The Lord met with us at Pilgrim Progress Baptist Church in North Little Rock last night I preached from Galatians 5:16-25 on Living The Spirit Filled Life. The Lord truly blessed His Word and gave great liberty to this preacher. Lord willing, we will finish the meeting this evening and Joan and I will fly back home tomorrow. Pray for a safe frlight.

This is my third year with the fine folks at Pilgrim Progress. Not that it matters, but this church is an inner city, African-American congregation. The Pastor, Dr. Gerald Parker Sr., truly took a chance inviting a white preacher from North Carolina to preach in his pulpit. I must say that I have never been treated any better by any congregation anywhere. I enjoy the lively worship in this church. Some of the music is different than the tradition I am used to, but it is biblical and honors the Lord. One things that has arrested my attention each time have come to this church is the emphasis they place on the Word of God. In every service the Scripture is read and expounded many times. The service opens with a deacon reading a passage. Later in the service there will be a devotion, a lecture on some topic, an evangelistic appeal from the Bible and then the sermon. I have never been in a church that uses the Bible more than this church. Praise the Lord. Along with that, there is also a great emphasis on expository preaching. The men who share in the meeting are opening the Word of God and giving biblical exposition of the text. That is a rare find in this day of dead topical preaching and anemic sermons designed to meet the felt needs of the people. I am thankful to find a church that holds up the Word of God as its final authority.

Pray for us as we conclude the meeting this evening. Pray for Sister Jaon and me as we travel back home tomorrow. God bless and thanks for visiting The Sermon Notebook!

Alan