By Michael Julian
Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton

Focal Passage: Matthew 13:3-8,18-23 

Sharing Christ is a mandate. Sharing Christ is a must. It is not something that can wait. It is a matter of trust. But, the question remains active for our present generation. Are we going to share Christ without reservation?

I love the parables of Jesus. They can be short in length and long in meaning. The parable for this week is one of the better known parables, and it even comes with specific explanations by the Lord. 

Here, we discover how people react to the gospel message. The sower sows faithfully, broadcasting the Word of God on all types of soil. That is done without reservation, even though different reactions are elicited. Are we prepared to unreservedly broadcast the gospel wherever we are and to whoever may listen? If we will trust God to work, that will aid our endeavor. [Read more…]

By Michael Julian
Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Kenton

Focal Passage: Matthew 24:3-8,29-32,42-44 

How certain are you that the sky is blue? How certain are you that two plus two equals four? How certain are you that the sun will rise tomorrow? How certain are you that you will be working the same job five years from now? 

In our lives we deal with things and situations where we have varying degrees of certainty. Some things are readily verifiable, while others stand on shaky ground. Our Christian essential this week should be met with the highest confidence. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is coming again!

This comes to us as a direct promise from the Lord Jesus. It comes to us as sure testimony from other writers of Scripture. Some of the very last words that we find in the book of Revelation are, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Once again, these are the words of Christ. [Read more…]

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…]