First Baptist Church of Asheville Podcast

July 13, 2025. Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. Year C.

The first of a two-sermon series on the minor prophet Amos, this sermon points to the plumb line God shows him—a metaphor for God’s judgment—as a blessing in disguise for a people who’ve gone astray. Amos’s prophecy declares that there can be no justice without judgment. Therefore, God’s judgment on people and on nations is finally good news. Judgment enables us to see the crooked places that they may be made straight, and to open sore wounds that they may be healed.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

July 6, 2025. Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Year C.

The Psalmist admits her former pride in v. 6, confessing, “I said in my prosperity, ‘I shall never be moved.’” But she’s grateful in retrospect that God hid God’s face from her for a time. God’s hiddenness provoked her to seek God in new and deeper ways, and with a more contrite heart. She’s finally grateful for this event in her life that allowed her to exchange a superficial (and listless) relationship with God for a more joyful, dancing faith.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

June 29, 2025. Third Sunday after Pentecost. Year C.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Craig Hines

Worship with First Baptist Church of Asheville. Sundays: Bible study at 10:00 a.m., worship at 11:00 a.m. · 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC · fbca.net

June 22, 2025. Second Sunday after Pentecost. Year C.

Preacher: Rev. Tambi Swiney

Worship with First Baptist Church of Asheville. Sundays: Bible study at 10:00 a.m., worship at 11:00 a.m. · 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC · fbca.net

June 15, 2025. Trinity Sunday. Year C.

Rather than offering a systematic description of the “Three Persons of the Trinity” (a concept the church would define later on), Paul here describes how the inner life of God “pours into our hearts.” The mysterious interplay of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit creates an excess of grace into which we are invited, and by which we are made able to endure suffering, develop character, and enjoy the hope that does not disappoint. Put simply (ha!) by God’s grace we are given a share in the dynamic life of God.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

June 8, 2025. Day of Pentecost. Year C.

The Greek pneuma, from which we get the words wind, breath, spirit, stands out in a special way on Pentecost. And yet the moment Pentecost begins is not a rush of violent wind but “a sound like” the rush of a violent wind. Pentecost is a sound, and at this sound the crowd gathers in bewilderment. They aren’t confused by the message, but are instead amazed that they can actually understand it! Today we celebrate that the sound of Pentecost is the sound of the gospel beginning to make sense to us and to those all over the world with ears to hear.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

May 25, 2025. Sixth Sunday of Easter. Year C.

Jesus’ question sounds odd. Who wouldn’t want to be made well? But the sick man’s reply is unconvincing. After 38 years he couldn’t figure out a way into the pool at Bethzatha? Couldn’t the sick man have put in a little more effort across the last four decades if he really wanted to be well? But on this Sabbath day, the good news is that the Lord of the Sabbath can’t help himself. On this day of rest and restoration, Jesus heals him anyway: “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” And in spite of his stammering excuses, the man is nevertheless made well.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

May 18, 2025. Fifth Sunday of Easter. Year C.

Typically we read this John passage at the height of Lent on Maundy Thursday, but it takes on a different hue in the Easter season. The pericope sits between Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial, strengthening the gravity of Jesus’ command to love one another. With Jesus going “where you cannot come,” what’s at stake with the church’s obedience is whether God’s glory will now be made visible in Jesus’ physical absence. Will the church glorify God with the love of Christ, or become “invisible” in the shadows of human agendas and cowardice?

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

May 11, 2025. Fourth Sunday of Easter. Year C.

Peter doesn’t raise just anyone, but a specific woman named Tabitha who had endeared herself to the wider community by serving the poor with her gifts. The early church held up Tabitha’s story because she lived her life for others. That her death leaves everyone crestfallen raises the question, “How might our own deaths affect others?” Learning how to live shapes how we die, and learning how to die shapes how we live. Tabitha’s life story invites us to examine our own lives, that we may begin planning for our funerals as soon as possible.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis

May 4, 2025. Third Sunday of Easter. Year C.

When John hears the myriads of angels and creatures and elders singing a new song, he isn’t witnessing a sentimental singalong. Rather, it’s more like a renegade chorus in the streets of the empire, a thunderous fight song growing in size and intensity within earshot of the rulers and authorities. The object of their worship, and the subject of this subversive choir’s praise, is not the emperor but the slaughtered Lamb. This gathering of iconoclasts sings from their diaphragm a new song of allegiance to the only one worthy of revealing God’s word.

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis