South Run Baptist Church episodes:

• March 15, 2021Lent: The Road to the Cross- Misunderstood

  Let us continue on our journey toward the cross. The moment is getting

  close, but we have a few more weeks to go. In today’s passage from Luke 18,

  we find that the disciples, who have now been traveling with Jesus for

  three years or more, have managed to misunderstand the nature of Jesus’

  kingship and kingdom. For one reason or another, they cannot grasp that

  Jesus must die and be raised from the dead. They misunderstand and yet they

  still follow. For Jesus, this appears to be enough. Understanding will

  come. Eventually.

  ...more

  

  ---

• March 08, 2021Lent: The Road to the Cross: Money and Power

  As we continue on this road toward Holy Week, Jesus meets a most

  interesting man. He is a ruler and, so, has much power. He is rich and, so,

  has resources that could help Jesus. Jesus, however, does not see fit to

  capitalize on the man's power or money but instead asks him to leave all of

  that behind, to give everything to the poor, and to follow Jesus. You could

  certainly say that it is a test of the man’s loyalties and loves. What does

  he love more, his money and power, or Jesus? Unlike most of us, the man is

  forced to choose one or the other. He is not offered an “all of the above."

  What would you choose?

  ...more

  

  ---

• March 01, 2021Lent: The Road to the Cross- The Little Children

  In these weeks leading up to Palm Sunday, I want to turn our attention to

  the Gospel of Luke as it leads us into Holy Week, specifically Luke 18.

  What is Jesus teaching during this time? Where is his heart set before

  entering the city of Jerusalem one last time? Today his heart is set on the

  children that are all around him. He welcomes them. He embraces them. And

  he even says that if we do not receive the Kingdom of God as a child does,

  we will not enter it. There is a lot to unpack in this short scene. Let’s

  get going!

  ...more

  

  ---

• February 22, 2021Dwell On These Things Series: Excellent and Worthy of Praise

  Today we conclude our series on Philippians 4:8 which finishes with two

  words: Excellent and Praiseworthy. Today we dive headlong into what it

  means to do things with excellence. This is what Paul is calling us to -

  not to mediocrity or even to what is good but to that which is great, that

  which is excellent and praiseworthy. And though we may be praised for the

  excellence produced through us, our hearts must always return that praise

  to God, the giver of all good gifts, the one deserving all praise and glory

  and honor.

  ...more

  

  ---

• February 16, 2021Dwell On These Things Series: Whatever Is Lovely and Commendable

  As we continue to think about our thought life, based upon Paul’s

  encouragement in Philippians 4:8, we tackle two today: whatever is lovely

  and whatever is commendable. If you were to stop someone on the street and

  ask them about the Bible, he or she might argue that what it promotes is

  either prudish or primitive and that it stifles fun or is just plain

  boring. But today’s advice, from Paul, is quite the opposite. Paul

  encourages us to think upon the beautiful things of life, that which is

  lovely, friendly, enjoyable, and just maybe even “fun.” This is something

  we could all use a little more of in our lives today. Let’s jump in!

  ...more

  

  ---

• February 01, 2021Dwell On These Things Series: Whatever Is Pure

  The Bible has quite a lot to say about purity. If you were to do a word

  search on “pure”, you would find that it is often connected to the quality

  of something; for example, the pure gold of the Temple, or the pure nard

  used to anoint Jesus. But more often than not, Scripture is most concerned

  with the quality of one’s heart. In the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that it

  is the “pure in heart” who see God. As with this whole series, it is not

  just our character, however, that we are concerned with. It is also our

  conduct. May our pure hearts bring about pure actions dedicated to

  furthering the Kingdom of God.

  ...more

  

  ---

• January 25, 2021Dwell On These Things Series: Whatever Is Just

  As we continue to examine our thought life in a series called, Dwell on

  These Things, we move now to “Whatever Is Just.” Paul admonishes us to

  think about “just” things. As we explore this theme, we are reminded of the

  importance of rooting our sense of what is just and right in the character

  of God. Whatever is just is so because God is just. But as the prophet

  Micah reminds us, it is not enough to merely think about justice, we must

  DO justice. "What does the Lord require of you," he asks, “but to do

  justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."

  ...more

  

  ---

• December 14, 2020The Christmas Story: The Plot Twists

  No story is a good story without a twist in the plot. In a good murder

  mystery, you shouldn’t know the killer’s identity until the big reveal at

  the end. In a sci-fi thriller you should, at some point, say, “I didn’t see

  that coming!” Likewise, in the narrative of Scripture, there are specific

  points at which the plot twists, and God does the unexpected. For those of

  us who have been reading Scripture for many years, there is a trap that we

  must take care to avoid, the trap of losing the “shock value” of the story.

  We forget just how unexpected God’s ways can be.

  ...more

  

  ---

• December 07, 2020The Christmas Story: Preparing the Plot

  As we continue to tell the Christmas story, we turn this week to the topic

  of “plot”. If you had to tell someone the plot of the Christmas story, what

  would you say? Today’s Scripture reading is not from the birth narrative of

  Jesus but is the opening to Mark’s gospel where John the Baptist is

  “preparing the way.” It turns out that John’s message has much to say about

  the plot of Christmas.

  ...more

  

  ---

• December 01, 2020The Christmas Story: Setting the Stage

  Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a season on the church calendar that

  begins our collective journey that ends at Christmas morning with the birth

  of Christ. As we take this long walk together, we will spend the next few

  Sundays telling and retelling the Christmas story. The story should sound

  familiar as, no doubt, you’ve heard it many times before. But after such a

  difficult year, a year unlike any other, my prayer is that the story takes

  on new meaning and offers a renewed hope. All good stories have a plot,

  plot twists, unexpected characters and a hero. Today, however, we start

  simply by setting the stage. It turns out that our 2020 experience gets us

  closer to the setting of Christmas than you might realize.

  ...more

  

  ---