What Happened at First

In this episode of What Happened at First Baptist, Pastor Heath Lambert and Pastor Spencer Harmon unpack what makes an excellent sermon. Drawing on his article and experience, Pastor Heath outlines five key marks of effective preaching. He pushes back against the notion that “faithful” preaching alone is enough, arguing that communication and connection are also acts of faithfulness. This episode dives deep into sermon prep, structure, and delivery. Thanks for joining us for Season 2 of What Happened at First!

In this episode, Spencer Harmon and Heath Lambert discuss the “landmines” ministry leaders face: personal weaknesses, confusing preferences with principles, and the proper use of authority. They explore how pastors can recognize vocational and spiritual weaknesses, discern between incompetence and lack of gifting, and embrace humility. They also emphasize the danger of elevating personal preferences above biblical principles in church life and the importance of stewarding authority with faith in God’s sovereignty. The conversation encourages self-awareness, reliance on Christ, and humility as the foundation for fruitful ministry.

In this episode of the What Happened at First Baptist podcast, our pastors dive into one of the hardest realities of ministry—broken relationships, bitterness, and gossip. They discuss the surprising presence of enemies in ministry, how leaders can guard their hearts against bitterness, and the role of prayer, forgiveness, and the hope of reconciliation in Christ. They also give practical wisdom on cultivating a culture of reconciliation in the church, addressing gossip in healthy ways, and setting a standard of love and accountability for ministry teams.

In this episode, Pastor Spencer talks with Pastor Heath on how almost every problem in ministry leadership traces back to communication, and why bridging the unavoidable “leadership gap” requires humility, prayer, feedback, and honesty. Whether you’re leading a large staff or a small team of volunteers, the call is the same: foster a culture of open communication, correction given in love, and leadership grounded in both relational and structural authority. Hard conversations will never be easy, but when leaders act with compassion, clarity, and courage, they strengthen their teams for the glory of Christ.

Welcome back to the What Happened at First Baptist podcast. In this episode, we reflect on God’s kindness in carrying us through difficult years and how He’s now using our story to help pastors, leaders, and churches all over the world. The focus of this new season is on ministry teams because none of us were meant to do this work alone. Pastor Heath and Spencer share candidly about the dangers of competition, the temptation to love our ministry more than we love people, and the essential truth that real excellence comes not from steamrolling others but from loving them well. With Scripture as our guide, we talk about correction, gentleness, patience, and the balance of truth and love that builds healthy, Christ-honoring teams.

Join Pastor Heath Lambert on September 15 for candid conversations on one of ministry's toughest roles: leading teams. From balancing loving others well while striving for excellence, having hard yet loving conversations, and receiving correction from spiritual leaders are just some of the real dilemmas we'll tackle together. Don't miss it!

Thank you so much for listening to the What Happened at First Baptist Podcast! We hope this has been a blessing to you and please enjoy this bonus episode of Pastor Heath and his wife Lauren.

This episode will include: - How much of what happened at First do you attribute to spiritual warfare? How important is it to recognize Satanic opposition in ministry? - We hear a lot of people talking about theological triage and which doctrines are most important for Christian leaders to address in their ministries. This episode gets me wondering about ministry triage. How can we know which ministry issues need to be addressed right away and which ones can wait? - How has the sexuality statement “aged” at our church? In the community? - The historic way that First Baptist engaged with our city was through door-to-door evangelism. How does First Baptist engage with the city and share the gospel today? - You took a stand about sexuality because you say in the podcast that it is the greatest sin in American culture. From where you are sitting – what are the biggest issues facing American Christianity that pastors must be prepared to engage with? - One pastor wrote in who is leading a church of a comparable size to ours that is healthy and thriving asked: “What is the biggest threat to large churches going into the future?” - God works everything together for good. What are some of the good things that he has done at First Baptist through all the struggles we have gone through? - What are you most excited about when you think about the future of First Baptist?

This episode will feature: - First Corinthians 16:13-14 says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” - In order to lead well in a God-honoring way, one must wisely strike a balance between solid convictions and compassionate care. - Dr. Lambert will talk about how to be “tender and tough” as he shares the wisdom gained from taking a stand for truth in FBC’s Statement on Biblical Sexuality. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

This episode will feature: - By the fall of 2022, by and large, First Baptist was on the other side of the hardships of change with a renewed sense of joy in the church. - However, cultural developments, especially in the city of Jacksonville, called for the church to take a stand for the truth through FBC’s Statement on Biblical Sexuality. - How was this statement received both inside and outside the church? And how did First Baptist respond to the attention received? - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

This episode will include: - During the hard days, there were a lot of personal attacks on you, some of the most heartbreaking parts of the podcast; however, are when you talk about the impact on your family. One listener wrote in and asked how you and your wife separated the roles of being a pastor and pastor’s wife from the roles of being dad and mom. Can you talk about how you did that? - Part of the time of transition at First Baptist involved downsizing our staff. You talk about this in episode 5 and reference it again in episode 6. One listener wrote in response to this information and asked about the nuts and bolts of hiring and firing in a church context. Particularly, they asked about the use of NDA's. They wanted to know if it's biblical for Christian churches and organizations to use NDAs and if that’s part of our hiring and firing process at First Baptist. - One listener wrote in response to all the sinful behavior that occurred toward you and our church during the time of transition. They asked about the role of church discipline at this time. Were any members pursued or disciplined by the church for their divisive behavior? - In episode 6, you encourage people to not have a consumer mentality with church but then say it is okay for some people to leave when the preferences that brought them to the church in the first place have been radically altered but the core might still be faithful. These two things seem contradictory, could you help me think through more of the details of what you are trying to say? - You said in the leadership podcast this week about mistakes you made that you should have left because of the weight it was on your family. There are many pastors who are constantly evaluating this in their lives. Can you give some principles on evaluating when this is too much on their family? - There are people listening to this podcast, who have unrestored relationships but who deeply desire restoration. I know that is part of your story. What encouragement would you give people in a similar position to you?

This episode will feature: - In leadership, it is inevitable that your plans will change, and failures will happen around you that are outside of your control. This was true for FBC as COVID hit in the spring of 2020. - As the external failures increase, your leadership weaknesses will show, and you are going to come up short as a leader. - Dr. Lambert shares twelve mistakes that he made as a leader and the many lessons he learned the hard way through those tumultuous years. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

This episode will feature: - In the spring of 2020, the complex changes at First Baptist were made even more difficult as the global impact of COVID affected all the plans for revitalization. - Yet while the situation got increasingly tumultuous, Dr. Lambert chose to stay and shares several reasons why you should try to stay at a church going through change, as well as some legitimate reasons why it might be time to leave, and bits of advice on how to leave well. - First Baptist Church members will testify to the great things that the Lord has done and the blessing they now see on the other side of the trials of change. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com. We would love to hear from you!

Here are the questions asked in this episode: - How can the narrative be taken control of by a small group of people to spread lies like this? - One listener wrote in and asked about another rumor they heard about our church. The rumor is that one of the reasons that people were leaving First Baptist was because it started teaching reformed theology. Is that true? How would you respond to that statement? - If Dr. Brunson wasn’t forced out, why did he leave? What happened? - You mentioned in this episode that you received a legal letter, and then you sought legal counsel from a law firm in town. One listener wrote in and asked why you did that in light of Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 6 forbidding believers to take each other to court. - How do you discern which lies you must respond to as a leader in the church in this day and age? - It's obvious there are people who are listening to the podcast each week who disagree with you, and so you have an opportunity to talk to them. You have their ear. What do you want to say to them? - The other group of people are those who – again – are having their relationships get complicated over this episode. They are seeing things on social media, and they are getting stressed by this. They want to know why we are doing this again. What should they do? How do they navigate this?

- In the trial of Jesus, many people brought numerous false accusations which ultimately led to his crucifixion. - During the midst of change and transition, there will be those who will seek to destroy ministry leaders through deception and get others to join in the proverbial crucifixion. - Dr. Lambert will explain three reasons why people lie when it comes to ministry change, as well as provide some guidelines for ministry leaders and ministry members on how to handle falsehood, especially in our digital age. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

This episode will feature: - People lied about Jesus during his ministry, and people will lie about the leaders of his church, especially in the midst of change and transition. - Dr. Lambert will share some of the many lies that were swirling around the church as he and other leaders sought to make the necessary changes at First Baptist. - While most of the dishonesty was intentionally unaddressed, there was one lie that was so big with far-reaching ramifications that it required a response. What was that lie, and what was the response? - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

- One of the main themes of this episode is about people leaving our church. - There are people listening to this podcast who are in churches going through painful change. They are thinking about leaving. Are there good reasons to leave? What are some bad reasons to leave? Talk to those folks. - There are people who *started* attending our church in the season of pain. They show up, realize that there are hard things going on, and are trying to decide if they should stay. Did that ever happen at First Baptist? How did you handle that? Would you encourage people to go to a church in a painful transition? - There are pastors listening to this podcast who have had close friends leave the church. What would you say to them after a close friend or even staff member has left over a disagreement? What encouragement would you give them? - Some of our church members have relationships with folks who *really* don’t like our church and, honestly, you and the change you led. It makes their relationships complicated. Sometimes it’s family members, friends, co-workers, etc. What advice would you give them as this podcast releases and they try to navigate relationships that are important to them? - A few episodes ago you told us that you made a commitment not to blame anyone for the trouble of a church. But the reality is that whenever you are the new guy who is changing things – you are changing something that someone else created and oversaw. How do you change things that your predecessors oversaw while still honoring them? - Some pastors get really messed up from this type of pain – how do you keep trusting people and loving people after experiencing this sort of tumult? - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com. We would love to hear from you!

This episode will feature: - Change comes with loss and pain, and there are no guarantees that your plans will work. - There is a need to focus on the long game in a way that looks through the details of logistics to see the recovery of the vision and priorities of the church for a new day. - Dr. Lambert will discuss the mission of First Baptist, which is to Reach all Jacksonville with all of Jesus for all of life, along with the seven core values and the five faithful activities of all Christians. Focus 2020 series on the mission and core values of FBC: http://whathappenedatfirstbaptist.com. - Practices and programs will come and go, but faithfulness to biblical truth and a commitment to pointing people to Jesus must never change. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!

This episode will feature: - Change is necessary, but it is going to hurt. - First Baptist Jacksonville needed to make some drastic changes or the church was going to die. Yet those changes were made in hopes that on the other side of the pain would be a renewed season of ministry faithfulness and further advancement of the gospel. - Dr. Lambert will share four different kinds of pain that he and others in the church experienced through the loss of relationships and the fears that came with the uncertainty of the future. September 8 Recap Video http://whathappenedatfirstbaptist.com. - If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to WhatHappened@fbcjax.com, we would love to hear from you!