Church Blog

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped, we thought about the greatness of God’s love for us. We sang the song “What Love My God” written by Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson, and Michael Farren. Notice how powerful these words are:

     What love my God could hold You to the tree
     To bear that overwhelming debt for me
     The Son of heaven leaves the Father’s side
     The Healer bleeds the Life was made to die

     What love my God, so gracious and extreme
     Was strong enough to come and fight for me
     To go through hell and down into the grave
     And raise me up to see You face to face
     You raise me up to see You face to face

Then, in John 18 and 19 we looked at the record of the most famous trial in history, the trial of Jesus before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Though Pilate was the one seemingly controlling the verdict that would be given, the truth is that the One on trial was actually in charge of all that was happening. The sovereign Ruler of the universe was, through this the greatest injustice in the history of the world, bringing about the triumph of love, justice, and righteousness. What Jesus’ enemies saw as His being cursed, His greatest humiliation and defeat, was actually the triumph of God! Christ Jesus Himself became a curse for us to free us from the curse of sin. On that day as Jesus, the King of the Universe, was being tried and crucified, Jesus was providing a just salvation for all who would look to the Him and receive what He was doing for them. From this passage of Scripture, we see Jesus, the King of the universe, becoming the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other.

Have a wonderful week!

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we celebrated the Lord’s Supper, we thought about how Jesus saves us from our sin, our deadness, and our condemnation. Outside of Jesus we are not going to be condemned, but are already condemned and need to be rescued. We needed a Rescuer, a Redeemer, to save us. Jesus is the one who rescues us from sin and its eternal consequences. Jesus going to the cross to die in our place and rising from the dead made a way for us to be rescued. Taking the Lord’ Supper together helps us to regularly remember this.

We then considered from John 18 how we can handle the crises all of us will face in life. We contrasted the way Jesus handle the crisis of His arrest with how Peter handled the crisis of Jesus’ arrest. We can do what Peter did and react emotionally in our own strength. But that only leads to cowardice and failure. Or we can do what Jesus did. We can trust God whatever comes knowing He is directing our steps. We need to learn from the old spiritual we sometimes still sing, “I am weak but Thou art strong, Jesus keep me from all wrong.”  We need to pray, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own. I am weak. I need your Holy Spirit to empower me to live for your glory. I need your Holy Spirit to help me to trust you when an unexpected crisis comes, and I want to react instead of waiting on you to lead me. Help me walk close with You that my life may bring glory to Your name.” Believers can weather any crisis when we remember God knows a crisis is coming and we trust Him to calmly lead us through whatever we face.

I want to thank everyone who donated to and participated in the “Trunk or Treat” outreach on Saturday. It was a tremendous success, and it was a lot of fun! We had a number of children and families come from the neighborhood and from outside the neighborhood. Also, we learned from this first “Trunk or Treat” how to improve on future events. I want to give a special thanks to Grace Donaldson who coordinated the event.

Do not forget to turn your clocks back an hour before you go to be on Saturday evening as Daylight Savings Time ends.

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 we worshiped and gave our Savior praise. We learned as we praised Him that His mercy is more. Matt Papa and Matt Boswell wrote, and we sang: His mercy is more, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn, our sins they are many, His mercy is more. Then, from John 17, we got to listen to the prayer of our Savior on the night before He was crucified. We also realized Jesus’ prayers for us are not just something that happened “way-back-when” either. Hebrews 7:25 tells us Jesus is praying for us even now. “Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”  We also can pray to God the Father for the things that Jesus prayed for us. Believers can pray like Jesus for the Father to be glorified. Believers can pray like Jesus for God’s protection for ourselves as we carry out Jesus’ mission. Believers can pray like Jesus for themselves to be completely set apart for God’s purposes. Believers can pray, like Jesus, for us to be truly unified with all who name the name of Jesus. And we can live with thankfulness knowing Jesus wants us to be with Him and see Him in all His glory. Believers seek to pray like Jesus.

We apologize for not being able to livestream yesterday’s service. Pete worked on it yesterday afternoon and believes he has solved the problems and it will be ready to go next week. Here is a link to the recording of yesterday’s service: https://youtu.be/mhLEd8vrFvE

We will be reaching out to our neighbors this Saturday, October 30 at 3:00-4:00 PM with a “Trunk or Treat” event. Invite children you know in your neighborhood to come to this event. If you have candy and treats for the event, you can bring them by the church building. For more information and to sign-up to help, contact Grace Donaldson at goodgracious73@gmail.com.

We will be observing the Lord’s Supper next Sunday morning, October 31, 2021, during our morning worship gathering.

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! It was wonderful to be able to still worship outside together on a beautiful fall day yesterday. As we look at John 16:16-33, we saw how Jesus transforms the sorrows and tragedies of the lives of those who believe into triumphs. We learned how the greatest injustice anyone ever faced in history was the crucifixion of Jesus. However now that injustice has been transformed by God into the very thing that provides for our justification, forgiveness, and redemption. We should always remember Jesus transforms sorrow into never ending joy. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection transforms every need we have by unleashing the resources of heaven to meet those needs. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection even transforms our failures into peace and victory. If God can take this greatest injustice and transform it in triumph, He can take my and your greatest sorrows, tragedies, and yes, even failures and transform them into triumph. Jesus Christ transforms the tragedies of life into triumphs.

A few weeks ago during our Sunday morning worship gathering, we prayed for Theresa’s brother who was in the hospital with complications from Covid.  Theresa informed me that her brother died last week.  The funeral was last weekend. Please keep Theresa and her family in your prayers during this heartbreaking time.

We have restarted weekly Bible Study on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM. I want to encourage each of you to be part of one of these small group Bible studies if possible. There is a new class for adults and teenagers that gives a general overview of God’s Word and gives overviews of specific books of the Bible. David Juhlin will be teaching this class. Also, Jason Donaldson’s class for adults and teenagers continues in depth teaching looking at the book of Daniel. There are also classes for grade school children and preschool.

We will be reaching out to our neighbors on October 30 at 3:00 PM with a “Trunk or Treat” event. We will ask people to dress in costume and hand out candy and treats to the children of our neighborhood. We will need a lot of cars, people, and treats to pull this off, so we ask all of you to be involved. You can start now by bringing your candy and treats to the church building in preparation for this even. For more information and to sign-up to help, contact Grace.

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 great to worship with you yesterday as we praised the matchless name of Jesus and offered our lives as offerings to Him. It was also wonderful to hear a couple of reports from you of how God was working in your lives. In the message from John 16 we considered the wonderful advantage we have in Jesus providing for every believer His Holy Spirit. Even though we long to see Jesus face-to-face, until He comes we have the presence of His Holy Spirit always with us who believe. Yes, it is to our advantage and the advantage of all the people of God throughout the world that Jesus was crucified, buried, risen, ascended to heaven, and glorified. Now Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding, praying, for us. Jesus sent us His Holy Spirit after He was glorified to be ever-present with us who believe as we take the good news of Jesus to others. As we share the good news of Jesus, God’s Spirit also works in the hearts of unbelievers to show them their need for a Savior. God’s Spirit also guides God’s people to increasing understanding of God’s truth. God’s indwelling Spirit glorifies God and guides God’s people into increasing intimacy with God.

We will restart Sunday morning Bible studies for all age groups next Sunday morning, October 17, at 9:30 AM. I want to encourage each of you to be part of one of these small group Bible studies. There will be a new class for adults that gives a general overview of God’s Word and gives overviews of specific books of the Bible. David Juhlin will be teaching this class. Also, Jason Donaldson’s class will continue in depth teaching on one book of the Bible at a time. There will also be classes for grade school children and preschool.

We will be reaching out to our neighbors on October 30 at 3:00 PM with a “Trunk or Treat” event. We will ask people to dress in costume and hand out candy and treats to the children of our neighborhood. We will need lots of cars, people, and treats to pull this off, so we ask all of you to be involved. You can start now by bringing your candy and treats to the church building in preparation for this even. For more information and to sign-up to help, contact Grace.

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! It was wonderful yesterday to worship with you as we praised our incomparably great God. There is none like Him and He alone is worthy of all praise! Then from John 15, we thought about facing the opposition of the world’s system. Jesus does not promise us acceptance but warns us of rejection. Jesus does not tell us we will be at peace with the world but warns of persecution from the world. Jesus told us that just as the world hated Him without a cause, it will hate us because we belong to Him. Jesus warned this would happen, so we would not be surprised when it does happen. Because the world does not see its need for forgiveness for sins, or for its need to be rescued from its sin and condemnation, it will oppose us. How are we to respond to this opposition? Are we to close ourselves off from the world and live in isolation? Absolutely not! We are to march into the hatred of the world with the love and good news of Jesus. We are to know the Holy Spirit of God is with us always to enable us to bear witness to Jesus. We are to recognize the Holy Spirit Himself will work in the lives of unbelievers to verify our witness and convince unbelievers they need to be saved. Believers are to return love for hate, blessings for curses, and good for evil as we take the good news that Jesus saves to a hostile world. We are to realize and go forward into the world knowing this timeless truth: God’s Spirit goes with us in Jesus’ love to bear witness to the good news that Jesus saves.

We will restart Sunday morning Bible studies on Sunday morning, October 17, at 9:30 AM. There will be a new class for adults that gives a general overview of God’s Word and gives overviews of specific books of the Bible. David Juhlin will be teaching this class. Also, Jason Donaldson’s class will continue in depth teaching on one book of the Bible at a time. There will also be classes for grade school children and preschool.

We will be reaching out to our neighbors on October 30 at 3:00 PM with a “Trunk or Treat” event. We will ask people to dress in costume and hand out candy and treats to the children of our neighborhood. We will need lots of cars, people, and treats to pull this off, so we ask all of you to be involved. You can start now by bringing your candy and treats to the church building in preparation for this event. For more information and to sign-up to help, contact Grace.

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 shared in the Lord’ Supper and remembered all our loving God has done for us. The God of the universe, King Jesus, stepped into history and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Our King did not first ask us to die for Him. Our King first stepped into history to die for us and purchase our salvation. John 15 helps us to see the King we serve demonstrated His love for us by laying down His life for us to make us His friends. We thought about what it means to believe in and live in Christ. Believing in Jesus changes us and keeps changing us. True faith allows us to love others and treat them with respect and kindness, even when they are cruel and unloving toward us. True faith in Jesus results in being continually made more and more like Him. God is continually cleaning and pruning us to make us more useful in His kingdom and more in character like Jesus. God is continually growing those who believe so they grow in ability to love others more and more fully love and obey God. Believing in Jesus results in a life that brings glory to God and eternally impacts those around us.

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! We had a wonderful day of worship yesterday as we sang about the Lord being our Rock and our Redeemer who holds us fast. I want to thank David and Annette for leading in worship while Pete was away. We have wonderful people who serve week to week and step up when there is a need. Yesterday we thought from John 14 how those who believe are never alone. The Holy Spirit of God is forever with them. He lives in the bodies of every believer and is especially present when we gather together. Those who believe in Jesus have a Helper, a Guide, a Comforter, a Teacher, an Empowerer with them forever. The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force but the very presence of Jesus with those who believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit teaches everything we need to live for Jesus and provides right now the peace of Jesus to those who believe. We are not orphans. God our Father is present with us. God the Son is present with us. What a friend we have in Jesus! God the Holy Spirit lives in us and will be with us forever. God’s Holy Spirit Himself guides the people of God in carrying Jesus’ forgiveness and life to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit makes our bodies His home until the day when we are in the physical presence of Jesus Himself in the home of God the Father.

We apologize for not being able to livestream yesterday’s worship service. Here is a direct link to the recorded service: https://youtu.be/iWYImLSeprE. Also, here is a link to our YouTube channel where you can find recordings of past worship services: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3rJ-oFvSS-9W-iWf6Wcvnw.

We will be observing the Lord’ Supper in our morning worship gathering next Sunday, September 26.

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 the Hope of the world, our Lord Jesus, we sang He alone is the way to know the true and living God. From John 14, we learned Jesus is the ultimate revelation of the living and true God. Jesus is the way for sinners like us who need forgiveness to receive it. Jesus is the truth that eternal life begins now in the moment when we believe in Jesus and trust Him with our lives. Jesus is the life because through Jesus we have eternal life now and then forever in heaven, where we will live in the presence of Almighty God. Life comes in and through receiving, trusting, believing in Jesus Christ. Take this message of life in Jesus every place you go this week.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other.

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Tuesday to all! On Sunday as we worshipped our glorious Redeemer, we considered from John 13 how God worked even in the darkest time to bring about His redemption for the world. We thought about Judas Iscariot who refused Jesus’ offer of grace and rejected the forgiveness and life Jesus offered. Judas turned His back on Jesus’ grace and entered into eternal darkness. However, God even worked through the wickedness and unbelief of Judas to bring about His redemption for those who will receive His grace. We also saw that we, like Peter, in our weaknesses, can fail our Lord by denying or refusing to speak up for Him. God does not give up on us in those weaknesses but restores us to Himself. God teaches us not to depend on our own commitment or willpower, which are never strong enough to oppose the evil forces of Satan. God teaches us to depend on His power, the power of His Holy Spirit living in and through us. We also learned that we need each other, especially during the dark times. When there are dark times when we cannot sense the presence of the Lord, we need to seek to love and be loved by those who believe, the family of God. The people of God are His tangible presence in the world. The people of God love each other as Jesus has loved us. In the darkest of dark nights, God often reveals His presence, power, and glory to us.

Remember that next Sunday, September 12, 2021, we will move the start of our worship gathering to 10:30 AM.

If you are interest in trying to help in Afghanistan, I received this from the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board:

The Taliban recently seized power of Afghanistan, storming the nation, and capturing most major cities within a matter of days. In the aftermath of the political coup, a mass exodus is taking place as Afghans try to flee the country by the thousands. Religious and ethnic minorities, along with women and girls, are the groups most in danger of Taliban violence as they try to escape. As Afghan refugees are resettled, this crisis will impact communities all around the world, including yours. Through Send Relief and the combined resources of the IMB and NAMB, Southern Baptists are able to serve Afghan refugees wherever they are resettled. Send Relief is strategically working with our trusted ministry partners to minister to Afghan refugee families. We can connect you and your church with opportunities to pray, serve and give to support this response! If you or your church would like to get involved by prayer, financially, or by other means, resources are found on the SEND Relief website:  https://www.sendrelief.org/projects/afghanistan-crisis/

Remember to keep praying continually for each other.

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church