First Baptist Church | Macon, GA

October 18, 2009

Like the rich man in Jesus’ parable, many of us have built bigger and bigger barns in search of economic security. Now a recession has stolen much of the security we thought was ours. Maybe this is an opportunity to rethink where our real security lies and to reallocate our spiritual and material portfolios.

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October 11, 2009

As David learns when he finds bread and a sword in the sanctuary at Nob, a sanctuary can be a dangerous place: it’s where God’s people take refuge to plot a revolution. The bread of Communion is not meant just to give us peace, but power.

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October 4, 2009

David’s heart-rendering lament over the death of Saul and especially his beloved friend, Jonathan, is a model of grief deeply felt and powerfully expressed. Such “good grief” is a sign of faith and opens the way to God’s future.

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September 27, 2009

For 16 months, David sought refuge with the Philistines while fleeing Saul. Some measure of accommodation with one’s culture is a part of every Christian’s life. But in the midst of his life in an “alien world,” David and his troops found refuge in Ziklag, a metaphor for the church.

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September 20, 2009

(by Julie Long) How do we live with hope in a world littered with disappointment? Like the disciples who cast their nets on the other side, we can move forward with hope when we are willing to take a step of faith and acknowledge that the worst things are never the last things.

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September 13, 2009

The sad state of Saul’s spiritual decline is evidenced by his consulting a medium. In seeking to know the word and way of God, Christians don’t look to ghosts; Christians look to Jesus.

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September 6, 2009

After showing remarkable restraint in twice sparing Saul (I Sam. 24 & 28), David loses his temper with a “fool” named Nabal and very nearly exacts a bloody revenge. He is spared from his hot-headed error by a wise and beautiful woman named Abigail who reminds David that vengeance is God’s business, not his.

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August 30, 2009

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August 23, 2009

“Godfather” and “Godmother” are familiar terms, but what about a “God Friend”? In some very special friendships, God’s love and guidance are made known in a very powerful way. The friendship of David and Jonathan was no ordinary friendship: this was a friendship from God.

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August 2, 2009

In calling David to be king, Samuel learns “the Lord does not see as mortals do for… the Lord looks on the heart” (v. 7). What about David’s heart qualifies him as God’s anointed? Not moral purity, as we might expect, but David’s unrelenting passion for God.

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