just like our Savior Jesus is holy…. 1Jn 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1-2

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Need For Church Revival: Repent

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 22, 2020

When a church is willing to repent of past sins, it presents an opportunity for God to do something new and exciting in the church.

Last time we were encouraged to remember our past. During time we briefly connected with our past and looked at five characteristics of our church in her early days. In Revelation 2:5 Jesus tells the church at Ephesus to “Remember therefore from where you have fallen.” And so we made it personal ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:4-5

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Need For Church Revival: Recover

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 22, 2020

Jesus goes on to tell the believers at Ephesus to do the works that they did at first.

First, we were encouraged to “remember”. Last time we were encouraged to “repent”. Many of us came to the front of the church to confess our sins to God and to forsake them. That was a good thing. That was a liberating thing. But, according to Jesus in Revelation chapter two, “remembering ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:6-7

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Abound In The Work Of The Lord

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 22, 2020

I am going to focus on Paul’s words, “always abounding in the work of the Lord"...

I am going to focus on Paul’s words, “always abounding in the work of the Lord” in verse 58 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The context of 1 Corinthians 15 tells us several things: Paul is referring to the great and glorious “work of the Lord” that has been made possible by the resurrection of Jesus ...read more

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Qualifications Of An Elder

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 27, 2020

Here Paul is giving the qualifications for the man who aspires to be an elder or pastor in the local church. Why should this concern you?

Tit 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ (according to the faith of God's elect, in the acknowledging of the truth which is according to godliness Tit 1:2 on hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the eternal times, Tit 1:3 but revealed His ...read more

Scripture: Titus 1:1-8

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Catching The Vision

Contributed by Chuck Brooks on Oct 27, 2020

Jesus’ mission was to reach humanity and we as Christians can adopt it as our own vision from the Master.

In Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) Isaiah says, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…" Though ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1

Denomination: Independent/Bible