Syosset Gospel Church

06/23/2026

06/23/2026

A Father's Prayer by George Swinnock:

“I pray that the Word of Christ may dwell richly in my heart and house so that my whole family will have their daily meals of this spiritual food. How can I expect that children who know not the God of their fathers should serve Him with perfect hearts? Alas! How often are their ignorant hearts full of sin...Oh, that I might so talk of the Word of God in my house, when I lie down and when I rise up, that it may be written upon the posts of my house and on my gates. Oh, that I may so often water the young plants in it that their first acquaintance may be acquaintance with God, and that from their childhood they may know the Holy Scriptures and be wise 'unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.' Though others labor to leave their children rich, let my endeavor be to leave mine godly. Lord, enable me so to teach them Your trade in their youth that they may not depart from it when they are old."

~ George Swinnock 1627-1673

06/23/2026

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and will not be faint.

06/22/2026

“A spiritual truth I often encounter in Puritan writings:
Anxiety can spring from a refusal to trust God's sovereignty.

While anxiety often feels like fear or frailty, at its root it may reveal something deeper—pride. We become anxious when we try to control what is beyond us, when we demand clarity on every outcome or strive to secure our own comfort. But God calls us to humble trust, not full understanding (Proverbs 3:5). The proud heart leans on its own wisdom; the humble heart rests quietly in the Lord.

So examine your worries—not merely as emotional weights, but as spiritual battles. True peace is not found in grasping for control, but in recognizing anxiety as a summons to lay down the need to know, and to entrust your unknowns to the all-wise, ever-faithful care of Christ.”

~ Monergism

06/22/2026

“Dear unmarried Christian, one of the most dangerous choices you could ever make is to marry an unbeliever. Before you take a step down that path, consider the sobering consequences of such an unholy union:

1. You will never share true spiritual fellowship with your spouse.

2. You will not be able to read the Bible, worship, or pray together.

3. You will not walk with the Lord side by side, grow in faith together, or be united in spirit.

4. They will never love you with the love of Christ.

5. They will never truly understand the burdens of your heart, provide spiritual comfort, or have godly conversations with you.

6. Physical intimacy will eventually become a grief, for you cannot join your holy body to one who remains in darkness.

7. You will constantly feel torn between pleasing your spouse and obeying Christ.

8. You will struggle to raise children in the ways of God.

9. Your life goals will always clash: yours will be marked by eternal desires, theirs by earthly desires.

10. In times of crisis, you will not be able to trust the Lord together.

11. Your spouse will continually pull you toward the world, while you will never be able to pull them toward Christ.

12. Your spouse will not go to church with you, and may even hinder you and your children from attending.

13. Your spouse will introduce ungodly entertainment, habits, or friendships into your home, bringing strife into what should be your sanctuary.

14. As you grow in the Lord and die to self, they will remain enslaved to the flesh, with the tendency to grow worse.

15. Your ability to serve Christ freely and joyfully will be hindered.

16. Instead of your marriage being a testimony for Christ, it becomes a contradiction of His commands, weakens your witness, and reveals compromise.

17. You will always carry the burden that when they die, they will perish eternally in hell.

18 Since they do not have the Holy Spirit, they will never understand you. You will always be a mystery to them.

19 And when you cry out to God in your misery, loneliness, and regret, you will forever remember the disobedience that led you to this place.

My single friends, do not fall into the deadly trap of pursuing a relationship with an unbeliever. Never assume that you can save them by marrying them. God NEVER designed marriage to be a mission field. Disobedience will only bring sorrow and a lifetime of heartache. Trust the Lord to bring you the right man or woman in His perfect timing – someone who shares your faith and walk with Christ. It is far better to remain single than to be chained for life to one who rejects your Savior.

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14).”

~ Wesley Norris

06/22/2026

J. Vernon McGee said something about Christians and the Bible that most people in the pew have never stopped to seriously consider. He called it the greatest sin in the church. And he spent his entire life — including the last twenty-three years he wasn't supposed to have because of cancer— trying to fix this problem in the church.

He said, “In my opinion, the greatest sin in the church of Jesus Christ in this generation is ignorance of the Word of God. Many times I have heard a church officer say, 'Well I don't know much about the Bible, but...' and then he gives his opinion, which often actually contradicts the Word of God."

The greatest sin in the church is not immorality, not unbelief, but Ignorance of the Word of God.

And then he said, “The only way you and I are going to stay close to Jesus is to stay close to His Word."

Not close to church. Not close to sermons about His Word. Not close to other people who know His Word.

Close to His Word itself.

Inside His Word. Understanding His Word. Letting His Word get into you.

But here's what most Christians never figure out — and what nobody in the pew seems willing to say out loud.

Most of us are not close to His Word.

We are close to the idea of His Word.

We own it. We carry it to church. We set it on the seat next to us. We start reading plans in January and stop in April and feel guilty about it until December.

And we tell ourselves that counts.

McGee said it didn't.

He said it plainly for over twenty years on his radio program.

"The greatest sin today in the church is the man in the pew who is ignorant of the Bible."

It wasn’t because they didn’t love the Lord.

McGee understood that. But he did something about it. It's the whole reason he started his radio program going through the entire Bible, book by book, chapter by chapter, line by line, called “Thru the Bible.” He lovingly called it “the Bible bus” and urged others to get on it with him.

He couldn't make every Christian sit in the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles where he pastored for 21 years. He couldn't hand every person a book that gave them the context they needed.

But he could get on the radio every single day and walk the whole world through the Bible chapter by chapter, book by book, until it made sense.

Until it got inside people.

Until ignorance of the Word of God stopped being the greatest sin nobody talked about.

He could only reach the people turning on their radios.

He also said this: “The only way you and I are going to stay close to Jesus is to stay close to His Word."

J. Vernon McGee was given six months to live in 1965 because of cancer.

He spent the next twenty-three years making sure that as many people as possible could get on the Bible Bus and go through the whole Book — because he believed that ignorance of God's Word was the greatest sin in the church and he refused to let it be his generation's legacy.

800 radio stations in North America.

More than 250 languages.

160 countries.

He kept going until December 1, 1988, when our Lord called him home at the age of 84.

And in 2026 the bus is still running, 59 years later. It is such a detailed study you will complete the entire Bible in five years.

Don't spend another year being the Christian in the pew who doesn't know their Bible.

Don't spend another year staying far from Jesus because you've stayed far from His Word.

This is how J. Vernon McGee spent his entire life, a minister of the Word for 56 years, pointing people toward God and His Word. And through his Bible study program “Thru the Bible” God is still guiding people through the Word.

Here’s how you can get on the bus. Don’t be concerned that the bus has already left the terminal, just get on where it is now and you’ll catch up:

https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/thru-the-bible-with-j-vernon-mcgee/?utm_source=OnePlace_Streaming%20&utm_medium=followconversion%20&utm_campaign=follow%20&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=652988371&gbraid=0AAAAADQd-m0DH-65OMhPs24mSLZdaJqH8&gclid=CjwKCAjw0dPRBhAPEiwAE5vTTpRNjTXzaEU_5jX-GuExo9kH1YhYTcpCODBxRHNYBLEQdqKiKo0ECxoCVgEQAvD_BwE

06/22/2026

The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

06/22/2026

"The most vital question to ask about all who claim to be Christian is this: Have they a soul thirst for God? Do they long for this? Is there something about them that tells you that they are always waiting for His next manifestation of Himself? Is their life centred on Him? Can they say with Paul that they forget everything in the past? Do they press forward more and more that they might know Him and that the knowledge might increase, until eventually beyond death and the grave they may bask eternally in the sunshine of His face?"

~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones 1899-1981