John 12:19So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”...  Read More

DIVIDEDBy Dustin AllmanPastor, The Fort Church, KingsportFocal Passage: 1 Kings 12:6-19    My grandparents were teenagers in the 50s, so I grew up hearing about Elvis, Gunsmoke, RC Colas, the 1954 Ford Custom and all-night gospel singings.  They affectionately called this decade – “the glory days.” Most people have a favorite sports team and when their team is bad, they often reminisce a bit more ...  Read More

Overcome BetrayalBy Van RichmondPastor, New Life Church, NashvilleFocal Passage: Genesis 37:19-27; 39:1-2You have walked across the razor-sharp pieces of broken trust, just trying to understand why you were betrayed. The act of betrayal creates a tormenting pain that tears at every emotional fiber of your being while simultaneously wrapping you in a dulling numbness. Disbelief, shock, and denial b...  Read More

Only Jesus SavesBy Chuck WilliamsPastor, First Baptist Church, CovingtonFocal Passage: Hebrews 7:23-28One time a preacher in the middle of his sermon asked the rhetorical question, “Do you know of anyone who has lived a perfect life?” Surprisingly an older man raised his hand. The pastor asked, “Well, who is this perfect person?” The man calmly replied, “Pastor, that would be my wife’s first husba...  Read More

Connected in ChristBy Van RichmondPastor, New Life Church, NashvilleFocal Passage: Ephesians 2:17-22Nobel Peace Prize winner and theologian Albert Schweitzer once astutely noted, “We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” While it seems difficult to imagine anyone could possibly feel isolated on a planet inhabited by over seven billion people, the reality is the esteemed Sc...  Read More

KEEP SERVING FAITHFULLYBy Chuck WilliamsInterim Pastor, First Baptist Church, MilanFocal Passage: Matthew 24:42-51The 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 n...  Read More

Who is Jesus?By Chuck WilliamsPastor, First Baptist, CovingtonFocal Passage: Hebrews 1:1-4Very few enjoy standing in line for an extended period of time. One particular man had decided he had waited long enough in the line to purchase an airline ticket. Shoving others aside he plunged to the counter and demanded of the ticket agent, “Don’t you know who I am?” Without hesitation the agent calmly gr...  Read More

STAY PREPARED AND READYBy Chuck WilliamsInterim Pastor, First Baptist Church, MilanFocal Passage: Matthew 25:1-13Weddings 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 hi...  Read More

WAITINGBy Kevin ShrumPastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, NashvilleFocal 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 a...  Read More

CONVICTED BY THE SPIRITBy Scott BrownPastor, First Baptist Church, WaverlyFocal 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 ofte...  Read More

GRANTEDBy Dustin AllmanPastor, The Fort Church, Kingsport.Focal Passage: I Kings 3:4-15    A 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 ...  Read More

Amos 8:4-6Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse o...  Read More