By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 12:38-42, NKJV

Lucy, Linus, and Charlie Brown were lying on a hill looking at the clouds. Lucy asked Linus what he saw in the clouds to which he replied, “I see what looks like Honduras and that one is the profile of a famous painter and sculptor and that group makes me think of the stoning of Stephen with the Apostle Paul standing nearby.” Lucy then asks Charlie Brown who replied, “Well I was going to say I saw a ducky and horsie, but I changed my mind.”

When I was young, and even now, I like to look at cloud formations to see if they remind me of anything. Some people look at clouds or other things and try to glean a message or a sign from the Almighty. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 11:20-30, NKJV

During the course of our lives we will receive several invitations to do a variety of things. Sometimes the invitation is very specific, other times it is open ended. When an invitation is given the one issuing the invitation usually, if not every time, will expect a response as to whether the invitee will or will not accept (RSVP).

During Jesus’ earthly walk He issued several invitations such as, “Come to Me” or “Abide with Me” or “Follow Me.” Many, over the years have responded positively to His invitations resulting in a changed life, a growing faith walk, and the promised eternal life with Him. However, there are many who refuse what Jesus offers as did those in John 6:66 — “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked with Him no more.” [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1-8 (NKJV)

I think all of us at some point in time have a desire to be like someone else. If you are a Peanuts cartoon junky like I am you no doubt have noticed how many characters Snoopy thinks he is — a famous fighter pilot in World War I, or a famous attorney, or an ice skating coach, etc. The one thing he rarely wants to be is himself. As we think of this in the spiritual realm it should ever be our desire to “Be Like Jesus” in service. In order to be like Jesus we must study His life and incorporate into our life those things worthy of emulation. R. G. Lee, the late great pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis said, “What Southern Baptists need more than anything is to be like Jesus.” That statement still rings true today, but the issue we all face is how we use the time we have to make that a reality. The passage in Matthew teaches us four things about Jesus that if appropriated into our life would help us to draw closer to Jesus and thus become more like Him in service. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 8:5-13, NKJV

One of my all time favorite cartoon strips is “Peanuts” by the late Charles Schulz. The other day I ran across one that I felt fit this lesson. Linus had built a small army of snowmen and he walked in front of them and said, “I am your leader, if you will follow me, you will be invincible! There is nothing that can stop us! Nothing!” In the last frame, the sun melts his army. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 7:13-21, 24-27

Robert Frost wrote a poem about two roads converging in the woods. One had been much traveled and the other not so much. He chose the one less traveled and was a better man for it. Several years ago as I was beginning my full-time ministry in another state I was befriended by a group of pastors. As I attended their meetings all seemed well until I realized that what they believed was contrary to the truth conveyed in the Bible. About 40 years ago our family was able to purchase our first house. We were so excited about being homeowners. There was one thing that was needed at our new home and that was a shed for my lawn mower and other things. I purchased a metal shed and began to erect it according to the plans. However, in spite of all my good work there was one thing I failed to do and that was level the foundation. I use these three illustrations to introduce our lesson focus for this week. Jesus reminds us that living the Christian life involves making decisions. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 5:17-22, 43-45

We live in a society based on laws. Some laws are very good and protect us. Some laws are silly based on the times in which they were written. Some laws are bad because they focus on a certain segment of the population and are not for the good of the whole (such as the legalization of abortion). A few years back I received my first two speeding tickets ever, a miracle for sure. The first was for doing 50 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone and the second for doing 70 miles per hour in a 60-mile-per-hour zone. Both times I could have given a circumstantial excuse, but the bottom line was I was guilty, got caught, and had to pay the penalty for my crime of speeding. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 6:5-18

If we are ever going to know God then we must pray. It is through prayer that we are able to hear His heart speaking to our heart. In Matthew 6 Jesus challenged the people and religious leaders in regard to the following; their giving and fasting practices and why they fasted, where their treasure is, their lifestyle, and what was first place in their life. In the middle of this discourse He places before us a real challenge in regard to our prayer life. He pointed out that the length of our prayers is not what is important to God, but the quality and humility of the prayer. In Psalm 51:15-17 David talks about the kind of sacrifice God accepts, a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. This refers to a spirit that is broken down with sorrow over sin, is humbly, sincerely, and thoroughly repentant before God. As we look at this passage we see that Jesus is admonishing us about how not to pray and then tells us how to pray. In verses 5-8 Jesus follows up verses 1-4 which talks about our attitude in giving with words on how not to pray. [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 5:1-16

Evangelist Jay Strack tells a story about Chippy the smart mouthed Parakeet who was always an embarrassment to his owner. One day Chippy was accidentally sucked into a Wet-Dri Vac. His owner retrieved Chippy, washed him up, blow dried him and sat him back on his perch. A friend came over and noticed that Chippy was unusually quiet and asked why, to which the owner replied that he had been sucked in, washed up and blown away. At times we all feel that the world has sucked us into its worldly ways, washed us up in its backsplash, and blown us away by a whirlwind of activities. How then do we cope? In the sermon on the Mount Jesus taught us God’s standards and if we follow them we will be able to stand strong against the ways of the world. Professional tennis player Andre Aggassi once said, “Image is everything.” But Jesus said, “Godliness is everything.” In Philippians 2:5 Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, to be able to have a godly attitude that characterizes our life we must continually focus on the “Mind of Christ in us.” [Read more…]

By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens

Focal Passage: Matthew 4:1-10

Temptation is a word that often causes us to shiver because of the connotation attached to it. John McArthur in his New Testament Commentary on I Corinthians says this about the word “temptation” found in I Corinthians 10:13. The basic meaning in Greek is simply to test or prove, and has no negative connotation. Whether it becomes a proof of righteousness or an inducement to evil depends on our response. If we resist it in God’s power, it is a test that proves our faithfulness. If we do not resist, it becomes a solicitation to sin. The Bible uses the term in both ways, and I believe that Paul has both meanings in mind here.” I Corinthians 10:13 is an interesting passage that is often sorely abused and misquoted. Many times the emphasis is wrongly placed, “…but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able… .” Most people have come to think that we are able to withstand any temptation knowing that God knows our limits and He will step in when things get to be too much for us to handle and will bail us out. But what that phrase means is that as Christians we are to constantly seek God through prayer, trust God in all things, and keep our eyes on Jesus. What this does is take the focus off us and puts it where it should be — on Jesus. When that is the case in our lives then we will discover that we can endure far more than we ever thought we could because our focus is in the right place, on Jesus. [Read more…]

By Michael Crandall
Senior Pastor, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Dyersburg

Focal Passage: Ephesians 3:14-21

What is strength? How can we measure strength? What does strength look like? These are all questions that a person could ask. And on the surface these are questions that have simple answers. From a purely secular point of view, strength could be defined as the state of being strong. And if we look at it from that point then we measure strength by how much a person can lift or by how far they run without stopping. Is strength that person we meet in the gym that looks like they should be on the cover of a health and fitness magazine?
[Read more…]