Glorifying God

This Sunday morning at FBC will be much different than most as we will be hosting our annual Sunday School Promotion and Rally Sunday.  The schedule of events is listed below. 

Because of this change from our normal worship service I would like us to give some thought to our mission here at FBC which is “To Glorify God by Making Disciples.”  We get this from 1 Corinthians 10:31,

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

To truly understand this statement by Paul to the church in Corinth we need to study the context of the passage.  Paul is imploring the Corinthians to not do anything that may be offensive to someone else.  At face value we may think that the purpose of this is to keep harmony and relationship with others.  But in truth the statement is not to promote our relationship with others but to promote our and other’s relationship with God.  Certainly we who are disciples of Christ should make all attempts to keep our relationships with others in tack.  But Paul’s desire here is to make sure that disciples of Christ use their relationships with others to guide others into a saving knowledge of God.  In short, whatever we do, eating, drinking, speaking, etc. is to assist us in the promotion of God’s glory so that others might experience the saving grace of God. 

Our hope at FBC is that everything we do, whether teaching, preaching, fellowshipping, encouraging, living, breathing, Promotion Sunday, Rally Day, etc., is to encourage others into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  So, how are we doing?  If you are a disciple of Christ, how are you doing at having everything you do be for God’s glory and encouraging others into His saving grace?

May we as His church in this place live out this directive from God. 

For His Glory,

Pastor Mark

 

Rally Day Events

9:30am                 Children’s Sunday School Promotion
10:15am               Coffee Fellowship in the Faith Center
10:30am               Puppet Ministry
3:00pm                 Softball Games @ Emery Ball Field (for all ages)
5:30pm                 Potluck Picnic @Emery Multi-purpose Room

Preaching Jesus

We here at First Baptist Church have a purpose.  We are to glorify God by making disciples in all that we do as His church.  Of course, the main way of fulfilling this purpose is by preaching the Word of God, the Gospel Message, through words and deeds to those around us.  But what does it mean to preach the Word of God?  What does it look like to speak with our mouths the truths of the Gospel and to live out those truths with our daily actions?

This week we will be studying Acts 13:13-52 where Paul preaches a sermon in a synagogue which focuses completely on the Gospel Message.  In fact, his sermon is the Gospel Message.  And the people hearing this message were missing the mark of the Gospel which is revealed throughout the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament.

Are we missing the mark in understanding the true message of the Gospel?  Or is my understanding like that of the Jews to whom Paul is preaching?  Is my life as a disciple of Christ and the ministry done at First Baptist Church focused on the Gospel Message?

May we prayerfully be prepared to allow the Scriptures to mold us and teach us this week.  May the Gospel Message become real, alive, and sweet to our souls through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing God at Work

This week at FBC we will be studying Acts 13:4-12 and discovering the work of God through newly appointed missionaries Paul and Barnabas on the island of Cyprus.  As these two men follow the call of the Holy Spirit, preaching the gospel message, they encounter a road block.  More specifically, they encounter a man, an enemy of God, who does all he can to subvert the message Paul and Barnabas are teaching.  But God will not be swayed.  He has set a path for Paul and Barnabas that is straight and no enemy of God can make this same path crooked. 

Do those of us who claim to be disciples of Christ see the work of our master in, through, and around us?  Or do we go through life one day at a time as the world does, with no sense of our sovereign master guiding us?  How do we react when we encounter roadblocks set up by the enemies of God?  Do we crumble under the pressure or do we stand firm and continue down the straight path the Lord has laid before us?

May the Holy Spirit prepare us for what God has in store for us this week.  And may we be prepared for the Word of God to mold, form, teach, and convict us.

A Mother's Day Gift in Video

Check out this video of "Yo' Mama" Compliments.  Couldn't help but laugh.

 

Catching the Vision for Missions

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and we will focus on something a bit different this year compared to other Mother’s Day messages we may have experienced in the past.  This week we will continue in Acts 13:1-12, studying God’s work through the early church in the realm of missions.  We have already seen the church preach the Word of God to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the utter ends of the earth and be blessed by God.  But now the church in Antioch takes this latter phase of missions to a whole new level.  They are called by the Holy Spirit to send out missionaries from their own number. 

We will explore not only how we live out this call to missions, but also what it means to have a missional mindset in our own homes.  What is the mother’s Biblical call to disciple her children?  How can the mother be a “missionary” in her own home?  Have we thought of missionary work as something someone else does overseas or out of town, or do we view our own homes as mission fields?

This week, may we prayerfully prepare ourselves for what the Holy Spirit will teach us through His Word about discipleship, missions, and God’s call for us in our own homes.

Church Growth - New Testament Style

Since its creation and establishment by Christ, the church has faced persecution of all kinds.  Even Christ himself stated to his disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33) and that this world will hate them because they are his disciples (John 15:18).  Persecution has not been a stranger to the church.  And yet, the church has continued to grow in the face of overwhelming odds.  This is church growth, New Testament style.

This week we will be studying Acts 12:20-25 where a gruesome story of pride on the part of Herod results in his painful death.  Herod was an enemy of the church, attempting to destroy the Christians by killing off its leadership.  But this is nothing new to the early church.

In the words of Jerome, a church father from the second century,

“The church of Christ has been founded by shedding its own blood, not that of others; by enduring outrage, not by inflicting it.  Persecutions have made it grow; martyrdoms have crowned it.”

In the midst of this persecution God’s sovereign hand is working.  The gospel message continues to be spread, the church continues to multiply, and the enemies of God are thwarted once again.  The church cannot be defeated because God does not leave his people.  God is always there, always working, always active. 

What does this mean for us as the church of God today?  What does this passage teach us about our reaction to the persecution the church experiences today and in the future?  May we prayerfully be prepared for God’s word to speak to us this week.