The Southside Lectures get underway tomorrow for the twenty-sixth time. It’s been a wonderful trip. Beginning in 1980, and every year thenceforth, the brethren at the Southside church have heard some of the finest preachers of this generation—men like Harry Pickup, Jr., Homer Hailey, Harold Turner, Connie Adams, Ed Harrell, Robert Jackson, Robert Turner, Paul Earnhart, Bob Owen, Brent Lewis, Sewell Hall, Melvin Curry, Phil Roberts, James W. Adams, and a host of others. It has been one of the richest experiences of this age.

These Lectures have certain definite purposes and designs. They are the product of serious and prayerful thinking on the part of the Elders and members of the Southside congregation. Let me share with you some of what The Southside Lectures are intended to do.

The Southside Lectures are intended to recommend the word of God. The Bible is the source of each year’s program. We are not interested in promoting some scheme, or riding some hobby. We are interested in biblical exegesis and application—that, and that alone. The speakers are not chosen because they hold some special position or opinion, or because of their “brotherhood” popularity, but because they are serious, dedicated students of the Bible, and are themselves examples of what they teach.

“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11 LBX). That states clearly the purpose of The Southside Lectures. Every year, it has been our purpose to speak only what the Bible says, no more and no less, and to glorify God and magnify His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Southside Lectures are intended to edify this local congregation. The Elders here feel very strongly about the charge to which they have pledged themselves. They want to see this church become all that it can become—strong, vibrant, active. The subjects chosen for the Lectures are not light, fluffy orations that will appeal to the masses. In fact, most of the subjects will bring the world into judgment and, in many instances, will militate against what is presently acceptable in society and recommended in the media. No matter. This church must remain pure, its members must continually be making progress, even in the midst of a secularized and carnal culture.

The Lectures are intended to preclude our being “…tossed to and from, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14), but that we, “…speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:14-16 LBX). The Southside Lectures are spiritual subsistence, foodstuffs for our growth and progress. The sermons in our programs are biblically based, growth intended, and love inspired. It’s as simple as that.

TheSouthside Lectures are intended to keep us going in the right direction. No matter the strength of a congregations through the years, it is in constant danger of apostasy. The Devil is active, engaging, and ever-ready to destroy the Lord’s people in whatever way he can. He is always there, lurking in the shadows, just waiting for a vulnerable time, so that he can attack the people of God. He wants us to be divided. He wants us to be lethargic. He wants us to be satisfied. He wants us to succumb to the enticements of the world. He only retreats that he may instigate a new, fiercer stratagem so as to make a new and even more subtle attack. And so we must be on guard. The Southside Lectures warn us about our common enemy: they teach us about his subtleties, they give us ammunition with which to oppose him. They arm us for the fray, and believe me, there is one—a battle of the most significant proportions. We must fight!

“Be sober, be diligent, for your adversary, the Devil, walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist, steadfast in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8 LBX). The special sermons of The Southside Lectures are intended to equip us to fight the good fight of faith (Ephesians 6:11 LBX-f).

Welcome to The Southside Lectures. You have seen our purposes—at least some of them. We are so happy you have come to share our concern for Christ and His church. Enjoy the great preaching, the fine singing, the mutual edification; and remember that it’s all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.