By Clay Hallmark Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington Focal  Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:12-17; 7:23-29 In the movie “Forrest Gump,” the main character sat on a bench and said, “Mama always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.’ ” When we read Ecclesiastes 2 and 7, it appears that Solomon had a similar outlook on life.

By Clay Hallmark Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 A disciple of a great Rabbi asked, “Rabbi, I mean no disrespect, but why is it that each time I pose a question, you respond with a question.” The Rabbi asked, “Is it wrong for Rabbi to answer his disciple with a question?” Life is filled with questions. In 1991 James Peterson and Peter Kim wrote a

By Clay Hallmark Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 1:1-14 An 8-year-old boy came to his mother and asked, “Where did I come from?” The mother took a deep breath but was determined to answer it truthfully. So, she started explaining “the birds and the bees” in explicit detail. About 20 minutes later, her horrified little boy interrupted her and said, “But mommy, where did I come from?

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: I John 2:18-29 Building off of what we talked about last week. John has been teaching “his children” how to tell truth from a lie and how to tell if  a person is really a Christian or not. It doesn’t depend on just what a person says, but also what they do. He begins by saying, “it is in the

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: 1 John 2:12-17; 3:16-18 Billy Sunday, the once professional baseball player turned evangelist, once said, “To talk about a worldly Christian makes about as much sense as talking about a heavenly devil.” We live in a world where there are many people referred to as worldly Christians that have never become Christians at all. I think there are some people

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Genesis 2:18-25 I don’t know a lot about construction or really building anything from scratch, but I do know it’s not an easy thing. If you are building a house, there is a lot of hard work involved. It takes long hours. It takes financial sacrifice. Well, there’s just as much hard work in having a good marriage. It is

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Ephesians 5:15-21 What is the greatest need in our life? Is it people, money, clothes, water, love, value or happiness? All of those are things people need but those are not our greatest need. The greatest need we have in our life is what Paul is recommending in these verses to the church of Ephesus.  We need the power of

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Psalm 42:1-3,6-8; 43:3-5 There is a question that we like to ask when the trials and storms of life gather. “Why do bad things happen to good people.” Has this question ever plagued your mind? Of course, it has! One day, a woman asked R.C. Sproul that particular question and his answer to her was a classic. Dr. Sproul said

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Exodus 1:16-17, 22-2:9 I love to hear babies and kids in our worship services. Several weeks ago, we had one getting a little loud. When the mom got up to take him out he was telling everybody around them bye.  The reason I love to hear the sound of children is because that indicates to me a growing and alive

By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Ephesians 2:11-22 The Great Wall of China was built approximately 200 years before Jesus was born. It took almost a century to build. It was originally 3,000 miles long. Today there are only about 1,500 miles remaining. It varies in height from 15 to 50 feet high. The average width is about 12 feet. I have been told that The