Church Blog

Brothers and sisters,  

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we sang in worship together, we remembered we do not have to live in fear and unbelief because Jesus has completely paid the penalty for our sins. Jesus willingly received the punishment that we deserved. We no longer will have to suffer that punishment if we believe in Him. Then Mark 12 reinforced what the song “Why This Fear and Unbelief” taught us. We can trust fully in His rescue of us from the penalty of sin. However, we learned that the message meant to bring us to forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus will turn to a message of judgment and condemnation if we will not receive and believe in Jesus. The good news meant to rescue us will condemn us if we refuse to believe that Jesus saves. Do not be irrational and refuse the gift of forgiveness and eternal life found in Jesus.

We will be having a “Trunk or Treat” for our community this Saturday, October 28. We have collected a lot of candy, but we want to collect even more so we can abundantly bless the children who will come. You can bring more to the church building during the week or bring more with you as you come on Saturday! We need “all hands on deck” for this event so if you are able, please come to help us. Set up for the event is at 2:00 PM and the event is from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

East Madison Thanksgiving celebration will be November 12 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up list for the foods we will need on the table in the foyer.

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! What a day we had yesterday in worshipping together and witnessing Alicia confessing her faith in Jesus through believers’ baptism. In the message from Mark 11, we saw the dangers of trusting in religious ceremonies and rituals that do not lead to heart and life change. Religion sometimes can be empty, meaningless, and even violent and dangerous. Religion that causes us to hate people and not love them is not from the true and living God. Jesus was showing that believing and trusting in Him changed how you related to God and how you treated others. Jesus was warning them against trusting in religious rituals that left life unchanged. Jesus in the acted-out sermons of Mark 11 was pointing to Himself as the hope of the world and the way to eternal life. Do you see that today? Jesus makes life beautiful and meaningful. Jesus empowers us to love, bless, and pray for those who curse us and do not love us. Jesus empowers us to forgive those who wrong us because we are subjects of His abundant forgiveness. Do not look to some religious ritual or religious place. Look to the Jesus today, the One who died for you and rose again from the grave. Jesus is the Way of salvation and life.

We will be having a “Trunk or Treat” for our community on Saturday, October 28. We will need to collect a lot of candy for this event so you might be planning for that in the days ahead. We need someone to pick up the Block Party trailer in Sun Prairie and bring it here and then take it back. If you can do that, let me know.

East Madison Thanksgiving celebration will be November 12 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign- up list for the foods we will need on the table in the foyer.

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! What a wonderful day we spent in worship and fellowship yesterday! From Mark 10, we considered the ways Jesus expect His children to live for him in this broken world. Too many believers think like James and John and want to be great by being in positions that will give us political and military power. However, we need to understand the way of Christ is love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, service, and sacrifice. Instead of wanting our enemies to be ruined and destroyed, Jesus’ disciples seek to conquer those who oppose us with Jesus’ methods of truth, mercy, love, and kindness. We need to embrace that the way to greatness in God’s kingdom is serving others and even giving our lives so they might find life in Christ. We cannot make true impact on the world by adopting the methods of the world. We must follow the way of Jesus until Jesus comes back. Believers on mission with Jesus serve and sacrifice for others in seeking to expand the Kingdom of God. Then, following the message from Mark, Pete and the worship team led us to sing these words written by Michael Farren, Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson.:

What love, my God, would bring You down to earth
What king would take a low and lonely birth
Yet to this dark and broken place You came
To sleep beneath the stars that You had made.

What love my God, would send the way of life
To walk the road, rejected and despised
That You might know the weakness I possess
And be my rock of strength and righteousness.

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.

O Your love, my God like a flood
As heaven opened up, pouring out on us
O praise the King who came to the world
In His love like a mighty flood.

CityAlight – What Love, My God – YouTube

We will be having a “Trunk or Treat” for our community on Saturday, October 28. We will need to collect a lot of candy for this event so you might be planning for that in the days ahead. Also, we will need volunteers for the block party trailer items we will set up. Be praying and preparing for this community outreach. We need someone to pick up the Block Party trailer in Sun Prairie and bring it here and then take it back. If you can do that, let me know.

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 shared the Lord’s Supper together and considered the great love and sacrifice Christ Jesus made so we could be forgiven and receive eternal life. From Mark 10, we looked at the life of the rich young ruler who went away sorrowful from the presence of Jesus because he was unwilling to give up the idol of his earthly riches to embrace and follow Jesus. The rich, young ruler had the deal of a lifetime and passed it up. In the end, the rich young ruler lost everything. Do not make the same mistake. Do not be a fool and let anything stand in the way of you receiving eternal life. Do not be a fool and think you can save yourself because salvation is a gift of God found in receiving and trusting in Jesus. Do know that following Jesus is the absolute best thing that will ever happen to anyone. Receiving eternal life in Jesus is worth any and every sacrifice! Today, as He is calling you, get rid of anything hindering you and answer the call to follow Christ. Do not repeat the sad story of the rich, young ruler.

We will be having a potluck luncheon after morning worship next Sunday, October 8, 2023. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any guest we will have.

We will be having a “Trunk or Treat” for our community on Saturday, October 28. We will need to collect a lot of candy for this event so you might be planning for that in the days ahead. Also, we will need volunteers for the block party trailer items we will set up. Be praying and preparing for this community outreach.

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 our great God and Savior and thought from Mark 10 about the importance of marriage and children. Jesus in answering the Pharisees’ questions about the grounds for divorce, went back to God the Creator’s original intent of marriage. Marriage creates the most profound bond between two people. It is the basic cell in all society. Marriage is the institutions through which children are born and raised. Societies flourish when they adopt God’s view of marriage, and they are slowly destroyed when they reject His view. A believer should never get married unless he or she is committed to staying married for life. It takes commitment and sometimes hard work. Both partners in a marriage are sinful human beings who must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow Jesus. Believers should be committed that nothing should happen that would destroy their marriage. There should be no sexual sin or unfaithfulness, no cruelty or abuse or even neglect that would destroy a marriage. Believers should commit themselves to having good marriages. Make the marriage you are in now, as much as is possible with you, one that is all that God intended for marriage to be in the first place. This is God’s ideal, and we should strive for it. God intends marriage to truly be one of His best gifts to most of us. Yes, at times it will be hard, and we will have to work and sacrifice to make it better. The sacrifice will be worth it. God intends one man become one flesh with one woman in marriage until death alone destroys this union.

We will be observing the Lord’s Supper in our worship gathering next Sunday, October 1, 2023.

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 was an enlightening day of learning and worship. We worshipped our generous King and learned about His work throughout the world. It was wonderful to hear how the gospel is advancing to the ends of the earth. It was encouraging to learn about our faithful brothers and sisters seeing God’s kingdom advance even in difficult places and situations. It reminds me of the Isaac Watts hymn, “Jesus Shall reign Where’re the Sun:”

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does its successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Here is a link to that song that I think you might enjoy: Jesus Shall Reign (Official Lyric Video) – Keith & Kristyn Getty – YouTube

We are participating in the Minnesota/Wisconsin State Missions Offering taking place during the month of September. There are special envelopes on the table in the back of the auditorium for that offering. We encourage you to pray and give generously as the Holy Spirit leads.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters, 

Happy Monday to all! As we worshipped with music yesterday, we thanked and praised God that His mercy and grace is more than enough to provide forgiveness for the sins of those believe in Jesus. Then from Mark 9, we thought about caring for the little ones and serving the lowest and least among us. We saw that we are called to follow Jesus and serve others.Jesus clearly stated this when He told His disciples in Mark 10, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Are we willing to serve others in the way Jesus has served us? Do we as followers of Jesus grasp the Son of God Jesus as the suffering servant of God who came to save us through His suffering? Do we as followers of Jesus understand that serving the lowest and least around us is serving the very Son of God Himself? Are we as followers of Jesus losing our tribal mentality to join with all who believe, follow, and confess Jesus’ name? Do we as followers of Jesus avoid anything that keeps the least or lowest from eternal life? We are followers of Jesus serving Jesus as we serve others in His name.Following Jesus requires following Him in serving and sacrificing even for the lowest and least among us.

We are participating in the Minnesota/Wisconsin State Missions Offering taking place during the month of September. There are special envelopes on the table in the back of the auditorium for that offering. We encourage you to pray and give generously as the Holy Spirit leads. To learn more about this offering watch this special video link: https://www.mwbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SMO-2023.mp4

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 Tuesday to all! I hope all of you had a relaxing Labor Day yesterday. It was wonderful to worship with you Sunday. We gathered to lift praise to Almighty God our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. Then from Mark 9, we looked at the mountaintop experience of the disciples as they witnessed Jesus’ eternal glory in the transfiguration. Then we saw the disciples in the valley of failure and frustration in their inability to free a young man from demon possession. We will all have mountaintop experiences of intense closeness with God. We will also have valley experiences of failure, frustration, and depression. These highs and lows will come and go. Remember there is a time for every matter under heaven. Rejoice in the mountaintop experiences and learn from them. Learn also from the failures, frustrations, and times of depression how to walk with God more closely. Be faithful to Jesus on the mountains and in the valleys. Following Jesus means seeking His presence and power during the highs and lows of life.

There will be a potluck luncheon next Sunday, September 10, after our worship gathering on Sunday morning. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any guest we might have.

We will be participating in the Minnesota/Wisconsin State Missions Offering taking place during the month of September. There are special envelopes on the table in the back of the auditorium for that offering. We encourage you to pray and give generously as the Holy Spirit leads. To learn more about this offering watch this special video link: https://www.mwbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SMO-2023.mp4

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! It was wonderful to be with all of you yesterday. We shared in the Lord’s Supper to remember Jesus and we gloried in Him as our Redeemer. From Mark 8 we thought about seeing Jesus with clearer and clearer spiritual vision. As we grow in our understanding of Jesus through the Word of God, we will see Him better and better. We all can have wrong ideas and concepts about Jesus because of our cultural or personal perspective. Just as Jesus healed the blind man with a multi-step approach, our vision of Jesus can become clearer. Just as the disciples in a multi-step process grew in their understanding of Jesus mission to serve, ransom, and redeem mankind, we too can keep growing in our understanding of Jesus’ call to serve Him and others. We can grow in that understanding as we deny ourselves, take up our crosses (God’s agenda for our individual lives instead of our own agenda for ourselves), and follow Jesus. We all need to pray that we will see God through His Word as He truly is. Are we allowing Jesus to help us see Him better and better so we will understand Him “more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly?” Jesus continually works in the life of His followers to help them know Him and His ways better and better.

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! It was wonderful to worship with all of you yesterday. We missed those of you who could not be with us. We studied Mark 8 and thought about the difference between slow learning and no learning. The most important necessity for learning and seeking Jesus is wanting to grow closer to Him. If a person wants to seek Jesus, they will find Him and grow in Him. A person might be slow in learning how to follow Jesus, but he or she will learn and grow if he or she desires to learn and grow. So, we need to ask ourselves if we truly are a seeker of Jesus? Do we want to know Him and grow increasingly in our love for Him? Are we among those seekers of Jesus who will be satisfied in every way with Him like those 4000 who even forgot to eat? Are we a seeker of Jesus that often needs adjustments to our thinking to learn better how to know and walk with Him? Jesus will not give up on us. Be careful, however, that you are not among those who refuses to seek Jesus, leaving you forever frustrated and questioning. Will we be among those who want to learn of Jesus or among those who refuse to believe, learn, and grow in Him?

We will observe the Lord’s Supper during our morning worship gathering next Sunday, August 27, 2023.

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