By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

What is love? How might love be defined in our world today? According to Neil Genzlinger, there are over 10,000 songs on file at the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C., that begin with the words “Love is ….” Some of those songs, which attempt to define love, are as follows: “Love is Like a Dizziness,” “Love is Like a Shoogy Shoo,” “Love is Like the Influenza,” “Love is a Sickness Full of Woes,” Love is a Traitor,” “Love is Doggone Mean,” “Love is Good for Anything that Ails You,” “Love is for Suckers,” and “Love is a Losing Game.” From the world’s perspective love is often connected with that which is erotic or romantic. [Read more…]

By Sam Greer Senior
Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, 21-26

The three smallest bones in the human body are found in the middle ear ossicles, more commonly known as the hammer, anvil and stirrup. Although these bones work in obscurity, totally invisible to the outside world, they are essential to our ability to hear. [Read more…]

By Sam Greer Senior Pastor
Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: I Corinthians 11:17-29

Anytime death invades our lives we respond in different ways. When a loved one dies some lash out in anger, or fall into depression, or retreat into isolation, while others grieve in a host of other ways. [Read more…]

By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: John 20:2-9; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

In his sermon, “Easter is for Everyone,” Greg Laurie shared about an athiest who was upset because of all the holidays that people of faith celebrate. The atheist said to a friend, “You Christians have Christmas and Easter. And Jews celebrate their holidays, like Passover and Yom Kippur. But we atheists don’t have recgonized holidays. It’s unfair discrimination.” His friend thought about it for a moment and said, “Well, you atheists could celebrate April 1. That could be your holiday. You know, April Fool’s Day. It fits, because the Bible says, ‘the fool has said in his heart there is no God.’ ”

April Fool’s Day and Easter Sunday fall on the same day this year,  April 1, 2018.  Those who are like the criminal on the cross who rejected Jesus may be called the greatest of fools on April Fool’s Day 2018. At the same time, those who are like the criminal on the cross who accepted Jesus may truly call April 1, 2018 Easter Sunday. Which is it for you?

The resurrection of Jesus the Christ is the hinge on which the door of Christianity swings upon. What’s more, the resurrected Jesus is the foundation on which Christianity is built. Easter Sunday is the day where churches all over the world celebrate with laser-like focus the resurrection of Jesus. How can we avoid being fools and have assurance of the resurrection of Jesus?

The resurrection of Jesus is real. John and Peter raced with anticipation and excitement to the tomb of Jesus that first resurrection day. Upon arriving, John peeked in and Peter barged in while both realized that the body of Jesus was gone (John 20:3-9). When something is gone it means it’s gone. Some people’s hair is gone. Some people’s original hair color is gone. Jesus’ body was gone because Jesus’ resurrection was real. He really did bodily resurrect from the dead. John saw that Jesus’ body was gone and he believed (John 20:8).

Although one disciple believed, neither disciple understood the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead (John 20:9). They didn’t strategically lie about Jesus being resurrected to fit with the Scriptures; for they didn’t understand the Scriptures which spoke of Jesus’ resurrection. These two disciples’ inabliity to understand the prophetic passages of resurrection is further evidence that their account of the empty tomb was factual. We can have assurance in the resurrection because of the empty tomb.

The resurrection of Jesus is relevant. We know the resurrection of Jesus really happened in the past, but how does that affect us today? Paul wrote about the relevance of Jesus’ resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. All people are sinners by nature and by choice. Adam, the first to sin, passed his sinful nature on to all of mankind. Therefore, all are dead because of the sin of Adam. Yet, all are made alive who trust in Jesus because He died for the sins of all and was resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 9:22). Jesus was not the first to be resurrected; however, Jesus is the first to be resurrected to never die again (1 Corinthians 9:23). Jesus’ death put death to death. Jesus’ resurrection resurrected ressurection to the point that those who die in Christ will be rasied never to die again.

The resurrected Jesus reigns everyday as we look forward to that Day. Easter Sunday is not the only day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrected Jesus reigns everyday (1 Corintians 9:25-28). Celebrate the resurrected Jesus every day! B&R 

By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27; 10:31-33; 11:1

One hot and humid Mississippi day, I was jogging on a neighborhood street. The last leg of the run was uphill. About half-way up the hill, I noticed an SUV coming down the hill. While panting for air and pouring sweat, I realized the vehicle was drawing closer to me. The window rolled down and an arm extended out with a cold, refreshing soft drink in hand. I grabbed the soft drink and said “thank you!” At that moment, I heard the lady in the front seat of the SUV scream, “Wait, stop!” I stopped. The SUV stopped. The lady who handed me the drink said, “Could you open this bottle for me?” As they pulled away, the lady in the front seat laughingly said, “He thought that drink was for him.” [Read more…]

By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: I Corinthians 7:1-13

Marriage is work, but the way God designed it, it works! In our social media saturated culture, the work of marriage continues to get tougher. In a recent issue of Computers and Human Behavior, the authors noted that those who didn’t use social media sites at all reported being 11.4 percent  happier with their marriage than heavy social media users. And heavy social media users were 32 percent  more likely to think about leaving their spouse, compared with 16 percent for a nonuser. Very few, if any, would argue that marriage is indeed work, but there may be some, if not many, who might question whether or not marriage works. How can we know that marriage, the way God designed it, works?  [Read more…]

By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: I Corinthians 6:12-20

According to dailywire.com, in 2016, Americans dedicated well over four and a half billion hours to watching porn on one porn site. The site had over 90 billion video views and 44,000 visitors every minute of every day. It all adds up to over 500 thousand years worth of porn consumed in the span of 12 months. Since 2015, human beings have spent one million years watching porn. The porn industry grosses more in a year than Hollywood and the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. Has porn become America’s favorite pastime? [Read more…]

By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga

Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 1:10-25

Every four years the Winter Olympics are headline news. The 2018 Olympic games in Pyongyang were no different. One of the most fascinating stories from the 2018 Olympics regarded the nation of Korea. The sister of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un attended the 2018 Olympics, as she was the first North Korean Dynasty member to visit South Korea since the Korean War. What is more, she called for the “unification” of North and South Korea. Is the spirit of the Olympic games enough to unify a divided nation?

In I Corinthians 1:10-25, Paul was dealing with divisions in the local church at Corinth. Yes, even churches in the first century were dealing with divisions. Paul argues that the church is only united in Christ alone. Furthermore, Paul reminded these believers that he came to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to promote divisions. The purpose of this commentary is to unpack I Corinthians 1:10-25. [Read more…]

By Mike Dawson
Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe

Focal Passage: Acts 28:17-28

Years ago I was a part of the “Appalachian Preaching Mission,” where churches in the tri-cities of East Tennessee came together once a year to highlight gospel preaching. You’ll know it was many years ago when I tell you my role was to be the “school” preacher. I actually preached in assemblies at the various public schools every day. The main preacher for the evening gatherings that particular year was Manuel Scott. He was an African-American, very small in stature, with an unforgettable style of gestures and body movement. One of his sermons stays with me to this day: “The Save Some Strategy of the Church.” Using Paul’s phrase in I Corinthians 9:22 “that I might by all means save some,” Scott reminded us that our churches won’t reach everybody, but we’re to reach all we can. [Read more…]

By Mike Dawson
Interim Pastor, Santa Fe Baptist Church, Santa Fe

Focal Passage: Acts 26:19-29

The Apostle Paul’s final days of ministry clearly fulfilled a promise God had given him. In Acts 23:11, Jesus had appeared to Paul in a night vision, telling him to ‘cheer up’ because he would “bear witness at Rome.” In the next three chapters of Acts, even before arriving as promised in Rome, Paul witnessed to Roman citizens, soldiers, and public officials. He spoke to three of Rome’s high-ranking officers in chapters 23-26: Felix, Festus, and Agrippa. I like to call those three ‘Felix the cat’ (because he walked the fence, putting Paul’s appeal off to a more convenient time), ‘Festering’ Festus (because of his angry outburst during Paul’s testimony), and “Agrip’pa,” (because he wouldn’t get “a grip” on the gospel). Today’s focal passage, Acts 26:19-29, portrays the encounter with Agrippa and Festus. [Read more…]