Filter by Categories
Rahab's Spiritual Reality
Sermonette by Bill OnisickBecause of her resolute action on behalf of the spies, God granted Rahab into the line leading to David and Christ. The just do indeed live by faith.
Seeds and Seasons (Part Two)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeGod scatters seeds of truth throughout human history by means of preachers such as Noah, the prophets, the apostles, and His own Son. Since the founding of the New Covenant church, ministers of truth have continued to plant these seeds by preaching true belief in Jesus Christ and the path humanity should follow. Most of these spiritual seeds lie dormant because God has not watered them universally. He waters a little here and a little there while working closely with a small number of plants. Ancient physical seeds found in Egypt demonstrate that seeds can remain viable for thousands of years and still grow once planted and watered. The same principle applies to the spiritual seeds planted over the millennia. When the Holy Spirit becomes readily available to everyone, all the dormant seeds of truth will awaken and begin to grow. At that time anyone who thirsts for the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit will receive it, and the final crop of God's spiritual harvest will begin. The church publishes the truth to scatter seed that will grow during the Great Tribulation, the Millennium, or the Great White Throne Judgment. Individual followers of God also scatter seed through their conduct, attitude, appearance, language, and regard for others as future members of the God Family. When the season is right God will water those seeds, and His harvest will continue.
A Seed of Highest Quality
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsThe imagery of seed threads through this study as both a warning and a promise, beginning with the physical corruption of God's created order through genetic modification. Just as GMO seeds are altered to serve corporate profit while destroying nutrients and forcing dependence on manufacturers, ancient Israel was created by God as "a seed of highest quality" yet degenerated into "an alien vine" because she lacked the fear of God and relied on her own resources rather than the fountain of living water, the Holy Spirit. This spiritual adultery, described through Jeremiah, parallels modern society's idolatry of technology and self-sufficiency, showing that the fear of God is essential to prevent the same disintegration now unfolding through humanity's attempt to usurp God's creative authority. The seed also carries the theme of lineage and promise. Abraham's seed refers not merely to physical descendants but to all who share his faith, since Paul explains that the promise of inheritance comes through righteousness by faith rather than the law. This spiritual seed encompasses converted Gentiles who receive the Holy Spirit, contrasted with those who are merely physical descendants but remain "children of the devil" in attitude and action, as Jesus told the unbelieving Jews. Ultimately, Galatians identifies the singular "Seed" as Christ Himself, the sole heir of the promises made to Abraham, with believers becoming co-heirs through union with Him. Parables deepen the metaphor: the growing seed illustrates that spiritual growth, like natural germination, occurs through God's power, not human manipulation, cautioning against rushing a believer's conversion. The mustard seed, smallest of seeds, represents the Church's humble beginnings and its calling to remain spiritually pure rather than large or worldly, echoing that God's called-out people are the "little flock." This contrast between God's design and human perversion intensifies in the discussion of genetic engineering, which mixes unlike genes just as Babylon "mixes" false doctrines through religious syncretism. Both represent humanity's arrogant attempt to alter what God has made "very good," inviting the same judgment pronounced against Babylon in Revelation 18, where seeds—symbolized by wheat—are numbered among the corrupted merchandise of a corrupt world system. Yet the seed also carries a message of hope. Paul's teaching that a kernel must die before producing new life directly foreshadows both Christ's death and the believer's own death to self, as well as the future resurrection. Just as God gives each sown seed its own body suited to its kind, so He will grant the resurrected believer a spiritual body suited to eternal life, incorruptible and glorious. Despite humanity's corruption of the physical seed, the spiritual seed—God's redemptive plan through Christ and His Church—continues to grow according to divine design, culminating in resurrection glory for the faithful, who remain rooted in truth and the fear of God rather than their own resources.
The Seed of Eternal Life
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsPaul provided a decaying kernel of grain as a metaphor of death and resurrection, indicating that the new spirit body will be a completely different body.
The Providence of God (Part Five)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod uses calamities as part of His creative process. Like Jacob, who initially succumbed to weak faith and fear, we must repent of our loss of devotion to God.
Esther (Part Five)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughGod allows each of us to experience trials and tests to humble us, leading us to repent, obey and trust, followed by an often-dramatic deliverance and joy.