Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Pastor Kan’Dace Brock: Designed with Purpose in Mind (Psalm 139:11-14)

Pastor Kan’Dace Brock, lead pastor and co-founder of The Message Church in San Antonio, encouraged her hearers to know they are designed by God for a purpose. Brock addressed God’s omnipresence and omniscience and detailed milestones of a baby’s development during pregnancy. She proclaimed: “God didn’t outsource the creation process. God didn’t use secondhand materials.”

Brock called her hearers to do as David did in response to knowing he was “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God. She exhorted them to praise God and to regard themselves as “fierce and fabulous.” Finally, she asked, “Do you know God for yourself?”

This sermon was delivered on Apr. 26, 2019, at a women’s conference at Resurrection Baptist Church in San Antonio. The theme of the conference was “Finding Her.”

A sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Zach Tharp: To Samaria and Beyond! (Acts 8:4-25)

Zach Tharp, pastor of First Baptist Church in Alice, Texas, points to what Christians can learn from Philip’s experience in Samaria. Persecuted Christians scattered from Jerusalem into surrounding areas, taking the good news about Jesus with them. In Samaria, Philip’s words and actions pointed to Christ and brought “much rejoicing in that city.” Not all words and deeds are from God; therefore, Christians must be able to recognize false teachers, who point to themselves.

The gospel has power to change hearts and lives, and it must be proclaimed. Tharp challenges his hearers to be available for God to speak and act the gospel through so others can hear it. He concludes by explaining that the Holy Spirit is a gift who cannot be bought.

This sermon was delivered on Sept. 13, 2020, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Alice as part of a series on the Book of Acts.

“I believe the Lord led us to study Acts, because 2020 has been the year of trying to answer the question, ‘What do we do now?’” Tharp said.

Zach Tharp’s sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Scott Jones: The Proper Pattern for Life (Galatians 5:13-15)

Scott Jones, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockport, turns to Paul’s instruction to the church in Galatia to understand what freedom in Christ means for Christians and the church. Freedom in Christ according to Paul is liberation from the power of sin but is not license to do whatever a person wants. This freedom is more about serving others than looking out for oneself; it looks like Christ. Such sacrificial service will sustain the church, while selfishness will sacrifice the church.

Jones applies Paul’s teaching about freedom in Christ to the present condition of churches in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

This sermon was delivered on Oct. 18, 2020, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Rockport as part of a series on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. 

A sermon outline is available here. Sermon slides are available here.

Sermon audio is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Ken May: Spiritual Awakening: Call for Revival (Joel 1-2)

Ken May, pastor of First Baptist Church in Stephenville, called his hearers to a time of refreshing, renewal and repair—or spiritual revival. He described the spiritual darkness in America during the late 1700s before the Second Great Awakening. Prayer was a key precedent to this and other large-scale revivals.

May called his hearers to pray for spiritual awakening in the United States now, with an eye to the “locusts” referred to by the prophet Joel. Joel also called the people of God to sound the alarm and to change their hearts.

This sermon was delivered on Sept. 6, 2020, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Stephenville as the first in a series titled “Spiritual Awakening.”

The script for this sermon is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Jeff Williams: Abel: Worshipping in Faith (Hebrews 11:4, Genesis 4:3-5)

Jeff Williams, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Denton, makes the distinction between the many halls of fame celebrating human—and even insect—achievement and what he calls the “hall of faith.” In the latter, God decided who would be included. He examines how Abel—Adam and Eve’s second son—demonstrated faith through authentic worship, righteousness and witness.

Williams quotes Manley Beasley’s definition of faith: “Faith is believing God that something is so, when it is not so, in order for it to be so, because with God it is already is so.”

This sermon was livestreamed on Aug. 23, 2020, for the 11 a.m. morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Denton. It is the second sermon in the series titled “God’s Hall of Faith.”

A sermon outline is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Ellis Orozco: Weight We Carry (Philippians 4:10-14)

Ellis Orozco, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson, acknowledged the weight being carried societally during the pandemic and the concurrent racial, political and economic tension. He encouraged his hearers to embrace the weight being carried, examine what is being carried, and find healing and strength to keep going.

Paul was carrying the weight of being in prison for following Jesus, being betrayed by fellow followers of Jesus, and the possibility of execution. Under that weight, he wrote his letter of encouragement to the Philippian church.

Orozco examined the nature of life in this world. “To be alive is to have conflict,” he said. In his letter to the Philippian church, Paul described ways for dealing with the conflict.

This sermon was delivered online on Sept. 6, 2020, for the morning worship services of First Baptist Church in Richardson. It is the first in a series titled “Weight We Carry.”

The sermon audio podcast is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Amy Castello: Quit Living by the Rules! (Galatians 2)

Amy Castello, missions and family pastor of Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Robinson, examines a disagreement between Peter and Paul. Even though Peter knew freedom from religious rules because of Jesus, he was afraid of being judged by Jewish Christians if they saw him with Gentile Christians. Paul was angry with Peter’s hypocrisy and called him out on it.

Castello points to feedback from people outside the church who indicate one of the biggest reasons they do not participate in the church is its hypocrisy. People outside the church recognize freedom from religious rules doesn’t mean Christians aren’t supposed to behave differently.

She wraps up Paul’s response to Peter with a powerful quote from South Dakota Jackrabbits Head Coach Scott Nagy.

This sermon was delivered on Aug. 9, 2020, for the morning worship services of Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Robinson. It is part of an expository series on Galatians. A sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Dr. Felisi Sorgwe: Unmasking Prejudice (Acts 10)

Dr. Felisi Sorgwe, is associate professor of theology at Houston Baptist University and pastor of Maranatha International Church in Houston. Sorgwe speaks directly to the relationship between prejudice and justice. Prejudice creates a “line of demarcation” for the distribution of justice between “us and them.”

Acts 10 records the story of Peter’s prejudice against people like Cornelius. Cornelius had a different problem that wouldn’t be helped by Peter’s prejudice. Acts 10 tells how God intervened to unwrap a long tradition of prejudice.

This sermon was delivered during the convocation of Houston Baptist University on Sept. 30, 2020. A sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Larry Venable: Our Vision. Our Mission. (Matthew 9:36-38; John 4:35)

Larry Venable, pastor of Freeman Heights Baptist Church in Garland, Texas, drew his congregation’s attention to its vision and mission—its reason for existence. He challenges his hearers to see people the way Jesus saw people, having compassion on them. “How would it change things if we quit criticizing and condemning people for what they do and reached out to them for who they are?” Venable asked. He calls his congregation to send and serve—to go into the community and do the work of Jesus in the community.

This sermon was delivered online on Oct. 25, 2020, for the morning worship service of Freeman Heights Baptist Church in Garland. An outline of this sermon is available here.

https://baptiststandard.com/wp-content/uploads/Larry-Venable_BP10252020.mp3

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Ian Caceres: All Leaves, No Fruit: The Cursed Fig Tree (Matthew 21:18-22)

Ian Caceres, pastor of First Baptist Church in Aransas Pass, Texas, examines the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree during the week before he was crucified. Caceres describes the fruitless fig as a metaphor for the temple in Jerusalem. Like the fruitless fig tree, the temple did not produce life. It was a function of the law without fulfilling the law. Jesus, on the other hand, is the true source of life and the fulfillment of God’s law, which now is written on the hearts of those who are in Jesus.

This sermon was pre-recorded for the online morning worship service of First Baptist Church of Aransas Pass on May 3, 2020. The sermon script is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Cody Favor: Answering the Question (Matthew 16:13-20)

Cody Favor, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cisco, Texas, acknowledges he’s been a Christian for a long time and that he has considered if he wanted to remain a Christian. He asks what his younger self would think of the Christian he has become. Along these lines, Jesus asked his disciples a question still relevant today: “Who do you say I am?” “How we live answers the question as much as our words do,” Favor said.

This sermon was delivered online on Aug. 23, 2020, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Cisco. Matthew 16:13-20 is the lectionary text for the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.

A script for this sermon is available here.

Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

Steven Parker: Psalms of Praise, Pain and Possibility: Praying Together through the Pandemic (Psalm 8, 13 and 30)

Steven Parker, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Weslaco, Texas, turns to the psalms to find strength and comfort during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They provide words for us when we don’t know what or how to pray, he said.

We most often recite the psalms praising God as though “everything is awesome.” The pain psalms—“about two-thirds” of Psalms—should not be neglected, because they express the hurt and brokenness of the world as it is. Psalms of possibility are the prayers of people who experienced suffering and found themselves on the other side. They “remind us of where we are ultimately headed by the promise of God.”

This sermon was delivered online on Mar. 29, 2020, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Weslaco, during the second week of COVID-19 social distancing measures.

A manuscript of this sermon with discussion questions is available here.