Sisters and brothers,
Happy Monday to all! It was wonderful yesterday to worship with you as we praised our incomparably great God. There is none like Him and He alone is worthy of all praise! Then from John 15, we thought about facing the opposition of the world’s system. Jesus does not promise us acceptance but warns us of rejection. Jesus does not tell us we will be at peace with the world but warns of persecution from the world. Jesus told us that just as the world hated Him without a cause, it will hate us because we belong to Him. Jesus warned this would happen, so we would not be surprised when it does happen. Because the world does not see its need for forgiveness for sins, or for its need to be rescued from its sin and condemnation, it will oppose us. How are we to respond to this opposition? Are we to close ourselves off from the world and live in isolation? Absolutely not! We are to march into the hatred of the world with the love and good news of Jesus. We are to know the Holy Spirit of God is with us always to enable us to bear witness to Jesus. We are to recognize the Holy Spirit Himself will work in the lives of unbelievers to verify our witness and convince unbelievers they need to be saved. Believers are to return love for hate, blessings for curses, and good for evil as we take the good news that Jesus saves to a hostile world. We are to realize and go forward into the world knowing this timeless truth: God’s Spirit goes with us in Jesus’ love to bear witness to the good news that Jesus saves.
We will restart Sunday morning Bible studies on Sunday morning, October 17, at 9:30 AM. There will be a new class for adults that gives a general overview of God’s Word and gives overviews of specific books of the Bible. David Juhlin will be teaching this class. Also, Jason Donaldson’s class will continue in depth teaching on one book of the Bible at a time. There will also be classes for grade school children and preschool.
We will be reaching out to our neighbors on October 30 at 3:00 PM with a “Trunk or Treat” event. We will ask people to dress in costume and hand out candy and treats to the children of our neighborhood. We will need lots of cars, people, and treats to pull this off, so we ask all of you to be involved. You can start now by bringing your candy and treats to the church building in preparation for this event. For more information and to sign-up to help, contact Grace.
Remember to keep praying continually for each other.
Love being your pastor,
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church