Jesus told us to pray for the Holy Spirit. This is not an invitation for God to born us again by the Holy Ghost, but a special communion with the Spirit in our lives. Every problem we have, every mistake we make is really a deficiency of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us and lead and guide us in our lives.

Preached at Bethlehem PBC (Echola, AL) on 5/26/2021

God uses some very unlikely means to providentially bless his children. Considering Elijah, we can see that God used the unclean ravens to feed him and then sent him to a widow on her last meal, the last place we would think to be sustained in a drought. In like manner, God can use us as his agents of providence to bless others in ways we would not expect.

Preached at Zion PBC (Gordo, AL) on 11/1/2020

God has gifted men as pastors and teachers in his church to edify the body of Christ. Pastors are appointed by the Holy Ghost as a shepherd of a local flock. Pastors are given a special love for the local church that is as deep as a parent for a child, willing even to impart their own souls unto the church. God has appointed pastors and teachers to build up his flock in unity, to protect the sheep from false teaching, and strengthen every single member of the church.

Barnabas was so devoted to exhorting, consoling, and encouraging his brethren, the apostles gave him the name of the son of consolation. We see Barnabas’ encouraging nature, standing up for Paul and John Mark when it was very unpopular to put his arm around them. Then, Jesus Christ is the ultimate Son of Consolation, the Consolation of Israel, giving us everlasting consolation in his grace.

We consider the first 3 of 4 gifts of the gospel ministry. God called apostles and prophets for a specific purpose in the establishment of the early church, but those gifts are vacant today. We consider the pattern for the gift of an evangelist by following the life of Philip the Evangelist. Philip preached Jesus in Samaria, sparking a revival. Left prosperity in Samaria to preach to one eunuch in the desert; then preached in all the cities till he arrived at Caesarea where he ministered and evangelized for possibly the next 20 years.

We see from 1 Cor. 10:13 that God is faithful in all our temptations to strengthen us and make a way of escape to be able to bear it. God will oftentimes put more on us than we can bear in ourselves, but there is no trial too great that we cannot bear by looking to God’s faithfulness and power. We need to flee temptation when we have the ability. If we are not able to flee, God has promised grace sufficient to faithfully endure in all our trials.

Preached for Tyler PBC (Tyler, TX) Salt & Light Meeting

One of the primary purposes of Jesus Christ’s Church is to teach and make disciples. The gospel does not give one eternal life, but it simply manifests and illuminates the finished work of salvation by Jesus Christ on the cross. It is the responsibility and joyful privilege of every member of the Lord’s church to preach the gospel – to go home and tell your friends and family what great things the Lord has done for you!

Just like Hagar in the wilderness, sometimes we feel all alone and think that no one knows our sorrow or pain. Instead, that is when God manifests to us that does see us, he does hear our affliction. Jesus Christ sees everything, and he sees and knows the burdens and pain of our hearts. Then, being reminded that God sees us, we need to see God. When we see God high and lifted up, the sorrows and pain of this world melt away from the vision of the Son of God.

When we administer our spiritual gifts in the church, we must always remember to treat one another in charity, love in action. It doesn’t matter what great spiritual gifts we have or what supposed great things we might do for God, if we don’t do those things in charity, we are nothing. We must exhibit agape love, charity, towards our brothers and sisters in the church, loving others the way that God has loved us.

After we are given the 7 spiritual gifts in the church, we then are given 21 exhortations for how we are to walk in unity among the diversity of spiritual gifts. We must show agape love without hypocrisy. We must prefer others above ourselves. We must rejoice in hope, continue instant in prayer, put on the mind of Christ, be given to hospitality, and may other needful exhortations for unity among the diversity of spiritual gifts in the church.