By Nathan Washburn Pastor, First Baptist Church, Greenbrier Focal Passage: 1 Samuel 24:3-12 “Respect is earned, not given” is the oft-quoted mantra when speaking of people in authority. The idea is that those in authority are to lead well before they will be respected by those who are under them. It’s easy to see why it’s used — no one wants incompetent leaders with mindless followers. When we read Scripture,

By Nathan Washburn Pastor, First Baptist Church, Greenbrier Focal Passage: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 19:4-7; 20:10-13 From the beginning of creation, we know that God made us to be in relationship with others. After God had created everything else, He created man, but Adam was alone, and it was “not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). This was the first thing that was not good. Light — good.

By Nathan Washburn Pastor, First Baptist Church, Greenbrier Focal Passage: John 15:9-17 Jump like LeBron James. Sing like Carrie Underwood. Write like C.S. Lewis. Were we to be given these commands, we would fold under the weight of being unable to even come close to measuring up to these greats. When we hear Jesus’ words, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 “What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.” Nothing can stop a man in love. That’s the message from George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, in the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  And

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Matthew 25:34-40 In the seventh grade, I scribbled a profound thought in my Bible: “You only really believe what motivates you to action.” It was brilliant, and it was stolen from the very lips of my youth pastor, who stole it from Jesus. Matthew records in Matthew 25:34-40 that Jesus told the same thing to His disciples:  You

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Colossians 3:22-4:1 When I graduated from college, my goal was to be a millionaire by the age of 30.  (Today, at 53, my goal is still to be a 30 year-old millionaire!)  My hard-driving, workaholism dishonored my family and God. As I tried to reconcile my ambitions with God’s Word, I listened to every sermon I could find

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ephesians 5:22-28; 6:1-3 My house has a design flaw. When a visitor is in the living room, he or she can see right into the master bedroom if the door is open (we can cover how I learned this in another article). A poorly designed home affects the behavior of the residents. In our passage, Paul writes to

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: 1 Peter 4:7-11 A favorite Gary Larson cartoon of mine is one with two deer talking in the forest. One has a marking on the fur of his chest that closely resembles a target. His friend remarks, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.” Christians in the first century church must have felt the same way. Their Christianity made them

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Luke 9:18-26 When I was 16 I learned to fly. During a solo cross-country flight one afternoon the radios in my little plane malfunctioned and I had to learn — quickly — how to reenter controlled airspace using light signals from the control tower. By watching the tower, a pilot can see air traffic controllers flashing red and

By Mark D. Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Luke 24:1-8, 36-40 It starts like the thin plot of a low budget thriller. Luke relates the resurrection story in characteristically uncomplicated, simple verb statements: they came, they found, they went in, they were perplexed, and they were terrified. “They” were the loyal, all-female band of Jesus’ followers. And they were out early — very early (Luke 24:1).