Sermon Preview for Sunday, September 28

We invite you to use the following sermon preview to prepare for worship on Sunday morning.

This Sunday, September 28, Dr. Gaddy will deliver a sermon titled, "Faith — Salve or Thorn?"

The sermon will examine the tension between faith as activism and faith as comfort, exploring how one knows when to act and when to remain silent (or passive).

The Christian Scripture Reading (Philippians 2:1-11)

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Sermon Preview for Sunday, September 21

We invite you to use the following sermon preview to prepare for worship on Sunday morning.

This Sunday, September 14, Dr. Gaddy will deliver a sermon titled, "So What?" The emphasis in the sermon will fall on the essential connection between what one believes and how one behaves. The real test for the power of faith in a person's life is not a declaration of what a person believes but a demonstration of the manner in which those beliefs shape personal and social actions. The structure of Paul's letter to Rome is a model for the movement that is essential in a person's life.

The Christian Scripture Reading (Romans 12:1-8)
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Sermon Preview for Sunday, September 14

We invite you to use the following sermon preview to prepare for worship on Sunday morning.

This Sunday, September 14, Dr. Gaddy will deliver a sermon titled, "Choosing Whom We Serve: My Endorsement in the 2008 Election." The sermon will serve a guide for pastors and churches looking to resist the call for pastors to endorse candidates for political office from the pulpit.

The Hebrew Scripture Lesson (Joshua 24:14-15)
14 "Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve God in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Post-Hurricane Report from Cuba

We received the following e-mail from our sister church in Cuba following Hurricane Gustav:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I received a lot of e-mails from you about Hurricane Gustav and damages in Cuba.

Last Saturday, after 2 p.m., the hurricane entered Cuba by Isla de la Juventud (South of Habana Province) and left about 9 p.m. north of the Pinar del Rio Province. The destruction of houses, schools and others is very big in both mentioned places. I saw on TV that about 136 electricity towers (high tension) are down. For these reasons, it is possible that some towns will not have electricity for many days. There is, however, no reported loss of human life.

We (Fraternity of Cuban Baptist Churches) have one church with missions (House Churches) on the capital of the province of Pinar del Rio. Some people of the church have some damage in properties (houses): roofs, walls, windows, clothes, etc. The principal building of the Church (House Church) lost its roof completely.

We need yours prayers for persons in Cuba, who lost houses and properties.

In the Love of Jesus,

Manuel Delgado

Editor’s Note: Since Gustav went south of Cuba until it turned over the western end, Ciego de Avila (the city where our sister church is located) received only some rain.

Sermon Preview for Sunday, September 7

We invite you to use the following sermon preview to prepare for worship on Sunday morning.

This Sunday, September 7, Rev. Carl Gregg will deliver a sermon titled, "Out of the Whirlwind." The sermon will reflect on the destruction caused by Hurricane Gustav through the lens of the following two scripture readings.

The Hebrew Scripture Lesson (Job 38)
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— 9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, 11 and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? 12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. 15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken. 16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. 19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, 20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! 22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? 24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? 25 "Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt, 26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life, 27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? 28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? 30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. 31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion? 32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? 33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? 34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you? 35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, "Here we are'? 36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind? 37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, 38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together? 39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? 41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

The Christian Scripture Reading (Luke 13:1-5)
1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."