Stories of Inspiration from Our Pastor

This August 2006 sermon series contains four messages designed to help us sort through our priorities and discover real purpose and passion in life.    Each message covers one portion of a day in the life of a Christian.

August 13: 2006:  Once You Leave the House

This challenging message by Pastor Larry Wright was delivered at First Baptist's Patriotic Celebration service on July 2, 2006.

        This series of messages by Pastor Larry D. Wright began on Easter Sunday 2006.  
        Each of the five messages can be accessed by clicking the appropriate links below.

 
        April 16, 2006:  Is There A Hereafter?
       April 23, 2006:  One Second After Death
       April 30, 2006:   Extreme Makeover
       May   7, 2006:   Who Goes to Heaven?
       May 21, 2006:    Who Goes to Hell?

        This 2006 State of the Church message was delivered to the congregation of 
        First Baptist Church by Pastor Larry D. Wright on February 26, 2006.

 

Pastor Larry D. Wright's review of the 2004 movie "The Passion of the Christ".

"At the memorial service we remembered the deeds of a soldier. We pledged our allegiance to the American flag that draped his coffin and I promised myself that I would be more grateful for men like Tommy who risk their lives to afford me mine. I promised myself to be grateful for boys who go to war and become men.   (December 2002)

"In one of His most controversial parables, Jesus told the story of a landowner who hired laborers to work in his vineyard. Although the workers entered the field at different times, at the end of the day the landowner paid them all the same wages. ... so they grumbled against the landowner."  (November 2002)

"God’s grace is so unnatural, so preposterous that it is difficult to comprehend and accept. ... However, the message of grace is this: God does not owe you anything but He chooses to give anyway. That, friend, is preposterous!" (October 2002)

"What he experienced was a Cosmic Collision, for  whenever and wherever there is Christ, there will be cosmic collisions. This collision encountered the well ordered world of a religious person and challenged him to see beyond the system, above the structure that made his life make  sense." ... (January 1998)

 "Chasing dreams is a risky thing in life. You can get disappointed.

One such dream chaser purchased a beautiful five-acre parcel of land with a beautiful stream in the mountains of Colorado." ...(June 2001)

On September 11, 2001, America endured one of the greatest tragedies in its history when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.   This message entitled 911:  A Call for the Church to Wake Up! was delivered the following Sunday to the First Baptist Church of Florence, Alabama.  The sermon, based on Zephaniah 2:1-3, explains my belief that  "... there is only one thing that can save us, as individuals and as a nation. We must focus our eyes upon Jesus Christ as never before."

"Most people in the Shoals knew Bill Trapp as a pastor, preacher or spiritual leader.  I knew him as a close friend."  One Day Closer is a tribute to my friend Bill Trapp, who went to be with our Lord on December 31, 2000.

This article was first written in 1985. It has been revised several times and was first published in the January 1991 edition of Homelife Magazine under the title "More Than Footprints". It has been published in local journals and printed several times in brochure and pamphlet form.

This article first appeared under the title "Mr. Jim", then "A Boy’s First Gun." It has been revised under the present title. "Mr. Jim" is a reference to Pastor Wright’s maternal grandfather J.R. "Jim" Alexander (1878-1963).  It has been published in "The Collection" (Vol. 2) by the author.

The author's subtitle says it all!

This strange effect promotes the idea that in a chaotic system, a very small change to that system applied at a certain point in time makes the future change in a very dramatic way. Something as small as a butterfly flapping its wings now might affect the weather system on a global scale six months in the future.

This piece was originally written as a devotional and first appeared in 1994 in "a devotional guide to assist in preparation for personal revival" under the title "Forty Days With God". 
Ó 1994. Revised: 1997

top of page