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Sermons of Dr. Ron Sumners

Below are 175 sermons written and preached by Dr. Ron Sumners between 1993 and 2011, while pastor of Meadow Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The sermons are presented in reverse chronological order. For each of the sermons, the reference scripture is linked to the Bible Gateway's New International Version of the Bible.
A collection of 175 of Dr. Sumners' sermons is housed at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. Click here to view a description of this collection.
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Jun 26, 20117 min read
#11 Colossians - Casting Off and Putting On!
Colossians 3:9-13
Jun 19, 20117 min read
What Jairus' Daughter Saw in Her Father
Dr. Ron Sumners June 19, 2011 Mark 5:21-24; 35-43 One of the names used to describe our God is Jehovah Shammah - The God Who Is...
Jun 5, 20118 min read
#10 Colossians - Breaking Free from the Past
Dr. Ron Sumners June 5, 2011 Colossians 3:1-11 In an old "Candid Camera" episode, an actor is on a busy sidewalk and begins looking at...
Nov 7, 20108 min read
Renewed
Dr. Ron Sumners November 7, 2010 Psalm 103:1-5 There was a program that was very popular and effective a few years ago in churches...
Aug 22, 20108 min read
#12 Philippians - Obtaining the Prize
Dr. Ron Sumners August 22, 2010 Philippians 3:10-14 A few years ago, at a race track in Florida, a funny thing happened. The dogs were...
Aug 1, 20109 min read
#11 Philippians - Updating Our Resume
Dr. Ron Sumners August 1, 2010 Philippians 3:1-9 I have a confession to make. I have been working on my resumé this week. Now, before you...
Jul 25, 20109 min read
#10 Philippians - God's Definition of Success
Dr. Ron Sumners July 25, 2010 Philippians 2:19-30 What would you like to be on your tombstone? I know that was a line from a commercial a...
Jul 18, 20108 min read
#9 Philippians - Whine or Shine
Dr. Ron Sumners July 18, 2010 Philippians 2:14-18 A man entered a Monastery to become a monk. In addition to the vows of chastity,...
Jul 11, 20108 min read
#8 Philippians - Working Out What God Has Worked In
Dr. Ron Sumners July 11, 2010 Philippians 2:12-13 I grew up in Vincent, Alabama. It is a small hamlet about 25 miles southeast of here,...
Jun 20, 20108 min read
Principles for Fathers
Psalm 128
May 30, 20109 min read
#5 Philippians - Living as Worthy Citizens
Dr. Ron Sumners May 30, 2010 Philippians 1:27-30 Several years ago, there was a hit movie “City Slickers.” It introduced us to three...
May 23, 20108 min read
A Message for Graduates
Dr. Ron Sumners May 23, 2010 Proverbs 22:9 Today we are honoring high school and college graduates. I would like to ask them to stand....
May 16, 201010 min read
#4 Philippians - Facing Suffering with Grace
Dr. Ron Sumners May 16, 2010 Philippians 1:12-26 There are times when life just doesn’t go the way we think it should. We put forth our...
May 9, 20106 min read
Will the Real Mom Please Stand Up?
Dr. Ron Sumners May 9, 2010 1 Kings 3:16-28 This is a classic story of Solomon’s wisdom and I must admit to you that I have never heard...
Apr 25, 20108 min read
#3 Philippians - Facing Life's Questions with Love
Dr. Ron Sumners April 25, 2010 Philippians 1:9-11 We all live with stress. Between working and shopping and youth sports and church and...
Apr 18, 20108 min read
#2 Philippians - Participation and Preservation
Dr. Ron Sumners April 18, 2010 Philippians 1:3-8 A spirit of confusion often hovers over believers when asked to explain what our role is...
Apr 11, 20109 min read
#1 Philippians - Servants, Saints and Salutations
Dr. Ron Sumners April 11, 2010 Philippians 1: 1-2 Fred Johnson, a businessman from Wisconsin, went on a business trip to Louisiana. Upon...
Mar 28, 20109 min read
Will Our Lives Count for Much?
Dr. Ron Sumners March 28, 2010 May 23, 2004 Luke 6:20-38 In the end, how long you lived is not going to be nearly as important as how...
Mar 21, 20106 min read
Mar 14, 20106 min read
Finding Your Spiritual Gifts
Dr. Ron Sumners March 14, 2010 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 [Play classical music piece] You have just heard an orchestra composed of many...
Mar 7, 20108 min read
Spiritual Gifts: Service After Surrender
Dr. Ron Sumners March 7, 2010 Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:20-26 After World War II ended, a group of German students volunteered to...
Feb 28, 20105 min read
But Not Very Much
Dr. Ron Sumners February 28, 2010 Luke 18:1-8 A little boy was looking forward with great anticipation to the annual birthday gift from...
Feb 7, 20107 min read
A Matter of the Cost
Dr. Ron Sumners February 7, 2010 1 Chronicles 21:22-27 This year, 2010, is a National Census year. From that census all sorts of valuable...
Jan 31, 20107 min read
#4 When You Hurt - "You Can't Depend on Others for Happiness"
Dr. Ron Sumners January 31, 2010 Matthew 6:25-34 A young minister and his wife came to me for counseling years ago. After four troubled...
Jan 24, 20108 min read
#3 When You Hurt - Where is God When I Suffer?
Dr. Ron Sumners January 24, 2010 Psalm 42:8 We all have had those nights. The problem that just will not go away keeps us sleepless. What...
Jan 17, 20109 min read
#2 When You Hurt - "You Can't Carry Your Own Cross"
Dr. Ron Sumners January 17, 2010 Matthew 16:24: John 19:17; Matthew 27:32; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Jesus said to His disciples, “… if any...
Jan 10, 20109 min read
#1 When You Hurt - Help for Hurting People
Dr. Ron Sumners January 10, 2010 1 Peter 4:12-13 In one way or another, we are all hurting. Everyone is in the same boat. Even the...
Dec 27, 20099 min read
#13 Joseph Series - A Lesson in Forgiveness
December 27, 2009 Dr. Ron Sumners Genesis 45:7-15 One of the amazing lessons in Joseph’s amazing story is the genuine forgiveness that...
Dec 20, 20099 min read
#12 Joseph Series - One Moment in Time
Dr. Ron Sumners December 20, 2009 Genesis 45: 1-5 There are those moments in life when it seems that suddenly the clock stops and the...
Dec 6, 20099 min read
#11 Joseph series - Joseph's Testing of His Brothers
Dr. Ron Sumners December 6, 2009 Genesis 42:18-24 The pressure in this story is building and the pace is quickening tremendously. In all...
Nov 29, 20099 min read
#10 Joseph Series - Three Crucial Conversations
Dr. Ron Sumners November 29, 2009 Genesis 42:1-7 Psalm 33:10-11 says, “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes...
Nov 15, 200910 min read
#9 Joseph Series - Pharoah's Dream and Joseph's Plan
Dr. Ron Sumners November 15, 2009 Genesis 41:1-8 It's amazing what can happen in the small space between two chapters in the Bible. The...
Nov 8, 200910 min read
#8 Joseph Series - Lessons from the Dungeon
Dr. Ron Sumners November 8, 2009 Genesis 40:1-8 Two of Joseph’s fellow prisoners were servants of Pharaoh and were in jail because they...
Nov 1, 20098 min read
#7 Joseph Series - A game Plan for Suffering
Dr. Ron Sumners November 1, 2009 Genesis 40:1-8 As we reflect upon the story so far, we might be tempted to think that Joseph was almost...
Oct 25, 20099 min read
#6 Joseph Series - Back in the Hole Again
Dr. Ron Sumners October 25, 2009 Genesis 39:19-23 Potiphar's wife's attempts at seduction had failed. Joseph had lost his cloak but not...
Oct 11, 200910 min read
#5 Joseph Series - Response to Temptation
Dr. Ron Sumners October 11, 2009 Genesis 39:7-18 The account of Joseph and the lustful advances of Potiphar’s wife sound as though it was...
Sep 27, 200911 min read
#4 Joseph Series - A Decision to Make
Dr. Ron Sumners September 27, 2009 Genesis 39:1-6 What a radical change has taken place in Joseph's life! He, who was the object of the...
Sep 20, 200912 min read
#3 Joseph Series - Sold, Sad, and Safe
Dr. Ron Sumners September 20, 2009 Genesis 37:29-36 There is probably no greater single illustration of God’s providence at work in a...
Sep 13, 200911 min read
#2 Joseph Series - Big Dreams and a Long Trip
Dr. Ron Sumners September 13, 2009 Genesis 37 By the time Joseph reached the age of seventeen, he had seen more of the ugly side of...
Sep 6, 200910 min read
#1 Joseph Series - Family Ties
Dr. Ron Sumners September 6, 2009 Genesis 37 We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been...
Aug 30, 20099 min read
"At the Name of Jesus"
Dr. Ron Sumners August 30, 2009 Philippians 2:6-11 More than 2000 years ago there was a man born contrary to the laws of nature. This man...
Aug 23, 20096 min read
Church is Sharing
Dr. Ron Sumners August 23, 2009 Ephesians 5:1-2 Few people expected World War I to become a reality. Economic and political tension had...
Aug 16, 20098 min read
Death By Inches
Dr. Ron Sumners August 16, 2009 Hebrews 12:15; John 10:10 Death by inches is the slow, gradual accumulation of the heat and pressure of...
Aug 9, 20099 min read
Reframing the Cultural Rhetoric
Dr. Ron Sumners August 9, 2009 Matthew 10:16-25 Words matter! Jesus knew this and therefore was always careful to speak wisely. If we...
Aug 2, 20098 min read
Reframing the Issue
Dr. Ron Sumners August 2, 2009 Matthew 22:15-22 Brad Bright, whose father, Bill Bright, was the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ,...
Jul 12, 20098 min read
#4 Psalm 51 - Restoring Joy
Dr. Ron Sumners July 12, 2009 Psalm 51:12 There was a terrible earthquake in Kobe, Japan some years ago. It was the worst natural...
Jul 5, 20098 min read
#3 Psalm 51 - Washed Clean
Dr. Ron Sumners July 5, 2009 Psalm 51:7 In Psalm 51, we find David pleading with God for His forgiveness after his sin episode with...
Jun 28, 20099 min read
#2 Psalm 51 - Transgressions, Iniquities and Sins
Dr. Ron Sumners June 28, 2009 Psalm 51:1-5 Hindsight is always 20/20, or as Pat Dye would say, “Hindsight is 50/50.” We look back at our...
Jun 21, 20098 min read
Choosy Fathers Choose Jesus
Dr. Ron Sumners June 21, 2009 Joshua 24:14-18 The usual pattern from most pulpits is to exalt and praise mothers on Mother’s Day, and...
Jun 14, 20099 min read
#1 Psalm 51 - And Then Came Conviction
Dr. Ron Sumners June 14, 2009 2 Samuel 11:1-12 In October 1989, most Americans were thinking about northern California. The World Series...
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