By Hoyt Wilson Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay Focal Passage: I Peter 3:13-22 Dawson Trotman, the founder of the evangelistic organization, The Navigators, said: “Soul winners are not soul winners because of what they know, but Who they know, and how much they want others to know Him.” 

By Hoyt Wilson Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay Focal Passage: I Peter 3:1-12 We have names for the ways we are connected with other people. Father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter, boss, and many other terms express our relationships. We live connected to others.  Each connection we have with others brings with it a responsibility to learn how to live in that relationship. I Peter 3:1-8 shares vital

By Hoyt Wilson Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay Focal Passage: I Peter 2:11-20 All of us begin life as strangers. When forced from our mother’s womb, we enter an environment in which we are strangers. Hopefully, bonding with parents and becoming accustomed to the strange sights, sounds, and touch to which one is subjected will soon lead to one belonging. I Peter was written to Christians who needed to know

By Justin Randolph Pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Romans 3:9-12,19-20, 23 It is popular today to discuss whether or not it is relevant or important to name the problem.  Does not identifying the problem make solving it easier? I would argue without proper identification of a problem, a solution is nearly impossible to find. So, why do people today seem to find it so difficult to

By Hoyt Wilson Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay Focal Passage: I Peter 1:3-9 A boy scrubbed clean and dressed in his Sunday best went outside to wait for the rest of the family before church. He could not, however resist the puddles from the night’s rain. He was wet and dirty when he went back into the house. Mom was unhappy and fussed. “I’m sorry, Mom,” he said. “All right,

By Hoyt Wilson Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay Focal Passage:  I Peter 1:3-9 Some years ago a submarine sank off the coast of New England. Rescue operations began as soon as possible and divers located the vessel on the bottom of the ocean. As the divers approached the ship, they heard metallic clanging — someone was striking the inner wall of the sub with a metal object. The divers stopped

By Al R. Hodges Retired IMB Missionary Focal Passage:  I Samuel 30:6-8, 18-25 In my early years as a missionary in Africa, Alan, a missionary from Ireland, was a close friend. When I experienced times of loneliness or difficulty, Alan would smile and say through his Irish accent, “Brother, we are not on the winning side … we are on the side that has WON!” Although David had been invited

By Al R. Hodges Retired IMB Missionary Focal Passage: I Samuel 26:7-12, 21-25 Although hated and abused by King Saul, David maintained his respect for Saul and for the Lord who had anointed him king. It is a story of the old king, still reigning but fading, and the new king in waiting, also anointed but not yet in power. David could have taken matters into his own hands and

By Al R. Hodges Retired IMB Missionary Focal Passage: 1 Samuel 25:14-17; 32-38 “There but for the grace of God go I” is a statement attributed to 16th century English protestant John Bradford. Such was Bradford’s humility, that upon seeing the execution of hardened criminals, he understood God had protected him from falling into such crimes.  Maybe you can look back on a time in your life when God spared

By Al R. Hodges Retired IMB Missionary Focal Passage: 1 Samuel 22:6-17 Selfish ambition creates a spiritual blindness detrimental to one’s own soul and to the well-being of others in the family of God. David was loyal to King Saul because Saul was God’s anointed. David trusted God’s timing for when he himself would become king. He was committed to never doing Saul harm (I Samuel 24:6; 26:9). Saul, on