By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Philippians 4:10-20 A pastor friend told me he had preached a very long series of sermons from the book of Hebrews. One Sunday he announced “the final message” in that series, and the congregation stood and applauded! But he told them he was now beginning a new series called “Things I Missed the First Time through Hebrews.” We might

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Philippians 3:8-21  Yogi Berra, famed baseball player, was known for his unique quips and quotes. One was “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” We chuckle over such lines, but in today’s text (Philippians 3:8-21), the writer/prisoner/apostle Paul speaks of several forks (or ‘crossroads’) along the way, telling which should be taken: • A personal

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Philippians 2:1-15  We’re studying Philippians, a wonderful ‘joy-book’ of the Bible. Written by the Apostle Paul while imprisoned for preaching the Gospel, this letter expresses how Paul found joy in the midst of adversity. A summary of chapter one might be ‘the difference between happiness and joy: Happiness depends on happenings. Joy depends on JESUS.’ That theme continues in

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Philippians 1:12-26  Nashville publisher Bob Benson was a great story teller. I remember him telling about a friend who was recovering from heart surgery. Bob asked him, “Brother, how’d you enjoy your heart attack?” His friend replied, “Enjoy it? What do you mean, man? It was awful!” Bob continued with questions, “Do you appreciate your wife more than you did?

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Philippians 1:1-11  I grew up singing hymns and ‘choruses’ like “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy — down in my heart.” We kids belted out those words with exuberance. I think the Apostle Paul would have joined us in singing exuberantly as he wrote one of the best “JOY-books” of all time, Philippians. Every lesson topic from this

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14  Robert Wolgemuth recently authored a book entitled Gun Lap. I’d never heard of the gun lap, even during the Olympics. Yet in a long-distance race, whenever the leading runner starts his final lap, the starting gun is fired a second time. That pistol shot signals the start of the gun lap — a runner’s last chance to

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 9:1-10  In 1789 Benjamin Franklin quoted: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except DEATH and TAXES.” In the aftermath of the COVID epidemic, someone added a third certainty: JOB INSECURITY. We could all give a collective amen/moan to that! But the truth is, as we await Jesus’ return to earth with judgment to follow,

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 7:11-22  Remember learning to ride a bicycle? It was about balance: being balanced getting up on (and off) the bike, staying balanced while riding, and remaining balanced when braking.  Leaning heavily to one side or the other meant falling over — resulting in “skint knees” and elbows or worse. In our focal passage (Ecclesiastes 7:11-22), King Solomon looks

By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 4:13-5:7  Some older readers may remember “Hey There,” a popular song in the 50’s. It’s about a young lady in love, trying to talk herself into making wise decisions. She says, “Will you take this advice I hand you, like a mother? Or, am I not seeing things too clear? Are you just too far gone to hear?