Mountain Brook Baptist Church
274 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsLove God. Live with Grace and Generosity.
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Some Things Are Worth the Risks
July 19, 2020 05:00 - 28.9 MBMatthew 25:14-30 “Some Things Are Worth the Risk” Summer Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable” FAITHFULNESS Of the many factors that each of us has had to weigh in making decisions during this season of COVID, one factor that we would never have imagined being as pronounced as it has been over these last several months is the element of risk. It’s not that we hadn’t been weighing risks in our decisions prior to COVID, it’s just that it seems that so much more is at ...
Sunday Sermon: Some Things Are Worth the Risks
July 19, 2020 05:00 - 28.9 MBMatthew 25:14-30 “Some Things Are Worth the Risk” Summer Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable” FAITHFULNESS Of the many factors that each of us has had to weigh in making decisions during this season of COVID, one factor that we would never have imagined being as pronounced as it has been over these last several months is the element of risk. It’s not that we hadn’t been weighing risks in our decisions prior to COVID, it’s just that it seems that so much more is at ...
Good Will Always Prevail
July 12, 2020 05:00 - 29.4 MBRomans 12:21 “Good Will Always Prevail” Summer Series: “Virtues that Can Keep Us Stable” July 12, 2020, Goodness Phyllis Dorothy James, or P.D. James as she was known professionally, was an English author of the last century who’s “claim to fame” was crime novels. She was a committed Christian, an Anglican, whose theology often surfaced in her detective novels. For example, in one interview she acknowledged how it always bothered her that murder mysteries can often fu...
The Kindness That Gives Life
July 05, 2020 05:00 - 24.5 MBEphesians 4:29-32 “The Kindness that Gives Life” Summer Sermon Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable Leo Durocher is a name that will forever live in baseball lore. Durocher attained his fame as both a player and a manager and was enshrined for his accomplishments on the baseball diamond by being inducted in 1994 into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nicknamed “Leo the Lip,” reporters could always count on Durocher for some offbeat quote they could use to generate fan interes...
The One Thing Weariness Can’t Touch
June 28, 2020 05:00 - 27.6 MBGalatians 6:9 “The One Thing Weariness Can’t Touch” Sermon Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable” Of all the guidelines we’ve been living under over these last three months as we’ve been doing our best to navigate this COVID-19 crisis, the one that I’ve found to be the most difficult to practice is making sure that I don’t touch any surfaces unnecessarily. In my mind, there’s a reason that God gave us two hands. He did so in order that we could touch stuff and surfaces...
Some Things Are Better Left Misunderstood
June 21, 2020 05:00 - 23.4 MBPhilippians 4:6-7 “Some Things Are Better Left Misunderstood” Summer Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable” PEACE I learned a long time ago that in order to get along with others and “keep the peace,” there are certain topics that should always remain off limits. That’s because those topics tend to be so controversial that any discussion of them is more than likely to push people apart instead of bringing them close together. The two topics that come to mind, of cours...
The Best Place to Find Your Strength
June 14, 2020 05:00 - 23.2 MBSunday Sermon • 06.14.20 • Doug Dortch Nehemiah 8:10 “The Best Place to Find Your Strength” Summer Series: “Virtues that Keep Us Stable” Having grown up in a retail family, I understand better than most the power of “word of mouth” marketing. For those uninitiated in the ways of getting the word out, word of mouth marketing involves finding ways of getting people to talk about the product or service you’re peddling without you having to pay for it. It's something that...
The Worst Bankrupt of All
June 07, 2020 05:00 - 33.7 MBSunday Sermon • Doug Dortch 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 • “The Worst Bankrupt of All” New Sermon Series • “Virtues That Keep Us Stable – Love” Years ago, I served a church in a community where the local newspaper had a section in each Sunday’s edition in which they printed public records. You could see who got married and who got divorced. You could see who bought property and who sold property. You could see who got arrested and for what reason they got arrested. And worst...
This Too Shall Pass
May 31, 2020 05:00 - 34.1 MB1 Peter 5:10-11 “This Too Shall Pass” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” We’re at that time of the year in the Deep South when weather systems tend to collide with one another, creating the most calamitous conditions in terms of both people and property. Tomorrow, for example, marks the beginning of the hurricane season, and as I understand it, forecasters are predicting an above-average season for hurricanes this year, which should not surprise us at all. If the 2020 h...
Committing to the Hard Way
May 24, 2020 05:00 - 30.3 MB1 Peter 4:12-19 “Committing to the Hard Way” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” May 24, 2020 Back when it became apparent that the coronavirus had made its way across the Pacific (or the Atlantic, or wherever it came from), I really did think that we’d be in a state of disruption for a month, maybe two, and then everything would get back to normal. That’s one of the reasons I had thought we’d keep the church open, keep our heads and hearts down, and just bulldoze ou...
Set Christ Apart
May 17, 2020 05:00 - 28.3 MBSunday Sermon • 1 Peter 3:13-22 “Set Christ Apart” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” Last year Psychology Today magazine ran an article that would turn out to be far more prescient than they ever could have imagined. The article was titled, “What Are You Afraid Of?” While a glance at the title might lead one to believe that the article would be about different phobias that leave people paralyzed – phobias like the fear of spiders or snakes or the fear of heights – the a...
Craving Spiritual Milk • 1 Peter 2:2-3 • Mother's Day
May 10, 2020 05:00 - 25.4 MB1 Peter 2:2-3 “Craving Spiritual Milk” May 10, 2020, Mother’s Day It’s hard for me to believe it, but it’s been almost 30 years since the America’s Milk Processors association paid big bucks to a San Francisco, California advertising agency to come up with a slogan that would encourage Americans to drink more of their product. What the agency came up with became one of the top slogans of the latter part of the last century, finding its way into everything from episodes of...
Entrusting Ourselves to Him Who Judges Justly
May 03, 2020 05:00 - 27.6 MB1 Peter 2:19-25 “Entrusting Ourselves to Him Who Judges Justly” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” May 3, 2020 Hard times, such as the one we’re going through now, have the potential both to teach us new things about ourselves and to confirm other things we already knew. I’m still not sure what all I have learned over these last two months, but there is one thing that they have confirmed to me about myself – I am not too good at doing deprivation. I don’t kno...
Living as Strangers in Reverent Fear
April 26, 2020 05:00 - 28.1 MB“Living as Strangers in Reverent Fear” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” April 26, 2020 Earlier this year, The New York Times ran a story titled, “How to Be an Expatriate in 2020.” It was a story that focused on a middle-aged couple, Chuck and Kirsten Burgess, who decided one day to leave behind their two comfortable homes, one in Manhattan and the other in the Hamptons, along with their good careers, in order to move abroad to an entirely different country, where they...
The Goal of Our Faith
April 19, 2020 05:00 - 29.3 MB1 Peter 1:3-9 “The Goal of Our Faith” Post-Easter Series: “Feed My Sheep” Every journey in life presumes a destination. In other words, when we set out on a particular course, most of the time we are aiming to get somewhere specifically. Granted, we may have adjusted our aim a bit in these recent days because of our current situation. For example, some of us feel the need at times to get out of the house and just go “somewhere.” We don’t have a specific destination in mind...
God's Answer
April 05, 2020 05:00 - 23.7 MBPsalm 118:19-21 Doug Dortch “God’s Answer” April 5, 2020, Palm Sunday My wife and I moved into our new home a month or so ago, and its physical address is not yet on any of the navigation apps. So, when we have needed people to find us, unless they know the neighborhood, getting to our house is evidently impossible. I know what you’re thinking. “Why don’t you just give them directions?” Do you remember the last time you gave someone directions? I can’t. I can’t remem...
Something to Anticipate
March 29, 2020 05:00 - 25.4 MBJeremiah 33:14-16 “Something to Anticipate” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” Like for many of you, spring is my favorite season of the year. I especially love the way that everything around me buds and blooms in a cascade of colors that not even Picasso could come close to matching. A good part of it, no doubt, is that spring just happens to be the season that comes after winter, which as we all know is almost always a dreary and dismal time. Even though ...
Is Anything Too Hard for God?
March 22, 2020 05:00 - 21.7 MBSunday Sermon • March 22, 2020 • Doug Dortch Jeremiah 32:42-44 “Is Anything Too Hard for God?” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” Some years ago, I remember traveling from my hometown in West Alabama to get back to where I was living at the time. The route I took from York was US 80, which we chillingly referred to as “Blood Alley” because of the number of fatal accidents that had taken place on that stretch of road over the years. I remember somewhere between Demo...
Sermon: "Write It Upon Our Hearts" • Doug Dortch
March 15, 2020 05:00 - 22.9 MBJeremiah 31:31-34 Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” March 15, 2020 As a “newbie” to smart technology, I continue to be amazed at the immense capabilities I have at my disposal with something as small as my smartphone. Not a week goes by that I don’t discover some new application that delivers on its promise to make my life go so much smoother and so much easier. For example, it’s actually been a couple of years now since I discovered the “Notes” applicati...
You're Gonna Be Here A While
March 08, 2020 06:00 - 21 MBThis is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan...
Blessed to Be a Blessing
March 08, 2020 06:00 - 28.9 MBJeremiah 29:1-7 “Blessed to Be a Blessing” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” There are certain stories that I always seem to fall for. Regardless of how busy I may be, when I’m reading a magazine or surfing the Internet, there are just some stories I can’t pass up. Probably the ones that rank at the top of my lists are the “Best Places” stories. You know the ones I’m talking about – “Best places to live…work…study…retire.” Evidently, I’m not by myself, given how many of...
Prophets of Peace
March 01, 2020 06:00 - 25.9 MB1In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba...
Who's Telling the Truth?
March 01, 2020 06:00 - 27.6 MBJeremiah 28:1-9 “Who’s Telling the Truth?” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” Some time ago, back when TV was beginning to establish its place or prominence in American households, network executives came up with a format that came to be known as the “game show,” in which contestants would compete with one another for prizes and grand excursions and significant sums of money. It would arguably become a format that would turn out to be the staple of television broadcast...
The Knowledge of the Heart | Doug Dortch
February 23, 2020 06:00 - 28.7 MB“The Knowledge of the Heart” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” February 23, 2020 As a preacher who faces the daunting task of communicating with people multiple times a week, either by means of speaking or writing, I am very much aware of the power of words, and in particular, finding the right word for the right occasion to drive home the right point. Fortunately, the English language is dynamic, fluid, and always evolving. For example, did you know that according to...
The Surprising Way Back Home | Wayne Splawn
February 23, 2020 06:00 - 22.2 MB1After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. 3Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answe...
Please Don't Let Go
February 16, 2020 06:00 - 24.8 MB1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay i...
As It Seems Best To God
February 16, 2020 06:00 - 29.3 MB“As It Seems Best to God” Jeremiah Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” Dr. Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the United States Senate, once made a speech in which he contended that many people today suffer from a malady he called “Destination Sickness.” Of course, you won’t find anything of the sort in any medical textbook. “Destination Sickness” is a disease of the soul – one that people contract when they focus all of their time and energy in the wrong direction; fo...
Change Is Possible
February 09, 2020 06:00 - 26.4 MBJeremiah 13:20-27 “Change Is Possible” Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” If there’s one word that is sure to raise people’s blood pressure and cause them to have heart palpitations, it’s the word “change.” In fact, most of us here this morning would rather endure a root canal than be subjected to some form of change. So, why is that the case when there’s not a person present in this worship service today who hasn’t been forced to make a change or two over his or her l...
When All Hope Seems Lost
February 02, 2020 06:00 - 25.7 MBJeremiah 8:18-9:1 “When All Hope Seems Lost” Series: Plans for God’s Good Future Today, as most of you know, is Super Bowl Sunday. It is the Sunday when millions of Americans will have their eyes glued to the tube to see who wins the Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the team that comes out on top in the NFL playoffs. This year’s Super Bowl will feature two teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49’ers, about whom I care very little. But like so many of y...
Love Enough to Tell the Truth
February 02, 2020 06:00 - 26.7 MB18My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. 19Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” 20“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” 21For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. 22Is the...
Deacon Ordination Testimonies
January 26, 2020 06:00 - 20.2 MBDeacon Ordination Testimonies from some of our new deacons being ordained. Deacons to Be Installed for Term of Service Beginning 2020: Joe Adams, Jason Avery, Chuck Bowers, Stan Breaux, David Bryan, Emris Graham Jr., John Holcomb III, Elam Holley Jr., Perry Jackson, Mike Jordan, Matt McCurry, Mike McGuire, Brad Moffatt, Willis Potts, Allison Rice, Trent Scofield, Lee Smith, Wayne Thorn, Mark Tucker, Greg Whetstone, Jack Zaremba Deacons to be Ordained for Term of Service be...
The Surprising Story of Mercy
January 19, 2020 06:00 - 26.9 MB6The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to Me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah ...
Confession Is Good for the Soul
January 19, 2020 06:00 - 29.6 MBJeremiah 3:6-18 • “Confession Is Good for the Soul” • Doug Dortch Series: “Plans for God’s Good Future” January 19, 2020 I couldn’t help but do a double take the other day when I came across the story of a man who returned a library book past its due date…by 47 years! Robert Nuranen recently handed the local librarian in Hancock, Michigan a book that he had checked out for a ninth grade assignment, along with a check for 47 years’ worth of late fees. Nuranen explained that ...
Aren't You Thirsty
January 12, 2020 06:00 - 26.1 MB10Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this: 11Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. 12Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD. 13“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, br...
A Call Answered
January 05, 2020 06:00 - 22.7 MB4The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6“Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” 7But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. 9Then the LORD ...
Christmas Eve Message: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
December 24, 2019 06:00 - 12.4 MBLuke 2:7 Luke 2:7
He Rules the World With Truth and Grace
December 22, 2019 06:00 - 23.3 MBRevelation 11:15 Revelation 11:15
Let Earth Receive Her King | Doug Dortch
December 01, 2019 06:00 - 19.4 MB1 Peter 1:3-9 “Let Earth Receive Her King” Advent Series: “Prepare Him Room” December 1, 2019, First Sunday of Advent, HOPE Some years ago, when Christmas Day happened to fall on a Sunday, that morning’s edition of the St. Petersburg Times printed two front pages. Normally, of course, a newspaper prints only one front page. But for this special Christmas edition, the newspaper offered two front pages that ran side by side. The contrast was striking. The first front page wa...
Thanksgiving Sunday and Celebration Sunday | Beyond…What We Can Ask or Imagine
November 24, 2019 06:00 - 25.7 MBEphesians 3:20 “Beyond…What We Can Ask or Imagine” Capital Campaign Series: “Beyond” November 24, 2019, Thanksgiving Sunday and Celebration Sunday Robert Fulghum is an American author and minister, best known for popular books, All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door, and Maybe (Maybe Not). In his book, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down, he tells of meeting a young American traveler while overseas...
Beyond... Whatever Else is Expected | Doug Dortch
November 17, 2019 06:00 - 26.7 MBNumbers 6:21 “Beyond…Whatever Else Is Expected” Capital Campaign Series “Beyond” What do you think of when you hear the word “average?” I think of a conversation I had years ago with a seminary friend and classmate. It was a stressful semester for me at that time. I was taking a heavy load and trying to balance my studies with my responsibilities at the small church I was serving. Like most of my friends, I was struggling, as were they, with the high expectations each o...
Beyond... Their Ability | Doug Dortch
November 10, 2019 06:00 - 26.4 MBSunday Sermon • Doug Dortch 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 “Beyond…Their Ability” Capital Campaign Series: “Beyond” November 10, 2019 If there’s one criterion that best distinguishes highly accomplished individuals and organizations from those that never get past being considered average, it’s the willingness of those persons to refuse to accept the limitations that others try to put on them. Think about that statement for a moment. What inventor would have come up with a new tec...
Beyond... This Generation | Doug Dortch
November 03, 2019 05:00 - 21.4 MBJudges 2:10-15 “Beyond…This Generation” Capital Campaign Series: “Beyond” November 3, 2019, Day of Remembrance Most of us struggle with picturing what our life will look like in the days ahead, do we not? That’s the conclusion of a Harvard psychologist, Daniel Gilbert, and two of his colleagues, who recently did a study that involved more than 19,000 people on this very common trait among us humans. Their research revealed that in fact people of all ages grossly undere...
Beyond... This Generation | Wayne Splawn
November 03, 2019 05:00 - 27 MBJudges 2:10-15 “Beyond…This Generation” Capital Campaign Series: “Beyond” November 3, 2019, Day of Remembrance Judges 2:10-15
Because... It Represents Our Guiding Values | Doug Dortch
October 20, 2019 05:00 - 27.6 MB2 Samuel 24:18-25