Church Blog

Sisters and brothers, 

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped in song, we sought to behold the wondrous mystery of Christ Jesus who condescended and took on flesh to ransom us. Then we looked at the martyrdom of John the Baptist from Mark 6. We saw how John the Baptist’s suffering and death points us to the truth that following Jesus sometimes requires sacrifice and suffering. John spoke the truth to those in power and made powerful enemies who plotted to end his life. We learned again in this passage of Scripture that Jesus is the pearl of great price and the hidden treasure in the field. Whatever it cost us to know and follow Jesus, He is worth it! But that does not mean the price to follow Him will be small. There are times today and times throughout the history of the church that believers have paid the ultimate price. We can preach half a gospel that only tells of the good things about following Jesus. Or we can do like our brothers and sisters around the world do as they call others to faith in Jesus. A believer in a place where there is a high cost of following Jesus told a Western believer that in the West you tell followers of Jesus that they need to live for Jesus. But in our country, we tell people who will follow Jesus that they need to be willing to die for Him. Most believers will never be called to die for Christ. However, all of us will be called to sacrifice and suffer for Him as we follow Him. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12-13, as he was close to being executed for being a follower of Jesus: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”  That is not the way it should be and not the way it will be when Jesus returns, but it is the way it is. We are not to seek suffering as we obey Jesus, but we are to know that it will sometimes come. I heard Hannah King say, “We are not called to be adversarial to the world or to appease the world. We are called to follow Jesus.” As we follow the One who suffered for us, we will sometimes suffer for Him. Our prayer should be that we will be ready when those times come. Following Jesus who suffered and died for us sometimes requires a willingness to suffer and die for Him.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper during our morning worship next Sunday, July 23.

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! Yesterday we sang about our great God and Savior who is worthy of worship and who holds fast to Himself those who believe and belong to Him. From Mark 6, we looked at how Jesus handled the rejection of friends and family closest to Him and how Jesus taught His disciples to process and handle rejection. No one likes rejection. It is hard to be rejected when you share that Jesus saves, the best news ever known about in the history of the world. It especially hurts when you love others, and they seem to keep on rejecting the forgiveness, life, love, and hope found only in Jesus. But do not become so hurt that you stop sharing. Do not become so hurt that you give up on people believing in Jesus. Down the line, some will remember your sharing the gospel with them and will later believe. Some will respond now to the message of life and salvation in Jesus. Keep on sharing Christ no matter what. Jesus is the treasure worth sharing! Believers keep sharing the good news that Jesus saves with those around us even as some reject the good news of Christ.

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 worshipped our great King and Savior Jesus Christ who is the conqueror of disease and death. We have seen Jesus showing in these four miracles recorded in Mark 4 and 5 power over nature, demons, sickness, and death. We focused yesterday on Jesus’ conquering disease and death. The Ruler of all creation is greater than all the deadly and destructive forces of this universe. The Conqueror of disease and death will one day destroy those enemies of humanity forever. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. Arnold Schwarzenegger might not know what happens to his body and soul after death, but all who believe in Jesus know that to die now is to be immediately in the presence of Christ. And we know that when Jesus returns to rule and reign forever, we will return with Him or meet Him in the air and our earthly mortal bodies will be raised to glorious and eternal bodies never to die again. We can praise and thank our great God that Christ Jesus will completely destroy mankind’s great enemies of sickness and death.

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 Sunday to all! Today, we worshipped and praised our great redeemer God whom we desire to completely reign over us. Then from Mark 5, we saw a Jesus deliver a man who was completely under Satan’s power and controlled by demons. We saw we could believe Jesus will work mightily in our impossible situations to restore and redeem. We serve a God who “can do what no other power can do.” The God who raised Jesus from the dead can work and act and do what is impossible for any other force in the universe. If you think you are up against and immovable object or an unsolvable problem, trust our great and powerful God who will do the impossible.

We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper during our morning worship next Sunday, June 18, 2023.

Remember to bring your baby bottles back to our worship gathering next Sunday, Father’s Day. If you write a check, remember to make it out to CareNet. We will take the filled baby bottles directly to them after they are returned next week.

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 worshiped by singing about and contemplating the wondrous mystery of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Here is a link to the wonderful hymn we sang yesterday: Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery (Official Lyric Video) – Featuring Matt Boswell & Matt Papa – YouTube. Then from Mark 4, we looked at how to react to the storms of life that will come to all of us. We learned that we can face these storms with faith and confidence in God who loves us. During these storms we need to remember certain truths. Remember if Jesus says we are going somewhere, we will get to there. Also, remember some storms, many storms, happen because God led us into those storms. Remember in the middle of every storm Jesus is in the boat with us. Never forget the Lord always cares for us in whatever storms we are going through. Remind yourself that Jesus is the ruler of all and there is nothing He cannot control. In all the storms of life trust in Jesus. I do not like thunderstorms, and I do not like stormy times of life. But because of this, I know we all can make it through those storms: Jesus protects, guides, and keeps in ultimate safety His children as they go through the storms of life.

Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day, we are talking up the Baby Bottle offering to support the CareNet Pregnancy Center. If you have not 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

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