By Sam Greer Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 1:10-25 Every four years the Winter Olympics are headline news. The 2018 Olympic games in Pyongyang were no different. One of the most fascinating stories from the 2018 Olympics regarded the nation of Korea. The sister of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un attended the 2018 Olympics, as she was the first North Korean Dynasty

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 28:17-28 Years ago I was a part of the “Appalachian Preaching Mission,” where churches in the tri-cities of East Tennessee came together once a year to highlight gospel preaching. You’ll know it was many years ago when I tell you my role was to be the “school” preacher. I actually preached in assemblies at the various

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 26:19-29 The Apostle Paul’s final days of ministry clearly fulfilled a promise God had given him. In Acts 23:11, Jesus had appeared to Paul in a night vision, telling him to ‘cheer up’ because he would “bear witness at Rome.” In the next three chapters of Acts, even before arriving as promised in Rome, Paul witnessed

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 20: 22-35 Since “retirement” I’ve given away many of my books, but I’ve retained some that are especially precious to me. One I’ve kept is Parting Shots, written by the late Landrum Leavell II, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president, 1975-1994, and the father of current TBC President David Leavell. Parting Shots is a compilation of

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 18:24-28; 19:1-7 In 1653, an Englishman named Isaak Walton wrote The Compleat Angler. A contemplative fisherman’s guide, it went on to become the second-most republished book in the English language, next after the Bible. Walton’s old English spelling of ‘compleat’ has spawned many modern book titles. It seems to describe something stronger than complete: if someone

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 16:16-19; Psalm 139:13-16 Two mischievous boys hid away in a large department store at closing time. They didn’t steal anything during the night; they just changed the price tags on hundreds of items. When the store opened, customers were surprised to see an item that had been $5.99 now had a price tag of $49.99; something that

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 17:22-34 Many years ago, shoe shops advertised “Shoes Repaired — While You Wait.” Customers could hang around in their ‘sock feet’ while their shoes were being repaired. Few shops of any kind offer such services today; people in our culture don’t wait for anything. In Acts 17:16-21, prior to today’s study passage, we see how to

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage: Acts 16:22-34 I remember hearing a college Bible professor tell of a vision that came to him while very ill in the hospital. Alone in his room at night, he saw a glorious image of Jesus. But there were some shocking features of His appearance. The robed figure was short — because it had no feet. The face

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage:  Acts 15:36-41; 16:1-5 One of the most important ‘words’ in the Bible never actually appears in the Bible! The word is relationships. The Bible is all about relationships; yet the word itself has come into our vocabulary since Scripture was written. Terms like ‘one another,’ and ‘households,’ and ‘friends,’ and ‘neighbors’ are found again and again in

By Mike Dawson Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe Focal Passage:  Luke 2:25-38 During the turbulent 1960’s a silver-haired lady named Iva observed the hippie movement. As young people in faded jeans invaded her church, she didn’t complain; instead she prayed for them — and those noisy teens began making commitments to Christ. Then Iva had a stroke and died suddenly.