By Mike Dawson Retired Baptist pastor Focal Passage: Job 1:8-22  “Poor as Job’s turkey” is an expression from my boyhood. But the Bible doesn’t say Job ever had a turkey! One thing is certain: if there was one, it would’ve been lost with all Job’s animals, children and possessions. So maybe the expression should simply be “Poor Job!”  JOB THE BOOK is one of the five “Poetry” books in the

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 24:36-49  After amazing the two men on the Emmaus walk, He appears among the disciples once more. Even while the two men are telling about their amazing encounter with the risen Savior, Jesus Himself stands among them. This brings to my mind Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in the

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 24:18-31   This story gives us a glimpse of the Lord’s great eagerness to reveal Himself to all who genuinely seek Him. These two men were traveling the eight miles to Emmaus after the events in Jerusalem that previous week.  As they walked and discussed all that had occurred, trying to make sense of it, Jesus joins them in

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 23:33-46  There’s just something deeply powerful about sacrifice. It touches something deep in my soul when I hear stories of someone willingly choosing to suffer in some way on behalf of another person.  There is something uniquely good and godly about painfully giving of yourself for someone else. Sacrifice flies in the face of our sin nature which disdains

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 22:54-62  This is the story of Peter’s thrice denial of Jesus. After proudly declaring he would be willing to die for Jesus, and after even attempting murder for Him, Peter would defiantly deny that he even knew Jesus. It is almost funny how fast fear can shift our priorities when we let it in. In all fairness, it probably

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 20:9-19  Jesus used parables to both frustrate and to inform. This story does both. The frustration of the religious leaders has now reached a fever pitch and they are almost incessantly confronting Him, trying to find any reason to condemn Him.  In the midst of this, Jesus tells the story of a vineyard owner who leased out His vineyard

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 19:1-10  The story of Zacchaeus is a powerful reminder that no one is too far gone for the grace of God. His name means, “righteous one.” This is very interesting when you think about the man we meet in this chapter. Perhaps his parents had different plans, more righteous hopes for him than the life he had chosen. He

By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 24:1-12  Reading this text, it is quite the emotional rollercoaster. In these few verses we see multiple strong feelings. The women are grief stricken, having seen the Lord crucified and the hope they had crushed.  As they came to mourn and to honor Him, they find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Their grief is now mingled