Brothers and sisters,
Happy Monday to all! We worshipped yesterday and sought to “behold our God, seated on His throne.” We endeavored to see Him in all His majesty and adore and love Him. We then saw from John 4 a man who had a desperate need in his life. His young son was critically ill and at the very point of death. He went to Jesus and placed this desperate need before Jesus. We saw that even though this was a man of power and influence, no position of power, wealth or influence frees anyone from the tragedies of life. We learned in the life of this man and in our lives, Jesus will challenge us to truly trust Him when we cannot see Him visibly working. We also learned that Jesus often challenges us to reveal He desires more for us than our earthly well-being. From this passage from God’s perfect Word in John 4, we see this timeless truth for those going through crises in every age: God seeks to use the crises of our lives to cause us to know, love, and more fully trust in Him.
I want to recognize today the faithful team of people who count the offerings, record the gifts of those who give to Lord through East Madison, and who make sure the bills get paid. They have also taken on extra responsibilities during this season of Covid because others who were helping to serve in these areas had to take extra health precautions and could not help during this time. Also, like Pete whom I mentioned last week, they serve the Lord and His church in more ways than just this ministry that I am mentioning. Thank you, David, Annette, Jim, and Tricia for all your work behind the scenes taking care of these things. I want to tell all of you for myself and all of your East Madison family how much we appreciate you.
We will observe the Lord’s Supper during morning worship this Sunday, February 28. If you are worshipping virtually, you will need a cracker and some juice for each person in your home who is participating. Also, if you would like to stop by the building and pick up the pre-packaged elements during office hours, let me know and I can put them out for you. This would also give me an excuse to see some of you!
We invite you to join us for an adult virtual Bible study on the book of James on Wednesday evenings. We will be studying James 4 and 5 this week. Please email me if you would like to join this study so I can send you the Zoom link.
Below is information and prayer requests for some missionaries we support. Remember to keep praying continually for each other.
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church