Pastor Jay //

  Yes, it is, but it is all human error. From Adam to the Apostle Peter we find a true account of the mistakes (read sin and deception) recorded in the Bible. Remember Jacob? Talk about a life full of mistakes (see Genesis 25-33). Jacob’s deception to his father ripped his family apart leaving a murderous hatred unresolved for many years with his brother, Esau. He never saw his parents alive again. After running away from home, he fled north to his uncle, Laban. Jacob endured the deceptions of his uncle that kept him in a virtual slavery there for many years. Or, take a look at the life of Moses and you will discover a man who fled Egypt as a murderer (Exodus 2) and yet returned as a messenger of God (Exodus 3). King David, Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul - everywhere you look you find mistakes. As you can see, I am not talking about textual error. I am referring to human error otherwise known as sin.

  Enter Jesus. One person that stands out like a candle in the darkness is this one Man who defies human nature by resisting every temptation that the world has to offer ( He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 ). Evidently, the Bible is full of mankind’s mistakes for a reason - to show us clearly that we are sinful and that Jesus is different. It is easy to relate to the sinfulness of the people in the Bible. We are just like them. It also reminds us that God wants to use imperfect people to do His perfect work. Jacob, Moses, David, Peter and Paul had character flaws that should have disqualified them, but when God called them, he qualified them also. Finally, the flawed people of the Bible are starkly contrasted with the perfection of Christ to remind us of our need for Him. Without Christ, there is no hope for us. Our flaws, mistakes, sins keep us from knowing God and following Him. Jesus reverses the effect of sin by taking sin’s punishment for us.

  If you ask around, you will find that most people believe that people are basically good. Oh, sure, most people agree that we aren’t perfect, but they also believe that God shouldn’t expect us to be perfect. Actually, He can expect perfection and in fact he does expect it. Because of His love for us, He went to great lengths to perfect us. The only way we could be made perfect (John 17:23) and also be able to choose a relationship with Him was that Jesus would have to die in our place (1 Peter 3:18).

 This article is response about God’s grace to the previous article Good for the Goose

 

When I need to be reminded of our primary task… I just pull out this little reminder. Last year, during one of the LabQuest nights in Awana, I couldn’t find paper fast enought to write down the names of the children who came forward to accept Christ. This board (pictured above with Steve holding it) was one of the props we used during the evening, so I grabbed it and wrote down the names. There are twenty-one (21) names on this board. Several of them have now been baptized. On the other side of this board are holes where nails had been hammered in that evening. The nails represented our sin and the holes represent the scars that sin leaves in our lives. The nails were removed and placed on the Cross reminding us that Jesus takes our sin which he bore in his body on the tree (”He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” 1 Peter 2:24).

As you may know, since that time, our church has had to look evil in the face and stand our ground. We are obviously dangerous to the enemy. Fortunately, although we have different opinions about how to deal with it, we all desire the same thing. We can get to the other side of this together. Let’s make sure we continue to stand together and remember “why we do what we do.” It is a matter of life and death - eternally.

 

This has been an amazing year for leading people to Christ. I just received a report of the statistics for our church this last year. I am thrilled to report to you that we had 45 baptisms since July of last year! In fact, 33 of these baptisms occured as a direct result of our Awana program. There were twenty-six children baptized between the ages of 6-11, and nine between the ages of 12-17. The remaining ten people included four in the 30-59 age category and three in the 60 and up category. God is good. Last year I asked the church to accept a challenge to see 50 people baptized in a year. God is helping us make that a reality. There is still much more work to be done. We have a whole new year ahead.

Please consider being a part of our FAITH evangelism strategy. We will begin sessions on Sunday afternoons starting September 10. We will train you how to talk to people that are ready to receive God’s free gift of salvation.

Security Levels -  Over the last few years, our nation has been inundated with questions about security. We attempted to establish a security color system to rate the daily level of security, but no one really watches that scale anymore. We hear about possible threats, foiled threats, and hypothetical threats. We immediately wonder if missing laptop computers or lost vials of deadly diseases will be deadly. We are living in a time of uncertainty. How can we find comfort in times like this? Where can we find security? Is there any hope?
Protect and Prepare - At First Baptist, we believe there is hope. I have often wondered what my children will have to face. It is obvious that it will not be enough to just protect our children, we must also prepare them. Some generations have opted to shelter their children, but sheltering does not prepare them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be an increase in the need for professional counselors through 2014. We are now experiencing a society where there are not enough counselors to deal with all of the people who are hurting. God has given us specific instructions about how to prepare our children. The answer is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Prepared to Face the World - First, we are to prepare our children by having a personal commitment to God’s Word: “these words … shall be in your heart.” Second, pass on God’s word to your children “when you sit…walk…lie down…and when you rise up.” But, it’s the next part that I think we are unsure about. God teaches us to prepare our children for the world before they ever leave the home. The last phrase says, “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This means: Prepare your children for the day they leave home for the last time. Put God’s Word on the doorposts so that they learn to apply God’s Word to their lives. Place it on the gates so that when they pass outside of the last vestige of protection you can provide to them, they have what it takes to face the world.
Provide a Safe Place - Our church is committed to continually find new and better ways to make our church as safe as possible. We are actively pursuing appropriate measures as we face a brave new world. In the meantime, please consider in your own heart how you can be part of the ongoing protection of our children at church. Our best protection is to have plenty of volunteers – plenty of eyes – in every area of work with minors. Please consider taking greater responsibility in volunteering or supporting others who do volunteer with our children. We are proud to be a church that actively reaches the children of our community. Let’s continue that commitment. There is hope. We can provide a safe place in our homes and church and prepare our children to face a bright future.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”—Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I wanted to share this devotional from Oswald Chambers (reading #315 Devotional Bible)

You cannot intercede if you do not believe in the reality of the Redemption; you will turn intercession into futile sympathy with human beings which will only increase their submissive content to being out of touch with God. In intercession you bring the person or the circumstance that impinges on you before God until you are moved by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means filling up “what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ,” and that is why there are so few intercessors. Intercession is put on the line of — “Put yourself in his place.” Never! Try to put yourself in God’s place…

While intercession often seeks a change in the circumstance or person that is the subject, it always calls for a change in the one doing the interceding. Jesus, teach us to pray.

 

Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code, has done what many authors have dreamed of doing: creating a story that captures the attention of millions. The problem is that his fictional story is centered on questions about the truth of Jesus Christ. This best-selling novel presents Jesus as a common person married to Mary Magdalene and father of a child. Brown retells the life of Jesus in a way that attempts to deconstruct all of church history and Christian doctrine. Biblical scholars are contending that although Brown claims that his book is completely based upon true history and honest research, there is only about 4% fact and 96% fiction.
So, why should we take the time to deal with these issues, you ask? Because it provides a great opportunity to find out why we believe what we believe and what evidence there is to substantiate our beliefs. In the month of May, we will examine the following topics that have been raised by the fictional book and upcoming movie:

The purpose of discussing these topics is not to draw more attention to the book. However, the attention is already there, and the church must address the charges that have been laid against it. Unfortunately, because many do not know church history, we are ill-equipped to answer the questions of our friends regarding these issues. Now is the time to prepare ourselves to have a good answer to the questions that will arise. There is no “Big Secret.” Jesus has been revealed for all of humanity to examine. Christians need not be afraid of “The Truth.”
 

 

Do you ever feel like the day slips by before you get much done? Maybe we can learn something helpful from the Jewish calendar about how to make the most of a day. In the Jewish calendar, a day does not begin at midnight. It begins at either sunset or when three medium-sized stars should be visible. Two of the main problem areas for people who have trouble with their schedules are discipline and planning. Often for harried people, it is helpful to realize that the day is over and a new start will begin the next morning. It might be that the Jewish concept of a day would help. If we could have as a mindset that the next day begins at sunset, it might help us to end the current day and be better prepared for the day to come. Planning experts recommend that individuals write out a plan or schedule for each day. If that planning could begin on the previous evening, it might encourage us to do other important activities like getting a good night’s rest or choosing what you will wear. It may even help us sleep better because we are less worried about the next day’s events.

This same plan could also help in making Sunday’s a better day for worship. Often, we think of Saturday night as a time to stay up late. If we do not begin preparing for worship on the evening before, it will probably cause us to not appreciate the day that we give for worship. Jesus had some things to say about the Sabbath. He challenged the conventional wisdom of that time by breaking some of the religious laws that the leaders had created. These laws were not God’s laws, but man-made. When they questioned Jesus, he made two statements. One statement was that the Sabbath was made for humankind and not the other way around (Mark 2:27). His other response was that He was the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). What he is telling us is that the Sabbath was made for our benefit and that, ultimately, He has the final say on what the rules are. The word Sabbath [sabbat] is closely connected to the Hebrew word that means “to stop, cease, or keep” [sabat]. God gave us the example of resting when He rested on the seventh day after six days of creation.

Eph 5:15-16 “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk–not as unwise people but as wise– making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”