December 3, 2025 • 18 mins
A calling rarely arrives on our schedule. Pastor David Hodges traces a winding path from a teenage conversion to years in the secular workforce to a decade in youth ministry—only then stepping into the role of senior pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Kingsport. Along the way, he learned the slow lessons of service, the weight of shepherding during crisis, and the joy of preaching Scripture with clarity and care.
We talk about inheriting a remarkable legacy: Pastor Cecil Sturgill’s 51 years of faithful leadership that shaped a congregation and sent the gospel far beyond the Tri-Cities. Rather than reinvent the wheel, David honors the foundation by centering the church on expository preaching, prayer, and a warm, family-like culture. From a 30-week journey through Galatians to a new series in Ecclesiastes, he shows how steady, passage-by-passage teaching forms people who love God and love their neighbors.
You’ll also hear how Tabernacle blends tradition and access: children’s and youth ministries that build habits of faith, Sunday services that stream on YouTube and Facebook, archived messages on SermonAudio, and even a phone-based option for homebound members. And yes, there’s a human side too—coffee, donuts, fishing with family—because pastors are neighbors before they step into a pulpit.
If you’re new to the Tri-Cities, looking for a church home, or simply curious about what a gospel-centered congregation looks like today, this conversation offers a clear picture of conviction without hype and community without pretense. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s searching, and leave a review to help others find thoughtful, grounded conversations like this one.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Money.
SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast of the Tribe Cities inWestern North Carolina.
So I'm very excited today tohave a very special guest in the
studio for the first time, andI'm sure you'll be just as
excited as I am to learn allabout him and his ministry.
Because today I have thepleasure of introducing your
good neighbor, Pastor DavidHodges with Tabernacle Baptist
Church of Kingsport.
(00:33):
Pastor Hodges, welcome to theshow.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Thank you so much for uh the opportunity.
And I'm looking forward to thisfor some time and really just uh
opportunity to tell people herein uh this area, Sullivan County
and the Tri-Cities, about ourchurch and the gospel work here.
And uh, we have a lot of mutualacquaintances, you and I, as we
were just talking before we wenton the air, and uh I've been
(00:56):
looking forward to this.
SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Well, same here, Pastor, and uh uh excited to
learn all about you andTabernacle Baptist Church.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about your ministry?
SPEAKER_01 (01:08):
Sure, yes, sir.
So my name is David Hodges, andI serve here as the pastor of
the Tabernacle Baptist Church inuh beautiful Kingsport,
Tennessee.
And uh I've been here for fouryears uh as the pastor, and uh
my wife and I, we have twochildren, Ella and Kate, and uh
my wife Patty and I celebrate 24years of marriage this year, and
(01:30):
uh just grateful for uh theseason the Lord has given us
here.
And I was a um uh youth pastorand assistant prior to accepting
the position here, the call ofthe church to be the pastor, and
uh, we're just excited andlearning the area and uh
learning how to navigate all thegood restaurants, all the good
(01:50):
people here in the tri-cities,and uh we're grateful to be here
and have the privilege tominister here in this community.
SPEAKER_02 (01:57):
Very good.
Well, we're thrilled to have youand uh uh very excited to learn.
How did you, you know, tell usabout your journey?
How did you get started?
Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
I'd love, I'd love to.
I have kind of a long story, anduh for the podcast, I'll
somewhat abbreviate it.
I went to college in the late90s, and I really felt uh right
out of college the Lord wouldgive me an opportunity to
minister.
14 years old, uh I acceptedChrist as my savior.
I realized I was a sinner andasked the Lord in my heart to be
(02:27):
my Lord and Savior of my life.
And shortly thereafter, I I felta call to the ministry.
And uh my wife and I uh we metat college, and I really thought
right out of college I would gosomewhere and minister and serve
in that capacity.
And for one reason or another,the Lord didn't allow that right
off the bat.
And uh I worked in the secularworkforce for about nine years,
(02:50):
and I worked a landscape companyuh and uh commercial
landscaping, and then I workedat Home Depot, and I was 30
years old, and my wife and I hadtwo children, and uh just trying
to ask the Lord, what do youwant us to do?
And uh the Chihuahua BaptistChurch in Chihuahua, Virginia
called us to serve there, and somy wife and I, it was our great
(03:12):
joy uh to serve with both PastorChuck Harrell as well as uh
Pastor Cody Sturgeil.
And uh so we served there for 10years, and uh many folks here in
our community would know PastorCecil Sturgeil.
He was uh the pastor here, andthe Lord called him to heaven.
He pastored here faithfully for51 years, and their uh church
(03:33):
pulpit committee uh reached outto me there at uh Joe Holly
Baptist Church and and said, youknow, they they would can would
I consider being their nextpastor.
Uh an interesting fun fact is uh51 years prior, uh Pastor
Sturgeon was actually theassistant pastor at Joe Holly
Baptist Church in Chihuahua,Virginia.
(03:55):
And uh 51 years later, you know,he he faithfully served here for
51 years.
And uh 51 years later, uh thechurch uh in the Lord's
providence uh called me to bethe next pastor of uh of the
Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Our church has been in existence63 years here in Kingsport, and
(04:16):
I'm actually only the fourthpastor.
And there was a founding pastorand then another pastor, uh
Bobby Grubbs, many folks wouldknow that name.
He went into evangelism, andthen Pastor Sturgeon was here 51
years, and uh kind of a uniqueuh the way the Lord puts all the
pieces together, you know.
And uh, but we're thrilled to behere and excited about the
(04:38):
opportunity.
And I served uh for 10 yearsthere at Choi Baptist Church as
a youth pastor, assistantpastor, children's pastor, and
uh the Lord gave me a heart touh to be a senior pastor and uh
through some circumstances.
Um sometimes God usesdifficulties in our life to give
us direction.
(04:59):
And uh at the season I was in,our pastor, his wife was
battling cancer.
They needed to go to Vanderbilt,and uh for a short season, I I
kind of filled the pulpit anddid the funerals and served
alongside the pastor.
Obviously, he was he was inVanderbilt caring for his wife,
and it was in that season theLord kind of began working on my
(05:20):
heart uh to be a senior pastor.
But um three or four yearslater, I I kind of uh submitted
to that direction the Lord wasleading.
And uh shortly thereafter, uhthe Tabernacle Baptist Church
called me, and and the and theLord and his providence uh put
all the pieces together.
But kind of a unique, a uniquestory.
I knew Pastor Sturgeil'sbrother, uh I knew his uh
(05:43):
sister-in-law and nephews andnieces and so on and so forth,
you know, through the years, anduh to have the privilege to be
here and to follow his ministryall those years he faithfully
served.
Uh, I'm awful honored and andreally humbled at the
opportunity.
SPEAKER_02 (06:00):
Wow, and that's that's pretty big shoes to fill
after 51 years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
For sure, for sure.
He uh he he he was a I I usejokingly used the term, he was a
legend, but he was a very humbleman, and uh no doubt he had a
great gospel impact, had a radiobroadcast here for years and
years and years, and uh built atremendous church here in our
community, uh, emphasized gospelmissions or global mission work
(06:27):
uh literally around the world.
And uh man, I'm so faithful thatuh he he kind of uh laid the
path, so to speak.
And I tell our church often thatwe are all standing uh on the
shoulders of those that wentbefore us, you know, and uh just
following the Lord, trusting theLord and asking him to help us.
(06:48):
But uh what a what a what aprivilege really to follow his
faithful ministry all thoseyears.
And obviously, we all just lookto the Lord for direction and
guidance.
Uh but it is quite a uniqueopportunity, quite a unique.
Usually if people say TabernacleBaptist Church, his name is
associated with it.
You know, Pastor Sturgeil,Tabernacle Baptist Church, or uh
(07:10):
Tabernacle Baptist Church andPastor Sturgeil.
They're they're closelyassociated for 51 years, no
doubt.
Uh he made a great gospel impacthere in the community.
SPEAKER_02 (07:19):
No question.
No question.
Well, tell us uh about any,could you think of any myths or
misconceptions that you hearabout the your church or or
about the church in general?
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
Uh just uh I would kind of remind folks uh that we
all are to be gospel-centered.
And uh, we have such a lovingcongregation.
And uh through the years, youknow, as I arrived, we uh we've
relaunched uh children's classesthere on Sunday, Sunday school
hour, boys and girls and juniorchurch, a youth group on
(07:52):
Wednesday nights at seven uhwith the teens and the
teenagers.
And really, we're just trying toshow the love of Christ to
others here in our community andreally allow the word of God to
impact our life day by day.
And uh that's that's much easiersaid than done.
Truthfully, it's so much easierto said than done.
(08:13):
But that's really my heart is totry to love the Lord and to love
people.
And uh, I think folks would findif they were to visit us here at
Tabernacle Baptist Church, avery warm and loving
congregation uh that really isaccepting, ready to love them,
and point them to Jesus Christ.
And uh it's such a it's a it's afamily type atmosphere, you
(08:35):
know.
You just feel so welcome whenyou come.
I hear that from guests often,and uh I'm so grateful uh that
we have such a loving churchfamily.
SPEAKER_02 (08:44):
Wonderful.
Sounds wonderful, actually.
Yes, sir.
Um, Pastor, you're obviously asas a pastor leading a church, a
congregation.
I know you're busy and you'vegot stuff going on all the time,
24-7, but hopefully you get somedowntime or sabbatical or
something when you do.
What do you like to do for fun?
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
I I uh my wife fusses at me that I don't have
any hobbies.
I'm not good at hobbies.
I like uh spending time with myfamily, and uh I love coffee, a
good cup of coffee.
I'll I'll drive miles and milesuh for a good cup of coffee and
a donut.
I really love a donut is what Ireally love is a is a donut.
Um I love watching football.
(09:25):
Uh I did a little fishing thissummer, and I never got into
hunting or golf.
You know, some preachers golf,some hunt, and so on and so
forth.
Um, I'm not very patient.
You know, I'm kind of on the go,go, go, go, go.
So the idea of golfing orsetting and waiting for the
little deer to come by, I'venever got bitten by the bug.
(09:45):
I may, I may get bitten by thebug.
I love spending time with myfamily.
I love watching football and uhlove being with our church
family and things of thatnature.
SPEAKER_02 (09:54):
Very good.
Now, uh, what kind of fishingwere you doing?
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
I it I usually I took my daughter and my here's
my philosophy of fishing.
I told the congregation, I go tothe dollar store and get a bag
of snacks.
And when the snacks are done,then I'm done fishing.
SPEAKER_02 (10:09):
You're done fishing.
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
So uh we yeah, we uh a little bluegill, a little
largemouth bass, that type ofthing, you know.
And uh I live kind of on theother end of the county out uh
out towards the lake.
And um but uh but I do enjoyfishing uh when I have the
opportunity.
And uh I had a kayak years ago.
And I think everybody has donethis.
(10:34):
You get a hobby, you you get akayak, you get a set of golf
clubs, uh, you you're you'regonna get into this, and then
about a half dozen times intoit, you you you uh put the kayak
in storage, and has it it hasn'tbeen out of storage in uh I
think three years, maybe two,two or three years, something
along those lines, that type ofthing.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
I have one too.
I've got one too.
Well, uh what I was gonnasuggest, uh, if you're not very
patient, uh I don't know if youwant to take your how old's your
daughter?
SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
Uh one is 20 and one is 17.
SPEAKER_02 (11:04):
Oh, okay.
Well, they're good.
I'm a fly fisherman, andespecially living up here in the
mountains.
And uh boy, I'll tell you what,I I grew up fishing, pond
fishing with my dad, and uh, butI you know hate just sitting
there and waiting for something.
But fly fishing, you're busy.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
So I told my family, I said I wouldn't I would like
to give that a go one time.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Absolutely.
You're right in the middle of aton of great trout streams
anyway.
Didn't mean to get off on fishat some point.
We are a fish of men.
So, what's one thing, uh, PastorDavid, if if um you could think
of one thing you'd like ourlisteners to remember about
Tabernacle Baptist Church, whatwould that be?
SPEAKER_01 (11:46):
I I think I would want people to know that we
emphasize Bible preaching.
And uh, you know, a lot ofchurches today have a lot of
different programs, and I'm allfor uh you know Iwana's
Wednesday night class, juniorchurch, Sunday school.
We we have uh many of those umoutlets here in our church, uh,
(12:08):
but but ultimately uh the onlything inspired is the word of
God.
And it would be my desire ifthey were to come Sunday
morning, Sunday night, orWednesday night.
We we have a typical Bible studyon Wednesday night prayer
meeting.
Uh, it would be my desire thatwhen they left, uh they they
knew more about the Lord andthey knew more about the word of
(12:28):
God uh when they left.
Because ultimately that's what'sgoing to give us our guidance
and uh govern our life uh as wemove forward is the scriptures.
That's what he's left us.
And I would want them tounderstand or to realize, you
know, that that's something I wework diligently at emphasizing
the word of God here.
Um I try my best to preachexpositionally.
(12:49):
In other words, we we just workthrough a portion of scripture
or a book of the Bible.
Um, I spent about 30 weekspreaching through Galatians,
Paul's uh letter to the Galatianbelievers, and uh just kind of
what what how do we apply thatto our life today?
What did Paul say to thosebelievers then?
Well, how how is that going tohelp us today by day?
(13:11):
And and then recently, twoSundays ago, I began a series
through um Ecclesiastes there.
Solomon looking back at his lifeand gives us all a warning.
And so we just walk, you know,eight, ten, twelve verses each
service together and just kindof open the text and explain the
text and uh pray that the Lordwould use uh his word to impact
(13:34):
our heart and really our life uhday by day.
SPEAKER_02 (13:39):
Very, very good thing to remember.
Awesome.
So if any of our listeners, ouruh viewers are uh intrigued or
they're uh uh churchless rightnow if that's word.
Sure.
And they're looking for lookingfor a church home, or they would
like to learn more about uh whatwhat you guys are doing there,
(14:02):
uh how can they learn more?
SPEAKER_01 (14:03):
Sure, yes, sir.
We are located here in SullivanCounty.
Uh many people know whereHolston Valley Hospital is.
We're very, very close toHolston Valley Hospital.
We're on Bloomingdale Road at1444 Bloomingdale Road here in
Kingsport, Tennessee.
We have a church YouTube page,and we live broadcast to our
(14:26):
YouTube page our Sunday morningservice.
And uh that YouTube page isTabernacle Kingsport, is the is
the handle, I guess is the rightverbiage.
Uh we have a Facebook page,Tabernacle Baptist Church is our
Facebook page.
Um Tabernacle Baptist underscoreKingsport, Tennessee is our
(14:47):
Instagram page.
And then we have uh we have a Idon't know the right verbiage.
It's called sermon audio, but onsermon audio, the the church has
a channel.
I I guess is the best way todescribe it.
So you put in sermon audio inthe web browser, you put in
Tabernacle Baptist Church,Kingsport, Tennessee, and it it
(15:08):
it's a log of every sermon fromthe pulpit here at our church.
Or you can put my name in,Pastor David Hodges, and it
would have previous services uhin sequential order, you know.
And so we have a lot ofdifferent uh media outlets in
that fashion, if you will.
Uh we live stream our Sundaymorning services on our Facebook
page, Tabernacle Baptist Church.
(15:30):
It's live streamed there as wellas our uh live stream onto our
YouTube channel each Sundaymorning at 11 a.m.
And then uh for folks that wouldbe interested, we have a unique
opportunity.
I have a it's kind of a thirdparty, but uh for older folks
that don't do apps or thewebsite, uh we have a phone
(15:52):
number they call, they put in acode, and they listen to it on
their landline phone uh as ifthey're listening to a radio
broadcast.
And so we have that availablefor some of our homebound and
shut in.
And if they'd be interested, Icould get some more information
to them.
Just something unique uh forsome of our older folks that uh
aren't uh into apps andtechnology, the website, the
(16:17):
Facebook page, so on and soforth.
It's uh it's more or less like alive radio broadcast, and we do
that each Sunday morning so theycan enjoy uh the choir, they can
enjoy uh the service as well andfeel like they're a part of
what's going on here at ourchurch.
SPEAKER_02 (16:29):
Wow.
So many, many different ways toparticipate.
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
Sure, for sure.
Yes, sir.
Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (16:35):
Yes, sir.
Well, Pastor David, I can't tellyou how much I appreciate you
taking time out of your uhschedule there at the church to
be with us and our listeners andviewers and share all the
wonderful things that you'redoing uh uh uh for for your
congregation and for Kingsportwith the Lord and bringing them
closer to him.
And we appreciate that.
(16:55):
Thank you for that.
And uh we uh wish you and uhyour your congregation at
Tabernacle and uh your familyall the best moving forward.
SPEAKER_01 (17:03):
Thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed uh theopportunity.
And if folks are in theKingsport area uh praying or
looking for a new church, ormaybe they're new to the area
and out of church, we would loveto have them worship with us.
And uh I think they would find avery warm and welcome
congregation uh that loves theLord and loves people, and they
(17:25):
would feel very welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (17:27):
Wonderful, wonderful.
Well, thank you again.
We appreciate you being here,and uh maybe we can have you
back sometime.
SPEAKER_01 (17:34):
That'll be great.
I would enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02 (17:36):
All right.
Thanks so much, Pastor Hodges.
You have a blessed rest of theday.
SPEAKER_01 (17:39):
You do the same, likewise.
SPEAKER_00 (17:42):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Tri-Dash Citiesdot com.
That's GNP Tri-Dash Cities dotcom or call four two three seven
one nine five eight seven three.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Money.
SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast of the Tribe Cities inWestern North Carolina.
So I'm very excited today tohave a very special guest in the
studio for the first time, andI'm sure you'll be just as
excited as I am to learn allabout him and his ministry.
Because today I have thepleasure of introducing your
good neighbor, Pastor DavidHodges with Tabernacle Baptist
Church of Kingsport.
(00:33):
Pastor Hodges, welcome to theshow.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Thank you so much for uh the opportunity.
And I'm looking forward to thisfor some time and really just uh
opportunity to tell people herein uh this area, Sullivan County
and the Tri-Cities, about ourchurch and the gospel work here.
And uh, we have a lot of mutualacquaintances, you and I, as we
were just talking before we wenton the air, and uh I've been
(00:56):
looking forward to this.
SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Well, same here, Pastor, and uh uh excited to
learn all about you andTabernacle Baptist Church.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about your ministry?
SPEAKER_01 (01:08):
Sure, yes, sir.
So my name is David Hodges, andI serve here as the pastor of
the Tabernacle Baptist Church inuh beautiful Kingsport,
Tennessee.
And uh I've been here for fouryears uh as the pastor, and uh
my wife and I, we have twochildren, Ella and Kate, and uh
my wife Patty and I celebrate 24years of marriage this year, and
(01:30):
uh just grateful for uh theseason the Lord has given us
here.
And I was a um uh youth pastorand assistant prior to accepting
the position here, the call ofthe church to be the pastor, and
uh, we're just excited andlearning the area and uh
learning how to navigate all thegood restaurants, all the good
(01:50):
people here in the tri-cities,and uh we're grateful to be here
and have the privilege tominister here in this community.
SPEAKER_02 (01:57):
Very good.
Well, we're thrilled to have youand uh uh very excited to learn.
How did you, you know, tell usabout your journey?
How did you get started?
Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
I'd love, I'd love to.
I have kind of a long story, anduh for the podcast, I'll
somewhat abbreviate it.
I went to college in the late90s, and I really felt uh right
out of college the Lord wouldgive me an opportunity to
minister.
14 years old, uh I acceptedChrist as my savior.
I realized I was a sinner andasked the Lord in my heart to be
(02:27):
my Lord and Savior of my life.
And shortly thereafter, I I felta call to the ministry.
And uh my wife and I uh we metat college, and I really thought
right out of college I would gosomewhere and minister and serve
in that capacity.
And for one reason or another,the Lord didn't allow that right
off the bat.
And uh I worked in the secularworkforce for about nine years,
(02:50):
and I worked a landscape companyuh and uh commercial
landscaping, and then I workedat Home Depot, and I was 30
years old, and my wife and I hadtwo children, and uh just trying
to ask the Lord, what do youwant us to do?
And uh the Chihuahua BaptistChurch in Chihuahua, Virginia
called us to serve there, and somy wife and I, it was our great
(03:12):
joy uh to serve with both PastorChuck Harrell as well as uh
Pastor Cody Sturgeil.
And uh so we served there for 10years, and uh many folks here in
our community would know PastorCecil Sturgeil.
He was uh the pastor here, andthe Lord called him to heaven.
He pastored here faithfully for51 years, and their uh church
(03:33):
pulpit committee uh reached outto me there at uh Joe Holly
Baptist Church and and said, youknow, they they would can would
I consider being their nextpastor.
Uh an interesting fun fact is uh51 years prior, uh Pastor
Sturgeon was actually theassistant pastor at Joe Holly
Baptist Church in Chihuahua,Virginia.
(03:55):
And uh 51 years later, you know,he he faithfully served here for
51 years.
And uh 51 years later, uh thechurch uh in the Lord's
providence uh called me to bethe next pastor of uh of the
Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Our church has been in existence63 years here in Kingsport, and
(04:16):
I'm actually only the fourthpastor.
And there was a founding pastorand then another pastor, uh
Bobby Grubbs, many folks wouldknow that name.
He went into evangelism, andthen Pastor Sturgeon was here 51
years, and uh kind of a uniqueuh the way the Lord puts all the
pieces together, you know.
And uh, but we're thrilled to behere and excited about the
(04:38):
opportunity.
And I served uh for 10 yearsthere at Choi Baptist Church as
a youth pastor, assistantpastor, children's pastor, and
uh the Lord gave me a heart touh to be a senior pastor and uh
through some circumstances.
Um sometimes God usesdifficulties in our life to give
us direction.
(04:59):
And uh at the season I was in,our pastor, his wife was
battling cancer.
They needed to go to Vanderbilt,and uh for a short season, I I
kind of filled the pulpit anddid the funerals and served
alongside the pastor.
Obviously, he was he was inVanderbilt caring for his wife,
and it was in that season theLord kind of began working on my
(05:20):
heart uh to be a senior pastor.
But um three or four yearslater, I I kind of uh submitted
to that direction the Lord wasleading.
And uh shortly thereafter, uhthe Tabernacle Baptist Church
called me, and and the and theLord and his providence uh put
all the pieces together.
But kind of a unique, a uniquestory.
I knew Pastor Sturgeil'sbrother, uh I knew his uh
(05:43):
sister-in-law and nephews andnieces and so on and so forth,
you know, through the years, anduh to have the privilege to be
here and to follow his ministryall those years he faithfully
served.
Uh, I'm awful honored and andreally humbled at the
opportunity.
SPEAKER_02 (06:00):
Wow, and that's that's pretty big shoes to fill
after 51 years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
For sure, for sure.
He uh he he he was a I I usejokingly used the term, he was a
legend, but he was a very humbleman, and uh no doubt he had a
great gospel impact, had a radiobroadcast here for years and
years and years, and uh built atremendous church here in our
community, uh, emphasized gospelmissions or global mission work
(06:27):
uh literally around the world.
And uh man, I'm so faithful thatuh he he kind of uh laid the
path, so to speak.
And I tell our church often thatwe are all standing uh on the
shoulders of those that wentbefore us, you know, and uh just
following the Lord, trusting theLord and asking him to help us.
(06:48):
But uh what a what a what aprivilege really to follow his
faithful ministry all thoseyears.
And obviously, we all just lookto the Lord for direction and
guidance.
Uh but it is quite a uniqueopportunity, quite a unique.
Usually if people say TabernacleBaptist Church, his name is
associated with it.
You know, Pastor Sturgeil,Tabernacle Baptist Church, or uh
(07:10):
Tabernacle Baptist Church andPastor Sturgeil.
They're they're closelyassociated for 51 years, no
doubt.
Uh he made a great gospel impacthere in the community.
SPEAKER_02 (07:19):
No question.
No question.
Well, tell us uh about any,could you think of any myths or
misconceptions that you hearabout the your church or or
about the church in general?
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
Uh just uh I would kind of remind folks uh that we
all are to be gospel-centered.
And uh, we have such a lovingcongregation.
And uh through the years, youknow, as I arrived, we uh we've
relaunched uh children's classesthere on Sunday, Sunday school
hour, boys and girls and juniorchurch, a youth group on
(07:52):
Wednesday nights at seven uhwith the teens and the
teenagers.
And really, we're just trying toshow the love of Christ to
others here in our community andreally allow the word of God to
impact our life day by day.
And uh that's that's much easiersaid than done.
Truthfully, it's so much easierto said than done.
(08:13):
But that's really my heart is totry to love the Lord and to love
people.
And uh, I think folks would findif they were to visit us here at
Tabernacle Baptist Church, avery warm and loving
congregation uh that really isaccepting, ready to love them,
and point them to Jesus Christ.
And uh it's such a it's a it's afamily type atmosphere, you
(08:35):
know.
You just feel so welcome whenyou come.
I hear that from guests often,and uh I'm so grateful uh that
we have such a loving churchfamily.
SPEAKER_02 (08:44):
Wonderful.
Sounds wonderful, actually.
Yes, sir.
Um, Pastor, you're obviously asas a pastor leading a church, a
congregation.
I know you're busy and you'vegot stuff going on all the time,
24-7, but hopefully you get somedowntime or sabbatical or
something when you do.
What do you like to do for fun?
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
I I uh my wife fusses at me that I don't have
any hobbies.
I'm not good at hobbies.
I like uh spending time with myfamily, and uh I love coffee, a
good cup of coffee.
I'll I'll drive miles and milesuh for a good cup of coffee and
a donut.
I really love a donut is what Ireally love is a is a donut.
Um I love watching football.
(09:25):
Uh I did a little fishing thissummer, and I never got into
hunting or golf.
You know, some preachers golf,some hunt, and so on and so
forth.
Um, I'm not very patient.
You know, I'm kind of on the go,go, go, go, go.
So the idea of golfing orsetting and waiting for the
little deer to come by, I'venever got bitten by the bug.
(09:45):
I may, I may get bitten by thebug.
I love spending time with myfamily.
I love watching football and uhlove being with our church
family and things of thatnature.
SPEAKER_02 (09:54):
Very good.
Now, uh, what kind of fishingwere you doing?
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
I it I usually I took my daughter and my here's
my philosophy of fishing.
I told the congregation, I go tothe dollar store and get a bag
of snacks.
And when the snacks are done,then I'm done fishing.
SPEAKER_02 (10:09):
You're done fishing.
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
So uh we yeah, we uh a little bluegill, a little
largemouth bass, that type ofthing, you know.
And uh I live kind of on theother end of the county out uh
out towards the lake.
And um but uh but I do enjoyfishing uh when I have the
opportunity.
And uh I had a kayak years ago.
And I think everybody has donethis.
(10:34):
You get a hobby, you you get akayak, you get a set of golf
clubs, uh, you you're you'regonna get into this, and then
about a half dozen times intoit, you you you uh put the kayak
in storage, and has it it hasn'tbeen out of storage in uh I
think three years, maybe two,two or three years, something
along those lines, that type ofthing.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
I have one too.
I've got one too.
Well, uh what I was gonnasuggest, uh, if you're not very
patient, uh I don't know if youwant to take your how old's your
daughter?
SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
Uh one is 20 and one is 17.
SPEAKER_02 (11:04):
Oh, okay.
Well, they're good.
I'm a fly fisherman, andespecially living up here in the
mountains.
And uh boy, I'll tell you what,I I grew up fishing, pond
fishing with my dad, and uh, butI you know hate just sitting
there and waiting for something.
But fly fishing, you're busy.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
So I told my family, I said I wouldn't I would like
to give that a go one time.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Absolutely.
You're right in the middle of aton of great trout streams
anyway.
Didn't mean to get off on fishat some point.
We are a fish of men.
So, what's one thing, uh, PastorDavid, if if um you could think
of one thing you'd like ourlisteners to remember about
Tabernacle Baptist Church, whatwould that be?
SPEAKER_01 (11:46):
I I think I would want people to know that we
emphasize Bible preaching.
And uh, you know, a lot ofchurches today have a lot of
different programs, and I'm allfor uh you know Iwana's
Wednesday night class, juniorchurch, Sunday school.
We we have uh many of those umoutlets here in our church, uh,
(12:08):
but but ultimately uh the onlything inspired is the word of
God.
And it would be my desire ifthey were to come Sunday
morning, Sunday night, orWednesday night.
We we have a typical Bible studyon Wednesday night prayer
meeting.
Uh, it would be my desire thatwhen they left, uh they they
knew more about the Lord andthey knew more about the word of
(12:28):
God uh when they left.
Because ultimately that's what'sgoing to give us our guidance
and uh govern our life uh as wemove forward is the scriptures.
That's what he's left us.
And I would want them tounderstand or to realize, you
know, that that's something I wework diligently at emphasizing
the word of God here.
Um I try my best to preachexpositionally.
(12:49):
In other words, we we just workthrough a portion of scripture
or a book of the Bible.
Um, I spent about 30 weekspreaching through Galatians,
Paul's uh letter to the Galatianbelievers, and uh just kind of
what what how do we apply thatto our life today?
What did Paul say to thosebelievers then?
Well, how how is that going tohelp us today by day?
(13:11):
And and then recently, twoSundays ago, I began a series
through um Ecclesiastes there.
Solomon looking back at his lifeand gives us all a warning.
And so we just walk, you know,eight, ten, twelve verses each
service together and just kindof open the text and explain the
text and uh pray that the Lordwould use uh his word to impact
(13:34):
our heart and really our life uhday by day.
SPEAKER_02 (13:39):
Very, very good thing to remember.
Awesome.
So if any of our listeners, ouruh viewers are uh intrigued or
they're uh uh churchless rightnow if that's word.
Sure.
And they're looking for lookingfor a church home, or they would
like to learn more about uh whatwhat you guys are doing there,
(14:02):
uh how can they learn more?
SPEAKER_01 (14:03):
Sure, yes, sir.
We are located here in SullivanCounty.
Uh many people know whereHolston Valley Hospital is.
We're very, very close toHolston Valley Hospital.
We're on Bloomingdale Road at1444 Bloomingdale Road here in
Kingsport, Tennessee.
We have a church YouTube page,and we live broadcast to our
(14:26):
YouTube page our Sunday morningservice.
And uh that YouTube page isTabernacle Kingsport, is the is
the handle, I guess is the rightverbiage.
Uh we have a Facebook page,Tabernacle Baptist Church is our
Facebook page.
Um Tabernacle Baptist underscoreKingsport, Tennessee is our
(14:47):
Instagram page.
And then we have uh we have a Idon't know the right verbiage.
It's called sermon audio, but onsermon audio, the the church has
a channel.
I I guess is the best way todescribe it.
So you put in sermon audio inthe web browser, you put in
Tabernacle Baptist Church,Kingsport, Tennessee, and it it
(15:08):
it's a log of every sermon fromthe pulpit here at our church.
Or you can put my name in,Pastor David Hodges, and it
would have previous services uhin sequential order, you know.
And so we have a lot ofdifferent uh media outlets in
that fashion, if you will.
Uh we live stream our Sundaymorning services on our Facebook
page, Tabernacle Baptist Church.
(15:30):
It's live streamed there as wellas our uh live stream onto our
YouTube channel each Sundaymorning at 11 a.m.
And then uh for folks that wouldbe interested, we have a unique
opportunity.
I have a it's kind of a thirdparty, but uh for older folks
that don't do apps or thewebsite, uh we have a phone
(15:52):
number they call, they put in acode, and they listen to it on
their landline phone uh as ifthey're listening to a radio
broadcast.
And so we have that availablefor some of our homebound and
shut in.
And if they'd be interested, Icould get some more information
to them.
Just something unique uh forsome of our older folks that uh
aren't uh into apps andtechnology, the website, the
(16:17):
Facebook page, so on and soforth.
It's uh it's more or less like alive radio broadcast, and we do
that each Sunday morning so theycan enjoy uh the choir, they can
enjoy uh the service as well andfeel like they're a part of
what's going on here at ourchurch.
SPEAKER_02 (16:29):
Wow.
So many, many different ways toparticipate.
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
Sure, for sure.
Yes, sir.
Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (16:35):
Yes, sir.
Well, Pastor David, I can't tellyou how much I appreciate you
taking time out of your uhschedule there at the church to
be with us and our listeners andviewers and share all the
wonderful things that you'redoing uh uh uh for for your
congregation and for Kingsportwith the Lord and bringing them
closer to him.
And we appreciate that.
(16:55):
Thank you for that.
And uh we uh wish you and uhyour your congregation at
Tabernacle and uh your familyall the best moving forward.
SPEAKER_01 (17:03):
Thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed uh theopportunity.
And if folks are in theKingsport area uh praying or
looking for a new church, ormaybe they're new to the area
and out of church, we would loveto have them worship with us.
And uh I think they would find avery warm and welcome
congregation uh that loves theLord and loves people, and they
(17:25):
would feel very welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (17:27):
Wonderful, wonderful.
Well, thank you again.
We appreciate you being here,and uh maybe we can have you
back sometime.
SPEAKER_01 (17:34):
That'll be great.
I would enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02 (17:36):
All right.
Thanks so much, Pastor Hodges.
You have a blessed rest of theday.
SPEAKER_01 (17:39):
You do the same, likewise.
SPEAKER_00 (17:42):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Tri-Dash Citiesdot com.
That's GNP Tri-Dash Cities dotcom or call four two three seven
one nine five eight seven three.
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