A Word for March 30

Perhaps with Spring Break and the many activities of Easter you have forgotten about the Max Lucado 3:16 study Dave Thomas is teaching on Sunday evenings.  I want to remind you of this study and hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to go deeper in God’s Word.  Worship begins at 6:00 in the Fellowship Hall with some singing and then Dave will begin teaching shortly thereafter.  Several of you have purchased the book but I want to remind you it is not required reading.  I hope you will come and be a part of this worship time and teaching opportunity.

What I've Learned!

.

1 + 1 = 2

See Dick run.

See Spot play.

Moses carried the Ten Commandments.

In baseball you have to keep your eye on the ball.

Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead, so I could be forgiven of my sins.

As you read the things I have learned in my lifetime, some of you may think I am really smart. Some of you may be thinking that is probably all that I know. No matter what you think, they are things that are very important to me in life. In kindergarten Mrs. Hewitt taught me that 1 + 1 = 2. Mrs. Melton helped teach me how to read about Dick, Jane and Spot. My father taught me how to hit a baseball by keeping my eye on the ball. Mrs. Wheeless taught me about Moses and the Ten Commandments, and Harold Cook shared with me that Jesus died and was raised from the dead so I could be forgiven of my sins.

When was the last time you stopped and thought about all the people who have taught you the many things you know today? Teachers are very important people in life. They help mold us into who we are and they help us gain knowledge to get through life. Some teachers teach us to read. Some teach us how to write. Some teach us to add and subtract. Some teach us God's word and help us develop our relationship with Christ.

Each year as we begin a new school year, we take time to recognize the employees of our school district and to let them know we will be praying for them. Now it is time to recognize our Sunday School and Wednesday night teachers for all they do for us as a church family. We are setting aside Sunday morning, April 27^th, as FBC Teacher Appreciation Day at First Baptist. During both services we will recognize our teachers and following the 11:00 service we will have a lunch for the teachers and their families. Let me encourage you to take a moment and pray for your teacher, speak a word of encouragement to them, or write them a note of appreciation. I know they will be grateful for these acts of kindness. Thank you, teachers, for all you do!

On another note this coming Sunday evening we will be having a short called church conference following our Sunday evening service for the purpose of voting on the committee that will be looking to the future for building expansion at First Baptist. The Committee on Committees will nominate Georgeann Allen, Keith Scharnhorst, Bill Lyle, John Akers, Kenneth Montgomery, Bill Pannell and Vicki Ricker for this task. This is a very exciting time in the life of our church as we continue to see spiritual and numerical growth. Continue to pray for God's guidance for us as a church as we reach out to our community for Christ.

A Word for March 16

As you are reading this, I am on the far West coast of our great country. Vacation is something we all love. It is good to go somewhere, but if you are like me, it is always good to come home! It is good to know our pets will be waiting for us and, oh, how nice our own bed feels after sleeping on a foreign mattress. It is good to know there are things we love waiting for us when we get home!

There are times in our spiritual lives we feel like we are on vacation, but isn’t it good to know when we are ready to come home our Father is always there! It does not matter how far we travel or for how long we are gone from our relationship with Christ, He is always waiting to spend time with us and welcome us home!

While we are gone, I know Daniel will do a great job and I hope you all have a wonderful worship experience today!

See you Wednesday for our Service of Shadows as we prepare for Easter Sunday morning!

A Word for March 9

Hopefully you remembered to move your clock ahead an hour last night! If not, you need to do so now, because you are officially behind! Have you ever stopped to think about the fact you just lost an hour of your life? We all know that in the fall you will get it back, but it still is a little crazy to me to simply lose an hour!

With that notion in mind, it caused me to stop and think for a moment how I use the time God gives me. I thought about family time, church time, times when I want to help people, and many others. I wonder if there is not more we can do for the Kingdom with the time God has blessed us with? That is just a quick consideration for you to ponder today as we begin another week!

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Word for Week of March 2

In a couple of weeks Dave Thomas will begin teaching from the new Max Lucado book 3:16 on Sunday evenings during our worship time together. Even though I realize many of you are not "normal" Sunday evening attendees, I want to extend a special invitation to come and be a part of Dave's teaching. We will be ordering some books for those who would like to read along at home, but the book is not required reading for the teaching time.

If 9/11 are the numbers of terror and despair, then 3:16 are the numbers of hope. Max Lucado's study takes participants through a word-by-word study of John 3:16, the passage he calls the "Hope Diamond" of Scripture. I hope many of you will make this a priority as well as take the time to invite a friend to experience the numbers of hope!

Have a great week!