I was introduced to Bill Yates and his preaching back in the mid-80’s when my pastor, Dr. J. L. Wilson, invited Bill to preach during a revival at Ardmore Baptist Church. I was immediately taken by his style and discovered that his messages spoke deeply to me. After Bill left the pastorate and began working at Baptist Hospital he joined Ardmore and, on numerous occasions, filled the pulpit. At that time my wife was on staff at another church but I always managed to attend Ardmore when I heard Bill was preaching.

Without any hesitation I can say that Bill’s sermons ‘stick with me’ better than any other pastor I have known. I became keenly aware of this a few years back during a trip to the South Carolina coast. As we passed through the small town of Green Sea — actually I don’t recall seeing a town, just a sign! — I remembered that Bill had pastored a congregation there during his seminary days. This wasn’t something Bill told me personally, but it was something he shared in sermon back in June of 1996. The sermon was entitled That Group has a Name, and in it Bill described what it’s like to be a part of the group called ‘the family of God.’ All that came flooding back into my consciousness in the (very) short time it took to pass through Green Sea, however I continued to ruminate on it for the duration of the drive. That’s how it is with Bill’s sermons… there’s lots to ruminate on. Because of this I have collected several of Bill’s sermons on tapes and CDs over the years, and enjoy going back and listening to them over and over again.

Bill contacted me and said others had asked if he had more sermons that they could listen to.  He had sermons but they were on cassettes and he asked for my help converting them into CDs.  After we began this process I discovered that Bill intended to distribute the sermons by copying and mailing CDs.  When I heard him say that I encouraged him to set-up a web site instead as a way to expand his preaching ministry.    The response from others to this idea encouraged us to proceed.  It is our prayer that these sermons will speak to you has they have spoken to so many others.

By the way, the sermon I mentioned earlier, That Group has a Name, is one that has been preserved and is posted on the site. I encourage you to listen to it!

With anticipation of great things to come,
Ken Warise

When my dear friend and brother in Christ Ken Warise told me he thought I should set up a website of all the sermons he had “burned” to CDs plus any others I had on cassette tapes I didn’t do a double take. It was more like a quadruple take. I said,”Ken, are you serious? I mean really. Are you aware of how many preachers today have their sermons every Sunday on their church’s website? And you think I should have 35 of my sermons on the web?”

But over the next several months when we would meet for lunch or just to spend time together periodically in his own low key but persistent way Ken finally convinced me he was definitely serious. I told him I needed some time to think and pray about it. Over a period of what turned into three years of prayer, self debate and running the idea by a few close, honest friends I got an internal “sense of rightness” and told Ken “Let’s go with it”.

However, there was one condition:  This had to be a “we ministry” of Ken and Bill and not just a “Bill ministry.” Ken agreed to this without hesitation.

In closing, I echo Ken’s words that our prayer is that God will speak to your heart through these messages.   Perhaps if they do then you will  share our website address, https://www.sermonsbybillyates.com, with a friend.

With profound gratitude,

Bill Yates