Church Blog

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! It was good to worship our great God and Savior together and remember the wonderful cross “that bids us to come and die and find that we may truly live” in Christ Jesus. From Romans 15, we thought about finding true life. We asked ourselves if we find life by looking deep inside ourselves and by defining and discovering ourselves. That is the mantra of the culture we live in. The culture says we find real life and freedom by self-determination. Anthony Kennedy wrote, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Is that right? Is that the heart of liberty and the secret to life? Does the universe and cosmos just have to come to terms with whatever I decide about myself? Or is this just untrue? As Albert Mohler wrote about this opinion of the former supreme court justice, “It is not only constitutionally implausible, but also, just to state the very least, impossible. The cosmos (God’s creation and design) does not come to terms with our own self-understanding. We’ve got to come to terms with how we fit into the cosmos.” Looking within yourself and seeking to find yourself will lead you to nothingness, because the answer is not within you. The answer to finding life is by doing what Jesus told us to do. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it,” (Luke 9:23-24, NIV). We find life only in one person, in Jesus! We only find true life by dying to ourselves and finding life in Jesus.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be next Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. If you haven’t already signed up to bring something, come by the church building sometime to see what is needed for the

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped, we meditated on the Savior’s great love for us and how we need Him every minute of every day. We learned from Romans 14 about living in harmony in the church of Jesus even when we see non-essential issues differently. We saw that we are not to waste time arguing about non-essential issues of Christian living and trying to convince others of the correctness of our opinions. We are to accept people where they are in their Christian lives and give them time to grow without forcing our understanding on them. This will also give us time to grow in case we have it wrong! We are to realize others and ourselves ultimately and only answer to Almighty God. Almighty God is for all who believe in Jesus even when they disagree about non-essential issues. We saw all of us are to sacrifice personal freedoms to help others grow into Christlikeness. We are not to look in disdain on those who see issues differently or judge those who might serve the Lord with less restrictions on non-essential issues than we do. Believers need to continually remember we will answer to Almighty God for our faithfulness to Him and our faithfulness to helping His people grow into Christlikeness.

I wanted to thank everyone for their giving and work for our “Trunk or Treat” event last Saturday. It was a tremendous success! We gave out more than 125 gospel tracts to children and lots of candy. The children who attended had a least one parent with them, so we probably had more than 200 people during the two hours. The bouncy houses and popcorn machine were busy for the whole two hours! I think we provided an impactful ministry to our community. It was wonderful!

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont’s funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie, on Tuesday, November 1, at 11:00 AM. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped together and sang about the love of God that comes upon us like a flood. From Romans 13, we thought about our responsibilities as believers to the government. God’s Word teaches us that believers submit to government authorities because they are God’s servant for our good. Only when they seek to have us disobey God can we obey God rather than human authority. As Tim Talent said, “We will obey the rulers on earth when it doesn’t conflict with the Ruler of heaven.” Then we learned that believers seek to let no debt remain unpaid except the debt of loving others. The debt to love others and seek for their good is a debt we will never completely repay. And we do these thing as we seek to live in the light of Jesus as we await His soon return. Believers continually seek to submit to God-ordained authorities as they live awaiting Christ’s return.

This Saturday, October 29, is the big “Trunk or Treat” event from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Dress in consume if you are inclined and bring your trunks with some candy to hand out. Try to be here a little after 2:00 PM so we can arrange the cars and set up the bouncy houses and other things from the block party trailer. Be praying that God will use this event as a light for the gospel in our community.

Next Sunday afternoon, October 30, we can bless Kathy McElmurry by helping her load a moving truck.

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont passed away. The funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped and shared the Lord’ Supper together we remembered all of us who will come to God come through our Lord Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. Then as we continued to study Romans 12, we were challenged to realize that we live in the world, but we are citizen of the Kingdom of God with heaven as our ultimate home. We live humbly in relationship to God’s people seeking for God to work through us as He has gifted us. We love and care for other believers as we would for members of our biological family. Then as we live in the world among those who have not believed, we bless those who curse us. We never repay evil for evil. We trust in God to avenge every wrong and we pray for those who have wronged us to find forgiveness where we found forgiveness, in Christ Jesus. We are not overcome by evil but are overcoming evil with good. Believers seek humbly to live as representatives of Jesus while living on this earth by overcoming evil with good.

We will have a potluck luncheon next Sunday, October 23, after our morning worship. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any quest we might have.

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont passed away last Wednesday. The funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie, Tuesday, November 1, at 11:00 AM. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Keep praying for our “Trunk or Treat” event on Saturday, October 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. We need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will pack a few sacks of candy and a gospel tract to give out during our potluck next Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, October 30, we can bless Kathy McElmurry by helping her load a moving truck.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped God the Father, who in His deep love gave His only Son to save us. We then saw from Romans 12:1-2 that our response to this deep love is to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him. In surrendering all to God who loves us so much, we will not be conformed to the dead and destructive patterns of the world. We will be transformed from the inside out by His Holy Spirit who renews our minds. The Holy Spirit renews our minds as we feed ourselves the Word of God and spend time sharing our lives with others who have trusted their lives to Him, seeking together to live for Him.

Ladies, remember the luncheon to honor Kathy McElmurry  this Saturday, October 15 at 11:30 AM at the Great Dane, 876 Jupiter Dr, Madison, WI 53718.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper Next Sunday, October 16, during our morning worship gathering.

Keep praying for our “Trunk or Treat” event on Saturday, October 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. We need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. Thank you to everyone who stayed after worship Sunday and helped us plan for the event.

Please continue to keep Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice in your prayers as she is in hospice. Also, pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! It was wonderful to worship together yesterday and praise God for His wonderful grace. From Romans 11 we saw that a remnant always remains of those who believe and trust in Jesus. We also saw that even though many who are advantaged and know some truth about Gods’ ways stumble over Jesus, their stumbling need not be final. God can even use their stumbling over Jesus for good and His glory. We learned that it is through Israel and the Jews that salvation has come to us and so we should never have antisemitic attitudes. We saw that God’s kindness and grace comes because of who God is and not because of any merit on our part. We came to understand that God works out His good purposes even when those who should believe do not. We saw this eternal truth that the unbelief and evil of people will never thwart the redemptive plan of eternal God.

We will have a short training on October 9 after morning worship for the “Trunk or Treat” event on October 29. We need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day.

Please continue to keep Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice in your prayers as she is in hospice. Also, pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped our great King and God and considered how God the Holy Spirit continues to call us to receive forgiveness and life in Christ Jesus. From Romans 10 we learned that salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ Jesus alone. Salvation is not far away. It is not something you have to search for or make some religious pilgrimage to find. Salvation is a near as the heart and the mouth. Scripture declares, “If you confess with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  We learned that God’s children keep proclaiming the good news that Jesus saves to those around them so that those who hear can believe in Jesus and be saved. We observed it is not enough to hear about Jesus, but we must act upon what we hear by believing in Jesus, embracing Him as the risen Lord of our lives and Lord of all. As we believe in Jesus, we call on Him and confess Him as Lord. And “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

We will have a short training on October 9 after morning worship for the “Trunk or Treat” event on October 29. We need lots of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will be overseeing bounce houses and other fun activities and publicizing “Trunk or Treat” on Facebook and throughout our neighborhood. “Trunk or Treat” will be an “all hands-on-deck event.” Pray for God’s blessing on this outreach and for your specific part in helping.

Please continue to keep Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice in your prayers as she is in hospice. Also, pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! It is always so wonderful to be with the people of God. George Linde told me last week when he could not attend our worship gathering in person that he watched the livestream, but it just was not the same. If you want to, you can listen to many powerful and Biblical preachers on the radio or internet that will help you grow in knowledge of the Word of God. Many of them are more gifted than your pastor at preaching. However, that is different from worshipping together and being physically present with God’s family. I know there are elderly, immunocompromised people, and from time to time each of us who cannot gather physically, and this is the reason we provide the livestream. However, many of those who cannot come wished they could come. We should seek to be together if possible. We need each other! I want to encourage you, if possible, to be with us physically. Rediscover the fellowship and encouragement that comes from being physically present with God’s family as we worship and study God’s Word together.

Yesterday from Romans 9 we learned again God never fails to fulfill every promise He makes. God loves the world and burdens His children with concern for others around the world and especially for their specific families and nations. We learned God sovereignly chooses which vessels to work through to bless the world. We learned God chooses to glorify Himself both through the children of promise and even those who refuse His love.And we again saw God chooses to save every person who comes to Him by faith in Jesus and rejects those who seek to earn their way to Him.

Please continue to keep Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice in your prayers as she is in hospice. Also, pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

During the month of September, we are taking up an offering for Minnesota/Wisconsin State Missions. There are special offering envelopes available for this offering.

Put October 29 on your calendar for “Trunk or Treat.” We will need lots of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will be picking up the block party trailer, overseeing bounce houses and other fun activities, publicizing “Trunk or Treat” on Facebook and throughout our neighborhood. “Trunk or Treat” will be an “all hands-on-deck event.” Pray for God’s blessing on this outreach and for your specific part in helping.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we took the Lord’s Supper, we remembered how God had called broken and ruined sinners to come to His table and receive life. We remembered that Jesus paid with His blood to give us this life as we took the bread and juice. Then from Romans 8, we thought about waiting on the Lord. As long as we are in this fallen world, we will be waiting. There is coming a day when God will make every believer completely into the image of His Son. There is coming a day when God will completely restore His creation to its original goodness and perfection. Romans 8 reminds us of these truths. It is the great climatic chapter of Romans assuring believers of our complete redemption, the complete restoration of God’s good creation, and the total confidence of God bringing us into His forever presence. Jesus will come for those who believe and belong to Him, and creation will then be completely restored! But until then we wait. Right now, the Holy Spirit is praying for us and changes us into becoming increasingly more like Jesus. Right now, we can live daily in the confidence that nothing will ever separate us from God’s love found in Christ Jesus.Christ is coming back, and everything will be made right. As we know these things will come, we are in a period of waiting. Believers long for the day of the complete restoration of the goodness of God’s creation.

We will have a potluck luncheon following our worship service next Sunday, September 18. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any guest we might have.

I received this update from Connie Boss about her sister-in-law Alice on Saturday evening.

“Alice is home having hospice come in. The chemo did not shrink the tumors. She was in a lot of pain. Now they are trying to keep her comfortable. I was able to spend the afternoon with her. That was good.”

Please continue to keep Alice in your prayers and pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

During the month of September, we are taking up an offering for Minnesota/Wisconsin State Missions. There are special offering envelopes available for this offering.

Put October 29 on your calendar for “Trunk or Treat.” We will need lots of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will be picking up the block party trailer, overseeing bounce houses and other fun activities, publicizing “Trunk or Treat” on Facebook and throughout our neighborhood. “Trunk or Treat” will be an “all hands-on-deck event.” Pray for God’s blessing on this outreach and for your specific part in helping.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Ever since we sang “Who Can Compare,” Sunday morning, written by our own Ron Roberts, I have not been able to get the song out of my mind.

He Walked on the earth one day, To show us a better Way – Who can compare?
And, dying upon the Cross, He saved us at such a cost – Who can compare, oh Lord, to You?

God the Father and God the Son, God the Spirit, the Three in One:
Before time ‘til the victory’s won – Who can compare?
Of His Kingdom, there is no end,; On His mercy, we can depend.
He’s our Maker, Redeemer, Friend – Who can compare?     

Stars will fall down, We’ll cast our crown Before the Great I AM;
And at His name, All will proclaim: “Worthy the Risen lamb!”

What a great God we serve! Also, as we began to look at the wonderful Romans 8, we learned of the rescue of believers. Believers have been rescued from condemnation and danger and now can live for the glory of God. Faith in Christ has freed us to live life in the power of the Holy Spirit because God the Holy Spirit lives within each of us. Believers have been forever adopted as the children of God who are privileged to cry out, “Father!” to Almighty God. We have the honor of inviting others to be rescued from condemnation. Because we have been rescued and freed, our love and gratitude for God should move us to want to share the freedom, love, and life we have with others. Christ Jesus perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection frees those who believe in Jesus from condemnation and empowers them to live for Christ.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, September 11, during our morning worship.

Put October 29 on your calendar for “Trunk or Treat.” We will need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will be picking up the block party trailer, overseeing bounce houses and other fun activities, publicizing “Trunk or Treat” on Facebook and throughout our neighborhood. “Trunk or Treat” will be an “all hands-on-deck event.” Pray for God’s blessing on this outreach and for your specific part in helping.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church