A ROCKY FOUNDATION

      When Dr Broadus was a boy in a little town, he was converted to Christ after attending some meetings. He went out to his playmate Sandy Jones, a red haired chap, the next day and said to him “I wish you would be a Christian, won’t you?” Sandy said “I don’t know maybe I will” and sure enough after a little while, one night Sandy Jones accepted Christ. Straight away he stalked across the little meeting house to where John was sitting. He held out his hand and said “thank you John thank you John”. Dr Broadus went out from that little town and became a great scholar and theologian president. Every summer when he went back to that little town, this red haired farmer, in his plain clothes, with red sand on his boots, would come up, stick out his great bony hand and say “Howdy John. Thank you John, I never forgot” .When Dr Broadus was at his death bed, with his family around him, he said “I think the sound sweetest to my ears in heaven, next to the welcome of him whom having not see

                               A man sought the perfect picture of peace. He announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists and paintings arrived from far and wide. The judge’s uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. Finally he had two to choose from. As he pulled the cover from one, a silence fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner. Then the second painting was uncovered and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A stormy ocean threatened to burst inland clearing everything on its way. Dark clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In a small cave by the ocean a little bird had built a nest. Content and undisturbed by her stormy surroundings she rested in her nest. With her wings ready to cover her li

                                                                             Hannah Moore an outstanding witness for the gospel in the 19 th century England, sometimes felt discouraged about the quality of her spiritual penmanship. Although she organized schools for the un-evangelized poor and wrote many tracts and hymns, she had a low opinion of her effectiveness. This was her self –appraisal “God is sometimes pleased to work with the most unworthy instrument; I suppose to take away every shadow of doubt that it is his own doing. It always gives me the idea of a great author writing with a very bad pen.” We need not be discouraged; God the great author is able to use even scratchy pens to communicate his message to the people around. ( Vernom grounds ) Philippians is Paul’s most tender epistle. To understand the epistle, we need to know about the background of the church that it was written to and the circumstances surrounding its writing. On his second missionary journey (Ac