Thank God for another Lord's Day at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Saturday morning, I spoke at our monthly men's prayer breakfast for the first time. I taught on "What Every Man Needs to Know about Temptation" (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). I enjoyed the time with the brothers of SMBC. And I look forward to next month's breakfast. In my new members class, I taught on "Why the Church?" I was not able to finish the lesson. As I discussed the three marks of a true church, I got caught up in the discussion of the faithful proclamation of sound doctrine. The...

I continued my new study of the Sermon on the Mount. I am presently through the Beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew 5:3-12. What a challenge it is to wrestle with the demands of Jesus. My soul is being stretched and my mind is being renewed. I pray the congregation of SMBC is being blessed by the study so far. Here is the sermon skeleton from last night's message: Title: "Strength Through Meekness" Text: Matthew 5:5 Series: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Theme: The blessedness of meekness Point: God blesses the person who lives with confidence that God is...

Last week I started a study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in our midweek services at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. The first section of the message records the Beatitudes of Jesus (Matt. 5:3-12), in which Jesus announces those who exhibit certain kingdom attributes blessed. Last week, we studied the first beatitude on “the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3). Last night, the blessing Jesus announces on those who “mourn” (Matt. 5:4). Here is the sermon skeleton from last night’s message. TITLE: “The Blessing of Brokenness”TEXT: Matthew 5:4 SERMON SERIES: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)THEME: The blessedness...

Tonight, I began a new Wednesday night sermon series through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I had planned on doing another series, on "Total-Life Stewardship." It was very eager to get that study going. But I just could not get a green light to start it. I trust that the Lord will allow me to get to it at another time. For the meantime, I will be in the Sermon on the Mount for a while. I plan to cover the entire passage. And I do not intend to rush through it. I need to spend this time...

I was really behind in my work this weekend. So I was not able to the NFL preseason game Saturday night, as planned. Of course, Crystal and the kids went without me! And they were treated to a Jacksonville Jaguar defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In New Members Class, I taught on “Overcoming the Enemy,” Basically, I did an exposition of Ephesians 6:10-20. As always, it was great to have our youth choir and young adult choir lead in the musical praise in our worship services. Yesterday was designated as “Educators Appreciation Day.” We were glad to host local...

This past Sunday, I preached from Philippians 2:16-18. I entitled the message, “How to be a Living Sermon.” I labeled the sermon based upon a poem that I had read by an anonymous author. But for some reason, I did not have the guts to quote the poem in either of my two sermon presentations Sunday. But, apparently, I do have the guts to publish it here. So here it is: I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I’d rather one would walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye’s a better pupil and more...

Praise God for another Lord’s Day of worship at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. May our times together in corporate worship increasing shape our thinking and behavior so that we may have a transforming influence on the city of Jacksonville and to the farthest reaches of the world. In my New Members Class, I taught on “Meeting the Enemy,” a lesson on what scripture teaches about Satan. This is always an interesting challenge, to say what scripture without speculating. Alongside of eschatology, this is one of the areas of scripture were men are prone to speculate. I tried to faithful...

Today was a good day of worship. I was glad to be in the service one more time. I finally finished Lesson #11 in my New Members Class. I know my class members are class that we finally finished that lesson after more than four weeks. I really enjoy teaching the New Members Class. Our children’s choir sung during our 10 AM service. It was great. Natalie helped to lead one of the songs. She does not get her singing from her mother! I felt such a sense of the presence of God in our service this morning as our...

GOD HELPS THOSE WHO CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES 2 Chronicles 26:15-21 Isaiah’s glorious vision of the Lord God begins in Isaiah 6:1 with these classic words: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Unfortunately, this passing time-reference is basically all many of us know about Uzziah, King of Judah. But it is definitively not all that scripture has to say about him. A fuller record of Uzziah’s story is told in 2 Kings 15:1-7, where he is called Azariah, which...

It is always a great joy and privilege to celebrate both baptism and the Lord’s Table in corporate worship. In New Members Class, I continued teaching on the church. The focus on my study was on the mission of the church recorded in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. I continued my study of the book of Philippians, preaching from Philippians 2:12-13. I entitled the message, “The Ins-And-Outs of Christian Living.” Next Week’s text: Philippians 2:14-18. Most likely, it will take me two messages to get through this passage. We’ll see. Praise God for those who were saved and added...

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, that, successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act...

This morning, we had our first Kingdom-Focused Prayer Meeting at SMBC. Each month, the Saturday before the first Sunday, we will spend an hour in prayer together as a church. Our focus will be on spiritual, kingdom, eternal matters, more than personal requests. We will beseech the Lord God that his name would be hallowed, his kingdom would come, and his will would be done on earth as in heaven. May the Lord smile on these times of corporate prayer. Here is the prayer guide from this morning's meeting: • Pray that we would receive a higher view of God...