Seeds for Sermons, Talks, and Addresses offers wise and biblically sound guidance to people seasoned or new to the Christian ministry who seek inspiration for their service and witness. Mary L. Hampton Battle, a Bible teacher and devoted Christian, brings years of study and teaching to this collection of talks on living faithfully, serving humbly, and witnessing powerfully.

Seeds for Sermons, Talks, and Addresses will examine biblical texts, promote understanding of their basic meanings, sort through the interpretations of complicated passages, and show how the readings provide insights into God’s plans for each Christian and for the whole world.

When you reflect upon your ministry and find yourself wondering where in the Bible to turn for wisdom, how to apply that wisdom to daily living, and what plan you should follow to teach the truths of the Christian faith to others, then Seeds for Sermons, Talks, and Addresses can help you. Whether you are new to your service or seasoned and looking for renewal, this collection can sow its seeds in your life, so that you may enjoy a rich harvest in the faith.

A sower went out to sow his seed [. . .] the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:5a, 11b). Seeds for Sermons, Talks & Addresses is a collection of talks and addresses given by and compiled by Mary Lee Hampton Battle.  As President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the New Zion District Association of the Illinois Baptist State Convention, Incorporated,   Mary gave an annual accounting of the affairs of the district and accountability of her services rendered.  She then proceeded to discuss the annual theme and theme scripture that had been selected for that year.  Mary was president from 1974-1997, twenty-three years.

In addition to her President’s Annual Address, she was often invited by churches to speak at various occasions, especially Women’s Days, throughout the community.  Mary carefully stored the handwritten papers in a large loose leaf, three ringed notebook in chronological order of the dates.  Almost seven years after Mary’s home going in September 2003, the notebook was discovered neatly shelved among her other books and Bibles; my sister had never disturbed her special storage closet.

Because the papers were written “by the aid of the Holy Spirit” as she so often states and because she often said that if the speech did not line-up with the Bible, it was no good, I decided to prepare them for publication.  In typing and editing the papers, I updated the scripture references by replacing “ye“, “thee”, “thy”, and “thou”  with  “you” or “your” and sometimes eliminating them if the meaning was not destroyed or changed as well as updating words like “whither”, “nigh,” etc.  Because Mary was so knowledgeable about the Scriptures through her personal studies and preparations as a Bible study teacher and a student at Brooks Bible Institute, it was sometimes difficult to determine if she was making direct quotes or just paraphrasing since she used the Word in her daily conversation and was an outstanding Bible teacher.  These were her personal papers so she did not have to name all of her resources though she named some.  The bibliography is a listing of books that could be resources that were found in her closet.  She also often cut out articles from newspapers to share with others.  The Word of God was a part of her; she was saturated with the Word of God.

 Since Mary used so many scriptures to back up the information in the papers and so many colorful metaphors, there were plenty of ideas or “seeds” for sermons for new or seasoned ministers and any others who need ideas for speaking occasions. Why she kept them all, I do not know, but the local Christian Book Store owner, Grace, said that it was to share with the world because there are so many people entering the ministry, and they need resources.  With the exception of Perspective II, which I wrote when I was Youth President, one Women’s Day paper, and a Women’s Conference Outline which I included, these are Mary L. Hampton Battle’s “seeds”.  Hopefully, these seeds will fall on good ground and spring up and bear fruit “an hundredfold” (Luke 8:8a).

Mary L. Hampton Battle began her short-lived public school teaching career in Greenville,MS, but cultivated her gift for teaching at Calvary Missionary Baptistgave spiritual and biblical talks to women’s groups.

About the Editor:

Edna Yvonne James, the third child of Mary L. Hampton Battle, was a public school teacher also. She earned a BS in secondary education and an MA in English from Southern Illinois University and spent thirty-six years teaching junior and senior high school English. She, like her mother, is also a gifted Bible teacher.