Please enjoy the audio of the sermon given by Paula Clayton Dempsey for Alliance of Baptists Sunday.  

Text: Jeremiah 8:18-22 Some of you have heard me talk about my four friendships that began in kindergarten and that lasted through the first several years of elementary school. The five of us—Troy, Roy, Paul, Thomas, and me—were inseparable. We stuck together through thick and thin. If one of us had to put our nose in […]

Text: Jeremiah 18:1-6 In the summer of 1990, I became infatuated with becoming a potter. It seems, though, that I was not alone that summer. In the summer of 1990 there was a surge in aspiring potters. So you might ask why. What happened in the summer, specifically the month of July, of 1990 that would […]

Text: Sirach 10:12-18; Luke 14:1, 7-14 “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” Thomas Merton Well, we are going on a trip this morning. Each of us to a different place but each place holds a common feeling. So sit back, relax, and close your eyes. I want you to think of a time when […]

Text: Luke 13:10-17 “Shame is a soul eating emotion.” – C.G. Jung I begin this morning with a personal story of shame. Nearly 15 years ago this church began a conversation about a new model for pastoral ministry. It wasn’t exactly a “new” model for ministry but rather a model that was gaining new attention not only […]

Text: Luke 12:49-56 Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront. Religion is supposed to talk about peace, not about conflict. At least that is what most of us have been taught. Right? Ringing in our ears we hear: Isaiah 9:6 “For […]

Text: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Possibly the three most overused and misunderstood words in the English language: faith, hope and love. It is the first of these—faith—that I want to reflect on this morning. This past Tuesday when seventeen of our young adults met at my house for conversation about matters of faith I asked them […]

Text: Luke 12:13-21 Guest preacher: Jim Jarrard Many years ago the North Carolina Baptists asked me to go on a four-person, several-week, interracial good-will visit to Belize. One of the colleagues with whom I traveled was James Lacewell, the local pastor of the Good News Baptist Church. He assured me at some point on our […]

Text: Genesis 18:20-32; Luke 11:1-4 “Hey, Coach!” These days it surprises me so much when I hear this that I often don’t respond – at least not for a moment. It’s been so long since the people with whom I spent most of my time called me “Coach” or “Coach T” that it takes me […]

Text: Amos 8:1-12 Duane Adkinson was a foot soldier for peace and justice and an ardent supporter of W.W. Finlator and Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. Duane died last April after a courageous battle with bladder and kidney cancer. In his final days, Duane shared with me several requests for his funeral. He said “Nancy, my […]