5 Times God Shows His Faithfulness 19 June 2017 Year A Psalm 105:7-45 Psalm 105 is a hymn of praise for the faithfulness of God to His people. The psalmist begins by describing “5 Ways to Show Appreciation to God for His Faithfulness.” Yet, the Psalm doesn’t end there. The psalmist continues to explain through five different examples why God can be trusted to be faithful. The psalmist looks back at the Israel and recounts how God has been faithful.... Read more
Ecclesiastes 7:15-29 Great Advice About How to Live Believe it or not, the English Department at the University of Wyoming offers a class to teach its students how to communicate with aliens. “Interstellar Message Composition,” the course is called, and it is sponsored by a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). According to Wyoming’s Web site, it is “the first class to enlist creative writers in a potential cosmic conversation.” “We’ve thought a lot about how we... Read more
Matthew 9:35-38 The Greatest Mission Today is Father’s Day. Like Mother’s Day last month, we celebrate the role that fathers play in the lives of families. I would suggest that if men are called to be fathers and leaders of their families, then they should also take the charge in leading the church in the greatest mission that God has given them. Introduction Right now as Southern Baptists, we are not doing a great job with the greatest mission. The... Read more
4 Ways to Thank the Lord 15 June 2017 Year A Psalm 116:12-19 The psalmist spends the first half of this psalm praising God for how God has helped him. The psalmist loves the Lord (Psalm 116:1) and reminds himself of the ways in which God has shown both mercy and grace. Psalm 116:1-11 sounds like a plea from a dying man for help. Perhaps this is one reason why scholars believe the psalmist is attributed to King Hezekiah. So... Read more
The declining numbers are related to the problem with white supremacy resolution that had difficulty getting approved during this year's annual meeting. Read more
Psalm 8:1-9 The Greatest Glory Psalm 8:1-9 The Greatest Glory is the first sermon in a series on “The Greatest.” If you look in your Baptist hymnals, you will see a song that is based upon this psalm. Turn to page 29. Let me sing this song for you. Song: “Oh Lord Our Lord How Majestic Is Your Name In All The Earth” by Michael W. Smith. Now let’s sing this song together. One can look at Psalm 8 like... Read more
Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 Wisdom for the Better Life Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 Wisdom for the Better Life Solomon pauses in this chapter, which begins the second half of the book. Here, Solomon seems to reflect on the wisdom he has shared in the previous six chapters. The key word in this section is “better”. The Lord shows us that some of the medicine that tastes the worst has the best cure. In these verses, Solomon is going to goad us into thinking outside the... Read more
The Holy Spirit Flows Like Living Water Within Me 7 June 2017 Year A John 7:37-39 Blood flows through the physical body and gives it life. Leviticus 17:11 says that “life is in the blood.” It is an amazing ability that God has given my physical body. Blood pumps through my veins and it allows me to live. Many things can be detected through the blood. One can detect physical characteristics, potential diseases, as well as current medical conditions all... Read more
I have a hard time praying. That may sound strange coming from a pastor, but the fact is that it is true. Read more
The Sin of Complaining 30 May 2017 Year A Numbers 16:41-50 Do you know that person who is always complaining? Whether it is about change, or a policy, or a political position, or a problem they are dealing with. They only wish to spew negativity out into the world. Here we see the Israelites complain because they blamed Moses and Aaron for the deaths of people who were disobedient to God. A rebellion had erupted over the legitimacy of Moses’... Read more
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