By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Philippians 1:12-21 Wouldn’t it be great if all the lessons of life we needed to learn could be learned without difficulty? I have often pondered in watching my children grow and learn, as well as in reflecting on my own journey, why we so often have to do things the hard way and why we are not naturally bent

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-10 What makes a person valuable? Is it how they look or, perhaps what they wear? Is it found in their education or abilities? Is it tied to physical acumen, language, or culture? Of course, the answer is found in none of the above. Instead, God has placed a high value and significance on life itself. In other

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:153-160 I remember well my first and only experience roofing. It was on a Baptist Collegiate Ministries missions trip in Gulfport, Miss. We volunteered to roof a church that was damaged in a hurricane.  We had a good system going and felt good about our work until we got down off the roof and noticed the shingles were

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:89-96 It’s a new year! Time to make commitments we intend to keep. For example — commitments to lose weight, exercise more, read the Bible in its entirety, go on a missions trip, and be more faithful in our giving. Unfortunately, these commitments are usually easy to make, but harder to keep. Thankfully, God’s Word is absolutely permanent.

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:41; Luke 1:30-35 What is a miracle? A miracle is something we cannot do on our own. The reason we see miracles is because we get into situations that we cannot handle in the flesh. If I could show up and heal my brother, I wouldn’t have to pray for a miracle. If I could stop the wind

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:17-24 How beautiful, sweet, and innocent is a newborn baby. For many, we would keep them as babies forever, and yet we take them to their first doctor’s visit hoping that their measurements and weight indicate growth. Later in life, as their physical maturity increases, the harder work begins of helping them develop their emotional and intellectual maturity.

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:9-16 Stephen Covey is famous for encouraging his readers to “begin with the end in mind.” If you are going to reach your objective, you must first identify it and then work backwards to determine the steps necessary to get from where you are to where you are going. Psalm 119 begins with a question that is worth

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:1-8 Among all the books ever written, the Bible is absolutely unique. One of its most remarkable qualities is the complete unity of its overall message despite being written over a period of roughly 2,000 years by 40 different authors on three different continents who wrote in three different languages. These facts alone make the Bible one of

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: II Chronicles 20:10-12, 14-17, 20-22, 29-30 Sometimes it’s hard to watch the news. When terror strikes, disease ravages, families divide, and churches collapse, we are sometimes tempted to throw up our hands and give up. This is what Jehoshaphat must have felt as he faced down three kingdoms. Israel had seemingly done nothing to provoke this attack, but nevertheless

By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Acts 17:16-18, 22-23,30-31 I remember well my first foreign missions trip. I was chosen to join a collegiate drama team who would minister in Rio during the evangelistic crusades of 1998. During our orientation, several cultural mannerisms and customs were discussed. One included women leaving their purses on the floor, another a common finger symbol we consider benign while