Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
January 14, 2019
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Gen 1:27, 9:1-7; Matt.5:21-22 The sanctity of life is a beautiful, biblical belief that informs our convictions every life is precious because every life was wonderfully and fearfully made in the image of God. It’s simple to bang the pulpit one Sunday in January for […]
January 14, 2019
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Exodus 1:16-17, 22-2:9 I love to hear babies and kids in our worship services. Several weeks ago, we had one getting a little loud. When the mom got up to take him out he was telling everybody around them bye. The reason I love to […]
January 7, 2019
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Genesis 33:1-15 It had been 20 years since Jacob and Esau had seen each other, since Jacob tricked their Father and stole Esau’s blessing for himself. There is a saying, “Time heals all wounds.” I can tell you that’s not always true. I’ve seen people […]
January 7, 2019
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Ephesians 2:11-22 The Great Wall of China was built approximately 200 years before Jesus was born. It took almost a century to build. It was originally 3,000 miles long. Today there are only about 1,500 miles remaining. It varies in height from 15 to 50 […]
December 31, 2018
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Genesis 32:24-32 Jacob, fresh from the encounter with Laban and about to see his brother for the first time in 20 years, spends the night alone. Perhaps he wanted to pray, maybe he wanted to gather his thoughts, or he could’ve been convinced Esau was […]
December 31, 2018
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Matthew 2:1-11 There are some popular misconceptions about these magi. Most of us get our idea about these individuals from songs, cards and poems rather than from theologians. First, most people assume there were three because of the song, “We Three Kings,” and because they […]
December 24, 2018
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Genesis 31:2-16 For 20 years Jacob had served Laban far from his own home. God had blessed all of Jacob’s work and shown him great favor. As Jacob prospered, Laban and his sons took notice and their attitudes began to change toward Jacob.
December 24, 2018
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Luke 2:25-35 No one likes to wait. But we wait in traffic, in car lines, in grocery stores, in drive-thru’s, for the doctor, for a spouse, for a baby, for retirement, for sermons to get over and for Jesus to return. To set the story, […]
December 18, 2018
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Luke 1:26-38 Just as God had promised to Jacob that all the earth would be blessed through his offspring in our previous lesson, we now see God keeping that promise. Jesus is a promise kept. At a time when it looked like God’s people had […]
December 18, 2018
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Luke 2:1-14 Most people in America are familiar with this passage because every December we watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and hear Linus tell us about the true meaning of Christmas. Let’s set the scene. An angel rocks the routine of some guys who are […]
December 10, 2018
By Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly Focal Passage: Genesis 29:16-30 So often we believe the lie that God can only use great people from great backgrounds for great things but that’s not true. God is pleased to use crooked sticks to draw straight lines. God chose to bless the nations through a broken, […]
December 10, 2018
By Greg Steele Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper Focal Passage: Luke 1:26-38 When most people think about Mary, the mother of Jesus, they think of a peaceful, serene and virtuous woman. Now all of those are probably true characteristics, but I think she also was a very real person. In our passage, Luke paints a […]