We made it to the last year of 2012. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness!

There were only two Sundays this year that I did not preach.  There were definite points where I needed to take a break and didn’t. But I thank God for his sustaining and strengthening grace.

I love the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church!

We have only service today, at 9 AM. It was a blessed service of worship.

Glad to have all of our guests in worship today, including Pastor Meadows of North Carolina.

I preached from Psalm 42. I entitled the message, “Overcoming Spiritual Depression.”

Sermon Point: Hope in God is the only true remedy for spiritual depression.

I divided the text along on the basis of the repeated refrain (42:5, 11):

I.     What to do when depression comes (42:1-5)

II.     What to do when depression will not leave (42:6-11)

In each of the main points, I sub divided the text in terms of the causes (vv. 1-4, 6-19) and cure (vv. 5, 11) of spiritual depression.

In a rare occurrence, I did not finish the message. I preached through point one and just stated the second point, before concluding.

I have been meditating on this psalm for months. I have been studying it for several weeks. Psalm 42 has gotten me through the past several weeks. Praise God for his word!

I highly recommend the book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Psalm 42 is the first psalm in Book II of the Psalter.

Psalm 42 is the first psalm attributed to an author other than David. It was written by the Sons of Korah (Psss. 42-49).

Psalms 42 and 43 are linked together. Scholars believe that the two psalms were originally one literary unit.

Praise God for those who were added to the church today!

I am pretty sure I will be sleep before the Cowboys-Redskins game goes final. But you already know what my prediction is: Cowboys win!

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans today, 20-38.

I am glad that the Jets will free Tebow (While there at it, they need to free Sanchez, as well). I fully expect that Tebow will be a part of the Jags next season. Will he start? That’s another question.

Andy Reid will most likely be let go as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Early reports are that he would be a leading candidate to coach the Jags, if the current coach is let go. Should be interesting.

Congratulations to Adrian Peterson! 9 yards short of the single-season rushing record. And the Vikings made the playoffs. (But I still want P. Manning to win the MVP.)

I want to congratulate my friends, Adron Robinson and Charlie Dates, on the big win today of their team, the Chicago Bears. What? Huh? The Bears still didn’t make the playoffs? I guess your Bears will be watching the playoffs from the same place as my Jaguars.

The New York Giants will not repeat as NFL champions. They will not even make it to the playoffs.

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

We had a blessed day of worship and fellowship at the Shiloh Church yesterday.

My Bible Study Fellowship group met for the last time this year. We continued out study of 1 Timothy 2:8-15. I focused on verses 13-14: “The Theological Basis of Gender Roles”

I am learning a lot from this study of 1 Timothy.

We had a Parent-Child Dedication during our 10:15 service.

I led both services. It felt like I was on my feet all day. By the time, 10:15 rolled around, I was wiped out. But the Lord gave me strength, as always. Praise God!

I preached on Matthew 1:22-23. I called it, “Immanuel: God With Us.”

I raised three implications of this glorious birth name of Jesus:

1.  Immanuel is about the Identity of Jesus
2. Immanuel is about the Disposition of God
3. Immanuel is about the Hope of Humanity

Praise God for those who were added to the church.

I am praying for the members of Shiloh that are traveling over the holidays. The Lord be with you.

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the New Orleans Saints in overtime, 31-24.

In spite of the loss, the Cowboys are not out of the playoff hunt yet. If the Cowboys win their showdown with the Redskins next weekend, we are in.

Thanks to the New York Giants for helping out our playoff chances by getting whipped by the Baltimore Ravens!

The Jacksonville Jaguars gave the Patriots a fight, but fell 16-23.

In other Jags news, ESPN reports that it is a almost a done deal that Tim Tebow will join the Jaguars in 2013. What do you think about that?

Has anyone noticed that my hometown NBA – the Los Angeles Clippers- are on a 13-game win streak?

Since we are talking the NBA, key your eyes on my Miami Heat. Coach Spoelstra has prohibited the team from talking about “repeating.” But I’ll say it, the Heat will repeat!

As far as I am concerned, the NBA preseason starts on Christmas Day. And the season doesn’t begin until after the Super Bowl!

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

Notes from Sunday is my weekly recap of my Sunday in worship and how my favorite teams and athletes did over the weekend.

Twenty-two years ago today – December 16, 1990 – I was installed as the third pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Los Angeles. It seems like yesterday. I am too young to have pastored for 22 years!

I continued my study of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 in my Bible Study Fellowship group today. We discussed the question, “May Women Teach or Lead Men in Church?” I really enjoy teaching this group.

Our BSF groups ended today for the year. However, my group will meet to finish our study of this section.

Glad to have our guests in worship today.

Praise God for the two persons who were baptized today!

Most weeks, I can’t wait to get to the pulpit. But there are some weeks I have to drag myself to the pulpit. Today was one of those days.

Please, pray for me.

I studied Psalm 42 all week. I completed a sermon skeleton, but did not feel I was ready to preach it. I think I needed Psalm 42 myself this week.

I hope to get to preach Psalm 42 soon. I want to call it, “Overcoming Spiritual Depression.”

I preached from Psalm 23:4b – “I Will Fear No Evil.”

I endeavored to make a simple point today: God can handle your fears.

The message presented three implications of this statement of confidence of God:

1. I will not fear bad circumstances.
2. I will not fear Satan.
3. I will not fear death.

I preached this sermon with a concern for the tragedy that took place in Newtown, Connecticut, this past Friday. I wanted to challenge and encourage my people to trust God with their fears.

Praise God for those who were added to the church today!

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost in a blowout to the Miami Dolphins, 3-24. But the Jags uniforms really do look nice!

UPDATE: The Dallas Cowboys won a dogfight against the Pittsburg Steelers in overtime, 27-24.

The Cowboys are now in a 3-way tie for the NFC East lead with the Giants and the Redskins. Go Cowboys!

The Cowboys honored the late Jerry Brown with a moment of silence before the game. Interestingly, Josh Brent, the driver in the alcohol-related, one-car accident that killed Brown, was on the Cowboy’s sidelines for the game.

I predict Alabama will blowout Notre Dame in the BCS Championship Game on January 7, 2013. What do you think?

Saturday night, Nonita Donaire knocked-out Jorge Arce in the third round to retain his title. Arce promptly retired after the match… in the ring!

Saturday’s fight was the last HBO Boxing telecast for longtime analysis, Larry Merchant. He has called fights as long as I have watched them. It will be weird to what fights without his colorful commentary. I nominate Max Kellerman to replace Merchant. Can I get a second?

In other boxing news, Amir Khan stopped his two-fight losing streaking Saturday night by stopping Carlos Molina in the 10^th-round.

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section.