Hannah’s story is about far more than intensity in prayer. It is about a woman who poured out her heart to everyone but God. And it is about the change God worked in her when she poured out her heart to Him.

Each year, as a part of our stewardship campaign, we have men from our church give stewardship testimonies. We generally have a testimony every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night for a month, and two or three additional testimonies at our stewardship banquet.

Preaching of the Word of God has been central for us. The Bible reminds us in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” God has chosen to change lives through the preaching of His Word. God uses His Word to build the lives of His people.

It seems obvious that whenever we take a step of faith we are going to be attacked. The devil hates it when men obey God and live by faith. I have seen those who are faithful to God go through great tests, but gold must be tried and purified. When we face the trials, we must remember that we are to count it all joy (James 1:2).

Written communication always carries more weight than spoken communication. And once that weight is attached to the wings of social media, it easily spreads far and wide. If you let a snide remark out in personal conversation, that’s too bad. But if you post it to Twitter, that’s like saying it over a worldwide PA system.

According to a popular Christian magazine, only approximately 20% of evangelical churches in America have a missions conference. I seriously doubt that the percentage in independent Baptist churches is much larger. I have had the opportunity to participate in over 1,300 missions conferences in the past 30 years.

I have always enjoyed the story of Moses sending the 12 spies from the 12 tribes of Israel when they were on the verge of entering the Land of Canaan. I was taught the song in Sunday school as a little boy, “Twelve men went to spy in Canaan; ten were bad and two were good!” I am sure many of you remember that song as well! I would like to draw your attention to 4 things the spies saw.

Peter knelt in the water, intent on washing his nets. Unaware of the crowd of people thronging Jesus, he, along with James and John, continued the task of rinsing grime from the Galilean Sea off their empty nets. The night had been long and fruitless. They had not a single fish to show for their efforts.

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. Introduction: In Colossians chapters one and two, Paul exalts Jesus Christ to His rightful place as the Preeminent One in the universe. He explains that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. Jesus is the Creator of the world, and therefore is sufficient in meeting every spiritual and physical need we have.

As I look at my responsibilities right now, aside from preaching, my biggest emphasis is placed on encouraging the growth of new leaders. I often tell our staff and deacons, who are core leaders in the church, there are three main things to remember as the focal points in our church.