Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
February 7, 2017
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Philippians 3:12-21 How beautiful, sweet, and innocent is a newborn baby. For many, we would keep them as babies perhaps for a little longer, and yet we take them to their first doctor’s visit hoping that their measurements and weight indicate growth. Later in […]
January 30, 2017
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Judges 6:11-16, 25-32 My wife Cynthia once was arranging a table decoration in the house and asked me, “Is this okay?” It seemed a silly question because no one on the planet is less qualified to approve table decorations than me and she knows […]
January 30, 2017
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Philippians 2:1-11 There once was a slave in ancient Rome who heard his master was on the liquidation list. Upon learning this news, he quickly put on his master’s cloak and quietly awaited the arrival of the political assassins. When they finally arrived, they […]
January 23, 2017
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passages: Judges 4:4-10, 12-16 Even a cursory examination of Israel’s history in the book of Judges will reveal a glaring theme: Israel had been given the land, every inch of it, and “no man shall be able to stand …” (Joshua 1:5 ESV). This was […]
January 23, 2017
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Philippians 1:12-21 Wouldn’t it be great if all the lessons of life we needed to learn could be learned without difficulty? I have often pondered in watching my children grow and learn, as well as in reflecting on my own journey, why we so […]
January 10, 2017
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Proverbs 24:10-12; Mark 10:46-49 The day comes for us all, the day we have to take a stand. Scrawny little Ted Newton had to take a stand against school bus bullies in the 1992 classic movie Beethoven. When enough finally became enough, Ted stepped […]
January 10, 2017
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-10 What makes a person valuable? Is it how they look or, perhaps what they wear? Is it found in their education or abilities? Is it tied to physical acumen, language, or culture? Of course, the answer is found in none of the […]
January 2, 2017
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Joshua 24:14-28 I have a treasured book in my study containing some of history’s greatest speeches. I often read them finding myself wishing that I could compose and deliver such stirring homilies. What made those speeches great was not the composition but the passionate soul […]
January 2, 2017
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:153-160 I remember well my first and only experience roofing. It was on a Baptist Collegiate Ministries missions trip in Gulfport, Miss. We volunteered to roof a church that was damaged in a hurricane. We had a good system going and felt good […]
December 26, 2016
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Joshua 22:1-8 An experienced backpacker will tell you in chilling detail of the dangers of reaching the summit after a long ascent up a mountain. With muscles weakened by fatigue and clothes soaked with sweat, the high country winds above the tree line […]
December 26, 2016
By Justin Randolph Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville Focal Passage: Psalm 119:89-96 It’s a new year! Time to make commitments we intend to keep. For example — commitments to lose weight, exercise more, read the Bible in its entirety, go on a missions trip, and be more faithful in our giving. Unfortunately, these commitments […]
December 19, 2016
By Mark Proctor Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia Focal Passage: Luke 1:26-38 Twenty years ago, on the same week God called me from the engineering business into the ministry, my wife delivered another announcement: we were expecting our third child. I was terrified — a career change and an unexpectedly expanding family. At once, […]