By Tim Frank
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Carthage

Focal Passage: Matthew 18:21-28, 32-33 

As we continue this series on building relationships, I remind you that the core building block of all relationships is love. Love as defined in I Corinthians 13:4 has two characteristics, kindness and long-suffering.

Last week, we examined the importance of encouragement in relationships, the importance of being kind. Today, we look at being long-suffering through forgiveness.  The Bible holds forgiveness as the expected response from the believer toward others, based on the forgiveness he has received from God in Christ (Matthew 6:12; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13). [Read more…]

By Jerry Price
Retired pastor

Focal Passage: Matthew 6:25-34 

Merrill Tenney, my major professor at Wheaton Graduate School, often admonished those in his classes with this familiar statement: “Any text, taken out of context, is nothing more than a pretext.” He hammered that point home so often that it became ingrained in me and my fellow-students. So, it has become natural for me to ask: “What is the context of the passage under consideration?”

The tip-off in this passage is the word “Therefore” (literally, because of this) in Matthew 6:25. The word always points backwards. It indicates that what follows is related to that which came before it. In the preceding verses (vv. 22-23), Jesus indicated that a person can serve God or material things (“mammon”) — not both.  [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: 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 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 gave three gifts. But we’re never told how many there were. 

There could have been two, three, or 23.  They were said to be kings, though the text doesn’t say that either. They were said to be representatives of three families of Shem, Ham and Japeth and therefore one of them is pictured as an Ethiopian. Their names are given as Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior.   [Read more…]

By Greg Steele
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jasper

Focal Passage: Matthew 1:18-25

In my younger days, I was part of several plays/musicals. It was always the main roles that people desired. It wasn’t too often that you found a small role that had a great impact. However, that is not the case in the story of Joseph.

There is not a lot about Joseph contained in Scripture. He is only mentioned in regard to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. But what we discover is that Joseph was a man worth imitating. [Read more…]