John Mark Hicks

Days 2-4 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days Texts: John 17:24-26; Isaiah 66:1-2; Genesis 1:1-2, 31 Why did God create the world? I think it is for the same reason God sent the Son into the world. And it is this: to include humanity in the communion of God’s own love. That perhaps offers […]

Day One in Around the Bible in Eighty Days Texts: Romans 16:25-27; Luke 24:44-49 The message is called gospel (good news) and the announcement (heralding) of Jesus the Messiah. Like an imperial proclamation of good news for the Empire, God announces good news for both Israel and the nations. Before this revelation of the work […]

This sermon was delivered at the Well House Church in Nashville, TN. The sermon begins at about 44 minutes. Hebel happens. 9-11 happened. Hebel is the word the preacher in Ecclesiastes uses thirty-seven times to describe a world soaked in death. Life is brief, a vapor. It is absurd and an enigma. It is unfathomable; […]

Reading the Bible as a Five Act Drama for Embodying the Gospel in the 21st Century. I recorded this video for a student of mine at his request. Perhaps some might find it helpful. Grace and peace, my friends.

Kyle Spears introduces the interview with this description: Is there a New Testament blueprint that marks who the true church is? Is there a pattern of New Testament culture that we are to imitate or is there more to the story? Every congregation wants to align themselves with the New Testament examples seen in scripture, […]

A sermon on the wise and foolish builders in the parable of Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

Today is its 102nd anniversary. In 1919, Congress passed the nineteenth amendment. Tennessee ratified the amendment on August 18, 1920 by two votes. That vote made it constitutional law. Harry Burn was a 24-year old representative up for re-election that Fall. He wore a red rose into the chamber which symbolized his “No” vote. His […]

Why do we eat at the Lord’s table like it is still Friday when it is Sunday, resurrection day?

[A Version of What was Delivered at Woodmont Hills Church of Christ, Nashville, TN, on June 19, 2020.] Continuing a series on the “Day of the Lord” in the Hebrew prophets, the text selected for this morning is Obadiah, and today is June 19, historically regarded as Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day in African American […]