First Baptist Church of Brownsville, Oregon

Well, 2 days after Christmas and I notice the decorations are starting to come down, the music lineup has changed on the radio stations, and I saw Valentine’s Day stuff in the store already!  How quickly we are ready to “move on” to the next big thing.  Reminds me of how quickly people tend to forget God shortly after a crisis where they had sought His help!

Let me remind all the men who normally attend Bible study on Saturday mornings – we are taking this week off, and will resume January 5.

Let me remind all of you who want to read along with us using the “Daily Bible Reading Calendar” for 2013, they are available in the foyer for a suggested $3 donation.  I’ve found it very helpful in keeping me in the Word every day, and I’ve been blessed in 2012 with the many times others from FBC have talked with me about things we’re both reading!  Sometimes when I refer to something I read that day, I see a bunch of heads nodding – which hopefully means they read it too!

Also, since this is my last LFYP e-mail of 2012, let me encourage you to consider writing some specific, measurable, faith-stretching goals for 2013!  Share them with me if you’d like.  I have mine completed, and copies are available for anyone who wants to pray for me and help keep me accountable.  I can also e-mail you a copy if you want.

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There is so much I want to say, but I am trying to keep my weekly e-mails brief, so people will actually read them!

First of all, THANK YOU!  Elizabeth and I (a.k.a. Joseph & Mary) were tremendously blessed by your generosity to us last Sunday.  What an amazing thing the Lord has done by bringing us to Brownsville!  We love you and thank God for you.  Also, thank you to so many who came out to the open house.  It was a joy to see the fellowship taking place while enjoying great desserts.

I also wanted to comment briefly on the aftermath of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, CT.  It’s hard to imagine anything worse: the slaughtering of innocent children.  This week we are hearing about multiple funerals for teachers, the principle, and of course the children.  I was reminded as I was studying Matthew 2 that something similar happened after Jesus was born.  But this atrocity took place upon the order of the King, Herod.  Matthew 2:16-18 describes the killing of all boys in Bethlehem age 2 and under, because of Herod’s paranoia and fury.  Obviously these are two different incidents.  But I think there are similarities in what we take away from them.  For one thing, these things are not outside of God’s sovereignty.  But we are again reminded that we live in a fallen world, filled with sin.  The only time this world will see total peace is when the Prince of Peace returns.  I guess the other “take away” from this is to not take life for granted.  Hug your children a little longer.  Show love and graciousness a bit more.  The sad truth is, you never know when the last thing you say to a loved on is… the last thing you ever get to say to him/her.  One other good thing that has come is the string of “acts of kindness” that have been spreading around the country.  I know these will not necessarily help the grieving families, but at least it shows that there is hope still in our country.  Well, there is much more that could be said, but time prevents me here.

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But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 ESV)

I have been thoroughly enjoying all the Christmas lights in our area lately!  The reason I like to put lights on our house is to point to the One who is The Light – our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christmas is a great time to celebrate what God has done by bringing Christ, the Light of the world, to earth.  Let the Christmas lights we see this week remind us of Him, and remind us to walk in the light as John says in the above verse.

This Sunday we will have a special visit from a guest all the way from Bethlehem and Nazareth, and from 2000 years ago!  Please plan on joining us for a special presentation, where we will see Christmas “Through the Eyes of a Carpenter.”  You can read Matthew 1:18-25 in preparation for this service.

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I’ve been thinking about my goals for 2013.  Many of them are things I plan to do in the next year.  Like a lot of people, a few of them have to do with physical things, such as diet and exercise.  But Paul was sure to remind Timothy that while there is some good in training physically, there is much more value in training spiritually!  What are your goals for 2013?  It’s o.k. to have some physically-focused ones.  But have you thought about your spiritual goals?  Prayer?  Bible reading?  Service in the church?  Fasting?  Reading Christian books?  May the coming year see us all growing in godliness!

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We have been having a good time of prayer here at the 5 Days of Prayer!  I am so grateful for the privilege of prayer and for each one who has been a part.  Remember, we are not meeting for prayer tonight (but please be praying for Awana tonight!), but we have two more sessions tomorrow: 5-9am, and 5-9pm.  Please come join us!  You won’t regret it.  So far we have had over 122 total hours of prayer.  I am hoping for another 20 tomorrow morning and another 20 tomorrow night!

This Sunday I will be finishing our journey through the book of Hosea.  I trust this series from one of the often-neglected books of the Old Testament has been a blessing to you.  God’s love is so persistent!  So faithful!  So merciful!  So just!  This week we will look at chapter 14 (yes, please read ahead) and talk about “God’s Final Promise.”  We all have a choice to make.  Come find out what that choice is.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  I hope and pray it will be a tremendous time of thanking the Lord and enjoying time with friends and family for all of us.  Let the words of the Psalmist help us focus on what tomorrow is all about:

It’s a great time to be serving the Lord together at FBC!  This Sunday we will have the joy of witnessing the baptism of 4 people during our 10:30am service.  I expect that all will be encouraged and moved by the testimonies that will be shared.  Please be in prayer for Alayna, Cory, Nicci, and Ruby – that this will be a great spiritual “milestone” event for them.

I will be preaching on Hosea 11:12 – 12:14.  We will talk about the justice of God, and why He disciplines His children.  Please read ahead!

On November 4 we shared the plans for the Christian Education wing addition, and the funds that are needed to accomplish the goal.  We are planning a church-wide special offering for January 6, 2013.  I am asking you to diligently pray about what God would want you to give toward the project.  We are encouraging every person at FBC – young, old, man, woman, children, to pray about this and consider a generous, sacrificial gift.  Of course, if you want to give before the day of the special offering you can – some of you already have.  We will be talking more about this at the date draws closer.

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Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5 ESV)

What a magnificent promise!  We have hope, not because of (or in spite of) election results.  We have an eternal hope because of the love of God!  That love caused Him to send His Son to die for us.  And not only that, but we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, through whom we experience God’s love being poured into our hearts!  Chew on that for awhile!

I am looking forward to a great weekend here at First Baptist Church!

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Hi Friends,

The above was an incredibly appropriate verse following what was a tremendous night at First Baptist Church!  We are thanking the Lord for the outstanding outreach that took place at Trunk-or-Treat.  We are thanking the Lord for the break in the rain that we experienced most of the night, especially while we were setting up!  We were not able to catch every single person that came and get their names at the table, but we got most.  And the totals were:  161 kids, 99 adults, and 57 workers!  That’s over 300 people on our campus last night.  How can I say “thank you” enough to everyone who pitched in and made this event a success? Read more…

I had the privilege of attending the Awana Conference in Springfield this week, along with a number of our faithful Awana leaders and helpers.  It was a great time of instruction and motivation.  I was especially impressed with a message we watched on video from Rob Reinow of Visionary Family Ministries.  I won’t have the room here to recap everything he said that challenged me, but I just wanted to share his main points:

1.  God created families to be discipleship centers.

2.  The biblical purpose of parenting and grandparenting is to impress the hearts of children with a love for God.

3.  God has designed the family as an essential engine of world evangelization through the power of multi-generational faithfulness.

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