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 courageous about their convictions.  Both men witnessed to the truth and yet had moments when they wrestled with doubts, disappointments and despair.  Both men were seen by those closest to them as often being precocious and withdrawn.  Both incited the hostility and wrath of the powers that be and inevitably died much too young, tragically giving their lives for the causes in which they believed.  These two men mirror “the dignity, duty and destiny of the messenger.”  

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 us today if we want to move forward in this New Year and not look back!  

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 coming of this messenger was joyful, how much more the herald who announces that Jesus, the Son of God has come into this world “to save His people from their sins.” This is the essence of the Christmas story!  This sermon explores that theme.  

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 spiritual darkness.  

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 beginning of something big.  This sermon tells us why.  

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, professionally or positionally and potentially.  He sees us in the same way.  

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 leader in the early church and the half-brother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, encouraged his audience to exercise a “calculated joy”.  Dr. Stubblefield shares, in this compelling and memorable message, what that means!