Mountain Brook Baptist Church

More by Its Proclamation than Its Programs

Text: Luke 12:8-9  Series: “The Church Your New Pastor Deserves” I think it was back in high school that I was introduced to the award-winning novel by Ralph Ellison titled The Invisible Man. You may have been assigned that book as well as you were coming along. The plot, of course, revolves around a young African American man who goes about his life without anyone’s acknowledgement so that his existence as a minority in a majority-ruled world is insignificant and irreleva...

Home Church SMBS - Ephesians 6:10-18

More by Its Spirit than Its Successes

Text: Luke 11:24-26  Series: “The Church Your New Pastor Deserves” Several years ago, Harvard Medical School psychologist Steven Berglas wrote a book, The Success Syndrome, that rocked the world of “ladder climbers” everywhere, those whose purpose in life is to pursue success at all costs. Bergals’s thesis was that success, at least as our world defines it, is a two-edged sword, a burden as much as it is a blessing because of how people who are deemed successful often loca...

Home Church SMBS - Ephesians 5:15-6:9

Ephesians 5:15-6:9

More by Its Waiting than Its Working

Text: Luke 10:38-42  Series: “The Church Your New Pastor Deserves” To quote the popular songwriter Alanis Morrissette, isn’t it ironic that our Labor Day observance takes place on a weekend when most Americans take time off from their labor? You would think that on Labor Day people would actually engage in some type of work, but instead we choose to mark the holiday by taking a break and getting away from the grind. Why do you think that is the case? I would like to think...

Home Church SMBS - Ephesians 5:1-14

Have a Plan

Text: Joshua 6:1-7  Series: "Gearing Up for a Fantastic Fall" One of the interesting trends emerging today is a phenomenon people are calling “planned spontaneity.” If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, it really isn’t. It’s more the case that people today are so anxious to seek some sense of balance in their lives that they’re coming up with ways to have just enough structure while at the same time ensuring a sufficient measure of flexibility. For example, our ce...

Home Church SMBS - Ephesians 4:17-32

Lose the Clutter

Text: Philippians 3:2-11  Sermon Series: “Gearing Up for a Fantastic Fall” A little over a decade ago, a new profession began to develop in American culture, one that focuses on providing people help with getting their lives better organized. Most of the demand for this help stemmed from busy housewives and young single adults who had entered the labor force and found themselves with less time to keep their home as tidy and together as they used to could do. And so, you ha...

Home Church SMBS - Ephesians 4:1-16

Ephesians 4:1-16

Get Rid of Excuses

Text: Exodus 4:10-17  Series: “Gearing Up for a Fantastic Fall” You know the old saying, “If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.” That saying applies pretty much to everything in life, including church. In fact, a minister friend of mine some years ago had the audacity to write a column for his church newsletter one week, touting what he called a special upcoming Sunday they were calling “No Excuse Sunday.” “We’ll be pulling out all the stops...

Start With The Basics

Text: Acts 16:25-34  Series: “Gearing Up for a Fantastic Fall” Now that cruise ships are seeing passengers return, I am reminded of the story I came across years ago, at a time when cruise ships were about as ubiquitous on the open seas as semis on the Interstate. The story had to do with the captain of one such ship who was admired by the officers under his command for his skill in piloting the large ship. And yet those same officers were puzzled by a ritual they saw the ...

Prayer Is Simple, But Not Easy (Dr. Gary Fenton)

Text: Acts 16:25-34 Series: “Gearing Up for a Fantastic Fall” Now that cruise ships are seeing passengers return, I am reminded of the story I came across years ago, at a time when cruise ships were about as ubiquitous on the open seas as semis on the Interstate. The story had to do with the captain of one such ship who was admired by the officers under his command for his skill in piloting the large ship. And yet those same officers were puzzled by a ritual they saw the c...

Casting Seed and Trusting God

Text: Mark 4:3-9  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” Years ago, when I first started out as a pastor, the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention introduced me to something called the Annual Church Profile. That profile was, for all intents and purposes, a scorecard of a church’s performance over the past year, which was to be turned into the state convention, which then sent it on to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Conv...

Don't Let the Weeds Get the Best of You

Text: Matthew 13:24-30  Series: "Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” Because Jesus first ministered primarily in the region of Galilee, a rural area in Israel known for its farming and its fishing, a good many of his teachings drew from those life experiences. The fact that Jesus felt led to do so reflects his point of view that the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t merely an “other-world” phenomenon. It involves instead the inbreaking of God’s reign upon this earth, par...

What Makes Your Garden Grow?

Text: Mark 4:30-32  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” Do you remember the Mother Goose nursery rhyme you learned as a child, the one that went like this? Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row. Now, I’m not much of a gardener, but that seems to me to be a strange sort of garden; don’t you think? Yes, silver bells and cockle shells are types of flowers. But pretty ma...

Whose Side Are You On?

Text: Matthew 25:31-46  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” You’ve heard many say that in all of human history there never has been a more polarizing time than the one we’re now living in. I don’t know if that’s actually the case; humans always tend to be somewhat polarized. We inevitably divide ourselves from others in terms of loves and loyalties. You see it in everything from politics to sports teams to musical tastes and more. It’s just because we’...

Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1

The Last Person You'd Expect to See

Text: Luke 10:25-37  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” “You are a sight for sore eyes.” Have you ever had someone say that to you? Have you ever said it yourself to another person?” If for some reason you’ve never heard that expression before, it’s a declaration of someone’s deep gladness for another person’s presence, especially for that person’s presence in an hour of pressing need. And we’ve all been in such a situation, a situation where somethin...

A Debt We Could Never Repay

Text: Matthew 18:23-35  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” A concern that once upon a time was on every American politician’s mind, but now seems to have become a distant memory, is the national debt. Simply put, the national debt represents the total federal financial obligation owed to the American public because of how federal spending has exceeded more than the government has taken in. You’ve probably seen those virtual clocks that track the Unite...

Family Warnings

The Prodigals Among Us

Text: Luke 15:11-32  Series: “Jesus’ Parables and the Mystery of the Kingdom” I am probably the most provincial person you’ll ever know. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a “homebody,” but I am someone more comfortable with familiar settings than with unfamiliar ones. I remember back in my seminary days in Louisville when I would see a license plate tag from the neighboring state of Indiana, which had displayed on them a catchy tourism promotion simply titled, “Wander,” as in...

"We Have So Much To Anticipate"

Trinity Sunday  Text: Romans 8:12-17 No doubt you’ve been able to feel the excitement that’s in the air as people begin moving out of the season of COVID into one that resembles something we’re more accustomed to. Oh, I know that we haven’t made it entirely out of the woods yet with respect to the coronavirus. We still have some ways to go before younger folk can be vaccinated, but still the number of new cases has gone down to the point where mandates have been lifted and...

Walking in Truth and Love

What God Hath Joined Together

Pentecost Sunday  Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14 One of the great joys every pastor gets to know is the joy that comes from officiating a ceremony of marriage. At least that’s how I’ve always felt about my role. That’s because I have seen it not so much as a responsibility I must discharge as a participant in a civil event, but more as privilege I have to participate in a sacred one.  If you’ve done as many weddings as I have, you come to know the traditional ceremony by heart; an...

"That You May Know"

He Holds The Keys

Text: Revelation 1:18  Post-Easter Series: “The Dawn of a New Day” Some years ago, in a part of Atlanta that has long since been torn down as a part of the community’s efforts at urban renewal, there used to be a plate-glass window that had painted on it these words: “Keys Made, Palms Read, Souls Raised from the Dead.” I guess you would call that “Voodoo One-Stop Shopping.” “Keys Made, Palms Read, Souls Raised from the Dead.” The combination of those “services” represents...

Faith and Following

The Light of Life and Immortality

Text: 2 Timothy 1:10  Post-Easter Series: “The Dawn of a New Day” Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if we’ve had more than our share of storms this spring season. And even if you’ve managed to escape the damage generated by the high winds and fierce lightning, more than likely you’ve had to deal a time or two with the loss of power at your home or business, which always manages to come at the worst possible moments. It usually happens at night, does it not, when the sun ...

Why Do You Consider It Incredible?

Text: Acts 26:8  Post-Easter Series: “The Dawn of a New Day” When I was growing up, one of my favorite comic strips was “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” Some of you may remember it. Or some of you may have visited one of their “odditoriums,” as they are called, while on vacation in Orlando or Gatlinburg. Both comic strip and odditorium involve collections of stories about bizarre events and displays of odd items that were so strange and unusual that they bordered on credulity...

One Savior

Lesson 3

1 John 2:18-3:10

One God

How Can You Say Something Like That?

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20  Series: “The Dawn of a New Day” Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, was, as you probably know, a man of many interests. We’re all familiar with his interest in architecture and how Jefferson put that knowledge to use by designing Monticello, his plantation home outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. He was also a man of letters, evidenced by his authorship of our nation’s Declaration of Independence, as well as his role ...

Lesson 2

1 John 2:12-17

Lesson 1 - "Fellowship Restored"

Who Is They?

Text: John 20:1-18  Series: "The Dawn of a New Day" In an Easter world where death no longer has the last word, old rules no longer apply. No longer do we live by “might makes right” and “whoever has the most toys wins” and “everyone eventually gets what he or she deserves.” Instead, we live by new rules, rules that are based on God’s ability to intervene in everyday life, even in the face of our greatest disappointments and what seems to be the most insurmountable challen...

It Is Finished

What Shall I Say

Text: John 12:27-33  Series: “The Prayers of Jesus” It happens to every one of us at one time or another. Someone says something or does something or something happens that catches us off guard and we don’t know just how we should respond. Maybe it’s an offhanded comment someone makes to us. Maybe it’s a breathtaking sight that came upon us out of the blue. Maybe it’s a friend who shows up when we weren’t expecting him to do so or a recognition that came to us that we neve...

Lesson 2 - “By His Wounds We Are Healed”

Isaiah 53:4-9

Lesson 1 - “The Man of Sorrows”

Isaiah 52:12-53:3

Make Them One

Text: John 17:20-26  Series: “The Prayers of Jesus” Some years ago, someone sent me a cartoon they thought I would appreciate, and they were correct. It was a cartoon that showed a notice that someone had posted on a church bulletin board, a notice that announced simply, but celebratedly, “213 days without a split!” To appreciate the cartoon, you’d have to have spent a little bit of time in a church. Obviously, the cartoon was a takeoff on those safety notices that get pro...

Chapter 10: The Theology of Money: Live to Give

Set Them Apart

Text: John 17:6-19  Series: “The Prayers of Jesus” The other day Judy and I were rummaging through an antique store with another couple when I came across a collection of commemorative Coca-Cola bottles that were done back in the 1970s to honor a legendary college football coach. Many of you will remember those bottles; some of you may still have one or two. The bottles reminded me of an early “disagreement” with my wife. We were newlyweds in seminary, and we were poor as...

Chapter 9: Money and Giving in the Epistles

Glorifying Jesus

Text: John 17:1-5  Series: "The Prayers of Jesus" Adam Smith is often identified as the “father of modern capitalism.” His major work, titled, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, written in 1776, the same year of our nation’s Declaration of Independence, is required reading in economics classes even today. And yet, Smith was not an economist; he was a philosopher, and most of his writings focused on the natural principles that govern morality an...

Overhearing the Gospel

Chapter 8: “Remembering the Poor” in the Gentile Church

2 Corinthians 8, 9

When Children Are in the Know

Text: Luke 10:21  Lenten Series: “The Prayers of Jesus” Cynthia Copeland is a New York Times bestselling author who has done quite well with books she’s written on the things she has learned from the most surprising teachers, teachers like dogs and cats and little children. For example, in that last classroom I mentioned, the classroom where children are the teachers, Copeland talks about such lessons as our need to be open-minded in life, given how there is always more th...

Chapter 7: Money in the Jerusalem Church