Advancing Word Podcast

On a very practical level, Psalm 46, stanzas 10 – 11, is a command to slow down, to stop, relax or quit.  It is a spiritual speed bump.  The author of this psalm recognizes the possibility that in life we will find ourselves at times speeding up because of pressure, problems and pain.  It is like being on a treadmill but someone else is controlling the speed or incline.  When this happens, we can “step out of the traffic and take a long, loving look at our God”!  

In the fifth and final sermon of the “Quit Jiving, Forget Surviving and Start Thriving” series, we learn that we can thrive through times of physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual weariness.  In 1 Kings, Chapter 19, verses 1 – 8, the prophet Elijah, after courageously confronting idolatry in the nation is experiencing burnout and severe depression.  God taught the prophet yet another lesson.  He had to learn to lean.  We must as well!   

A few years ago, the word “rumble” became associated with a fight or conflict.  Today’s message, Part 4 in the “Quit Jiving, Forget Surviving and Start Thriving” Series focuses on the possibility that we can thrive through times of spiritual conflict.  In First Kings, Chapter 18, the prophet Elijah challenged King Ahab and his entourage of false prophets to a fight.  His valiant and victorious confrontation strengthened the faith of God’s people.  

Facing a crisis in life?  In Part 3 of the “Quit Jiving and Start Thriving Series, Dr. Stubblefield believes we have a choice!  We can stress or we can stretch!  This timeless spiritual lesson and biblical principle takes center stage in 1 Kings, Chapter 17 when the prophet Elijah resuscitates the dead child of a disadvantaged and distraught woman who hosted him in her home during a famine. 

In the second sermon of the series, “Quit Jiving, Forget Surviving and Start Striving,” the focus is on 1 Kings, Chapter 17, verses eight through sixteen.  God orders the prophet Elijah to leave the Brook Cherith and travel to a town called Zarephath.  Here, the prophet and the desperate widowed mother who became his benefactor survived and thrived through economic difficulty.  They exercised God’s precepts, embraced God’s priorities and experienced God’s power.  

In the first sermon of a series titled, “Quit Jiving, Forget Surviving and Start Thriving”, Dr. Stubblefield focuses on an epic passage in First Kings, Chapter Seventeen, verses one through eight.  The prophet Elijah, facing opposition was booked during a famine at the Brook Cherith where he experienced God’s miraculous protection and provision.  We can too when we follow where God guides, know how God provides and trust that God abides.   

Chapter Eleven of the Book of Hebrews chronicles the lives of Old Testament believers whose faith not only allowed them to survive but to thrive!  The chapter is preparatory and preliminary, setting the stage for the introduction of the “Ultimate Survivor” in Chapter Twelve.  As we celebrate His resurrection, He is worthy of this distinction because of the faith He fostered, the focus He favored and the future He fortified.  

At the historic First Baptist Church of Wright City, Missouri, Pastor Stubblefield shares a message from Psalm 122: 1-2 about “The Worth of Worship”.  We can learn from the ancient Jewish pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem each year to worship at the Temple.  Character, community and confidence inspired the worth they ascribed to worship.  We must value worship too!  

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).  In Him all truth converges.  In the Gospel of John, Chapter Sixteen, verse 33, Jesus prepares His disciples for the crisis that will erupt with His arrest.  The Lord prays for the disciples who are present with Him but he also prays for believers of future generations (Chapter 17).  Before He begins His priestly intercession, He tells them and us the truth about trouble.  This sermon reminds us that when it comes to trouble, we can expect it, embrace it and we can endure it!    

Based on the First Epistle of Peter, Chapter One, verses three through five, every born-again child of God is heir to a fortune!  In and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we have an eternal inheritance that is privileged, priceless and protected.  This sermon examines that spiritual portfolio.