First Baptist Church of Asheville Podcast

February 4, 2024. Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Year B.

Isaiah’s prophecy is both bracing and comforting—bracing in that the earth is fragile and subject to God’s wrath, and comforting in that God renews and strengthens the faint and the powerless, those whom we might refer to today as working to preserve and care for God’s creation against the overwhelming odds. Above the circle of the earth, God rules with power and strength, stretching out the heavens like a tent, and making room for God’s creatures to flourish.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

January 28, 2024. Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Year B.

Paul offers counsel about taking the perceptions of others into account for the sake of the Body of Christ. Some church members believed it sacrilegious to eat food sacrificed to idols, though both Jesus and Paul teach us that we’re free from such pietistic reservations. The more overarching revelation here is that Paul is concerned to teach us that knowledge subservient to love. How are we called to care for one another despite similar contemporary issues? The good news is that congregations can be places of deeply conscientious, mutual care grounded in Christ’s selfless love. Note: The Sundays of Epiphany will be devoted to Via Karis themes, in cooperation with the Via Karis Team and in celebration of the January 2024 inauguration of the Karis Parenting initiative.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

January 21, 2024. Third Sunday after Epiphany. Year B.

Very early in his ministry, Jesus became notorious for eating with the wrong kinds of people—tax collectors and sinners. But Jesus wasn’t pandering to them. In a kind of reverse-discriminatory claim, Jesus declares he prefers dining with scoundrels and ne’er-do-wells over others. In any case, Jesus makes the table a central site of the kingdom’s unveiling—a place of belonging, healing, celebration, and new creation.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

January 14, 2024. Second Sunday after Epiphany. Year B.

“The word of the Lord was rare in those days,” but God nevertheless spoke to young Samuel, calling him to serve a nation suffering from leaders who had squandered the power of words. What might it mean to say God’s word is still luminous in our own time, in spite of “the humiliation of the word” (Ellul)? Whether we preach in or out of season, whether our age is conditioned to belittle or magnify the power of words, we can live with the assurance that the Word of God is always living, active, radical, and inflammable.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

January 7, 2024. Baptism of the Lord. Year B.

Paul finds some disciples in Ephesus who'd been baptized by John for repentance, but they had not heard of the Holy Spirit. When Paul baptizes them in Jesus’ name and lays hands on them, they receive the Spirit. What distinguishes Jesus’ baptism from John’s? Whereas John’s baptism prepared people for the coming new age, to be baptized in Jesus’ name makes us one with the new age that is his life, death, and resurrection.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

June 4, 2023. Trinity Sunday. Year A.

Across the litany of creation, the refrain is “Let there be…” Let there be light, let there be a dome, let there be lights in the dome… Until v. 26, we hear, “Let us make.” The shift is striking, as it occurs at the moment of God’s making humankind in God’s likeness. The language marks a shift between God working with words alone to God working in relationship. This Trinity Sunday, we remember God’s refusal to be God without us, and God’s invitation to participate in divine, creative, good work.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis