Advancing Word Podcast

In the Book of Lamentations, Chapter Three, verses 21 – 24, the prophet Jeremiah is overrun and overwhelmed by ruin.  Exiled from his homeland and having to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, he recalls the calamitous and catastrophic failure of a nation that had been destined for greatness.  He was taking this failure personally because it had happened on his watch.  He painfully laments the...

The first five stanzas of Psalm 103 are reminders that forgetting the blessings that we receive from God can be spiritually deadly, debilitating, damaging and destructive.  Any such incidence of “spiritual amnesia” dampens and detaches our worship from its True Source who is the LORD.  According to the Psalmist, the LORD “satisfies our desires with good things” (stanza 5a).  Because of our sin nat...

Jesus is not considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but He is the Lover of our souls who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame and is now set down at the right hand of God.  Chapter 15, verses 1 – 2 of the Gospel of Luke introduces us to the “World’s Greatest Attraction”.  This sermon tells us why this is true.  

Rare is the person who has no need for truth, self-understanding, purpose or significance.  The search for meaning is weaved into the very fabric of our humanity.  Unguided, this search can leave us frustrated, unfulfilled, unmoored and restless.  This sermon based on two key passages in the Gospel of Matthew is a reminder that we can only find our true selves in the True Savior.  

This sermon is based on a pivotal passage pocketed in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 12 and is "rated for mature audiences only".  It is for survivors; for those learning how to live with living without; for those who are discovering the advantages of adversity and finding strength in the struggles of life.  Grace for survivors is characterized by a new perspective, persistence, power and pleasu...

On the eve of the national celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this classic sermon from the archives of Dr. T. D. Stubblefield draws parallels between the lives of Dr. King and that of John the Baptist as recorded in Chapter One of the Gospel of John.  The lives of both men reflected Divine calling and purpose.  Both were born to ministry couples and grew up passionate and...

Lot's actions in Genesis, Chapter 19 is a warning about the dangers of dwelling on the past.  This chapter of the Bible could be tagged with the title, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”  It is tragically revealing of the depths that a child of God can plunge and plummet if he or she is not vigilant with their walk with the LORD.  This sermon highlights four things Lot’s experience reveals to...

According to the author of Psalm 121, as Jewish pilgrims approached Jerusalem to worship, seeing the pagan shrines on the hills surrounding the city, they reaffirmed their faith in God.  Their positive outlook was influenced by a profound spiritual “uplook.” Today, our personal awareness of God’s powerful availability will give us promising assurance in whatever situation we face in life.  

In Chapter Fifty-Two, verses 7 – 8 of his prophecy, in typically colorful and compelling manner, Isaiah provides a picture of a herald or messenger running hurriedly along some Judean  mountain ridge bearing good news for all to hear.  The herald’s feet are happy feet, tapping with joy that God’s people are about to leave captivity and experience restoration and renewal in their homeland.  If the...

In the second sermon of the 2023 Advent Series, Dr. Stubblefield explores the implications of Luke Chapter 2, verses 11 – 14 for the Christmas season.  This passage amplifies the magnificent merger of cradle and cross that causes angels to erupt in heavenly praise and thanksgiving.   God enters this world of sin and suffering through the cradle and cradles a cross to rescue and redeem us from spir...

The Gospel of Mark begins with the sentence,” The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God”.  Unlike the parallel accounts of Matthew and Luke, Mark does not share a genealogy of Jesus.  His use of the word “beginning” is not accidental but intentional, announcing that four-hundred-years of prophetic silence was disrupted by the appearance of Jesus on this planet.  He announces the...

His life threatened, his kingdom in turmoil, In Psalm 27, David sought God's presence.  In his distress, he expressed a fervent desire to "dwell in the house of the Lord".  In this place of refuge, he experienced a perfect getaway.  We can too!   

The 100th Psalm is a universal call to all people to render praise to the LORD who is both Creator and Redeemer.   God’s people should be in the vanguard of the response to this summons, praising God for who God is and thanking God for what God has done.  Our worship should be multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-faceted.  We should be poised for praise.  This sermon tells us why.  

The calling of Matthew or Levi, the tax collector by Jesus to be a disciple recorded in Mark, Chapter 2, verses 13-14 is very compelling.  This passage and its parallels in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke reveal a Divine perception or perspective that should encourage every believer.  Jesus “saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office”.  When Jesus saw him, He saw him personally, profes...

After two nights of lectures on “Biblical Spirituality” drawn from the first Chapter of the Epistle of James, during the 2023 Church Development Conference at New Covenant With Harmony Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Stubblefield concludes with a sermon on verses 2 – 4 of that chapter.  Despite what they were going through, and the difficulties they were facing, James, a prominent leade...

In the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 14, verses 12-16, Jesus’s earthly ministry was ending, and his arrest, trial and crucifixion loomed like a threatening dark cloud on the horizon.  He sends two of His disciples into the city and tells them to look for "a man carrying a waterpot.”  This man would lead them to the place where Jesus would observe the Jewish Passover with His disciples.  While perfo...

At the historic Clay Street Missionary Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Kentucky during their first ever “Big Enough Conference”, Dr. Stubblefield offers encouragement to pastors and churches with memberships less than two hundred by powerfully and creatively parsing a passage from the prophecy of Zechariah, Chapter 4, verses 6 – 10 that reminds us all not to discount, diminish or denigrate what God i...

First Chronicles Chapter 24, verse nineteen is a short yet profound passage that erupts with a significant salute and timeless tribute to the ministry of the prophets.  Prophets were “essential workers”, devoted servants who, through the ministry of the Word of God, challenged God’s people to faith and faithfulness as they struggled to recover their national dignity and destiny after seventy years...

During the Pastoral Anniversary Celebration at the historic Chantilly Baptist Church in Chantilly, Virginia, Dr. and Mrs. Stubblefield encourage their journey friends to be faithful.  Ministry is characterized “not just by donation but also duration”.  This is the essence of Apostle Paul’s principled, passionate and personal declaration from prison in 2 Timothy Chapter 1, verses 11 – 12.  This seg...

October is Clergy Appreciation Month.  Once again, we share this classic sermon by Dr. T. D. Stubblefield on the biblical office of Pastor -Teacher based on Jeremiah 3:15.  “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timonthy 5:17).  Send the link to this inspiring message this month to your pastor or m...

All prisons don’t have bars.  Some prisons are relational; others are financial and there are experiential prisons because "stuff happens"!  These unwelcome confinements stretch our limits and test our faith.  In the Book of Acts, Chapter 12, verses 5 - 11, the Apostle Peter had been imprisoned for the preaching of the Gospel.  But in prison, surrounded by guards, he slept and later was...

In Jeremiah, Chapter 8, the prophet laments and mourns because of the plight of the covenant people of Israel.  Thousands were living in captivity in Babylon.  The prophet’s anguish is ultimately demonstrated by the questions he raises and not the declarations he makes.  Down through the centuries, priests, prophets, preachers and pastors are sought out for their answers to life's perplexing...

On a basic level, baggage is a suitcase, container or a trunk used for storage when traveling.  On another level however, baggage is the beliefs, perspectives and experiences that make us who we are.  The Bible reminds us that there is a relationship between expelling unhealthy, unneeded and unspiritual baggage and experiencing blessing.  This sermon leverages a short, succinct yet powerful passag...

The Apostle Paul’s second missionary journey took him and Silas to Phillipi, a Roman province in the region of Macedonia.  There, they were incarcerated for the preaching of the Gospel.  But in a prison cell, while they worshipped God, they not only experienced a miraculous deliverance but a monumental demonstration of the power of the Gospel to touch hearts and to change lives.  What began with w...

What is “first class” travel?  It involves special amenities, preferred status, luxury accommodations, and select and exclusive participation.  This sermon posits that when Jesus directs our course, develops our character and discern our cries, we are traveling “first class”.  This is what the disciples experienced with Jesus during a storm recorded in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4, verses 35 – 41...