By David Padfield

I have been accused of over emphasizing the part baptism plays in the salvation of sinners. In view of what the Bible teaches, I do not see how this could be possible.

There are five passages in the New Testament which mention both baptism and salvation in the same verse (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:4; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). In all of these passages, water baptism precedes the remission of sins. Do you know of a passage where the order is reversed?

By Gene Taylor

Many people are growing disenchanted with present religious forms which originated in the middle ages and have become meaningless. There is displeasure with denominational structures and dogma. Some, because of such views, have even decided that "Christianity" is not relevant today. We believe they have made that decision because they are not sufficiently acquainted with the Scriptures to be able to distinguish between the gospel of Christ and what men over the centuries have attempted to add to it.

By Jeff Asher

The Church at Ephesus was established while Paul briefly passed by that way journeying to Jerusalem at the end of the second tour (Acts 18:19-21).

No mention of specific converts is made until those found in Acts 19:1-5. Paul did in Ephesus as he always did; he preached the word in the synagogue seeking to convert the Jews first. Later, he turned to the Gentile population (Acts 19:8-9).

By Wayne Greeson

Patterns are an important part of our lives in many ways. When a contractor builds a house, he follows a pattern known as a blueprint. When a mother sews a dress for her daughter, she follows a pattern.

In each case there is a standard pattern to be followed to achieve the desired results. The pattern must be followed or the end product will not be faithful to the original and the results could be disastrous. The house not built to pattern may leak or worse, it may collapse; the dress not made by the pattern may look more like a clown outfit.

By by David Padfield

It would be impossible to preach a sermon on "The Use Of Instrumental Music In The New Testament Church." There is not one word in all the New Testament about Christians using mechanical instruments in worship to God.

Instrumental music was introduced into religious service by King David, nearly 450 years after the Israelites left Egypt (1 Chron. 16). The use of instrumental music in worship is mentioned about 36 times in the Old Testament, but not one single time in the New.