Richmond's First Baptist Church

Jim Somerville: "But maybe this is why Jesus was disappointed in [his disciples]: because it dawned on them only then that God was with them. Hadn't he been with them all along? Wasn't he with them as Jesus healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, and cast out demons? Isn't he with us still...?"

Jim Somerville: "If we only had eyes to see it, we could see that God is at work in this world. That the kingdom is growing secretly while we lie down and rise up. That the kingdom is growing everywhere like runaway weeds..."

Dr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, June 17, 2018.

Jim Somerville: "In my work as a pastor I have talked with people who were afraid they had committed the unforgiveable sin. And some of the sins they described to me were shocking; I'm not sure I would have been able to forgive them. But in almost every case I was able to reassure those people and say, 'No, as bad as that is, it is not the unforgiveable sin. There is only one sin Jesus said couldn't be forgiven...'"

Jim Somerville: "Remember the Sabbath? What would it look like to 'remember the Sabbath and keep it holy' in the Year 2018...?"

Jim Somerville: "Sometimes—not always, but sometimes—you have an experience of worship you will never forget. It happened to me on Thursday. I was in Washington for a national preaching conference called the 'Festival of Homiletics' when I heard that Michael Curry was going to be in town..."

Joe Boykin: "As a surgeon you become very self-reliant. But being a Christian, you try to stay focused on what you can't see: the powers that are around you that actually give us purpose and hope. And those are the things that sometimes we lose track of..."

Allie Osborne: "God said that he would pour out his spirit on all people. All people, he said: the young, the old, the men, the women, the Pentecostals, the Baptists, the believers, the non-believers, the insiders, the outsiders, those who understood, and those who didn't. That day, when the tongues of fire came from Heaven, God did something to us. He united us in his worship..."

Jim Somerville: "You know how some people will say to you on your birthday, when you're getting older, 'You look good for your age!' What would they say to the church on her one thousand, nine hundred, and eighty-fifth birthday? How's she looking these days?"

Dr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, May 20, 2018.