South Run Baptist Church episodes:

• November 22, 2020Understanding Gratitude

  Deen Salami, Guest Preacher

  “Gratitude, at its essence, is trusting in God and appreciating what He

  decides to give us.” Gratitude is a barometer that tells us where we are in

  our relationship with God and the faith that we put in Him.

  ...more

  

  ---

• November 15, 2020Gratitude as Virtue

  Though we are still a few weeks from Thanksgiving, it is good to spend time

  reflecting on gratitude. Rather than dedicate one day to giving thanks, let

  us spend time in a season of gratitude. Let us train our eyes see the

  goodness of God where we once saw nothing. Let us train our hands to give

  back because of the gifts that have been given to us. And let us train our

  hearts to praise God with joy for ways small and large that we have been

  blessed. If we can do this, we might just find a bounce in our step, a

  smile on our face, and a nearness to the heart of God.

  ...more

  

  ---

• November 08, 2020With a Grateful Heart

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  ...more

  

  ---

• November 01, 2020Committed

  To live a life of character requires making certain commitments.

  Commitments are bonds that we refuse to yield upon. Paul gives us an

  example of a committed life in Acts 14 as he faces persecution and near

  death for the sake of the gospel. This is a literal hill he was willing to

  die on, and he nearly did. He was committed: committed to the gospel,

  committed to the truth of Jesus Christ, committed to carrying out a call

  upon his life to take that gospel as far and wide as he could even if it

  meant risking his own life. For what are you willing to die? And what do

  your commitments say about your character?

  ...more

  

  ---

• October 26, 2020Trivial Pursuits

  What would I need to offer you to convince you to give up everything in

  your life? A big enough pile of cash? A life of ease? Fame? Is there

  anything that could possibly cause you to give up everything you have built

  in this life? To answer these, you would need to evaluate what is most

  important to you, what gives your life meaning and purpose, and what you’re

  willing to leave behind. The New Testament is filled with examples of Jesus

  asking us to examine our deepest loyalties, to consider our pursuits, and

  to seek the kingdom above all these.

  ...more

  

  ---

• October 19, 2020Jesus' Grace and Truth

  John’s gospel opens up with two key words about Jesus’ character. It says

  he was “filled with grace and truth.” The grace of Jesus is the favor that

  he bestows upon all people irrespective of status or position, whether

  sinner or saint. We all need Jesus’ grace, and this is a hallmark of

  Christian doctrine and teaching. But Jesus’ “truth” is an important

  corollary to his grace. Jesus’ grace is not “cheap grace,” to use

  Bonhoeffer’s term. The grace of Jesus stands in the penetrating light of

  truth, and it is this truth that exposes just how costly it is.

  ...more

  

  ---

• October 13, 2020God's Holy Love

  Today, we begin a series on character. The old maxim, "Character is who you

  are when no one is looking, certainly applies," but the character I want to

  begin with is not ours but God’s. God's character is revealed throughout

  Scripture and serves as an important starting point for understanding the

  ways our own character has been misshapen. As creatures created in the

  image of God, God’s image reveals something deep and true about who we were

  created to be. So this morning we begin with what I believe to be at the

  center of God’s very character: Holy Love.

  ...more

  

  ---

• October 05, 2020The Vineyard

  Join us today as we return to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, and dig

  into another of Jesus’ parables. There, we will discover what Jesus has to

  say about the leadership of his day that we might better understand how we

  should lead today.

  ...more

  

  ---

• September 28, 2020New Heart, New Spirit, New Life

  Ezekiel challenges his readers to turn from their ways and to seek to live

  just and righteous lives. He encourages them to make for themselves a “new

  heart” and a “new spirit.” But we know, because the New Testament teaches

  it over and over again, that the fulness of this is only possible through

  the one who offers new life by laying down his own. It is only possible

  through an act of mercy and forgiveness through Christ’s atoning death.

  Nevertheless, when Ezekiel concludes this passage with the injunction to

  “turn and live,” it is a magnificent foreshadowing of the grace to come

  through Jesus who enjoins us to “repent and be forgiven.”

  ...more

  

  ---

• September 21, 2020Not Fair

  What connects today’s two Scripture passages is something we all do:

  complain. The Israelites are “grumbling” that they do not have enough food

  for their journey out of Egypt, and the vineyard workers in Jesus’ parable

  are “grumbling” that they have had to work longer and harder than others

  for equal pay. Arguably, both complaints are legitimate . . . if

  insufficient. God does not mind our questions and, perhaps, even a little

  complaining. But complaint is not the end of the road, it is a marker along

  the way toward gratitude and faith. Complaint takes the form of honesty,

  but it is often an honesty that is too small. It is an honesty that does

  not recognize the rightful place of thanksgiving, gratitude, humility, and

  trust. It is there that we wish to find ourselves.

  ...more

  

  ---