Father of all that is good and Holy, Lord today we thank you for this incredible thing we call life. You give and give, and we keep asking for more. Please teach us to be more like you Father, and grow us to give like you, forgive like you, love more like you. In your Heavenly name, Amen!
I have to admit that when I read today’s Message Reading from Paul’s letter to Thessalonica, I began to think about our life and work in Christ as a sort of journeyman’s task. But then I started to think about what does the word “journeyman” really mean.
Today I am excited to get the honor of speaking with you on God’s gift of freedom for anyone who wants it. Yes, today I would like to share with you my thoughts on the development of our freedoms in the Lord. It seems that freedom in our God comes to us from the Old Testament, and develops further on into the New Testament. Our freedoms along with our individual relationships in the Lord, appear to me to go hand in hand.
Father of Heaven and all beyond. Lord today we humbly thank you for of your blessing and gifts of grace! Father we humbly ask your forgiveness of our missing the mark in our faithwalk with you, and pray that you grow us in your ways of faith. Amen!
It’s the first Sunday of Advent! Light a candle for hope.
Special activities coming up:
Saturday December 18, 11 am: Women’s Gathering at church. Connie hosting, and lunch served. Bring a wrapped “white elephant” gift to exchange.
Sunday December 19, Church Christmas Dinner after the service. (Please sign up so that we can plan enough food and special tables.)
Friday December 24, 6 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at church. Friends and family invited as usual!
Meanwhile we’re continuing with Sunday School and worship service on Sunday Mornings, Food Pantry and “Soup Sisters” hot meals on Tuesday evenings, and Bible Study on Wednesday evenings.
Father in Heaven, Lord today we humbly thank you for our very being and ask for your forgiveness when we have missed the mark in following your examples of the good life. Father, as we begin to journey down the path of Advent this season, we ask that you would help in our quest to grow in you. In your Son’s Heavenly Precious name, Amen!
https://youtu.be/OlMKfoLBsQc
Advent Begins: A Sunday of Hope
Today, I am excited to talk with you about the beginning of a most Holy season for us in the Christian Church. Advent, which is the time that leads us to the big Event; the celebration of the Birth of Christ. Christmas; the Mass or reverent observance of our Christ, our Savoir, our Lord. But what does all of this mean? Are we talking Christmas Trees, sparkle, gifts, and glitter?
Welcome to church! Regular activities continue at First Baptist, as we move into the Fall.
Tuesday nights 5:30-7: Food Pantry open. Now that it’s too cold outside to grill hot dogs, we are moving on to “Soup Sisters” — a hot meal to go available with the food bags.
Wednesday nights at 6: Bible Study, studying the book of Jeremiah. Dave Riggs is filling in while Pastor is on vacation.
Sunday mornings at 9:45: Adult Sunday school, studying the book of Matthew. Donna is filling in as teacher.
Sunday mornings at 11: worship service, followed by fellowship time snacks.
And mark your calendars for these special events coming up:
This Saturday 10/30 9-12: Church workday and cleanup. Lunch will be served!
November 24, 4 pm: Thanksgiving Pie social!
December 19: Christmas Dinner after the service (please sign up so we have enough food and decorated tables for this special event.
Suzanne Wall gave the message today, from the book of Job.
Message for 10/24/2021: Asking Why
The Bible passage for today comes from the book of Job, in the Old Testament.
Job tells the story of a man who experienced tragedy, and asked why. The book is mainly speeches, with Job lamenting and asking questions, and his friends trying to explain things. And then God joins the conversation, not giving answers but asking even more questions that help Job put things in perspective.
Father in Heaven, today we humbly thank you for our very being, and ask you to forgive us when we have forgotten to be grateful unto you. Lord, we ask you today to equip us for the challenges ahead, and to sustain us in our growth in you. In your Heavenly name, Amen!
As I watched the multitude of people chase and try to hang from the Air Force Cargo Jet, hoping beyond hope to remove themselves anywhere away from the location of their fear infested lives, my stomach pounded in my throat. The news cast portrayed what seemed be thousands on the tarmac whose panic you could feel a half a world away in my safe American home, and continued all week long!
I thought about our veterans who had left parts of themselves there and a thousand other places like it, on behalf of our safety, and the pain they must be experiencing increased my angst manifold. I wanted to punch something. Bash in and destroy something, do something, be something. Be somebody more than just an observer. I also wanted to blame someone or something.
That’s how I began to compose this week’s message Monday night. I was so proud of myself for coming up with some words to express my feelings, and then I looked at it again Tuesday morning and was disappointed in the whole effort. You deserve better than a “War Correspondent’s dispatch” on A Sunday morning, which to me is what I was trying to convey seems to comes across as.
More importantly, God deserves so much more when we come to His House to; praise, glorify, and magnify His Holy and precious name. A Sunday morning must be about God and His family, and how we live together, work together, worship together, and not focused on just one person’s observations of the world, or anger in general. When I begin a message based on my feelings and thoughts instead of concerning myself with your challenges, and God’s availability to you, His love, and care for our lives, well, that’s when a reset is probably in order.
So let me try this again from a more reflective Christian perspective, that is more about empathy for others instead of being imbedded with anger and emotion.
