By Kenny Bruce Pastor Emeritus, Leawood East Baptist Church, Memphis Focal Passage: I John 1:5-2:2 God’s desire is to fellowship with us and to fill us with His joy. To experience this a person must be saved. John wrote I John so that every Christian could know for certain that he has been forgiven, saved, and is heaven-bound.
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 Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: I Kings 19:19-21; II Kings 2:6-14 Our journey has come to an end, a most hopeful end. Living outside the comfort zone should be feeling a lot more comfortable. What we find in life is that the end of one thing marks the beginning of a new thing. And God delights in doing a new thing! Our Scripture this week
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 Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 19:1-5a,11-18 There is no need to hide from the stigma of discouragement. I say stigma because it is usually the one discouraged who places the stigma upon himself or herself. If you have ever faced a period of great discouragement, who was harder on you? You or those around you? We begin to beat ourselves up, perhaps feeling
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 Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 18:20-26, 31-39 If this were the Old West, we should expect to be hearing faint whistling in the background, followed by ominous music, and topped off with tumbleweeds rolling across a dusty street in what resembles a ghost town. Our focus would be upon the two combatants meeting at high noon to settle things once and for all.
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?
By Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 17:17-24 Do you remember the incident in the lives of the disciples when they could not heal a man’s son possessed with a spirit? Jesus, coming back from the mountain of transfiguration, walked into the confusion. Jesus proceeds to drive out the deaf and dumb spirit. The disciples privately question Jesus about their inability to drive out the
By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 A Jewish rabbi was once asked by an inquirer, “Why do Jewish teachers always seem to answer a question with a question?” The rabbi replied, “Why not?” Of course that was originally told as a joke, but it’s actually quite true; the greatest Rabbi ever, Jesus Himself, often answered questions with questions. Each of our studies in
By Kenny Bruce Pastor Emeritus, Leawood East Baptist Church, Memphis Focal Passage: I John 1:5-2:2 God’s desire is to fellowship with us and to fill
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
By Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: I Kings 19:19-21; II Kings 2:6-14 Our journey has come to an end, a most
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
By Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 19:1-5a,11-18 There is no need to hide from the stigma of discouragement. I
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
By Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 18:20-26, 31-39 If this were the Old West, we should expect to be
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
By Michael Julian Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton Focal Passage: 1 Kings 17:17-24 Do you remember the incident in the lives of the disciples when
By Mike Dawson Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 A Jewish rabbi was once asked by an inquirer, “Why do Jewish
