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JUNE 5: GRANTED

May 30, 2022

By Dustin Allman
Pastor, The Fort Church, Kingsport.

Focal Passage: I Kings 3:4-15    

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleA father and son went fishing one day. After a couple hours in the boat, the boy asked his father, “Dad, how does this boat float?” The father thought for a moment, then replied, “Don’t rightly know, son.”

A few minutes later the son asked, “How do fish breathe underwater?” The father replied, “Don’t rightly know, son.”

Later that afternoon, the boy asked, “Why is the sky blue?” Again, the father replied. “Don’t rightly know, son.”

Worried he was annoying his father, he asks, “Dad, do you mind all these questions?” “Of course not, son. If you don’t ask questions, you’ll never learn anything!” [Read more…]

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JUNE 5: CONVICTED BY THE SPIRIT

May 30, 2022

By Scott Brown
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeFocal Passage: John 15:26-27; 16:7-15

 Of all the benefits that Holy Spirit God brings into the life of believers, conviction is the one for which I am least often and most often thankful. I do not like feeling conviction, it’s not fun. 

That overwhelming sense that something I did or felt, something I did not do, or (most often in my case) something I did or did not say, was not right before God. I thank God for conviction, though, because it reminds me of God’s unchanging nature. He is uncompromising in His disdain for sin just as He is unchanging in His love for me. 

I thank God also for conviction because it is a great measure of my current spiritual health. Hear me out. When I am not walking with Jesus as I should and want to, I am significantly duller in feeling that conviction and acting upon it.  [Read more…]

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MAY 29: WAITING

May 23, 2022

By Kevin Shrum
Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleFocal Passage: II Thessalonians 3:6-15    

We are not good at waiting. We ought to be. We spend most of our lives waiting. Waiting requires patience, endurance, wisdom and commitment. We are to live obediently as we wait for the return of Christ. 

But how do we wait? Why do we wait? How is it possible to wait for the return of the Lord and to do so in ways that make us effective for the Lord? And what happens when we don’t wait patiently, actively and faithfully? [Read more…]

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MAY 29: STAY PREPARED AND READY

May 23, 2022

By Chuck Williams
Interim Pastor, First Baptist Church, Milan

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeFocal Passage: Matthew 25:1-13

Weddings are great occasions. In Jesus’ day the whole village or town would turn out for the week long event. No one wanted to miss this joyous festival. 

One of the exciting parts was when the groom is coming down the road with his entourage at night to ‘surprise’ his bride-to-be with his arrival. The job for the virgins was to light the way for his arrival. In this parable we see that things didn’t go so well. There is one major warning here.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Waiting till the last minute (vv. 1-5) rarely works. Waiting until the night before an exam to study rarely works. Waiting until company has arrived rarely produces a good meal.  [Read more…]

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MAY 22: PRAYING

May 16, 2022

By Kevin Shrum
Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville

Focal Passage: II Thessalonians 2:13-3:5    

Sunday School Lessons explore the biblePrayer is an interesting, yet dynamic and essential Christian discipline. We pour our hearts out to God in prayer. He promises to hear us, to speak to us, and to answer our prayers according to His will. But too many times we feel as if we’re speaking in mid-air to no one who is listening. But is this true?

Prayer is that unique gift God has called us to that both tests and rewards our faith in Him. Without prayer we are powerless. When we work, we work. But when we pray God works. And when God works amazing things take place. This is why we are called to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). What do we pray about? 

Steadfastness (II Thessalonians 2:13-15). We pray for steadfastness, for faithfulness in our commitment to God. We pray for a steadfastness grounded in our salvation because “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (v. 13). The effectual call of the gospel came to us for “the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 14).  All of this makes us stable in the Lord. [Read more…]

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MAY 22: KEEP SERVING FAITHFULLY

May 16, 2022

By Chuck Williams
Interim Pastor, First Baptist Church, Milan

Focal Passage: Matthew 24:42-51

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeThe story is told of three apprentice demons who came before Satan to report to him about their work on earth. The first demon said, “I will tell people there is no God.” Satan said, “That will not delude them for they know there is a God.” The second said, “I will tell them there is no hell.” Satan replied, “You will deceive no one that way. Men know there is a hell for sin.” The third said, “I will tell them there is no hurry.” Satan then said, “Yes, that is the answer, you will have great success.”

Rather than being lazy, God said:

(1) Be vigilant. In days past, who was the most important person to guard the towns and cities? It would have to be the watchmen. They were to be alert, vigilant, and observant to any attacks. Today we have watchmen to alert us, and they are the “home security system.” [Read more…]

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MAY 15: OBSERVING

May 9, 2022

By Kevin Shrum
Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville

Focal Passage: I Thessalonians 2:1-12    

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleIt is a tragedy to lose any one of our five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, feel. I once asked a person, “Which of the five senses would be most difficult to lose?” Answer: Sight. We all know beautiful people who cannot see for a variety of medical reasons. Physical blindness is a sad condition.

However, spiritual blindness is not only sad, but deadly. As the old saying goes, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” The lost are described as blind (II Corinthians 4:4). Jesus called some of the religious leaders of his day “blind guides” (Matthews 23:16-22). 

The text before us calls us to live life observing and looking for the signs of the times, especially as they pertain to the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In other words, we’re to live out our lives in Christ with “eyes wide open.” [Read more…]

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MAY 15: TRUST GOD’S TIMING

May 9, 2022

By Chuck Williams
Interim Pastor, First Baptist Church, Milan

Focal Passage: Matthew 24:32-41

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeWe are an impatient people. How long am I going to wait in line for my Starbucks (which by the way is overpriced burnt coffee beans)? 

When is the server going to be up and running so I can get online (which may mean you are left out of your gaming.) I am so hungry. I can’t wait to eat (have you checked the scales lately or looked sideways in a mirror)? 

Many of the items we are anxious for can wait. But when it comes to Christ’s return there are some things that can’t wait. But until then we have signs that give us insight confidence on what to depend on, and preparation to make for that day.

[Read more…]

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MAY 8: ENDURING

May 2, 2022

By Kevin Shrum
Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleFocal Passage: II Thessalonians 1:3-12    

One of the most distinct, Baptist doctrines is called the “security of the believer.” Some tritely refer to this as “once saved always saved.” It is better to refer to this doctrine as the “perseverance or endurance of the saints.” 

This doctrine states that those who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ will be kept by God and will, by God’s grace and Spirit, endure to the end. 

This doctrine also teaches that true salvation is measured not just by when faith begins, but where the life of faith ends. The truly saved must and will endure. Those who do not endure to the end are not saved. How a person begins and ends the life of faith cannot be separated. 

Too many people pray to receive Christ, but never live out their faith or endure for Christ. Those who are truly saved cannot be lost; those who are truly saved endure and persevere in a life of faithful service.  [Read more…]

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MAY 8: WATCH FOR CHRIST’S RETURN

May 2, 2022

By Chuck Williams
Interim Pastor, First Baptist Church, Milan

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeFocal Passage: Matthew 24:23-31

Very few things in history have been on a national level known by the world —  9/11/01, the eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano in 1980, the surprise election of President Trump in 2016. 

There is only one event in human history where everyone was aware of it — the Noahic flood. Where the “fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened” (Genesis 7:11b). These forces produced tsunamis of epic proportions, and everyone was well aware of it. There is coming another epic event on God’s prophetic calendar that every person will be made well aware of  — the return of Christ to the earth. What events will unfold? [Read more…]

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Recent Posts

  • ‘JUST HORRIFIC’: ILLINOIS, KENTUCKY SOUTHERN BAPTISTS MINISTER AFTER WEEKEND SHOOTINGS
  • CHURCHES CELEBRATE HIGH COURT’S RULING
  • TENNESSEANS PREPARE FOR ‘ATHEIST CAPITAL OF GERMANY’
  • GOV. LEE SAYS ROE V. WADE DECISION WAS ‘ANSWER TO LOTS OF PRAYERS’
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