Brothers and sisters,
Happy Monday to all! I hope your week has started well. It was wonderful to be with you all yesterday and worship our great God and Savior. I pray you sensed the Lord’s presence as you worshipped. There is no substitute for gathering with the family of God and worshipping together. No believer can grow as they should in their understanding and walk with God if they are not part of regular worship and fellowship with the people of God. Believers who do not get the opportunity to be with other believers will tell you how wonderful being with the family of God regularly truly is. Yesterday’s message focused on how salvation is far more than an individual experience. God’s saves you so you can be part of His family, part of the community of the people of God. As Americans we tend to individualize everything from Scripture. But God’s promises are meant for more than us as individuals. They are meant for His people in community. We looked at the tragedies that Joseph faced in Genesis and realized the things he faced were not just so he could have a high position in Egypt. They were for the rescuing and saving of all the people of God and for the bringing about of God’s redemptive purposes in the world. Sometimes things happen in your life and my life that do not make sense if we individualize those things. However, they work for the good of the family of God, “for those who love the Lord and have been called according to His purpose.”
We will be starting some new groups this fall. We will have two new short-term groups, one for men and one for women. More information will be coming probably this weekend and those groups will begin sometime in September.
Love being your pastor!
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church