SBC17 Preachers' Conference | Bart Barber
30m
Bart Barber has served FBC Farmersville since 1999. He is married to Tracy (Brady) Barber. Together they have two children, Jim and Sarah. Bart is a native of Lake City, Arkansas, where his parents had him in church before he was born. God saved him at the tender age of almost-six, called him to preach when he was eleven, allowed him to preach his first sermon (such as it was) when he was fifteen, and permitted him to serve as a pastor of a church when he was a senior in high school.
Bart has a B.A. from Baylor University in their University Scholars program, an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a Ph.D. in Church History, also from Southwestern. For his dissertaiton he wrote about a denominational split among Arkansas Baptists in 1902, suggesting that they all should've gotten along with one another.
Tracy serves with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. In fact, she's the state coordinator for Texas Baptist Men in the area of caring for children during the aftermath of disasters. The Barbers homeschool their children, whom God placed in the family via adoption.
Jim is very involved in Texas 4H Shooting Sports. Sarah is an award-winning seamstress.
Bart writes occasionally for the SBC Voices blog, and even less frequently for his own blog, PraisegodBarebones, which is named after a 17th-century religious and political figure in London. He is active in denominational life, serving Southwestern, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and the national Southern Baptist Convention.
Bart's goal in preaching is to preach text-driven sermons. In other words, he sees it as his goal in preaching for you to walk away from the sermon understanding better what the Bible teaches and knowing what God wants you to do with your life. Often he preaches through books of the Bible from start to finish, sometimes pausing in the middle to address other needs.
Bart has done a lot of things recreationally in his life. He has a private pilot's license, which he doesn't really use anymore. He's a bit of a tech-geek (computer programming and such). He plays the guitar, the banjo, and the mandolin (at least, well enough for his own enjoyment). But to tell you the truth, his favorite hobby is simply learning something new.