First Baptist Decatur Podcast

Rev. Bob Williamson shares with us on Gratitude Sunday from John 9:1-9, 30-38 in his sermon titled, "A Reason to Give." Bob says, “Thankfulness probably begins not by looking in the mirror, but by looking out the window. Looking at where we can invest our lives, our gifts, our time, beyond ourselves… how can we invest in God’s work and in others?”

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As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

Dr. David Gushee shares with us from John 8:31-59 and looks at the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning "fathers" and "identity." What does this conversation actually have to do with us? What does it imply for us in today's world?

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Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.” (John 8:34-38). Read the rest of the passage here.

Dr. David Gushee shares with us from John 7:53-8:11 about the story of the woman caught in adultery. But what about the man who was with her? What is it about the Old Testament laws that seem to favor men over women? How is Jesus different? Dr. Gushee gives us a thought-provoking glimpse.

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Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir." And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

Dr. David Gushee continues to share with us on "John's Jesus" by reflecting on John 5:1-18 and the story of the man who had been crippled for 14,000 days. Do you know it?

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Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

-- John 5:1-18

Special guest, Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Peter Rhea Jones shares with us from the Gospel of John on the story of the woman at the well (John 4:4-30, 39-42). 

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But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

Dr. David Gushee continues our new sermon series on "John's Jesus" by reflecting on John 2:13-25 and the story of Jesus cleansing the temple.

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"The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!' His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.' The Jews then said to him, 'What sign can you show us for doing this?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' The Jews then said, 'This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?' But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Dr. David Gushee kicks off our new sermon series on "John's Jesus" by reflecting on John 1:1-14 and John 2:1-11. He looks at not only the prologue of John, but the miracle at the wedding in Cana.

After one year of serving as the Interim Pastor at FBC Decatur, Dr. David Gushee shares with us where we are as a church, how we've grown, and what we have to look forward to.

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Dr. Gushee finishes up our sermon series on the Parables of Jesus by sharing from Luke 18:1-8.

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Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

-- Luke 18:1-8

Rev. Dr. David Gushee continues our sermon series on the Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. This one's from Luke 15:11-32, the story of the Prodigal Son.

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