First Baptist Family of Asheboro, NC

  April 12, 1981, I had this unnerving thought; “I don’t know what I am going to do with my life”.  O wow!  I wonder if I have any company in the room this morning if some of you have had thoughts like that!  I remember the date well.  When the first space shuttle Columbia launched on April 12, I was finishing work on my second degree. I was 7 months from getting married and 8 months from entering seminary. I was in a good Sunday School group in a collegiate environment.  In fact, I drove the van for the collegiate group.  I even drove by Karen’s dorm.  She said she had a ride, “thank you”.  I never told dad and mom about April 12.   He would have said; “Okay we’ll increase the acreage and bring in more cows.   That means more hay bailing.   This is the day job.   The factories are hiring night workers.   Get it together! People all over this room have moments when you felt you were at the bottom. You wonder if yo...

We are in summer, not according to the calendar, but school is out.  I always enjoyed summer reading programs while I was growing up.  The bookmobile even came to my street. One way we communicate is through books.  As we read we learn new vocabulary and we learn.  Even what we're doing now is communicating.  A sermon or preaching is  something we don't have in other aspects of our lives.  Preaching allows us to work through a passage of scripture.  What's so significant about preaching?  Some say preaching won't last in our culture.  The reasons why we communicate in sermons is this is how Jesus communicated.    Jesus taught and spoke to people.  Jesus was a preacher.  One of the main ways Jesus communicated was through preaching when Jesus was in his public ministry.  Jesus was so influential that even people who didn't believe He was God called him, "Rabbi" which means teacher.  Preaching can convict...