Posts from 2020 (Page 2)

Weekly Update – September 25th, 2020 Last week during our worship service, we looked at Matthew 5:13-16. The main call from this passage was to live as salt and light in this unbelieving world. There is no option to this type of lifestyle as a Christian. If your tastes have been satisfied through the living water that Jesus offers, then you will live a life that will reflect that reality. Essentially living as salt means that our actions will confirm…

Weekly Update – September 18th, 2020 On Sunday mornings we will be in two different studies. In our service time, we will continue through The Sermon on the Mount. Then during our Bible Study hour, we will be in the book of James. Contrary to first impressions though, these are not necessarily two separate studies. Sure they are in two different places of Scripture, but there are a lot of parallels between the two. Consider some of the topics addressed…

Weekly Update – September 11th, 2020 This Sunday officially kicks off our emphasis on Missouri State Missions. Along with nearly 1,800 other churches, our church partners to pray and give concerning the Lord’s work in our state. To understand a bit more about what this means, here is a description from our Missouri Baptist Website: “Imagine helping a prison inmate in Jefferson City earn a four-year biblical studies degree from Hannibal-LaGrange University, and thus transform the prison culture as a…

Weekly Update – September 4th, 2020 Dear Church Family, The Sermon on the Mount is the most famous sermon ever recorded.  It is a summarization of the teachings of Jesus given during his short 3 year ministry and it has been studied for over 2000 years since.  Many take the contents of this sermon and they try to sift helpful tips for living well out of them, or they will pull one line out that they really like and try…

Dear Church Family, Last week I shared with you a lot of what I have been struggling with from Hebrews 10:19-25. In this passage, the author of Hebrews calls the church to continue to gather together, even in the face of fear. Well, right now there is a lot of fear surrounding this pandemic. Some fear is legitimate for those in vulnerable health categories, whereas for others, this fear may need to take a backseat to the spiritual danger that…

Weekly Update – August 20th, 2020 Dear Church Family, Typically during this time of the year we are gearing up for all of our fall activities. Students return to school, vacations come to an end and many of us return to a busy schedule. Of course, that will all look different this year. Even so, though we might not be returning completely to normal, we here at First Baptist Church will still be active in ministry in the upcoming weeks.…

Weekly Update –  August 6th, 2020 Dear Church Family, For the first time in 5 months our church hosted an event other than our normally scheduled Sunday morning services. Our Backyard Bible Clubs kicked off on Wednesday night (8/5) with 10 kids meeting out in the front of our church. We had two groups who rotated through music, teaching, games, crafts and snacks. Everything was socially distanced and outside, so this event allowed us to stay within the parameters of…

Weekly Update –  July 30th, 2020 Dear Church Family, There is a balance in the midst of all of this pandemic that we are going through. It is something that I have been trying to wrestle with over the last several weeks. On the one hand, yes, there is a legitimate virus that has the potential to make you sick. But on the other hand, spiritually, there is great danger in isolation and shutting down life too. Somehow there has…

Weekly Update – July 23rd, 2020 Dear Church Family, Last week in Sunday School we talked about the apostle Paul’s imprisonment from Philippians 1:12-18. One of the striking aspects about his situation was that Paul didn’t complain, he wasn’t anxious or worried, and he didn’t even seek a degree of pity. No, instead he ends verse 18 by saying, “I rejoice.” Through his situation, the gospel was still being proclaimed and brothers and sisters in Christ were being encouraged to…

Weekly Update – July 17th, 2020 Dear Church Family, With the weather getting hotter everyday, one focus of our family has been to find some sort of water activity for the kids to enjoy. That is why it was such good news to me the other day when I heard that the splash pads in Grandview may open up next week. At the same time, Jackson County has indicated that the mandate for masks will likely continue on for the foreseeable…

March 19th, 2020 Church Family,       I want to give you a brief update in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic about the status of our church.  Right now, everything, and I mean everything, has been cancelled until at least March 31st.  This date is a minimum and could be potentially extended, based upon the recommendations of the federal, state and local governments.  In addition, Awana has been cancelled until after Easter and the Easter Egg Hunt has been cancelled…