First Presbyterian Church (Dothan AL) Podcast

Caleb Galloway 1 Kings 8:22-66 How much of your everyday life is spent in deliberate, meditative prayer or even short, momentary prayer? In Ephesians 6:18, Paul reminds us to be “praying at all times, in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” We learn principles of prayer in this text from 1 Kings when Solomon dedicated the temple to the Lord in prayer. Because God is faithful to his coven...

Pastor Rusty Milton 1  Kings 8:1-12 ESV "The Temple" Because Christians are the temple of the Living God, we are to live all of life as if in the Divine Presence. In 1 Kings 8, we see the ark being raised up, the presence of God coming down to dwell in the temple, and the Israelites gathering for corporate worship. We, too, need to remember that, because God dwells within us as he did in...

Rusty Milton 1 Kings 6 ESV "Holiness and Beauty" Where Christians find goodness, truth, and beauty, we find something we can enjoy and embrace. God created man that we might create. Sometimes we miss the place of art and beauty because it's seen as a waste of time, as though it has nothing to do with salvation. But we are creatures of our creative Creator, and he loves for us to cre...

Adam Comeens Matthew 11:25-30 ESV In order to be Christlike, you must be gentle and lowly of heart. Biblically, the heart is the center of our being. Your heart is who you really are. We often bury who we really are under our exterior roles, abilities, and activities. When we are saved and redeemed however, Christ gives us a heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone, and our true identity beco...

Pastor Rusty Milton "Diverse But Not Divided 1 Corinthians 1:10; John 17:20-21 ESV The church must be diverse without division. In the church of Corinth, people were creating divisions based on burth, rank, money, education, and who they followed. But Paul schorted them to be united under the Lordship of, and mind of, Christ. Similarly, our divisions must be sanctified and brought under the L...

6/21/2020 Pastor Caleb Galloway "The Utopia of the Great King" 1 Kings 4:20-34 ESV God's wisdom leads to shalom (i.e. peace). As God's people living in God's kingdom, we have hope! The best is yet to come! In 1 Kings 4, we see Solomon's wealth, as well as the prosperity visited on the kingdom because of his wisdom, described. This was in partial fulfillment of God&apo...

Pastor Rusty Milton 1 Kings 3:16-28 ESV Love has measurables, the clearest example of which is whether or not someone is willing to sacrifice for you. The greatness of the Father's love for us is shown through Christ's willingness to sacrifice his life for you so that you might have an eternal relationship with him.  In 1 Kings 3, we see King Solomon faced with a court case involving two...

Pastor Caleb Galloway 1 Kings 3:1-15; Proverbs 3:6-7 ESV "Wisdom: The Need of the Hour." What do you do when you're overwhelmed in your life? Where do you turn? How do you navigate your way out? We desperately need God's wisdom in every area of our lives. In 1 Kings 3:6, before Solomon asks for help, he praises God by highlighting his steadfast love and graciousness to the hous...

Pastor Rusty Milton 1 Kings 2:13-25 ESV In 1 Kings, Adonijah is once again shown to have a hardened determination to accomplish his goals, self-pity for what he's lost, and a demand for others to take up and accomplish his desires for him. But, a hardened determination to win leads to destruction.  Adonijah exposes his self-centered dreams :  When he comes to Bathsheba (Vs. 17), he is full of...

Pastor Rusty Milton 1 Kings 1:1-10 ESV The untrained heart demands to be king until it encounters the grace off Christ.  What vision do you have for your children? What vision for their life? To be married? Successful careers? Be a born again believer and men and women of faith? Is your idea for their outcome in line with your parenting? In 1 Kings 1, we see that David's permissive parenting...

Pastor Rusty Milton "Bringing Truth Where Change is Needed" Sin is progressive, and there is a road it is trying to take the believer's life down--away from safety, church, support--toward a hardened place. When this happens, or when you see it happy, we are exhorted to show others the truth. We are to show them the Word so they can see clearly, and run back to Christ for restoratio...

Galatians 6:11 by Pastor Caleb Galloway Series: Galatians In this week's sermon Pastor Caleb completes our sermon series on Galatians. The text for the sermon today is Galatians 6:11-18. The theme of Galatians is justification by faith alone. The question posed by the sermon today is “what do you boast in?”. If salvation is by faith alone then we have no room to boast. It is in Christ that we...

Pastor Rusty Milton "Sowing and Reaping" Galatians 6:6-10 ESV Most people don't have a harvest mentality in life, as though what they do in this world doesn't matter. Paul says that such a view of life mocks God and is self-deceiving. There is a God who is the moral judge of the universe, and what we so in this life will be reaped in the next. One could say that the sowing is a...

Pastor Rusty Milton Galatians 6:1-3 ESV What if someone who has the Spirit gets entrapped and ensnared by sin? What's needed is for another believer to walk beside them, and help them bear their burden. This requires boldness in restoring others, and great humility--recognizing we are incapable of truly helping others without God, his grace, and his Spirit.  Spiritual boldness (v. 1-2) necess...

Pastor Rusty Milton "Resurrection Comfort" John 11:17-27 ESV We are commanded to take comfort, and comfort others, in the resurrection of Christ. During these times of hardship, when you see that others are struggling, are you looking for opportunities to do so? In John 11, we see Jesus offering the resurrection as the ultimate comfort in the face of death and loss. With his resurrection...

Pastor Caleb Galloway "The Humble King Revealed"    Matthew 21:1-11 ESV Matthew 20:17-19 ESV Zechariah 9:9-10 ESV Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV Every human being on the face of the earth is challenged by God to deal with who Jesus is and what he did. This is the most important question in all history. In Matthew 21, he is shown entering Jerusalem and moving toward the cross, yet the crowds, while de...

Galatians 5:22 by Rev. Rusty Milton Series: Galatians "The Fruit of the Spirit--Self-Control"   Galatians 5:22-23 ESV; Proverbs 25:28; Colossians 2:20-23; 1 Corinthians 9:23-25   Self-control is not abstinence, as if only defined by what I determine to give up and avoid. Rather, it's the Spirit's ability to govern my heart, and my willingness to submit to that governance contin...

3/1/2020 Pastor Kent Bailey Missions Conference 2 Kings 7:1-11 ESV As terrible as circumstances in the world may be, we can be a people known for Good News. In 2 Kings, the situation in Israel was dire and chaotic. So to, the spiritual position our world faces is bleak. But God's solution for both them and us is the Gospel (Vs. 1-2). In as much as he could bring the good news of deliverance t...

2/28/2020 Kent Bailey Missions Conference 2 Kings 7:1-11 ESV There is always bad news in the world. But in the Word of God, there is emphasis on Good News. The mission of every believer is to share the Good News of the Gospel to the world. As witnesses, we are to remain conscious of what God has done in and for us, clear in the hope or the Gospel message, compassionate toward other sinners, and co...

2/23/2020 Pastor Caleb Galloway "The Art of Waiting" Galatians 5:22-24; Psalm 40:1-3; Romans 5:3-5; 1 Timothy 1:15-17 ESV Biblical patience refers to being slow to anger, emotionally calm in the face of provocation or misfortune, and facing such trials without complaint. It's both passive and active: remaining calm, while persevering in the midst of difficulty. how does God produce...

2/9/20 Pastor Rusty Milton "Fruit of the Spirit: Joy" Galatians 5:22 ; Philippians 4:8; John 17:13-15 ESV God has called you to joy; if, however, your life has no joy, there is disobedience in your walk. To live governed by the Holy Spirit, however, is a calling to joy. To find the Spirit's joy, we must have fellowship with God (John 17:13). In our daily lives, joy experienced throu...