March 2019

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all!  I hope your week has started well.  It is truly nice to see the sun and feel spring arriving.  Yesterday we had a good day of worship.  It was good to have some better weather so we could see some of our wonderful senior saints, who have not been able to be with us because the inclement weather of the last month.  East Madison is blest by these wonderful senior saints!  As we worshipped yesterday, we saw that we should follow Jesus right now without reservation.  We looked at how we should be continually in awe of Him. We examined His power over nature, His power over the forces of evil, and His ability to forgive sin.  No one else has this power and ability except Jesus Christ. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, has the right to ask us to follow him now no matter what hardships we might face or whatever cost we may have to pay. Don’t be an emotional follower of Jesus who is caught up in the moment without realizing there will be very difficult times in following Jesus.  Don’t be like the man who thought He could follow Jesus later when it was more convenient and treated Jesus more like a consultant than King! King Jesus bids us to follow Him now without reservation because He is Lord of heaven and earth.

This weeks, “The Call to Courageous Manhood” men’s small group study will again meet Wednesday, March 20^th,  at 6:30 PM at David and Annette Juhlin’s home.   

We will have the Lord’s Supper, Sunday March 31^st, during our morning worship service.

Love being your pastor! 

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! It was good to gather yesterday and worship.  Yesterday we thought how the powerful acts of Jesus in Matthew 8 back up His message to us from “The Sermon on the Mount.”  Jesus’ claims to be the criteria by which we will be judged and the very one whom will we stand before in judgment were backed up by His life and powerful miracles.  We saw that no one is beyond the touch of Jesus and no one is beyond the power of Jesus’ Word, so we should not think any person beyond His help.  We also saw that everyone who believes can join Jesus in His mission of extending His Kingdom.   Jesus’ powerful acts reveal He alone is the Savior and Lord whom all should embrace.    

I want to thank all those who teach our Bible studies at every level, from children to adults.  Deanna, Damon, Megan and Jason work hard to teach the Bible to those who attend those studies.  I would encourage you, if you do not attend one of our Bible study classes that happen every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM, to join us. I also want to thank Grace Donaldson for her hard work in providing children’s worship twice a month.   These faithful people serve us quietly and faithfully.  I am grateful to each of you.

This weeks, “The Call to Courageous Manhood” men’s small group study will meet Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 PM at the church building.  We will meet upstairs in the youth Sunday School room because Emily Juhlin has a concert and David will need to leave a little early.  Join us for this study.  

Love being your pastor! 

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all!  As we finished the sermon series on “The Sermon on the Mount,” we saw in the conclusion that the Sermon on the Mount  is all about Jesus!  It is not just a sermon on ethical living, but a sermon that asks the question, “Will you believe in and trust your life to the One who preached this sermon, Jesus Christ?”  Jesus, who preached this sermon is the narrow gate we must enter the Kingdom of Heaven through.  We must not be misled by people who preach there are many ways to God.  We must not be misled by those who preach a Jesus other than the one revealed in the Bible.  Also, Jesus is the One who must know us and the One we must know.  Many profess faith in Jesus but do not know Him and whom He does not know.  On Judgment Day, Jesus will publicly profess to some of those who preached great sermons and did supposedly miraculous things in His name that He never knew them!  They did not live for His glory.  They did not truly believe and follow Jesus.  The served in Jesus’ name simply for what was in it for themselves and Jesus never knew them and they never knew Him.  We also saw that Jesus’ words must not simply be heard, but we must put them into practice.  It is not enough to read the Bible and listen to sermons and attend worship service.  When we hear the word of God, we must act upon it by building our lives upon it! If we put into practice Jesus’ words, we will survive whatever storms of life come our way.  If we simply just hear them and not do  them, our lives will be destroyed by the storms of life that come to all.  Our eternal destinies rest on what we believe about and do with Jesus Christ.   The Sermon on the Mount, and in fact, all of the Bible is about Jesus!

I want to challenge our men to be a part of the men’s short-termed small group study, “The Call to Courageous Manhood” that starts this Wednesday evening, March 6^th.  I think this study will help us to be better men of God-better husbands, fathers, sons, and grandfathers.  I am excited about this study.   It will led by David Juhlin and held at David and Annette Juhlin’s home and start at 6:30 PM.  You can contact David or me with any questions about the men’s group.  

Remember to move your clocks an hour forward this Saturday before you go to bed as we begin Daylight Savings Time. (I don’t think we actually save any daylight but simply rearrange our schedules to make it seem like we have more daylight!)

Love being your pastor! 

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church