First Baptist Church of Brownsville, Oregon

 

. (Mark 15:25)

 

If you’re reading the One Year Bible plan, today we read Mark’s account of the crucifixion.  Though many of us have read it or heard it too many times to count, it should never cease to bring us to a place of awe and amazement.  The price the Father paid to secure our salvation and a restored relationship with Him is almost too much to fathom.  But because of His grace and His love for the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sacrificed His life on the cross in our place.  May we always marvel at His amazing grace and love!  As we are in a season of preparing for Easter, it is incredibly valuable to take the time to consider again the price Christ paid for us.

 

Please remember to pray for Mike Kirk and the team in Haiti.  They are staying tonight at a resort to wrap up and reflect together on their time in Terra Blanche. 

  For a safe journey and a good time of reflecting on the week.

 

 You don’t want to be late to church now do you?  Daylight Savings Time begins tonight!

 

Remember tomorrow is going to be eventful – Abigail Robertson will be baptized, we will be doing child dedications for 3 sets of parents and their little ones, we are having a potluck after the worship service for anyone to join in who is either on a commission, or who just wants to join in the fellowship and talk to the Robertsons!  So if you plan to stay please bring a main dish and either a side dish, salad, or dessert.  When we finish eating, we invite all commission members to stay for the meeting.  We plan to all stay together in the fellowship hall for the beginning of the meeting, and I will be sharing a few thoughts with the whole group.  Then you will break into groups – each commission going to meet separately (hopefully just around 20 minutes) to go over some responsibilities from the policy manual.

  Then we will come back together to the fellowship hall to have a time of prayer all together.  We are hoping this won’t be an extremely long meeting, yet we hope it will be a meaningful time!

 

Conclusion of COLOSSIANS sermon series!  I will be speaking on the last verse in Colossians – 4:18!  I will also be summarizing what we’ve studied in this amazing letter.  I also plan to ask you, What has impacted you, or what stands out to you the most, from our study in Colossians?

 So think back through our time in Colossians and consider what the Lord has been doing in your life as a result.

 

Looking forward to a full and blessed Sunday!

 

GRACE BE WITH YOU!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

 (Mark 10:33-34)

 

Of course, what Jesus predicted and announced would happen, is exactly what happened.  This is the time of year when Christians around the world are preparing for Easter, or Resurrection Sunday.  Some traditions commemorate the season of Lent, which runs from Ash Wednesday (yesterday) until Easter (April 16).  This is intended to be a 40 day period of reflection, repentance, and considering the great sacrifice of our Savior and Lord.  (It actually is more than 40 days, but in the early Christian tradition, it is the 40 days between now and Easter, but not counting the other Sundays. 

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Some interesting food for thought…  

 

 (Proverbs 10:11)

 

I love that image – that the words we say can be a “fountain of life”.  That’s what I want my mouth to be all about.  Too many times in my life, it hasn’t been.  This proverb reminded me of our challenge from last Sunday,

 (Col. 4:6).

 

“How we use words is a major theme in Proverbs 10–31.  Every day we speak words, each one marked by either wisdom or folly.  Jesus said we will give account even

‘for every careless word’ (Matt. 12:36).  The book of Proverbs guides us toward wise words that can be a fountain of life to others.” (Gospel Transformation Bible

)

 

Please continue to pray for our team in Haiti (Rosemary, Susan, Ron, and Ethan).  Their week is winding down, and tomorrow will be the last full day of the clinic.  Saturday will be a very busy day, including the long drive back to Port-au-Prince, and will conclude with an evening at the beach to recap their week.  Sunday they will be flying home.  Please pray for God to use them mightily in Terra Blanche these last few days, and for a safe journey home.  May each of the team experience God’s grace through this trip and may they see spiritual growth in their own lives because of it!

 

  You may not know a whole lot about guys named Tychicus and Onesimus, but I think there is a lot to learn from what Paul says about them!  Please read that ahead of time and come prepared to let the Word do its work in you!

 

We will also have the blessing of being a part of more baptisms this Sunday!  So come celebrate God’s work in the lives of a couple of our children!

 

God’s grace and peace be with you as you seek Him today!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

 (Mark 2:8-11)

 

“As disciples, we learn that Jesus’ authority to forgive sins is unique, since only God has such authority.  And this gospel of forgiveness, which Jesus ultimately accomplishes through being punished as our substitute on the cross, is of greater value to human existence than anything else.  The gospel serves as the basis for personal healing, with the call to live in reconciled relationships in all areas of personal and corporate life.” (Gospel Transformation Bible)

 

Please pray for our Haiti Mission Team – There are prayer letters available in the foyer for the current team, which includes Susan Ruckert, Rosemary Whitmore, and Ron & Ethan Whitted from FBC.  They will be leaving tonight and traveling tomorrow.

  Pray for effective ministry and life-changing experience for them.

 

 – This Sunday we will dive into these 2 great verses in Colossians.  They are pretty straightforward, but as we dig deep there is plenty of great food for thought here.  We will examine how God wants us to walk and how He wants us to talk, especially as it concerns those currently outside the faith.

 

  If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, they will be available at the door.  There will be items available for a silent auction as well.  Thank you for supporting the students heading to Mexico to serve!

 

Meet & greet at the Droback home – Nick & Erika are hosting this get-together Sunday at 6pm, in preparation for the parenting Bible study that will be beginning in at their home in March.  We will be studying Hopeful Parenting by David Jeremiah together.  Come check it out, and get your study guide.  Please bring a snack.  Call Nick for more info.  I’ve been listening to these messages on CD, and they are phenomenal!  Look here for info about the series: http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/monthly/1216_PEKBK_PEKCDPKG.aspx?premium=pekcdpkg&request=true

 

So looking forward to seeing you this weekend!  God’s grace, peace, and joy be yours!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

 (Matthew 26:41)

 

Last Sunday I challenged all of us to become faithful in prayer, according to Paul’s direction in Colossians 4:2, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”  In our New Testament reading today in the One Year Bible, we see a similar charge: watch and pray.  Unfortunately, as we read the account

by

Matthew we see that the disciples failed.  They not only failed to pray, they even failed to stay awake!  “They did not have enough compassion toward Jesus even to stay awake with Him during the stressful night of His arrest, and when the crowd arrived to arrest Him, Matthew tells us that all Jesus’ disciples ‘left Him and fled.'” (The Gospel Transformation Bible)  Sadly, that often describes us, doesn’t it?  Jesus (obviously) knew what He was talking about when He said, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  But I find encouragement in this account as we consider “the rest of the story.”

 

“Jesus knew that His disciples would be faithless, but He offered them the hope of forgiveness and restoration in His comment that, after His resurrection, He would go before them to Galilee (26:32).  The death to which their unfaithfulness had consigned Him was a death for the forgiveness of this sin also (26:28).” (GTB)  Jesus knows our weakness!  But He offers not only

forgiveness,

but also restoration to usefulness in His kingdom.  Think of how each of the disciples (except Judas of course) went on to be used in such amazing ways by the Lord!  So when you get frustrated with yourself about your prayer life, or you fall asleep

 when trying to read your Bible, don’t despair.  When you fall down, don’t stay down.  Get back up, dust yourself off, and try again.  And ask Him to help you.  Ask Him not only to teach you how to pray, but also to help you practice it more faithfully, steadfastly, watchfully, and thankfully.  Seems to me that that is a prayer that is in accordance with His will – I trust He will answer!

 

This Sunday the men from Adult & Teen Challenge in Shedd will be our special guests.  They have amazing testimonies to share

of

God’s powerful grace in their lives.  You’ll be encouraged by their stories.  Remember that there is a time of sharing finger foods, so bring something if you can!  We will be receiving a love offering for the ministry of Teen Challenge at the end of the service.  Please come with a generous gift to help support the great work being done.

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 (Matthew 21:22)

 

I believe in the power of prayer!  What an amazing gift of grace God has given us.  We can talk to the Creator of all.  We can boldly approach the throne of grace.  I also believe that we need to pray in accordance with God’s will.  As we walk closer with Him, it will be His will, not our own, that will become more important to us.  One of the best ways to grow in our prayer lives is to study prayers found in the Bible, as well as passages in the Bible that specifically teach about prayer.  A few great examples from Paul the apostle are: Philippians 1:9-11; Ephesians 1:15-23 & 3:14-21; and Colossians 1:9-12.

 

This Sunday we will be looking at a short passage that is filled with insight into prayer.  Please read Colossians 4:2-4 (prayerfully of course!) before Sunday.  I will be speaking on the “Persistent Prayer” that Paul is referring to.  I will be encouraging you to pray for me as I prepare and deliver messages from God’s Word.  We will also hopefully be spending some time together praying for various people on a list I will have available Sunday.  So please come prepared to learn about how we are to pray and some specific things to pray for regarding the declaration of the message of Christ, and come prepared to put it into practice!

 

Of course I want all of us to grow in our personal prayer lives, and in times of prayer with our families in our homes.  But we also need to grow in our times of praying together corporately. 

  Maybe the Lord would inspire you to come join one of those prayer times.  But we also could use some other prayer times (maybe not early morning).  If you would like to start a group prayer time at the church, please talk to me.  I also may be looking for people who would be willing to pray specifically for the worship service and the preaching of the word during the worship service, in a separate room.  If the Lord puts it on your heart to do that, we can try to put together a rotation of prayer warriors.  Let me know if you’re interested by replying to this email, or talking to me at church, or give me a call.

 

  Let’s examine ourselves, confess our sins, and come prepared for this important ordinance of the church.

 

May God strengthen you and fill you with hope as you grow as a person of prayer!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

 (Psalm 18:1)

 

Do you love the Lord?  Is He your strength today?  He loves you, and if you are in Christ, you are chosen of Him, holy, and beloved (Col. 3:12)!

 

  If you were there last Sunday, you know we looked at the things from our old nature that we are to “put away” from our lives.  This week we will look at the character traits of our new lives that we are to “put on”.  Please read Colossians 3:12-17 for Sunday and join us at 10:30!

 

 

  We will be having lamb and potatoes, and hear from a few of our guys.  We are joining in with a couple other churches.  Men, invite another man, and come be fed and be encouraged in your walk with the Lord!

 

On another note, I will be helping again this year with Central Linn varsity baseball.  The players are currently trying to raise some much-needed funds.  They are selling 15 lb. boxes of oranges or grapefruits for $25.  Both Caleb and Yaoyi need to sell some.  So I told them I’d help them a little by including it in my email!  So if you need some vitamin C, and/or you just want to help the baseball team out, please let one of us know!  The deadline for the players turning in the money and orders is next Friday, Jan. 27.  Thank you!

 

Looking forward to our times together this weekend!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

 (Matthew 9:6)

 

I’m so thankful that Jesus Christ has the authority and the willingness to forgive sins!  For all who cry out to Him in repentance and faith, there is the offer of forgiveness.  I’m especially grateful for that when I read the list of things that we are called to get rid of from our lives in Colossians 3:5-11.  We will try again to get to this passage (no ice storm this weekend we hope!).  Please read it before Sunday, but also know that the next section (3:12-17) ties in with it perfectly.  It is a picture of the old dirty clothes that we are to take off, and the new clean clothes that we are to put on in the power of God’s Spirit.

 

Another great passage from yesterday’s one year Bible reading:

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).  That’s one example of the great financial wisdom found in the Scriptures.  And there’s much more!  Dave Ramsey has put together an outstanding course which has helped many, many people get out of debt, learn to save, and develop generosity in their lives.  Brian Glaser will be facilitating this course on Wednesday nights at 6:30pm at the FBC, beginning next Wednesday, January 18th.  Make sure to get signed up for this life-changing class!  For more information you can check out Financial Peace University here: https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/

.  Or call Brian.

 

God bless you!  Hope to see you Sunday!

 

Love From Your Pastor,

Michael

 

(Matthew 5:28-29 ESV)

 

Jesus expressed some pretty radical thoughts about getting rid of the sin in our lives!  How seriously are we taking the challenge to forsake sin and pursue holiness?  Of course, we are not able in our own strength to “clean up our act.”  But by God’s grace, with the power of Christ in us, and in the strength supplied by the Holy Spirit, we can and we must eliminate the garbage from our lives and allow ourselves to be renewed in the image of our Creator.  

 

Paul expresses very similar thoughts to Jesus in Colossians 3:5-11.  My message this Sunday is entitled, “Put Them Away!”  The next two Sundays messages will really tie together.  This week is mostly about what we need to eliminate from our lives (with God’s help), and next week about what to “put on”.  So I hope you’ll be here the next two Sundays at 10:30!

 

How are you doing with your goal to read the Bible daily?  It’s only day 6, but you can do this?  In case you still don’t have a daily plan to use, this is the one I’m using this year:

.

 

Here is an important announcement that is in this week’s bulletin:  

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