First Southern Baptist Church

05/15/2026

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

05/15/2026

Genesis 25:19-24 (NIV)
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
Footnotes

05/10/2026

05/09/2026

Exodus 2:1-10 (NIV)
1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

03/20/2026

Please join us this Sunday Morning at 11:00 a.m. as our pastor, Jerry Rea, begins a new Sermon Series on LOVE. 3806 S. Wilson Dam Road, Muscle Shoals, AL.

03/20/2026

1 Corinthians 13 (NIV)
13 If I speak in the tongue of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

03/20/2026

Luke 15:21-32 (NIV)
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

02/13/2026

Here’s Hope by Jerry Rea
Stink Birds

Southern giant petrels are seabirds that live as far south as Antarctica. They are known for their smell. Most conjecture that their smell derives from eating dead animals, along with garbage from ships. They will sometimes “spew” these meals if someone comes too close to their nest. Their nicknames are “stinkers” or “stink pots.” Thy spew out a liquid of rotten leftovers and oil from their stomach. If that’s not enough, they can spew this gross liquid several feet with great accuracy. They are known then for their spew.

Human beings don’t spew like this, but we have our own “discharge.” Sometimes the words that come from our mouths leave a trail of stink that can last a long time. Words stay with us, for bad or for good. Some of you still remember something your mom or dad said to you that was particularly hurtful. Sometimes church people have stinky words as well. A well-chosen word can lift up the discouraged. A poorly chosen word can leave a person hurt for years and years. Some have left the church for a lifetime because of a word. What you say matters greatly! Now, you may well be saying that “people shouldn’t be so sensitive.” I could not agree more, but all of us are not born with a turtle-like shell. It is actually a gift (from God) to be sensitive to someone’s needs, feelings, and brokenness. Jesus was able to sense hurt, needs and thoughts. You see, Jesus was able to see the real person.

So, there’s a moral in this story. Simply stated... don’t be a stink bird. Guard your tongue, for it has great potential to guide and build and encourage. Paul taught that our words ought to “minister” grace to the hearer (Eph. 4:29). Our minds ought to be different because God changes our minds. Your heart is being transformed into a new man. And... your mouth should talk like a man/ woman who has been with Jesus.

Jesus could heal with a word. He could guide/ instruct with a word. I’m remembering a single word that Jesus used to bring Mary’s heart great joy. It was at the grave side and Mary is grieving. She believes that they not only have killed Jesus, but taken away His body. Jesus utters one word... “Mary.” With that one word Jesus announced His resurrection and His love for this grieving one. Just one word makes all the difference in the world. Our words may “spew,” or they can bring grace.

One more thought. Jesus taught us that out of our heart, our mouth speaks. The fountain for the mouth and our lives is our hearts. So, the mouth is also very revealing. It shows us all that we have a long way to go to live like Jesus, and even further to speak like Him.

I’m praying that you will lift up the fallen with a word today!
Jerry Rea

FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH
3806 S. Wilson Dam Road
Muscle Shoals, AL

WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
9:45 A.M. - Sunday School
11:00 A.M. - Sunday Morning Worship
5:00 P.M. - Sunday Evening Worship
6:00 P.M. - Wednesday Night Bible Study

WEBSITE:
www.strongholdsministry.net

02/12/2026

Great News! Choir rehearsal has resumed following the Christmas break. All attenders and visitors are welcome to come to rehearsal and sing with us. You don't have to be a trained musician, just have a heart for worshipping our Lord! "Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:2

01/31/2026

Here’s Hope by Jerry Rea
Something Happened

There are times when we brace ourselves for the inevitable crash, and something happens. We have it all figured out that “this cannot end well” ...and it does. Is it a God-thing? Is it a big miss-calculation? It’s usually illogical. It’s usually somewhat of a disappointment. Your expectations were wrong. Your crisis simply ...disappears. This thing that you prayed over and worried about just didn’t materialize.

Have you ever noticed that God is often not... “logical?” He is not bound by our expectations or our fears or worries. Or perhaps, we realize that He saw something else than our catastrophe. Better, God even gave us a miracle of circumstances. At the end of the day God is hard to predict.

God has a will of His own that He sometimes shares but not always. God definitely has a logic all His own. What we think “has to happen” doesn’t necessarily happen. What we think will come to pass, does not. What we have “all figured out” we realize that we did not figure out. He enters into our hopelessness and makes things happen, or turns us away from our expectations. He touches someone’s heart, or changes our trajectory, or He does something... that we never even thought to ask about in prayer; however, something happened.

I would suggest that the “something” was God. You see, often we have God all squirreled away in heaven, when actually He is as close as our breath. What we tried to “figure out” He has already worked out. He is the “something” that makes us scratch our heads.

Let me suggest something else. Let me suggest that we all give God His due and fall on our knees worshiping the one who has it all worked out... already. The one you begged to get involved in your most passionate prayers is already involved. The future you fear He’s got in His hands. The evil that is too big to bear, He is bearing even right now. Further, He is not so far out there that you have to get Him to do something, He’s already done it! Not only that but He is NOT out there, He’s right here.

When something happens, more often than not it is God. In a way He’s invisible, but in another way He is not at all. In a way He’s impossible to understand, but understanding is only our feeble human logic. Our scientific world teaches us to figure things out and control our lives and our futures. God is a “force” that cannot be figured out. First, we don’t figure Him out because He is not a force (like the force of gravity or electricity) but a person, with a will of His own. Second, the twists and turns of our lives are not just something that happens, but they are a part of His wonderful plan for our lives.

Here’s an example: When Jesus came into our world, something happened.

I love you,
Jerry Rea

FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH
3806 S. Wilson Dam Road
Muscle Shoals, AL

WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
9:45 A.M. - Sunday School
11:00 A.M. - Sunday Morning Worship
5:00 P.M. - Sunday Evening Worship
6:00 P.M. - Wednesday Night Bible Study

WEBSITE:
www.strongholdsministry.net