First Baptist Shreveport

In this passage, King David is at the pinnacle of his power and wealth.  He considers building a house for God.  God then appears to David and emphatically says no.  God has a different, greater plan. Sometimes the things we want are not the best things for us. Sometimes we can talk ABOUT God and not TO God.  David might have been moving from being full of God to being full of himself.  (Eugene Pe...

The movement of the Ark of the Covenant in this story was a human centered effort with disastrous results.  David learns that worship can be dangerous and we should approach God on God’s terms.  We do not have a domesticated God that we can manage or control by superstition.   Worship is dangerous when we put ourselves at the center.  It’s easy to come into worship with an entertainment mindset. ...

Are you in Christ today?  And how do you know?  Romans 10:9 says that “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s how we join in this explosion of life that happens at Easter! The first word we have from our resurrected Lord is REJOICE! (Matthew 28:8)  It’s a word for us today, too.  We can have hope even on...

This is the week that we remember Jesus’ passion - Holy Week.  Today we’re looking at Judas and the role that he played in the story of this week.  Judas was trusted and considered trustworthy as he was the keeper of the money.  How did he come to betray Jesus?  1- Judas betrayed Jesus because he loved money.  Does our loyalty have a price?  Do we have greed working in our hearts?  2 - Judas betra...

In 2 Samuel 1 we see David dealing with grief and loss when Saul dies.  Almost half of the Psalms, many written by David, are Psalms of LAMENT. What does grieving well look like?  - If we live in denial of death, we cannot live well. - There are no shortcuts in grief.  It is not linear and it is ongoing. - We can and should honestly bring our grief before God.   - There are no healthy ways to avoi...

Are we pursuing what is good, beautiful, and true in our lives?   In 1 Samuel 25, we see Nabal, an independent, self-made and self-interested man reject a request for generosity, insulting David.  David doesn’t take it well and is ready for violence.  Nabal brings out the worst in David.   But Nabal’s wife Abigail intervenes, showing us that beautiful living calls us back to God.  Abigail sends gi...

Maybe the comfort and security that we all crave is actually spiritually dangerous for us.  In 1 Samuel 24:4-7, we see David in a cave in the wilderness of En Gedi showing great restraint and honor to Saul when it would have been so easy to justify taking his life.  Because of his faith and trust in the Lord, David acts with forgiveness and mercy.  Forgiveness transforms the forgiver.  AND  Forgiv...

In 1 Samuel 17:57- 18:5, we see David go from a solitary man to a man with a friend.  Today's technology has us more connected than ever but at the same time, we have become more isolated than ever before.  We are experiencing what some have called a "friendship recession."  What can we learn from David and Jonathan?  -Before David was friends with Jonathan, David was friends with G...

In the story of David and Goliath, we see that fear had become the common currency of Israel.  They become immobilized by the taunts of a single man.  Enter David.  Eugene Peterson says of Israel- they have a "failure of imagination." But David has a God-dominated imagination.  We also have a problem imagining that God can use small things to accomplish big things.  Saul has a Goliath-dr...

As we continue our series in 1 Samuel 16, we see that Saul's lack of leadership had consequences.  In today's passage, Samuel went out on priestly business to anoint a new king.  At first look, he thought he might be replacing one obvious choice for another, but as Jesse's sons came forward, we see that God is looking deeper than we do.  "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do n...

It's amazing what the Spirit of God can do with willing hearts! The story of Saul's son Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14 shows us that faith requires overcoming paralysis and taking a step.  We can always put off decisions to serve and obey God, but faith requires action.  Faith ultimately requires us to jump in and be ALL IN.   Faith has its own arithmetic. In 1 Samuel 14:6, Saul rightly remarks...

Sometimes things and events are not what they seem.  In 1 Samuel 9 we see that a story of lost donkeys actually turns out to be the appointing of a king!   Sometimes God sets up divine appointments for us.  Sometimes God is doing something we can't even imagine.  Ultimately, God has bigger things in mind than you becoming just a little bit better version of yourself- God is all about heart tr...

What would you do on an ideal day?  This week's sermon explores 1 Samuel 7 as Jeff preached from his office on a livestream while the FBC Shreveport campus was covered with snow and ice!  

If we let politics lead and shape us, if we barter for blessings, or if we treat God like a vending machine, we may be putting God in a box.  He doesn't belong to us, we belong to Him.  Do we obey only when it's convenient?  Is there something you've been holding onto and trying to justify?  The way to measure is through Jesus and His teaching- to love God and love others.  Jesus ca...

In our second week of looking at the book of 1 Samuel, we take a look at Samuel's calling.  He didn't recognize God's voice at first, but came to understand that God was indeed calling him.  Like Samuel, when we're in close proximity to God and God's people, we can hear our own callings better.  The timing may be difficult, but even imperfect people can help us boldly live...

In 1 Samuel, Hannah brought her heart before God in an honest way.  As we work through 1 and 2 Samuel in the coming weeks, we’ll see that God often bypasses the powerful and the impressive and instead will work through the faithful, the overlooked.  If you feel like Hannah at the beginning of this new year, maybe struggling, be assured that very often this is the point at which God starts to work,...

Christmas is the culmination of a long season of waiting.  After Advent, the world settles down and we ask, “what’s next?”In Luke chapter two, we hear again the story of the shepherds- ordinary, lowly, workers that we don’t know a lot about - but what we do know is that the night the angels appeared to them was the most memorable night they had ever had. Their response to the angelic chorus was to...

Immanuel, "God with us," has come to speak to the deepest longing of our hearts.  May you find rest in the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus this Christmas!  

Sometimes we silence ourselves and feel like our voices don’t matter.  We may even feel like we don’t have a voice.   Zechariah was silenced, but sometimes Advent calls for us to speak and maybe even to shout about what God has done.   Luke 1:46-56 records Mary’s song - her response to what God is doing in her life.  Mary was young, without much agency in kind of an insignificant place.  Nazareth...

How do you feel during a pause?  Do you always try to fill the silence?  What are we afraid of?  What do we think we will find in the silence?  When Zechariah was told by the angel that Elizabeth would become pregnant, Zechariah's questioning unbelief resulted in his silence throughout the pregnancy.   There are times when silent wonder is the best we can add to a moment.  There are moments w...

Today as we light the first of the Advent candles, we’ll consider Jesus as the Light of the World.  “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Jesus doesn’t say I am A light of the world, but THE light of the world.  It is audacious and exclusive.  The light calls us to Him.  We c...

How do you define home?  A residence or a house?  They say “home is where the heart is” which gets at something more: where we belong, where we can be honest and real.   In John 15:1-8, Jesus says “live in Me… Make your home in Me…” (MSG) We cannot live separated from the vine.  He is the Source.  We need to remain connected to Jesus.   There is a Greek word, Meno, that is used throughout scriptur...

John chapter 14 starts with a mood of anxiety, but Jesus responds with words of comfort and promise.   “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me… I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”   If you need a map, Jesus is the map.  If you need a guide, Jesus is the guide.  If you need a path, Jesus is the path.   When we...

Crisis moments are never convenient.  In John 11, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus about their brother Lazarus- “Lord, he who you love is sick.”  Jesus loves Lazarus and his sisters and Lazarus is very sick, but Jesus waited two more days before he went back.  This doesn’t always add up for us.  When we are in crisis, it is so hard to wait.  Martha says to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brothe...

Who do you follow?  When we follow someone, we need to be discerning.  In John chapter 10, Jesus uses the metaphor of the sheep and a shepherd: “I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 The character of the Good Shepherd: - KALUS :  Jesus uses the word “Kalus” here which means good, beautiful, wise.  The Pharisees would have recalled Ezekiel 34:11-16...