Richmond's First Baptist Church
395 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsFirst Baptist Church is working to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Richmond, Virginia and beyond. We are a unique congregation where people from diverse cultural, ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds join together to put God’s love in action.
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Episodes
The Wrong End of the Telescope
March 07, 2019 00:00 - 14 minutes - 9.3 MBWhat kind of God do we see when we look through the lens of Jesus? Dr. Jim Somerville's homily from Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
Glory
March 03, 2019 17:00 - 21 minutes - 17.4 MBJim Somerville: "When the Father looks on you, he looks on you with love, and his face lights up. Yes, he sees the sin in your life. He knows all the bad decisions you’ve made, all the poor choices. But like a mother shaking her head at a child who has just come in from playing in a muddy back yard he also sees you, and no matter what you have or haven’t done he loves you, and when he looks at you through the eyes of that love he sees not only what you are, but what you have it in you at you...
Rev. Dr. Yvette Jackson
February 24, 2019 23:00 - 12 minutes - 9.63 MBThe Rev. Dr. Yvette Jackson's homily from the Service of Prayer for Healing, February 24, 2019.
What Do You Look Like?
February 24, 2019 17:00 - 21 minutes - 18 MBKathy Hales Thompson: "Some people are easy to love and care for. It's a natural expression. Then there are those people who get on our nerves..."
Father Michael Renninger
February 17, 2019 23:00 - 19 minutes - 15.3 MBFather Michael Renninger's sermon from the Gathering @five, Sunday, February 17, 2019.
Faith
February 17, 2019 17:00 - 20 minutes - 15.6 MBJim Somerville: "He called me and said, 'Al thinks today might be the day. He wanted to say goodbye.' He put me on speakerphone and suddenly there was Al, sounding almost cheerful. We talked for less than a minute. I couldn't understand everything he said, but I could hear in his voice that kind of deep inner peace I'm talking about..."
Dr. Bobby-Hulme Lippert
February 10, 2019 23:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBDr. Bobby-Hulme Lippert's sermon from the Gathering @five, Sunday, February 10, 2019.
Endurance
February 10, 2019 17:00 - 23 minutes - 18.6 MBJim Somerville: "I've been preaching for nearly a third of a century now, and I work hard at it. I spend an average of twenty hours a week getting ready to step into this pulpit. I have preached thousands of sermons. And yet, what good has it done...?"
Dr. F. Scott Spencer
February 03, 2019 23:00 - 24 minutes - 19.7 MBDr. F. Scott Spencer's sermon from the Gathering @five, Sunday, February 3, 2019.
Witness
February 03, 2019 17:00 - 22 minutes - 18.1 MBJim Somerville: "When Jeremiah opened his mouth to speak, the words that came out were God's words. What we would post on Facebook if God did the same for us? What would we tweet if our words were his? If every Christian and every church were posting and tweeting those words, where would be as a nation...?"
Josie Carver
January 27, 2019 23:00 - 12 minutes - 9.43 MBJosie Carver's homily from the Service for Prayer and Healing, Sunday, January 27, 2019.
Truth
January 27, 2019 17:00 - 20 minutes - 16.1 MBJim Somerville: "I wonder if that's what we are truly hungry for in this country: the truth. Have we been hearing fake news for so long now, from both sides, that we simply don't know what to believe anymore? Are we straining our ears to hear words that ring true...?"
Phillip W. Martin
January 20, 2019 23:00 - 17 minutes - 13.2 MBPhillip W. Martin, Senior Pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church, speaks at the Gathering at Five on Sunday, January 20, 2019.
Beauty
January 20, 2019 17:00 - 21 minutes - 16.4 MBJim Somerville: "I may be way off base here, but I wonder if the division in our nation could be traced back to something as simple as the 'Like' button on Facebook..."
Strength
January 13, 2019 17:00 - 22 minutes - 17.8 MBJim Somerville: "When I was dreaming up this series, I was thinking about the deep division between Republicans and Democrats in this country and what that division has done to us. We are not 'one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' We are two armies, engaged in fierce battle. We will not rest until the other side has been eliminated. In a time like this, we need Jesus..."
Light
January 06, 2019 17:00 - 19 minutes - 15.3 MBJim Somerville: "Today I want to begin a new series called 'Hopes and Fears'. I want to look at where the nation of Israel was when it began to fear for its future and hope for a savior and then compare it with where we are as a nation. I think there are some parallels there -- some striking parallels..."
Sharing the Faith
December 30, 2018 17:00 - 15 minutes - 11.4 MBAllie Osborne, Emma Tilley, and Josh Kim share their faith stories on Student Day at Christmas, December 30, 2018.
Love All
December 23, 2018 23:49 - 22 minutes - 18.2 MBJim Somerville: "Can Christmas still change the world? That's the question the authors of Advent Conspiracy were asking. 'The false doctrine of consumer religion insists, again and again, that money equals love.' On Christmas Day God comes near, as he always does and always is, and we miss it, because we are once again glutted and exhausted by consumer Christmas..."
Give More
December 16, 2018 17:00 - 22 minutes - 16 MBJim Somerville: "Do this right now: make a mental list of all the things you got for Christmas last year. Got it? No, neither do I. So many of the things we get at Christmas are completely forgettable. But there are some gifts we will never forget..."
Spend Less
December 09, 2018 17:00 - 18 minutes - 13.8 MBJim Somerville: "Is that it? Is Christmas these days just a way to stave off the mild depression that settles in on most of us in winter? Is that why we put lights up everywhere, on the front of our houses and on our Christmas trees? Is it why we race from one party to another during the month of December...?"
Worship Fully
December 02, 2018 17:00 - 17 minutes - 14.1 MBEllie Somerville McNevin: "A few weeks ago I sat down with my family and said, 'Let’s be honest: we have everything we need and almost everything we want. So what if, this Christmas, we gave to people who don't have what they need?'..."
An Alternative Ending
November 25, 2018 17:00 - 20 minutes - 16.5 MBJim Somerville: "We have presidents in this country. Their job is to govern to the best of their ability for the few years they are in office and then we will elect someone else to take their place. So, let's not get confused about who's really in charge, or where our true loyalty lies..."
A Woman Deeply Troubled
November 18, 2018 17:00 - 23 minutes - 18 MBJim Somerville: "When you are alone with God in prayer you can tell him whatever is on your mind, whatever is in your heart. God knows anyway, right? It doesn't hurt to say it out loud. In fact, it helps: to open that door and let it all out in a flood..."
The Book of Ruth
November 11, 2018 17:00 - 18 minutes - 15 MBJim Somerville: "The story of Ruth takes place in the time of the Judges, when 'there was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes.' But there was a man in Bethlehem, Elimelech, whose name means 'God is my king,' and he wanted to do what was right in God's eyes: he wanted to take care of his family..."
Love God. Love Your Neighbor.
November 04, 2018 17:00 - 18 minutes - 14.4 MBEmerson Shelton: "A saint reminds us that the Church is called to be holy. They show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ. Through their daily life, they show others the Christian walk. They are recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or closeness to God. They are ordinary, salt of the earth Christians, serving and loving God through the local church. There are saints among us today..."
Strength for Today, Bright Hope for Tomorrow
October 28, 2018 22:00 - 13 minutes - 10 MBJim & Wendy Norvelle: "Our story is not unusual, but it is our story, and it occurred in compressed time. In four months, my sister, my mother, and my father died..."
Bible 101, 10/28/18
October 28, 2018 17:00 - 54 minutes - 55.8 MBDr. Jim Somerville's "Bible 101" class from Sunday, October 28, 2018.
The Book of Job, Part IV
October 28, 2018 16:00 - 21 minutes - 15.4 MBJim Somerville: "We do have a concept of heaven, and one of the easiest answers to the problem of suffering in this world is to say, 'Well, in the next world things will be better.' But where did we get such an idea? If Job didn’t have it, why do we...?"
A Seat at the Table
October 21, 2018 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.6 MBJosie Carver: "In our story, blindness is a physical condition. But what of all the many familiar, metaphorical phrases that refer to vision? 'Seeing is believing.' 'A lens for the world' or 'point of view'. 'Even a blind pig finds an acorn occasionally' and 'a deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple'..."
Bible 101, 10/21/18
October 21, 2018 17:00 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBDr. Jim Somerville's "Bible 101" class from Sunday, October 18, 2018.
The Book of Job, Part III
October 21, 2018 16:00 - 21 minutes - 16.8 MBJim Somerville: "Sometimes there is a connection between what we do and what happens to us. It's why your mother told you not to play with matches, not to run with scissors. Sometimes bad things do happen for a reason. But often they do not..."
Children's Sermon, 10/21/18
October 21, 2018 15:30 - 4 minutes - 3.47 MBCari DuVal's sermon to the children from Sunday, October 21, 2018.
The Weight of Expectation
October 14, 2018 22:00 - 16 minutes - 11.9 MBJosie Carver: ""Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn't have the weight of expectations...?"
Bible 101, 10/14/18
October 14, 2018 17:00 - 53 minutes - 52.9 MBDr. Jim Somerville's "Bible 101" class from Sunday, October 14, 2018.
The Book of Job, Part II
October 14, 2018 16:00 - 21 minutes - 16.9 MBJim Somerville: "Some people get good hands and others don't. Here's what's in my hand: I was born white, male, and American, and in this world those cards are highly valued. When I compare my hand with the hand of a poor, black, uneducated woman from Somalia, I see how unfair life can be. It's not fair for her mostly because we live in a world where the majority of people seem to believe that light skin is preferable to dark skin, that the strength and swagger of men is to be rewarded over ...
Children's Sermon, 10/14/18
October 14, 2018 15:30 - 6 minutes - 4.97 MBKathy Thompson's sermon to the children from Sunday, October 14, 2018.
Drawn Together
October 07, 2018 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.5 MBJosie Carver: "It's only normal to want acceptance, to feel included; but that is often what we don't get..."
Bible 101, 10/7/18
October 07, 2018 17:00 - 51 minutes - 51.4 MBJim Somerville: "Welcome to Bible 101! We're trying to ask the question, 'What is the Bible, and why is it so important...?'"
The Book of Job, Part I
October 07, 2018 16:00 - 20 minutes - 16 MBJim Somerville: "The truth is we don't know why bad things happen to good people, and the suggestions we offer usually aren't very helpful, but to sit with someone who is suffering—to simply sit and share in that person's pain—is often the best thing any of us can do..."
Children's Sermon, 10/7/18
October 07, 2018 15:30 - 4 minutes - 3.51 MBWest African missionaries Paul and Faye Burkwall's sermon to the children from Sunday, October 7, 2018.
For a Time Such as This
September 30, 2018 16:00 - 27 minutes - 21.8 MBJim Somerville: "Today we come to the Book of Esther. Good and faithful Jews share this story every year during the feast of Purim, and they have a lot of fun with it. Sometimes, it sounds something like this..."
Children's Sermon, 9/30/18
September 30, 2018 15:30 - 4 minutes - 3.47 MBDr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, September 30, 2018.
In the Realm of the Unknown
September 23, 2018 21:00 - 14 minutes - 15.5 MBDorothee Marks: "God has a different perspective. Traditional rules are being transformed for the sake of the Gospel. Where do we see God's perspective in our lives? Do we live in the image of Christ, even when this means to break a traditional rule...?"
A Good Woman
September 23, 2018 16:00 - 20 minutes - 15.7 MBJim Somerville: "What if there were a movie where we got to see what the world would look like if women had never been born? I'm afraid it would be like that novel, 'Lord of the Flies', where a bunch of boys end up running around a deserted island, with mud smeared on their faces like war paint, carrying wooden spears, and yelling, 'Kill the pig!' Men, we have to admit: women have civilized us a great deal, and it is all to the good..."
Children's Sermon, 9/23/18
September 23, 2018 15:30 - 4 minutes - 3.77 MBDr. Jim Somerville's sermon to the children from Sunday, September 23, 2018.