Advancing Word Podcast

In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus faces growing opposition. He begins speaking openly about His death and resurrection. He transforms this setting into a teachable moment and reveals what happens when He builds the church. This sermon explores the construction site!

In the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10, verses 13 - 16, parents bring their children to Jesus. He takes them into his arms and blesses them. There is nothing more moving, meaningful or momentous for a parent or grandparent than believing that our children are safe in His arms. In His presence, every child of God “backslides into the simplicity of childhood.”

According to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4, verses 16-20, Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah to mark the official commencement of His public ministry. In the synagogue, Jesus uses the prophet’s words to communicate the character of His ministry to this broken world. Dr. T. D. Stubblefield leverages this passage as a lens to look through and view the providential joining together of Pastor-Elect, Reverend Eddie Burton and the St. Paul United Church of Christ, Carlinville, IL for ministry during their Welcoming Celebration. In this sermon, he shares how Jesus’s words in the text provides a blueprint, a template, a roadmap indeed a “model for ministry.”

The final installment of the sermon series “Improving Our Serve” focuses on the call of Isaiah to the prophetic ministry recorded in Chapter Six, verses 1 -8 of the book that bears his name. This passage reveals that before the prophet committed to be a servant before his Sovereign, he also acknowledged being a creature before his Creator and a sinner before his Savior. God requires the same from any of us who are serious about ministry.

October is Clergy Appreciation Month. Once again, we share this classic sermon by Dr. T. D. Stubblefield on the biblical office of Pastor -Teacher based on Jeremiah 3:15. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timonthy 5:17). Send the link to this inspiring message this month to your pastor, or some other minister you know who serve God’s people faithfully along with a note of appreciation for their labor of love.