Church Blog

Brothers and sisters, 

Happy Tuesday to all! Pray you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Sunday, we worshipped by singing and thinking about the Father’s deep love for us. Then from Mark 4, we look at the parables in that chapter and what they teach us about ourselves and the total triumph of the Kingdom of God. We asked ourselves if we are receptive and open to whatever God would want to teach us. What kind of soil is my life? Is it soil that will reject or receive the Word of the God? We asked ourselves if our eyes are open or closed today to Jesus and His gospel. Are we hard soil, rocky and shallow soil, or weed-invested soil that does not truly receive God’s truth presented to us and is fruitless? Or are we good soil prepared to receive God’s truth that will produce much eternal fruit? Are we ready and able to receive more and more of God’s truth? Or are we so overwhelmed by the bad news all around us that we fail to see the triumph and total victory of the Kingdom of God? Do we live in that triumph today? God continually teaches His people who are ready to hear more and more truth. Will we hear the good news of Jesus and personally believe and receive Jesus into our lives? Are we, as one who is already a believer, ready to receive whatever truth God has for us to receive?

Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day, we are talking up the Baby Bottle offering to support the CareNet Pregnancy Center. If you haven’t already, take a baby bottle and bring it back on Fathers’ Day to support this wonderful ministry. If you write a check, remember to make it out to CareNet. We take the filled baby bottles directly to them.

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 worshipped, we gloried in our Redeemer Jesus. Then from Mark 3, we thought about examining our motives as we follow Him. Why are we following or opposing Jesus? The crowd follows Jesus because of what they want Him to do for them. The embarrassed oppose Jesus because they know following Jesus will not always be popular as He asks us to submit to His will and not the standards of the culture around us. Some religious people oppose Jesus because the refuse to believe in Him no matter the evidence because they are entrenched in a false religion. Many of the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time determined to oppose Jesus no matter what He did. However, some are among the committed who follow Jesus because they know in Jesus alone is forgiveness for their sins and eternal life. These have determined to follow Jesus come what man. Today, if you hear the Holy Spirit’s voice wooing you to follow Jesus, follow Him as His disciple. As the song says, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.”

Do you remember how difficult it was for you when you first attended a new church? It is hard to go to a place full of strangers. All of us need to make a special effort to welcome guests, let them know we are glad they joined us, and that we want to serve them. Let them know we hope to see them again.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens others might be carrying.  

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brother and sisters, 

Happy Monday to all! As we worshipped yesterday, we remembered the Lord Jesus by taking the Lord’s Supper together and celebrating His great sacrifice for our salvation. As we sang, we remembered this, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Then, from Mark 2 and 3, we thought about the dangers of deadly religion. We see the Pharisees who opposed Jesus have a deadly and dangerous religion. If we are not careful, we can even start making the way we live our lives more deadly than lifegiving. If we focus on keeping list of do’s and don’ts; if we focus more on performance before God than the forgiveness and grace of God; if we focus more on doctrine and theology than the glory of God and the beauty of the Savior, our Christianity can become life-taking instead of life-giving. Do not fall into the trap of deadly religion. Deadly religion cares more about obeying rules and rituals than truly meeting human need. Deadly religion cares more about perpetuating institutions than bringing life and health to people. Jesus sets us free from deadly and dehumanizing religion to love and serve God and others.

We will have a potluck luncheon next Sunday, May 21, 2023, after morning worship. Bring enough food for you family and a little extra for any guest we might have.

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 from Mark 2 we thought about the conflicts Jesus had with His critics and how he handled them. We learned that we should not be people who stir up conflict wherever we go. We learned that we should seek to live in peace with others as much as depends on us. However, we are not to be discouraged when you cannot be at peace with someone who does not want peace with us. Never sacrifice foundational truth, justice, righteousness, or seeking the salvation of the lost for the sake of peace at any price. You cannot be at peace with everyone and follow Jesus. Not everyone will like you. Be true to Jesus no matter what. Follow Jesus by bearing witness to all around you no matter their status in society. Follow Jesus by hanging out with people who need Him instead of always hanging with believers. Follow Jesus by being willing to accept other believers who do things differently from you as they follow Jesus. Always be true to doing God’s will no matter how people react around you.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, May 14, 2023, during our morning worship service.

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! All who gathered yesterday understood a little bit more how one day in the house of the Lord with the family of God is better than a thousand elsewhere. Then, from Mark 1 and 2, we learned that our greatest need is for forgiveness for our sins through Jesus. If we seek God only for our immediate physical, emotional, and material needs to be met, we are missing the boat. Our greatest need is to encounter the living Lord Jesus Christ who justly paid for and will forgive sins. In Jesus, our sins can be justly forgiven. If we move in desperation toward Jesus knowing our greatest need, Jesus with compassion moves quickly toward us.Jesus moves toward those who desperately need and seek Him. There is no other requirement today to find Jesus than to know that you desperately need Him. Move toward Jesus right now.

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 as children of the risen King. Then from Mark 1 we saw that we should never lose the wonder of seeing Christ Jesus move among us. Do not ever lose the amazement and wonder of what Jesus our Lord can do. Jesus moves in power when it seems like God’s mission has somehow been thwarted. Jesus moves in power as He calls us to leave all and follow Him. Jesus moves in power as His Word is taught and Satan’s captives are set free. Jesus moves in power in healing our personal pains and freeing us from bondages of every sort. We often forget the true power of the gospel of Jesus. I heard of someone coming to a church because of the invitation of a friend. When this invited friend was among the people of God as they worshipped and when she heard the good news that Jesus saves proclaimed, she told her friend that invited her, “”I have been looking for this my whole life and I didn’t even know it.” Never lose the wonder of seeing our mighty Savior Jesus move in power among us.

Please continue to pray for Kathy McElmurry. Kathy has not shown significant improvement and needs us to pray for her.

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! We had a wonderful day of Bible Study and worship. I am grateful for Deanna, Grace, MaryAnn, Jason, and David who faithfully week after week study and teach the Word of God to those of all ages at East Madison. Thanks to all of you for your faithfulness to God’s Word and love for those you teach. If you or your children are not in a weekly Bible Study, attend a Bible Study led by these faithful people at 9:30 AM on Sunday mornings.

In our worship gathering we joined with believers all over the world in praising the Lord. From Mark 1, we looked at how from the very beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus was showing how He would defeat completely Satan. Yes, it is good to know sometimes how things will end. This passage from Mark gives us the assurance at the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus that Jesus triumphs in the end. Will we believe the complete triumph of Jesus over Satan? Will we believe in the coming compete destruction of evil when Christ Jesus comes again to reign in righteousness? Christ Jesus destroys the power of the enemy through His perfect life, His atoning death, and His physical and bodily resurrection from the dead never to die again.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Easter Monday to all! Jesus is risen indeed! We passionately worshipped our risen Lord yesterday and rejoiced that He provided for our forgiveness and conquered death for all who will believe. From Luke 24, we looked at the continuing witnesses to the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus. We looked at the continuing witness of the empty tomb, the continuing witness of Scripture, the continuing witness of skeptics, and the continuing witness of Jesus’ Church. We saw that if God does not give us exactly what we ask for in prayer, it is only because He something better for us in the future. We see so much hypocrisy and evil among Christians and God’s church today. However, we have a perfect Savior, One who rose from the dead never to die again. We follow Jesus despite all the failures of believers. Yes, we are given something so much better than having temporary blessings on earth and being a part of some worldly kingdom that will one day pass away. We are a part of the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We have a King who conquered death never to die again and we will reign with Him forever. Christ’s bodily resurrection establishes that He will rule and reign forever!

Our annual East Madison business meeting will be held on Sunday, April 16, 2023, after our morning worship.

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 worshipped our great God and remembered the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We sang about the crowd on that Palm Sunday proclaiming Jesus as the King who comes in the name of the Lord and shouting “Hosanna,” which means, “Lord, save us,” as He entered Jerusalem. We learned that Jesus continually deserves praise. We saw in Matthew 21 Jesus making the claim that He is Israel’s and the world’s Savior and Messiah and He deserves worship. We saw Jesus confronting the hypocritical and unjust religious leaders of the day with His claims. We saw that Jesus did not come as a conquering general kind of Savior. Jesus did not come as a political revolutionary. Jesus came as a humble Servant who willingly gave His life to provide forgiveness and eternal life to us. Jesus came gently and riding on a donkey’s colt. Yes, Jesus was confronting injustice and evil, but confronting it with truth, love, and non-violence. While other leaders think people should die for them and their cause, King Jesus died for us so that we might be forgiven. Yes, we too, like Jesus’ followers on that day, cry out “save us, Lord” to the only One who can.

We will have a joint Good Friday service with Midvale Baptist Church at East Madison Baptist Church this Friday, April 7, at 7:00 PM. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together as we remember Christ sacrifice for our forgiveness.

Also, we will have our annual Easter Breakfast this Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023, at 9:30 AM before our Easter worship. There will be no Sunday School. Please bring enough food for yourself and a little extra for any guest we might have.

Our annual East Madison business meeting will be held on Sunday, April 19, 2023, after our morning worship.

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 was a wonderful day of praising and thanking the Lord. From James 5, we saw the people of God, the church, should be known as a people of prayer. Because of this, let us pray when we or others suffer. Because of this, let us always pray and praise God for His goodness. Because we are a people of prayer, let us ask God in faith for His healing of all kinds and believe that He will answer those prayers. Also, let us as God’s people in humility confess our sins to one another and share our struggles as we seek to become more and more and more like Jesus. Let us seek the wanderers who have been among us but now are going astray to bring them back to Jesus and His people and save them from death. If we are a true people of prayer, we will see God’s power flow among us and through us! God’s people, the church, need to continually be people of prayer, praise, and power.

Plan on inviting someone to our special Easter services on Good Friday, April 7, at 7:00 PM and/or our Easter service at 10:45 AM on Resurrection Sunday, April 9. The Easter season is a time when many people are more open to invitations to come to church. Also, most studies reveal people are more likely to come to worship when a friend invites them. Who could you pray for and invite to church this Easter season?

Emmanuel Church will be holding a block party on the East Madison lot on Sunday evening, April 2.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church