Love From Your Pastor

Posted on May 11, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC!

 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (John 6:51)

 

My family really likes good bread.  One member of our family in particular really likes bread.  A lot.  We talked about this briefly yesterday after we had either some really yummy rolls, or garlic bread, or both.  I had read the verse yesterday where Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”  Of course, Jesus wasn’t talking about literal bread.  But one of us said something like, “That must mean bread really is holy!”  I like the explanation from the ESV Study Bible a little better though:

 

“The ‘bread’ Jesus gives is His flesh (a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross).  Jesus’ statement intermingles physical and spiritual truth.  Jesus is not talking about literal ‘bread,’ but He is the true ‘living bread’ in the sense that those who believe in Him have their spiritual hunger satisfied.  He becomes this spiritually satisfying ‘bread’ by sacrificing His own physical body in His death on the cross, and in that sense He can say that this spiritual bread is ‘My flesh’.”  That’s part of what we commemorated last Sunday during Communion!  Have you eaten of the living bread?

Read more…


Love From Your Pastor

Posted on May 5, 2017 in Devotions |

 

Hello FBC!
 
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works!
 (Psalm 105:2)
 
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
 (John 4:23-24)
 
A couple of great reminders for me today of the great privilege of worship!  He is worthy to be praised.  Regardless of style preferences, song choices, personalities… the focus of our hearts on Sunday mornings (and every moment of every day!) needs to be on the worthiness of our God to be worshiped in spirit and truth.  Let’s sing praises to Him.  Let’s tell of all His wondrous works!  Let’s worship Him in spirit and truth.
 
Pastor Justin asked me to remind you about his parents Sunday School class: “We are starting a parenting class on Sunday, May 21st during the Sunday School hour.
  Please sign up in the foyer if you plan to attend.  This is a 6 week series using Dr. Michelle Anthony’s ‘Spiritual Parenting’ curriculum.”
 
There are also a couple of great opportunities for more online biblical training.
 
D6 Days – (May 8-9) Family ministry conference online.  Justin will be watching it at FBC, and he is inviting anyone who wants to come join him.  If you are working with children or youth, or if you are a parent or grandparent, or someone just interested in family ministry, this will be good stuff.  You can also just watch it online one your laptop or smartphone or tablet.  Just click on: https://d6family.com/d6days-2017/
 
Basics Conference – (May 8-10) This is an annual pastors conference at Alistair Begg’s church in Cleveland.  But it will certainly be just good Bible teaching for anyone who likes to hear good solid teachers.  Not only Begg, but also Al Mohler and Sinclair Ferguson are headlining this event.  I will be trying to watch as much of this one as I can.  You can sign up to watch it here:  https://www.basicsconference.org/
 
This Sunday I will be speaking on “Borrowing into Slavery” as we continue our “Dollar$ & $ense” series.  We will look at a lot of different passages of Scripture, but our memory verse is Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
 
I hope you will join me in working on the memory verses for this series.  I am using the app called “Scripture Typer” to help me.  It also reminds me to review every so many days.  So I will keep working on last week’s verse (which was much longer than this week’s!).
 
Looking forward to being together again this weekend!
 
Grace be with you all.
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael
 
P.S. Thank you for praying for Rosemary and Judy C as they have arrived safely in Senegal to visit our missionary friend and sister Marilyn Escher.  Keep praying for a blessed time together for them!

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on May 4, 2017 in Devotions |

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”  And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”  God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’  This is My name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

 (Exodus 3:14-15)
 
The ever-existent, all-powerful, never-changing Lord of the universe… He is the God we worship!  Isn’t it amazing that when Jesus came He referred to Himself numerous times saying, “I Am…”! What an amazing God we serve, love, worship, and obey!
 
Ladies, don’t forget about the baby shower for Samantha at FBC at 10:30am tomorrow.  Thank you for being such a blessing to her and her family!
 
Jack and Bonny asked me to express their gratitude to everyone for your many prayers, cards, and phone calls.  Jack had another round of chemo this week.  It makes him pretty sick.  But he has had a number of opportunities to share with friends about his faith in Jesus Christ.  Please keep praying for the Pimms and sharing your love with them.
 
This Sunday I’m speaking on “At Home & At Work” from Colossians 3:18 — 4:1.
Paul gets tremendously practical about the implications of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.  It should impact our most important relationships in very real ways!  Please read that passage prayerfully before Sunday.  
 
God bless you all, and I am looking forward to seeing you again this weekend!
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Apr 27, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC Friends!

 
For You, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
 (Psalm 97:9)
 
Yes He is!  One of our primary responsibilities as individual Christians and as a church is to EXALT the Lord’s name.  And one of the first ways we do that is by simply acknowledging how great He really is and that He is indeed exalted above all else.  He is the Most High God.  Is He supreme in
your
 heart?
 
This Sunday we’ll continue our series on “Dollar$ & $ense” with a message titled, “He Owns It All” from 1 Chronicles 29:10-22.  This is an amazing example of prayer and worship by David, in response to the collection of resources to build the temple, and in preparation for the building of this great house for God.  Please prayerfully read through that as you prepare for Sunday morning.  And also remember, we are trying to memorize a passage each week during this sermon series.  This week’s is the longest one, so I hope you’ve already started working on it!
 
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12 ESV)
 
We will be having a baptism service coming in the near future, so if you haven’t already, please talk to me or Pastor Justin if you are wanting to be baptized.  Also, please let me know if you are interested in membership at FBC.  These are great opportunites for taking steps of faith and commitment to Christ and His church.
 
May God’s grace shine on you as you exalt Him in word and deed!
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael
 

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Apr 20, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC!

 
(I know the last couple weeks something strange has been happening with my emails to you.  Sometimes there has been a delay in sending and you have received the email on the following Monday. 
That’s not helpful because I usually try to have you read the Scripture I will be speaking on Sunday!
  Anyway, I’m sending it today and hoping you receive it in plenty of time to prepare for this Sunday!)
 
He (Jesus) said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
 (Luke 20:25)
 
Here is an appropriate verse for us since we just passed the April 18 tax deadline!  There’s a lot going on here in this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees.  They tried to trap Him with a trick question.  But of course the Son of God won’t be fooled!  His answer is brilliant.  Besides the fact that it doesn’t let us get out of paying taxes (bummer), I think it teaches us the more profound truth that everything belongs to God anyway.  There is nothing that isn’t God’s, so we should hold nothing back!  He wants all of us, and expects us to understand that all we have is really His!
 
The above thoughts tie in to our new upcoming sermon series, “Dollar$ & $ense”. 
This Sunday I will be speaking on Luke 16:10-13, “Faithful in our Finances.”
 To get a feel for the background of what Jesus is expressing in that paragraph, it will be important to read the parable that immediately precedes it.  So before Sunday, please read all of Luke 16:1-13.
 
Each week of this series I hope to have a memory verse for us to try and recite together on Sunday.  So I know you only have a few days (even less if there’s another delay in the email), but here’s a short one for this week:
 
“If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
 (Luke 16:11, ESV)
 
That one shouldn’t be too hard! 
But you may want to get a head start on the one for April 30 – Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
(1 Chronicles 29:11-12 ESV)  We can do this right?!
 
Remember that this Sunday during the 9am Sunday school hour, the Mexico mission team from our church will be presenting and sharing what God did through them and in their lives during their recent trip.
  They will be in the sanctuary class, so come and be blessed to hear about it!  They will also be sharing briefly in the worship service.
 
This Saturday morning is the Awana Grand Prix. This is a great opportunity to make friends with parents from our Awana program, many of whom do not have a church home.  Please be in prayer for this event, and everyone is welcome to come enjoy the races!  We will also hear from Pastor Justin briefly during this event.
 
Thank you to all who prayed for our Easter services!  And thank you to the many dedicated servants who went above and beyond once again.  From everyone who helped beautify the yard and the building, to those who participated in the music and worship, to all who helped with refreshments, to those who helped make sure all the chairs were set up and ready, and all who served with children and in the nursery — THANK YOU! 
 
Looking forward to another blessed weekend together!  Grace be with you all.
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Apr 14, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC!

 
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.”
 (Luke 24:46-48)
 
This weekend is the time we commemorate the central events of all history (His-story)!  On this Good Friday, I trust you are taking some time to reflect on the incredible sacrifice made by Christ on our behalf.  What amazing love and grace is portrayed by the cross!  Consider the immense consequences of sin!  Thankfully for us who know ‘the rest of the story,’ we can rejoice in the victorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus!  That is what this Sunday is all about.  May you and your family experience the blessings associated with the cross and the empty tomb!
 
A few key things to remember this weekend:
 
Tomorrow (Saturday) — 7am Men’s Breakfast; 
8:30am Church workday (more bark dust, etc.)
9:00am Awana Grand Prix cars work day
 
Sunday — 6:30am Sunrise Service on Buttercup Hill
9am First Easter service at FBC
10:30 Light refreshments between services in the fellowship hall
11am Second Easter service at FBC
 
Please be in prayer for these events, that the Lord will work powerfully in hearts and accomplish His perfect will in our midst!
 
If you are able, consider saving the closer parking spots for seniors and for our visitors.  There is parking in the back of the church and plenty of room in the rest of the parking lot.
 
If you invite guests and they come, please help them feel welcome and be ready to answer any questions they have.  Let’s all of us be alert to newcomers.  Greet everyone with a smile and be prepared to show them the way to the nursery, restrooms, etc.  And please encourage your friends who come to fill out the Connection Cards for us so we can stay in contact!
 
On another note, please keep our sister Marilyn Neuman in prayer.  Her husband Steve has been moved to a hospice facility.  Pray for his comfort and peace as well as strength and peace for Marilyn.
 
Because of the cross and the empty tomb…
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Apr 10, 2017 in Devotions |

Greetings FBC!

 
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
 (Romans 10:17)
 
Tomorrow we conclude our 3-part series on
Extending Christ’s Invitation.
  We will look at the importance of sharing the gospel verbally, not only with our deeds.  We will be focusing on Romans 10:14-17, but to get the context of what Paul is saying there, please read verses 5-17 before worship tomorrow.
 
As I write this there is a dedicated crew of workers helping make the church facility and grounds look nice!  Thank you to everyone who came to serve. 
All the bark dust is gone, so there will be another opportunity next Saturday morning!
  Please join us.
 
Easter is in 8 days!  Are you praying for the people in your oikos?  Practicing hospitality?  Looking for ways to serve them?  Praying for opportunities to share the gospel? 
We will have extra Easter invite flyers available tomorrow if you want to pick some up to invite people!
  Remember we are having two services, 9am and 11am, with some refreshments in between.  Let’s pray that our hearts will be stirred to great love and appreciation of Christ, and that all guests who come will be convicted, challenged, and touched in their hearts by the worship, the love of our people, and the message from God’s Word.
 
Tomorrow night the team that went to Haiti will be sharing at 5:30pm.  Everyone is invited to come and be encouraged with their reports!
 
Grace be with you all!
 
Love from your Pastor,
Michael

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Mar 31, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC!

 
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
 (Mark 10:45)
 
This Sunday we’ll continue our brief series on “Extending Christ’s Invitation” with a look at “SERVICE”.  Some of the Scriptures we’ll touch on include: Mark 10:42-45; Romans 2:4; Acts 2:46-47; 1 Cor. 3:6-9; and Luke 6:32-35.  You may want to look at those ahead of time and ask the Lord to instruct us Sunday!  As for last week, how are you doing on practicing hospitality?  Do you have someone in mind to invite?
 
This Sunday night Will & Lisa Copeland are beginning a Care Group at their home from 5:30-7:30.  They will be going through what looks like a great series by James MacDonald called “Downpour”.  If you are interested or want to know more, please contact Will or Lisa.
 
Monday thru Wednesday, April 3-5, we will be live streaming the main sessions from the Gospel Coalition’s conference, which this year is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!
  Speakers include John Piper, Tim Keller, Don Carson, and more!  There will be a focus on the book of Galatians throughout the conference.  There is a schedule of the sessions on the table in the foyer.
 
Easter Sunday is just a couple weeks away!  Are you praying for the people on your Oikos list?  Look for opportunities this week to show them God’s love and for opportunities to share about the hope you have.
 
In preparation for Easter, the trustees are heading up two work days, April 8 and 15 in the mornings.  Please join us for cleaning up the property, taking care of weeds, and spreading bark dust!
 
This Sunday we will also be dedicating 2 more little ones (and their parents!), so I hope you will be able to join us for that.  And we will remember the Lord’s Table together, let’s come with hearts prepared!
 
Baptism classes for children are starting during Sunday School this Sunday (9am).
  Adults, contact me if you’d like to talk about being baptized too!
 
Grace be with you!
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael

Love From Your Pastor

Posted on Mar 25, 2017 in Devotions |

Hello FBC family! (Sorry this is later than usual – but better late than never I guess!)

 
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32 ESV)
 
Levi (Matthew) is a great example of someone who used hospitality as a tool for evangelism.  Shortly after leaving everything behind to follow Jesus, he “extended the invitation” to many of his friends and former associates (notorious sinners) to come to a meal in his house in order to meet Jesus.  And while the religious leaders grumbled against him, Jesus made it clear that this “Levi dinner” was exactly what He wanted.  His response is one of His more memorable statements: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
 
Tomorrow I will begin a short 3-part series on “Extending Christ’s Invitation” with a message on hospitality.
Reflect some more on Luke 5:27-32 in preparation, as well as Hebrews 13:1-2.
 
Samantha had her twins on Thursday morning There is a website set up to sign up for bringing meals to the family if you’d like.  Click here and sign up:
 
I heard from Pastor Justin a while ago, and they were just getting ready to cross the border into Mexico.  Please keep them in prayer this week!
 
Only 3 weeks until Easter Sunday!  Who are the people in your life that you are praying for and looking for opportunities to invite?  We will be having 2 services: 9am and 11am.  And remember the 6:30am sunrise service on Buttercup Hill!
 
Looking forward to a great Sunday!
 
Grace be with you.
 
Love From Your Pastor,
Michael 
 

Love From Your Other Pastor

Posted on Mar 16, 2017 in Devotions |

Dear Friends,

 
Pastor Michael and Elizabeth were at Seaside this week enjoying the CBNW conference.  I’ve connected briefly with pastor and he said it was excellent.  So you get to hear from me!
 
I’ve been thinking about the Holy Spirit a lot recently.  You’ll notice that again this Sunday.  I have heard a lot about God and Jesus my whole life, but if I stop and think about it, little was ever said about the Holy Spirit.  He’s the third part of the Trinity no one ever talked about.  I wonder why that was.  I know the impact it’s had in my life.  A class I am taking has talked about a balance of teaching kids knowledge from Scripture and giving them time to hear from the Lord.  We live in a busy world, and as such it’s hard for us to stop and be still before the Lord.  I’ve been challenged to be aware of whether I’m helping students learn to hear the Spirit’s voice in their life, or always just mine.  If they don’t know personally how to hear from the Lord, who will they listen to when they are on their own.  I wonder if the same is true for you.  Does God challenge you personally with His Words?  Or is your relationship strictly through pastor’s teachings on Sunday morning?  Do you know how to be still and listen to the Guide that God has given you for this life?
 
Consider John 14:15-17, 26 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” 
 
We have a Helper who will teach us all things; that is with us forever, who dwells in us.  What a blessing!  Are you taking advantage of the Helper you have?  This Sunday we will be looking at Galatians 5:16-25, also on the work off the Holy Spirit.  I’d encourage you to read the verses ahead of time and come prepared for what God wants to teach you.
 
Some things to remember, we have our quarterly business meeting after church this Sunday.  It won’t be a long one so we hope you can stay.
 
Don’t forget this Saturday at 7 am is our monthly men’s breakfast.  Please join us for good food, fellowship, and time in God’s Word.
 
Also, Saturday afternoon at 2 pm there will be a dance recital put on by all the little girls that Molly Beach has been teaching ballet to over the last two months.  We hope you can join us at the church for this special time.  
 
Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday! -Pastor Justin

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