Good afternoon FBC!
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:2)
The above verse is normally heard a lot around Christmas-time. But this is certainly something to ponder every season of the year! As I think about Isa. 9:2 today, I recognize that the world around us sure seems aweful dark today. I find myself being extremely concerned for the state of our nation. It sure seems to me that we are dwelling in a land of deep darkness. But the hope that the world, our nation, and our community needs is the same hope it has always needed: the light. The Great Light. The light of the world, Jesus Christ! And what amazes me to no end is the fact that He who is the Light, has “passed the torch” to us to shine for Him!
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:16)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.(2 Cor. 4:6)
Even on this day, when we remember 9/11, the events of September 11, 2001, let us thank God for Christ who is our light. And let’s ask Him to use us, and to use His church throughout the world to shine His great light in the midst of great darkness!
This Sunday I will be preaching the second “Exalt” message in our current series on our purpose as a church: Exalting the Lord’s Name, Extending the Lord’s Invitation, Equipping the Lord’s People. Please read Galatians 1 as preparation for the message. I will especially be focusing on verses 3-5 and verse 24. Paul says, “They glorified God because of me.” Why? What does he mean by that? I want us to think about how our gospel-transformed lives bring glory to God. Worship is about much more than singing some songs on Sunday. It’s an all-of-life thing. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday.
Tonight is the AWANA Carnival & Registration! At 7pm the facility at FBC will be teeming with kids and parents playing games and signing up for this year’s program. Please pray for our leaders, that we may be used by God to be a great blessing in the lives of kids and parents this year. Pray for the parents and for the kids, please. I will be leading a group through “Grace Based Parenting” during the AWANA time, beginning next Thursday. So if you are interested in being a part of that, let me know.
This Saturday is G3, “Growing Godly Guys”, at 5:30pm at Don Crover’s house. I have 9 guys signed up. We will be learning what it means to be a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, a spiritual leader, and a man growing in godliness. It will be a challenging, but rewarding course. If you’d like to join please let me know today!
4 Days of Prayer – next week, Monday thru Thursday, Sept. 15-18. We will have prayer times from 5-9am & 5-9pm (only a.m. on Thursday), with a 15 minute break each hour. So please plan now to join us! In April at our 4 days of prayer, we totalled 168 hours (1 person for 1 hour = 1 hour of prayer). My goal this time is 175 hours (which would be way more than we had last September). Make it a priority. Let us become a “House of Prayer for all nations.” We have a lot to thank God for, and a lot to request of Him. We will pray for the beginning of our fall programs, for unsaved friends and family, for our missionaries, for our community, for prayer requests of our church members and attenders, etc. I would LOVE to see you here for part of it!
Have a great day, and walk in the Light!
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael