Church Blog

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! We remember at this season the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Let us consider all Jesus said and did on that week. Jesus proclaimed Himself as the servant King and Messiah as He entered Jerusalem in the triumphal entry. Jesus then taught for a couple of days in the temple amidst the growing hostility of the religious leaders. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His apostles and gave it new meaning. Jesus told the disciples that His body would be broken and His blood shed for them and that believers of every age are to take bread and wine regularly to remember this sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus, in anguish as He faced the cross, would on that night pray that the cross be removed from Him if that were possible. Then convinced it was not possible, Jesus willingly surrendered to the cross knowing it was the Father’s will for Him and the way of forgiveness for us. Jesus went to the cross and suffered in our place and died for us. Jesus was buried in a borrowed grave that could not hold Him because Jesus rose from that grave never to die again. Jesus today and forever is our living Savior! We worship Him as the only hope of the world and the only way of salvation.

Our Good Friday service will be held this Friday, April 18, at 7:00 PM. We will partake of the Lord’s Supper during Good Friday service.

On Easter, Resurrection Sunday, we will have an Easter Breakfast at 9:30 AM. Our Resurrection Sunday celebration and worship will be at 10:45 AM.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Who might you invite to worship and hear about Jesus on Good Friday, Easter, or both?

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, we praised our great God and gloried in our Redeemer. Then from Luke 18, we saw Jesus marching toward the most challenging task of His earthly life. Jesus marched toward the cross where He would take the punishment for our sins upon Himself. We learned from Jesus’ example to not put off dealing with the demanding situations we have in life. As we deal with those demanding situations, we are to seek the leading of God’s Spirit. As we do this, we are to walk toward and not away from those difficulties knowing that God will see us through them. We do not have to be a victim of the difficult things we face in life. Through Jesus we will be a victor! We also learned that as we walk toward the difficulties in life, we do not want to miss opportunities that God places in our paths. As Jesus was walking to Jerusalem and the cross through Jericho, God brought a blind man that Jesus could heal. When Jesus did heal this blind man, this man began to follow Him. When we take advantage of unexpected opportunities even amid our difficulties, God will work in mighty ways. God will use us in those opportunities that come as we walk toward difficulties. God may even give us a loyal friend to help us along the way.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held next Sunday, April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

Our Good Friday service will be on Friday, April 18, at 7:00 PM. We will partake of the Lord’s Supper during Good Friday service. On Easter, Resurrection Sunday, we will have an Easter Breakfast at 9:30 AM. Our Resurrection Sunday celebration and worship will be at 10:45 AM. Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Sunday to all! When we worshipped together, we considered from 2 Corinthians 8 the blessings of being generous. We learned generosity in giving inspires others to be generous. We also saw that generosity in giving results in increased generosity. We learned that generosity in giving inspires praise towards God and spurs growth in others. Generosity is not costly. It truly rewards us with many blessings. True generosity enables us to live happier and more contented lives.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshiped, we sang about our worth and our unworthiness. Our worth is in the value Jesus placed on us by dying in our place on the cross while we were yet sinners. If we, like the hymnwriter, ask ourselves,

“Why should I gain from His reward,

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart,

His wounds have paid my ransom.”      

Then, from 2 Corinthians 8, we thought about how the children of such a generous God should overflow with generosity. God looked at us and did not give us what we deserved but gave us what we needed. God sent His Son to be our Savior and the Savior of the world. Our God is the greatest examples of generosity in history. When we know this God and walk with Him, we will reflect His continual generosity toward others. Generosity is God’s gracious gift to those who trust and walk with Jesus. God’s generosity towards us pushes us to true generosity towards others. God’s generosity enables us to give with wisdom.Christians willingly give to others as we realize God great generosity toward us.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! We worshipped Jesus, the Rock of Ages that we can hide in and be completely safe. We thank God that in Christ we have forgiveness and life. Then we looked at 2 Corinthians 7 where Paul is facing a tremendously difficult period in his life. Paul had been arrested, beaten, and jailed while doing ministry in Phillipi. Paul then went to Thessalonica where he had a short but successful ministry but was driven out of town by a violent mob. He then went to Berea where he found a receptive audience to the gospel in the Jewish synagogue. When the hostile crowd from Thessalonica found out he was in Berea, they came and stirred up a crowd against Paul and again drove him out of town. While all this was happening, he was dealing with the troubles in the Corinthian church that were robbing him of his emotional strength. It was during all this that God worked to give Paul relief and comfort from the multiple physical and emotional difficulties he was facing and which he writes about in 2 Corinthians 7. Like Paul, there are times in all our lives that life crashes down on us and we might be on the verge of despair. At those times, we have force ourselves to remember, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”  God will enable us to have the strength to follow Him step by step. Do not look too far ahead but follow Jesus day by day and step by step. Be faithful one step at a time and remember this: After the darkest nights, God brings joy to those who faithfully serve Him.

Good Friday and Easter are a time unbelievers are more open to invitations to Christian worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we took the Lord’s Supper together to remember Jesus and remind us that we need each other. We prayed for one another. We sang praises to the eternal God of the universe. We read His perfect Word, and we asked Him to draw each of us closer to Him and one another. From 2 Corinthians 6, we saw that each of us need to continually guard ourselves and make sure no rivals false gods, idols, arise in our hearts that would compete for the affection and faithfulness owed to God alone. We specifically looked at the dangers that any kind of binding partnerships with unbelievers might bring to our relationship with God. We were encouraged to not have those binding relationships where our faithfulness to God would be discouraged. We saw the blessings that we receive as we seek continually to belong exclusively to Jesus. Believers guard themselves against any partnership that might turn us from being completely faithful to Jesus.

We will have a potluck luncheon after our worship gathering next Sunday, March 16, 2025. Please bring enough food for your family and a little extra for our guests.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped Almighty God as His thankful children. Then from 2 Corinthians 6, we thought about how to determine who could be trusted to faithfully deliver the good news of Jesus to others. We saw how we could evaluate true messengers of God from uncaring messengers and false teachers in our day. We learned God’s faithful messengers value God’s message over their personal comfort. We learned God’s faithful messengers guard their personal integrity so as not to discredit the message. We also saw that God’s faithful messengers use spiritual weapons and not human weapons or deceitful techniques. We saw that God’s faithful messengers value the praise of God more than the acceptance of men. We discerned God’s faithful messengers care about those to whom they deliver God’s message. True messengers are not just accomplishing goals and tasks but genuinely loving people and seeking for them to know Jesus and live for Him. Faithful messengers of God testify to the truth of the good news of Jesus. Faithful servants of God live lives that validate the message of Jesus before others.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, March 9, 2025, in our morning worship.

Remember to “spring forward” on your clocks next Saturday evening as daylight saving time begins.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, the worship team taught us a great new song called “My Worth is Not in What I Own,’ by Keith and Kristen Getty and Graham A. Kendrick. Here is a link to Fernando Ortega’s rendition that Pete mentioned yesterday: https://youtu.be/05jKxv8ApuI. Then from 2 Corinthians 5, we looked at the beautiful reconciliation that God initiated and gives it to us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 teaches us this wonderful truth that, “For our sake (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Those who will believe are reconciled to God through Jesus’ substitutionary death and His victorious resurrection! Now those who believe are compelled by the love of Christ to take the message of God’s reconciliation to our world.Our call from God is to proclaim to an alienated world that God has reconciled the world to Himself through Christ Jesus. We saw a picture of that kind of reconciliation when Mary Johnson invited Oshea Israel, the man who killed her son, to be her neighbor. Our sin killed the Son of God on the cross. And now God the Father, because of the sacrifice of the Son, invites us to be his forever neighbors and live with Him. Will each of us respond to God’s reconciliation by believing in Jesus and then living for Him?

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, it was wonderful to be with God’s family singing about the more than 10,000 reason we have to praise our great God. Being with God’s people and worshipping Him together is such a blessing. I am grateful to God for parents who knew being with the people of God week by week was important to them and to the raising of their children. I believe that regular worship with the family of God is essential. It is essential for our continued growth as believers, and it is essential in the lives of our children and grandchildren if they are going to be saved and become disciples of Jesus. I am not talking about parents who come to church and then do not live for the Lord the rest of the week, as has happened to some. I am talking about believers who know they cannot walk with God apart from vital connection and regular participation with the family of God.

Then from looking at 2 Corinthians 4 and 5, we saw that Paul listed some of the struggles he has gone through to serve Jesus and how he faced those struggles. Paul’s struggles were being looked down upon by many connected to the church at Corinth. They had the wrong idea that a true apostle would not have these continual struggles. They did not see the life of the followers of Jesus as denying themselves, taking up their crosses and following Jesus. Paul had to help them see the struggles he faced, and the struggles faithful followers of Jesus will face, in the light of the glorious future God has for them. Paul’s struggles were intense and grew more intense. Paul wanted them to see the difficulties and struggles of a life lived in faithfulness to Christ as a reflection of God’s call on every life. As we looked at Paul’s struggles and our struggles in light of eternity, we saw from this passage that the ultimate home of every believer is with Jesus. Home is where we are with those we love. Our ultimate home then is being with Jesus in heaven, whom we seek to supremely love because He first loved us. Believers need to look to our glorious future knowing our struggles and afflictions in this life produce a glorious eternity. We know our mortal and decaying bodies will give way to immortal and incorruptible bodies. Believers look in certain faith to their glorious eternal home with Christ.We look forward to going “home where we belong.”

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, we worshipped our God who is great and greatly to be praised. Then, as we investigated 2 Corinthians 4, we learned about the great trials and suffering Paul willingly endured as he served Jesus and spread the good news that Jesus saves around the known world. Though Paul suffered and paid a great price, we learned through him that Jesus is worth whatever it cost to know, love, and serve Him. Somethings are priceless and worth whatever they cost. Those things are usually not things at all, but loving experiences and memories with those we love. The most priceless thing we can possess is knowing Jesus and being entrusted with sharing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus is the priceless treasure that is worth everything. Remember handling the priceless treasure of Jesus requires utmost integrity, handling the priceless treasures of Jesus requires God provision and protection, and handling the priceless treasurers of Jesus requires faith in God’s future for His children.God entrust believers with the priceless good new that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

Pray for Connie Boss as she goes through rehab so she might soon be able to return to her home. We love you, Connie, and we are praying for you.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church