By Michael Crandall
Senior Pastor, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Dyersburg

Focal Passage: John 1:1-5, 9-14

Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you never married the person of your dreams or if you never had your children or grandchildren? At times when we think about things such as this, we wonder what life would be like! Now let me ask you this, think about your life before you accepted Christ as your Savior. Life was much different then! Today if you have asked Christ to be your Savior, your future is much brighter. When we look at this week’s lesson we see why God sent His Son to be born of a virgin, wrapped in rags and laid in a manger. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Focal Passage: John 8:2-11

When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our sins were forgiven by God. What a wonderful feeling that was.

The question that we must answer in our own lives is this: Are we willing to forgive others when we feel they have wronged us? Even for Christians, forgiveness can be hard. Though we have been beneficiaries of the grace and mercy of God we are still prone to sin. We often find it very difficult to forgive others. Usually instead of forgiveness we want “blood” or revenge against the person or persons.

People have not changed much over the course of thousands of years. We find the same attitude in this week’s passage. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

Focal Passage: 1 John 3:1-10

About a year ago, a friend of mine and his wife finalized the adoption of their son who is Ethiopian. The little boy was about five at the time, living in an orphanage with dozens of other children and had little more than the clothes on his back. Mostly, he lacked the love of a mother and father. It is an interesting picture to fast forward a year and see how the boy’s life is radically different. He’s healthy, loves soccer and riding bikes through the creek with his buddies, and is thriving in school. The most noticeable difference is the smile permanently affixed to his face. It is obvious he enjoys being loved. And from the look on my friend’s face, it is obvious loving his son brings him great joy as well.

This earthly expression of love and adoption is but a reflection of what we see in this passage of 1 John  3, and reveals three key items to note in these first three verses. [Read more…]

By Dr. Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Acts 4:23-31

When Jesus was arrested His closest followers, including the apostles scattered.  Peter was accused of being one of Jesus’ followers and denied Him three times. The only followers of Jesus that are mentioned at the cross are some women. The lone exception to that is found in the Gospel of John which mentions that John was there.  At Jesus’ greatest moment of need, the men Jesus had invested Himself in for three long years vanished. They were hiding in the upper room, the location of the first Lord’s Supper, not knowing what to do.

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers on several occasions including the Ascension.  Matthew’s Gospel records the famous command of Jesus called The Great Commission. Jesus gave all of His followers, present and future, instructions to make disciples in all the nations.  These encounters with Jesus and Pentecost gave the Apostles and the other followers of Jesus great courage and power to be fearless in the face of opposition. In the coming days they would need it.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Daniel 6:6-10, 13-16, 19-22

By Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

The American Revolution was a great success. It is easy to brag when you win. But what would have happened if the Founders lost? In the closing words of the Declaration of Independence it states, “… with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” The brave men who signed this revolutionary document and the others who were totally committed to the cause of freedom were willing to die to be free regardless of the price.

In Daniel chapter six we see one of the most famous stories in the entire Bible. This story is powerful because it has all the elements of a great novel. The story has a powerful king with scheming deputies, a faithful man of God, a seemingly hopeless predicament, and the all-powerful God. Like the brave founders, Daniel was willing to pay the ultimate price for staying faithful to his God. [Read more…]

By Dr. Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Daniel 5:17-28

As October fades into November so ends another season of Halloween.  Halloween is big business.  Hollywood has made countless movies designed to scare even the bravest of the brave.  The movies that are the most effective in trying to frighten their audiences are the ones that seem real. Also, farmers turn their fields into haunted mazes.  Stores fill their shelves with candy, costumes, and decorations that can turn the average home into a haunted house. Halloween also turns many people into fanatics about the celebration of all things evil. Sadly many Christians join in these festivities honoring and celebrating rituals that border on satanic worship.  Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should never mingle the sacred and the satanic.  This action dishonors the temple of God. Believer, you are the temple of God.  [Read more…]

By Dr. Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Daniel 4:28-35

Americans are nostalgic concerning their movies. Celebrations occur as the movies of the past are remembered on special anniversaries. One recent celebration was for the late 1980s trilogy “Back to the Future.” These movies are about a time-traveling teenager and his scientist mentor. As they travel into the past or the future they try not to change the future by their actions while visiting the past. The main reason for all the hype was that the second movie was set in October 2015. It was fun to see how the predictions of the movie concerning life in 2015 matched or conflicted with present day reality.
As the events of Daniel chapter four unfold we encounter a powerful story concerning a prediction about the future. This story contains a mysterious dream, an all-powerful king, and a guarantee from a man of God that everything treasured by the king would be taken away from him in the future if he does not honor God. This is no fictional tale. Hollywood’s best attempt at storytelling cannot compare to this real story in the Word of God. [Read more…]

By Dr. Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Daniel 3:13-18, 26-28

Most of us know one. Most of us have had one in our family. Most of us are in awe of their courage and all of us are indebted to them. The members of the United States military, both past and present, are these exceptional Americans who have given up their own lives to protect our freedom. What makes them heroes is their willingness to take a life or death stand for the noble cause of freedom. Today’s military risk everything not knowing if they will live one more moment to enjoy their own freedom earned by a previous generation of heroes.

The Bible is filled with stories of how followers of God have had to take similar stands for a cause. This cause is larger than freedom. This cause is Truth, which is the Word of God. Christians, unknown to most of the world, give up their lives every day as they bravely stand on the truth.

The events in Daniel chapter three occur 23 years after Daniel interpreted the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. The attention shifts away from Daniel to his three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The “Three”, as they will be called, vividly show us how to stand on the truth. [Read more…]

By Dr. Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Daniel 2:13-21, 26-28a

I don’t know if you are like me when it comes to shopping but I can only endure it under certain conditions. I only like to shop when I have a predetermined list and a set number of minutes. These trips can take a turn for the worse when I hear the cries of a child echoing through isles the result of a parent saying, “No!” Depending upon the severity of the cries, the response can be called a temper tantrum. Adults are tragically guilty of these same temper tantrums.

The events recorded in Daniel chapter 2 shows the temper tantrum of King Nebuchadnezzar and the mature actions of Daniel, a teenager in exile from Judah. The king had had a nightmare that deeply troubled him. He wanted his wise men to tell him the dream and its interpretation. To put it in different terms, the king was asking them to draw a picture that he was thinking of and also tell him what it meant. The wise men declared that it would be impossible for anyone to fulfill his demands. Nebuchadnezzar apparently had grown tired of the wise men’s lack of help when he really needed it. They seemed to cost him more than they were worth. In response, the king ordered that all the wise men were to be killed. This order would include the lives of Daniel and his three friends: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar’s temper tantrum would cost many lives. What would Daniel do? [Read more…]

By Terry Kirby
Senior Pastor, Alpha Baptist Church, Morristown

Focal Passage: Daniel 1:3-5, 8-13, 17-19

Think about it! Will anyone remember that you lived in 1,000 years? Will anybody remember that you lived in 100 years? Sad for some, only a fraction of one percent of the people who have ever lived will survive in the memories of future generations. In our world, halls of fame have been established to help remember the best of the best. How do people make it into the hall of fame? They make it because they are the best in their field.

The greatest and most long lasting “hall of fame” is the Word of God. Why? The Word of God is the living and eternal record of the lives of the best of the best of those who obeyed God’s Word and lived with an unshakable conviction of the same. Daniel, along with his three friends, are members of God’s Hall of Fame. [Read more…]