Church Blog

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

Brothers and sisters, 

Happy early Monday to all! We worshipped our great Savior and sang these words from a song by Joel Sczebel:

“What shall separate us from Your love?
Can years of sorrow break eternal bonds?
Can condemnation ever raise its voice
Against the pardon of the blood of Christ?

Though our journey here is long
This will be our triumph song

Nothing in all the earth, 
Not any height above
Could ever tear us from
Your everlasting love.”

Then from Mark 7, we saw that just as there are no unclean foods for believers, there are no unclean people anywhere that are beyond the love of God. Jesus worked in the lives of the Syrophoenician woman and delivered her daughter from demon possession and then healed a man who was deaf and could barely speak who also was outside of the people of Israel. Jesus was showing all His disciples that He is the Savior for the entire world, not just one group of people. The gospel is for everyone. As the children’s song says, “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” Whoever, whoever, whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. You may be desperate for the touch of Jesus upon your own life or upon someone you love. Keep asking, seeking, begging for the touch of Jesus. No one who truly seeks Jesus will fail to find Him. You might be deeply wounded or know someone who is deeply wounded that needs Jesus’ touch. Know this: Jesus hears the cry of your heart and wants to move in wounded lives. The gospel is for everyone, for the wounded and the broken and the outcast from every tribe, language, people, and language.The gospel is for the entire world. No person is outside or beyond the salvation found in Christ Jesus.

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 our Savior together yesterday and realize Jesus is the one reason with gather regularly. From Mark 7 we learned that it is not enough to believe in just anything, but we must believe in what is actually true. Believing in the wrong person or the wrong things can be the most dangerous thing in the world. Believing the wrong things can lead to destruction. It is not enough just to believe in anything. Truth is not a subjective and relative. Truth is objective and unchangeable. If you believe tradition, ritual, and religious words are more important than loving God, others, and obeying God’s Word, you believe the wrongs things and will miss out on what life is all about. If you believe defilement comes from outside of yourself rather than from within yourself, you will never see the need for a Savior who died and rose again to save you from your sin and yourself. Belief that stands forever must be based on the truth of Jesus and His Word.

I know many of us were praying for Mike and Lori as Mike had emergency surgery on Saturday evening. I wanted to report that Mike has been discharged from the hospital and is home. Please continue to pray for Mike and Lori as Mike continues to recover.

Yesterday the livestream for the service for some reason stopped right before the beginning of the sermon. We apologize for the inconvenience. Here is a link to listen to yesterday’s message: https://youtu.be/dteFluCQD18

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! As we worshipped and celebrated the Lord’s Supper together yesterday, we again realized only through the sacrifice of Jesus can we come to know Holy God. We come by Jesus’ blood. Then as we looked at Jesus feeding the five thousand men plus their families and Jesus’ walking on the water, we saw Jesus revealing Himself as the eternal Son of God. The disciples saw the miracles but missed understanding through them who Jesus was. We can be like them and see Jesus provisions but not come to know Jesus more intimately. We can miss the main point of Jesus’ blessings in our lives. The main point is that we might know intimately, love passionately, and serve fervently the God who created and redeemed us. We can be like the first two workers on the St. Paul cathedral who thought they were just cutting stones and earning a living. Or we can be like the last man who said, “I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build a great cathedral to the glory of God.” We have a high calling to be on mission with the very Son of God as He builds and establishes His eternal Kingdom. We have God the Father as our Father, God the Son as our Redeemer and Savior, and God the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Guide. We are on mission with the God of eternity. Do not just see the things Jesus does for you and others. See who Jesus is, love and live for Him, and be on mission with Him in establishing His forever Kingdom. Jesus reveals His identity as eternal God to those who have eyes to see.

We will have a special speaker next Sunday, July 30. Mike and Carolyn Miller are friends of ours that recently retired from being missionaries to Taiwan. Mike and Carolyn also started Hope Baptist Church in Mankato, Minnesota. You are going to love hearing them!

We will have a potluck luncheon Sunday, July 30, following our morning worship. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for our guest.

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