By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Luke 14:25-35

A young man wrote a love letter to his girlfriend that said this: “My darling, I love you more than life itself. Words fail to describe my love for you. For you I would climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest seas, and cross a blazing desert just to be in your presence for just one minute. Sincerely, Your Beloved. … P.S.: I’ll pick you up Friday night at 6 p.m. unless, of course, it is raining.”

This is a lot like the way Luke describes the love people showed toward Jesus in Luke 14:25-35. When Jesus finished tell the parable of the great banquet at the house of one of the Pharisees, a large crowd had gathered to follow Him. [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark 
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Luke 9:57-62 

Fans of Southeastern Conference Football are some of the most devoted people in the country to their teams. They will spend hundreds of dollars for tickets, travel mile after mile to watch their team play, sing their fight song with greater joy than a Chris Tomlin church chorus, wear their team colors, paint their bodies, and some fans even wear plastic pigs on their heads all to show support for their team. 

However, the enthusiasm quickly begins to fade the moment “their team” loses a game or a second game or (gasp) a third game. All of a sudden, the true fan loses their interest in the game, the season and the team.  [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Luke 6:27-36

Two brothers were arguing at breakfast over the final pancake. Their mother walked in and said to them, “Boys! Is this how Jesus would act? I think Jesus would say, ‘Let my brother have the last pancake.’ ” At that, the older brother turned to the younger brother and said, “Congratulations Bobby! This morning you get to be Jesus!”

This hard saying of Jesus about love for our enemies often is ignored, even by God’s people. In this passage, Jesus is using hyperbole throughout much of these verses. We must recognize that Jesus is raising the bar and expecting much more from His followers than they realized.

First, we see the commands of Jesus. His call to love your enemies is still a call to love those we find unloveable. Who might these enemies be? Within the historical context we find Matthew specifically names two groups: tax collectors and pagans/Gentiles. Luke simply refers to these as “sinners.” Both Matthew and Luke imply a third group which were the Roman soldiers. The love Jesus calls for here is the Greek word, agape. You could define it this way: “Agape love is a compassionate or merciful love given to another without conditions.” This is a love that we choose to give others. It is love motivated by the will, not the feelings. This is the love God shows His children. In the face of our enemy’s hatred He calls us to do good to them. [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Matthew 19:21-30

Have you ever watched a TV show called “Hoarders?” I did recently and to be honest, I was amazed and astonished at the degree to which some folks will hold on to things (stuff). This one particular lady (the hoarder), had so much stuff that she didn’t even have a place to sleep or sit down in her own home!

She had old newspapers stacked up, soup labels, plastic utensils, and other weird things boxed up and stored in her home like it was all a bunch of treasure. What was heartbreaking was that these episodes are really interventions on the part of family members and friends who are trying to help the hoarder to break this destructive habit or lifestyle. In almost each and every case, the hoarder resists the help. [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: John 11:25-27; 20:24-29

John Paton is not a name that we hear very often when we think of great missionaries. Paton served for 10 years as pastor of a growing Scottish congregation, but God burdened his heart for the New Hebrides, a group of Pacific Islands inhabited by unreached people. Moreover, the inhabitants were cannibals.

Paton set his heart on one particular island. Twenty years earlier, a missionary couple had gone to that island. They were killed and cannibalized, so it was no surprise that many people attempted to dissuade Paton from going to that particular island. [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Matthew 12:22-32

It has jokingly been said that there are three types of people in this world: Those who can do math and those who can’t. 

What about the math of sin? How many sins is too many? How many can you commit before forgiveness doesn’t apply to you? Can you count one sin as larger and worse than another sin?  [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 11:7-10; 12:12-14

There was once an elderly gentleman who loved playing golf. But he was almost 80, and his vision was not very good anymore. He always had partners with him when he went out to play so they could watch his ball and tell him where it went.

One day his buddies did not show up. It was a beautiful day for golf, and as he waited at the clubhouse, he got more and more upset that he wasn’t going to get to play his round. Another elderly man in the clubhouse saw him and asked, “What’s wrong?” The man explained his predicament: “I was really looking forward to playing golf today. But I don’t see very well anymore, so I need someone to watch the ball after I hit.” [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Jean Paul Getty was born in Minneapolis in 1892. He was educated in California and attended Oxford University. He became an independent oil producer in 1914 and held presidential and directorial positions with several oil companies during the 1930’s.  [Read more…]

Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington

Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:18-23; 3:9-13

Somebody has well said that there are only two kinds of people in the world — there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord, it is time to go to work” and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning and time to go to work.” [Read more…]

By Clay Hallmark
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lexington Focal 

Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:12-17; 7:23-29

In the movie “Forrest Gump,” the main character sat on a bench and said, “Mama always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.’ ” When we read Ecclesiastes 2 and 7, it appears that Solomon had a similar outlook on life. [Read more…]