While preaching at the historic Galilee Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, one of the city’s storied congregations, Dr. Stubblefield shares a message from Second Kings, Chapter 6.  The prophet Elisha miraculously recovers an axe that had slipped off the handle and plunged into the waters of the Jordan River.  The user of the axe panicked because the axe was “borrowed.”  When we lose our edge in life, marriage or ministry, God can work a miracle in our lives too.  

In 2 Corinthians, Chapter Twelve, verses seven through ten, the Apostle Paul prays passionately and persistently for the removal of something (or someone) he identifies as “a thorn in the flesh”.  God doesn’t remove the problem but gives Paul the strength to bare it.  So often in life and ministry, we learn that through God’s grace, we can abound in adversity.  This sermon tells us why.  

According to Philippians, Chapter Three, some aspects of our past can be like a dangerous and life-threatening rip tide or undercurrent that flows opposite of the peace, joy, love, faith, hope and prosperity that God has for us.  In verses thirteen and fourteen of this epic chapter, the Apostle Paul recognizes that his pursuit of godliness could be jeopardized by the pull of the past.  This sermon shows us how to overcome this pull and live our lives in the future tense.  

If time was a bank account, what would your personal balance be?  The answer to that searching and perhaps unsettling question is that none of us really know.  It is this issue that motivates the Apostle Paul’s attempt to encourage a sense of urgency among the members of the church at Rome.  According to Romans 13:11-14, the recognition that “time is running out” anchors not only their expression of Christian love but their experience of Christian liberty.   

Do you feel like your life is moving in the wrong direction or things aren’t quiet working out as you imagined they would?  The holidays have only exacerbated your disappointment.  What can you do?  You can do like Ruth did in the first chapter of the book of the Bible that bears her name.  You can “face north when life is going south”.  This sermon tells you how.  

According to Titus, Chapter Two, verses 11 – 14, the birth of Jesus is “grace appearing”.  The Apostle Paul is writing to Titus who is ministering in Crete, an island city located 100 miles south of Greece.  He uses the Greek word from which we get our English word “epiphany”, to describe the birth of Jesus on the first Christmas morning.  This is one of several passages in the New Testament that validate the Advent message outside the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  Dr. Stubblefield shares what happened on the day grace appeared.  

Christians are God’s witnesses to a broken world.  We share the message of salvation in our homes, schools, communities, on our jobs and even in our churches.  The Epistle of First Peter, verse fifteen captures the essence of this responsibility.  The Advent Season provides a unique opportunity for those who are ready to share the truth about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with others.  This sermon provides a description of “a ready witness.”   

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 of exile.  They were, like pastors today, God’s “first responders”.  This sermon tells us why.  

British Prime Minister and prominent leader during World War II, Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.”  He could have very well been gleaning truth from a passage that King Solomon wrote centuries earlier that is recorded in Proverbs Chapter Eleven, verse twenty-five.  That verse and this sermon addresses the question, “What do we gain when we give?”  

This sermon focuses on prayer in the life of the early church.  It is a compelling reminder that what happens in a prayer meeting has world-changing implications.  According to Acts Chapter Four, verse thirty-one, while praying, the church experienced a connection that cannot be disrupted, a community that cannot be discounted, a capacity that cannot be depleted and a confidence that cannot be discouraged.