A post on social media is assumed to be true just because it reaches critical mass and goes viral. Why are we so gullible and programmed to simply believe what we see or hear as gospel truth? Have we truly lost our ability to think critically? In our postmodern world, relativism and pluralistic philosophy are […]
Acts 17:10-15
September 15, 2019Pastor Ricky Smith Sermon Notes I. Strength of Focus Acts 17:10-11a (ESV)10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; God is always on time. II. Scripture Filters […]
Stop Counting the Wrong Number
When Billy Beane became the general manager of the Oakland Athletics in October of 1997, he inherited an iconic organization that had lost its glimmer and now found itself in the shadows of powerhouse competition with bigger talent and pocketbooks. His outside-the-box strategy was criticized by baseball traditionalists, but his commitment to analyze metrics and […]
Acts 17:1-9
Sermon Notes Open your Bible to Acts chapter 17. We’ve been walking through the book of Acts, and today we come to the beginning of verse 17. More specifically, we’re going to narrow our focus this morning on the first nine verses. It’s baseball season, in case you didn’t know, and the Braves have won […]
Acts 16:11-40
September 1, 2019Pastor Ricky Smith Sermon Notes We’re going to worship through studying God’s Word in Acts chapter 16. We have been walking through the book of Acts together, and one thing that’s just been amazing to me as we’ve watched this journey is, it’s been fascinating to watch Paul. Paul is this guy who […]
Clueless Cam
Recently, I sat alone at a Braves game and enjoyed some down time while waiting on the church youth group to arrive. I was anticipating an amazing night of connecting with students and adult leaders from our church. I was not anticipating being the laughing stock of the entire stadium. While I enjoyed the experience […]
Tom Brady Traded For 5 Draft Picks
Breaking News! Tom Brady has just been traded for five draft picks. It may be hard to believe that arguably the greatest professional quarterback of all time could be exchanged for draft picks in the organization’s attempt to look to the future. This is the point of reading this blog: that you acknowledge you are […]
Fellowship of the Ring
One of my favorite movies of all time is The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I realize that is actually three movies, but I consider it one story. Besides, this also allows me to squeeze eight movies into my personal top five list. The story depicts the war of good versus evil and leads to […]
Acts 15:36-16:10
August 25, 2019Pastor Ricky Smith Sermon Notes The end of Acts chapter 15 is where we will begin today, in verse 36 specifically. We’re easing into chapter 16 a little bit as we continue our journey through the book of Acts. First, I’ll just tell you a little bit about me: I love basketball. I’ve […]
Acts 15:22-25
August 18, 2019Pastor Ricky Smith Sermon Notes We’ve been walking through the book of Acts together, and today, we come to Acts chapter 15. We’re going to do some work here today as we dive into the text. As we’re getting ready, though, I thought I’d just tell you a little bit about me, if […]