Richmond's First Baptist Church

Dr. Jim Somerville's "Talkback" from Sunday, September 17, 2017. In this visit with the Bethany class, topics include racial justice, reincarnation, purgatory, and the existence of miracles.

Jim Somerville: "The more I've thought about [injustice], the more I've realized that you could fix every broken thing out there, in the world, without fixing what's broken in here, in the heart. There is an undeniable power in the act of forgiveness. In some ways it is even stronger than the power of justice..."

Jim Somerville: "I want you to think for a moment about where Jesus did his ministry. He didn't build a church, and put in pews, and hold services on Sunday morning, and take up an offering. He went out there where the people are, and he met them on their own terms. If they were sick, he healed them. If they were hungry, he fed them. If they were hopeless, he shared the good news. And if they were lonely, he assured them of God's love. If we could do that, who knows what the results might be...?"

Dr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, September 10, 2017.

Jim Somerville: "If you could put a stethoscope on the globe and listen to the cries for help you would hear them coming from everywhere: Houston, Syria, Sierra Leone. You could almost understand why your more desperate prayers aren't answered immediately. But it doesn't mean that God doesn't care. If this story proves anything, it proves that he does..."

Jim Somerville: "The white members [of First Baptist Church] moved into their new building in 1841, just two blocks up the street, and left the old building to their black members, who promptly constituted the First African Baptist Church. I had lunch with its pastor recently and we talked about our shared history. I asked him, 'Why do you think the white members moved out?' He shrugged his shoulders and ventured a guess: 'They were afraid.'"

Jim Somerville: "Imagine having complete power over the people who have hurt you most in this world, and the freedom to do anything to them that you wanted. What would you do?"

Dr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, August 20, 2017.

Jim Somerville: "I was having trouble holding on to my faith yesterday. I was watching the news coverage from Charlottesville, where a group of white nationalists were protesting the city's decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. I thought of Martin Luther King and his dream of a nation where black people and white people could live in harmony. I believe that dream was God-given. I believe that God-given dream kept Martin Luther King going when times were hard..."

Linda Bridges: "Scarcity thinking: those of us who simply cannot believe that there is more to life than what can be measured, what can be placed on a graph, or seen with our eyes. Those among us who believe that there will never be enough, so they must hold back on their knowledge, hold back on their contacts, hold back on their compassion. Those who constantly ask, 'How can I get by with less than what is expected of me?' You know some of those folk. And some of those folk are us…"