First Baptist Church St. Paris

The Holidays can be hard. This can be for many reasons but sometimes, as you know about me, I like to point out the obvious. Not everyone we run into this time of year will be jolly, happy, or in the “Holiday spirit”. We live in a world of noise. Sometimes we must remember to turn off the tv, radio,…

Not many of us are naturally wise. We may think we are but wisdom is not, at least Scripturally, something humans naturally have a lot of. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge & education. Wisdom can be gained by knowledge and education certainly but just because someone has the “right” degrees in a field…

There are many “trip hazards” in life. In life there are many things which may trip us up: literally and figuratively. I’m certain you are similar enough to me that you know how true this is. Sometimes we are tripped by major things but at least for me it is the small things. We all worship someone/something…

Our thoughts get worked out into behavior. I am not suggesting we always understand nor intentional in doing so. Sometimes our beliefs are unhelpful but we don’t have the desire to change. I must admit that each year I become more and more aware of my “messed up thinking”. Yet, sometimes, if I am honest,…

How do you “win” with people? What does it mean to have influence with people? How do you gain influence? These are important questions. Some options: demand (typically because of position), manipulate, coerce, bully and shame. This seems to be the pattern of the world. If we are not careful this becomes…

We love information. Maybe that is an overstatement but we seek information and sometimes we seek information which confirms what we already know. This is called confirmation bias. What is the goal of the Gospel? This a question we must ponder regularly. It is a question which may challenge us the deeper…

4 Minutes a day=1 day a year=75 days a lifetime. Any idea what time this is being spent? It is brushing our teeth over our lifetime assuming we live to about 80 and start brushing at 5. We all waste time! None of us will every be 100% efficient. Let me also said this: our world is not going to get more…

How old are you? How mature are you for your age? I am not just talking about chronological age but that may be a start. I am talking mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Is there a crisis of maturity in our world? I wonder this because of what I see. This does not mean we should not disagree with…

We live in a polarized world. This is one major observation I can make from the past 5 years of ministry. “What may polarize the world does not or should not divide the church.” David Garland 1 Corinthians (Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament) i read this quote this week and it really hit…

Who is spiritual? Do certain people have greater access to God and Jesus? Are there different “statuses” as Christians? Not everything that “looks” spiritual is. This is part of the point of the beginning verses of our chapter. What matters is where the destination leads. True spirituality leads to Jesus.…

2025 Goal: Disciples who make disciples. Anyone remember this?! :D We need to think Biblically about all things. Walking through the book of Job we started to try and think through what the Bible really teaches about pain, suffering, hardships and who God is. Vocation-seeing our “jobs” as part of our…

We mean well. Our motives are good. If only we were judged by our motives. How would life change if we judged people on their intentions and motives? Job’s friends did not speak “right”. This is not just about the words they used but the flawed thinking they had of God. We, too, can be like Job’s friends.…

How do you view God? This is a primary question we must answer weekly. I know I asked this question to begin with last week as well. How do you view yourself? Our self-image, that which we think deeply about ourselves, influences how we view God and our path of healing. It is not always accurate nor…

How do you view God? What does God have to do in order to be God for you? What trait do we try to boil God down to? Suffering is complex. There is rarely ever one reason or cause of the suffering you and I experience. As we seek to help others let’s not try to put their experience in a box or simplify…

Pain can become all encompassing. When we hurt our world can become quite small. It colors everything. We want to know “why”. This is admirable but sometimes, or should I say most of the time, we never get a good answer. Job was askign “why” and as we open up our chapters this morning he will get a reply.…

Sometimes our “helping” is actually hurtful. Through this series we have found “fault” with Job’s three friends and we know that sometimes life happens not because of our sin but because of supernatural reasons. Job held onto his blamelessness. Job 31.5-6 helps us to see that even after all the speeches…

What is the most important thing you own? Interseting question to consider. I will give you a couple moments to think but this is a rhetorical question. A lot that sounds good, may not be good. This is why we must pray for discernment. Job 28 -A new voice speaks. I believe this is the “editor”, compiler…

We must be ready to spread hope. Look at the following verses. Hope is powerful, this is why I spoke on it early this year. I try to hold out hope for people because I also believe Jesus can change people, circumstances, organizations, communities and all things. where then is my hope— who can see any…

We all need help. This is not a surprise I hope. Sometimes our motives don’t come through. We all want to help, most of the time, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out well. We must be careful when helping. There is a book out called “When Helping Hurts” and though I have not read it I have had some…

Pain is not always seen. We cannot go around and “see” all the pain someone is in. It would make life easier. At other times it would make things way more complicated. Pain will come out eventually. I believe this to be true because we were not meant to carry the pain silently. If we do not process and…

Our world desire authenticity & community. Though we have a bunch of YouTube stars, social media influencers generally speaking people are quick to point out hypocrisy and “fakeness”. Suffering is inevitable. I wish it were not so. Some of us suffer greatly and others will get through life with minimal…

Listening is hard work. Listening well provides the foundation for healing and hope. This is I think a foundational principle of Scripture and life. But, I don’t believe our world is typically good at truly listening. Listening is hard work! To answer before listening— that is folly and shame. We must…

Life is full of… How would you finish the statement? You don’t need to answer it out loud but think about this. There is a lot of pain, stress, trauma and drama. These four things are absolutely true. Many of us will experience trauma and many individuals including our veterans experience PTSD. Drama…

What is your heritage? Sometimes it can be really neat to know where you have come from. Those who have gone before you and how they still influence your life today. The context: Feast of Tabernacles This was a reminder to the nation of Israel where they came from. It was a reminder of their ancestors…