Pastoral Ministry

Josh Hamilton is one of most gifted baseball players in the major leagues. In the 1999 draft, Hamilton was the first overall pick. In 2001, Hamilton was injured in an automobile accident. It marked the beginning of major problems in his life. He became addicted to alcohol and drugs. This addiction led to his being out of baseball from 2003 to 2005. When he was at a rock-bottom point in his life, he accepted Christ as his Savior, and this marked a major turnaround for him. In 2007, he made it to the majors and was traded to the Texas Rangers before the 2008 season.

The Treasure of His Word
2 Timothy 3:14-17

*Ill—In 1622 the Spanish galleon, the Atocha, was making her maiden voyage from Havana to Spain carrying gold and silver when she was struck by a hurricane. The ship was swept over a barrier reef some forty miles west of what is now Key West, Florida. She went to the bottom of the ocean carrying with her a fortune in silver and gold.

On January 15, a tragedy occurred off the coast of Italy. The Italian luxury liner, the Costa Concordia, ran aground on the coast of Giglio Island. The liner, which is the length of almost three football fields, had over 4,000 people on board and had sailed from a port near Rome only a few hours before.

Followers of the Way
Acts 24:10-14a

*Ill.—On the morning of July 17, 1938, Douglas Corrigan, who was 31 years old, took off from an airport in Brooklyn, New York, in a secondhand plane. He was intending to make a nonstop solo flight across America and land at Long Beach, California. He left the airport, banked the plane into a cloud, and his plane disappeared into the eastern sky.

One of the earliest requests ever made in the kingdom was the request made by James and John. They said to Jesus, “Grant that we may sit.” That is a very common request, and folks continue to make it today.

“Grant that we may sit.” Or, “Lord, we really don’t want to do anything in the kingdom. We have been afflicted with tired blood, and we had really rather sit and rest than get up and do something.”

Coping with the Bitter Experiences of Life
Ruth 1:19-22

*Ill—I read about a senior adult named Mary whose car had a lot of problems. Sometimes it wouldn’t start; sometimes it made strange noises; sometimes it had a flat. As a result of these things, she was always calling her son Steven to come take a look at the car, or to come give her a ride.
Steven would drop what he was doing and go riding to the rescue. Sometimes the car did indeed have a problem, but sometimes it was not a problem with the car; it was a problem with driver. Mary had flooded it or something like that.