If our earliest forefathers and mothers saw some Baptist churches today, they wound not recognize them as Baptist. They paid a heavy price to be free from religious coercion—floggings in the town square, imprisonment, exile, and death. They embraced a gospel that insisted on freedom of conscience, freedom from the king, freedom from the pope, freedom to relate directly to God. We could call it the gospel according to the Baptists.
Sermon Texts
We call him blind Bartimaeus. The text calls him “a blind beggar.” Many people with disabilities in ancient cultures were reduced to begging. What we learn of Bartimaeus, though, is that despite his blindness he could “see” quite well.
The book of Job addresses the issue of human suffering. Why do the righteous suffer? It also addresses this important issue: why are the righteous righteous?
The book of Hebrews may have been a sermon originally. The preacher was addressing Christians who had been Jewish. They were under persecution. Some were leaving their Christian faith. Others were considering it. The preacher urged them not to leave, arguing for the superiority of Christ.
Esther was a Jewish orphan. She found favor with the king of Persia and became his queen. She used her position to save her Jewish people. The book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God, but it still has some important lessons for us.
It wasn’t complicated for Jesus. It was not theoretical. It was as simple as taking a little child into one’s arms. When you welcome one little child in “my name,” Jesus said, you welcome me.