By: Waylon Bailey ~ Each year First Baptist Church elects twelve deacons to serve a two year term. The deacons are called by the church to help in pastoral ministry and to model consistent Christian living before the congregation. Pastors (also known as elders and bishops) and deacons are the two scriptural offices in the church. Therefore, those who serve …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ Life is filled with crises. You never know when a crisis will come, and you can’t know what form it will take. You simply know in this life you will face difficulties and trouble. I am thankful to know these four truths when crises come. First, I am thankful to know God. Like King Jehoshaphat of …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ My “Lagniappe” is a regular feature of FBC Covington. I have written this like clockwork for 25 years. It is my way of communicating with the congregation about important issues. Lagniappe means “a little something extra,” like a “baker’s dozen.” Thanks for reading. Worship Services Streamed Live I was very pleased last week to hear of …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ Are Americans more depressed than other nations? One of the areas that we must constantly guard is our feelings, especially related to discouragement and depression. Some studies have shown that Americans seem to be more depressed than other peoples of the world. Isn’t it amazing, the people with the most in the world are most depressed? …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ When you examine the stories of Elijah the prophet of Israel, you notice the perilous days in which He lived. Elijah lived in a day of moral relativism. People could worship Baal or the Lord or they could worship both and think nothing of it. Baal was the storm god. He provided people with rain for …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ I still remember the weekend I took one of my college roommates to my hometown. When we arrived in Brantley I realized that my roommate from Birmingham and I didn’t have many things in common. We both were Baptist, from the state of Alabama, and our hometowns began with the same letter. Apart from that, we …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ God wants to know you, and he wants you to know Him. Can anything be more important than knowing your Creator? God also desires to lead His people and to give them direction for life. What is it that hinders our living in close, personal, and significant relationship with God? First, our sin keeps us from …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ Where are we with our Rise Up! Campaign? Last year, First Baptist Church voted to move forward with building much needed educational space and commons areas as well as a new worship center. We also voted to enter into a capital campaign to raise needed funds for building. At this point we have commitments for approximately …
Jesus taught us prominently about prayer. He gave us the model prayer (also called the Lord’s Prayer) and reminded us of the need to forgive when we pray. Paul prayed for the churches and exhorted believers to pray in all things and to “pray without ceasing.” He knew we needed to be connected to our Heavenly Father and to take …
By: Waylon Bailey ~ Why do I do what I don’t want to do? And, why don’t I do the things that I want to do? Of all the issues we face in our Christian lives this may be the most prevalent and the most common problem we face. Is there any solution to this problem? Do we have any …
