Brothers and sisters,
Happy Monday to all! I hope the day has started well. We had a great day yesterday as we worshipped together. Although our worship team was a little slim because of all that was happening among our church family, Pete and Ron did a fantastic job leading us. Thank you brothers! I want to also thank our childcare workers and those who provided children’s worship. It is fun to see how much the children look forward to children’s worship when we have it. Often our childcare providers work behind the scene and are not recognized but they provide wonderful ministry and witness to the children. My prayer is that God would use them to plant the seeds of the gospel deep into the hearts of children that children might come to know Jesus early in life.
I hope the message encouraged you by helping all of us to see the unity that is being restored through the cross of Christ to humanity. Jesus’ death not only reconciles us to God when we believe, but it reconciles us to each other. God does not have many peoples, but in Christ Jesus He has the one people of God from every tribe, language, nation and tongue. There is a tremendous diversity among the people of God who believe in Jesus, but that diversity is a diversity in oneness, not in division. Through the blood of Jesus people from every nation, tribe, language and tongue are one! We should protect and strive to live in that oneness by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily and following Jesus. We must always be seeking to live for Jesus and not ourselves. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” I pray that God would continue to help us to do this today and every day!
Ladies, remember there is a Ladies Night Out scheduled for this Sunday evening, October 8th. The ladies will meet at Cheryl DiFonzo’s home to watch a movie together at 6:00 PM. Bring a snack to share if you can.
The Veritas Forum places the historic Christian faith in dialogue with other beliefs and invite participants from all backgrounds to pursue Truth together. Veritas Forum is sponsoring an event on Monday, October 9, at 7:00 PM at High Point Church called “Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection?” John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University and an internationally renowned speaker on the interface of science and religion. He has also participated in several debates with some of the world’s leading atheist speakers. If you are interested in going as a group to this event, contact me.
Love being your pastor!
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church