Posts by Michael Nelson

This week, we have had the opportunity to host our annual Vacation Bible School. The theme for this year is, Illumination Station: Shining a Light on Who Jesus Really Is. Every night children from our church and all over our community have come to learn about truth is found in God and we should therefore follow his plan shown to us through Jesus Christ. Our memory verse for the week is from John 8:12 which says, “Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I…

As the summer is in full swing, I want to take this week to keep you up to date as to what has happened so far and as to what is coming up. Summer is often a great time for ministry, as people are outside, kids are on break and church programs take a different pace. Though many of us will take vacations, trips or take time to simply relax, the ministry of the church for the sake of the…

As the United States prepares to host one of the largest sporting events in the world, many churches are striving to make the most of their opportunities to leverage the 2026 World Cup to share the Gospel. In total, there are sixteen major cities throughout North America that will host soccer matches. It is estimated that this summer will draw an estimated 15-25 million people from all over the world to watch the games or be part of the festivities…

Last week, I shared an update from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). You can find it HERE. One major development at the convention was the passing of the Truth and Unity amendment which proposed an addition to the convention’s bylaws regarding who could be in friendly cooperation with the SBC. This addition stated that to be in friendly cooperation with the SBC, a church could not “act to affirm, appoint or endorse a woman serving in the office or function…

Every year, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meets in June for its annual meeting.  The convention contains just over 50,000 churches with an average of 10,000 or so messengers attending this annual meeting on behalf of member churches. The SBC was formed in 1845 with the singular purpose of, “eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the Gospel.” First Baptist Church is an active member of the SBC and unites with…

The Lord has been doing a lot of things in and through First Baptist Church over the last month. In fact, I think it is helpful for us to stop and take stock of what the Lord is doing often, so that we don’t lose sight of his goodness in our lives. Therefore, this week, I want to highlight for you five evidences of God’s faithfulness shown through First Baptist Church over the last month.   First, Baptism: This was…

As summer is now upon us, typically we can expect a change in pace. Many families will take vacations, others will have new projects to complete, or some will simply enjoy the long nights sitting on their porch. The same is true here at First Baptist Church. Sure, this change of pace is reflected through our Wednesday and Sunday night schedules, camp and children’s opportunities, but we typically change our pace in our study on Sunday morning as well. For…

You always know when summer is here. School is out, kids are playing outside, and you can smell charcoal from the grill as you walk through your neighborhood at night. Sure the days are hot, but the warm brings refreshment with it as you sit outside in the evenings. At the same time, summer brings a certain temptation. Anytime there is an opportunity for leisure and refreshment, the evil one will bring the temptation to focus inward and to neglect what…

Weekly Update – May 14th, 2026  Last Sunday, we had a parent/child dedication. At First Baptist Church, we want to be a community that not only celebrates children, but we also want to be a place that stands with parents to equip, support, encourage and pray for them as they seek to lead their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Col. 4:4). That means that as joyful as it was to watch seven young families present their children to…

Weekly Update – May 7th, 2026  How is it that we are supposed to live as Christians? Does the Bible say anything about how we are to interact with others?  In short, Yes! The New Testament gives us what we might call 59 one another’s that are to direct us in how we live in relationship with others. In other words, once we become Christians, it is rightly assumed that we would then be connected to God’s church. For it…

Weekly Update – April 30th, 2026  Everything we do on Sunday morning is with purpose. Hopefully this is not new information to you. From the way scripture is preached, to the way we sing, the prayers that are prayed, the scripture that is chosen for our readings, and the ministry updates that we hear, everything is done intentionally. The reason for this is because we believe that the way we gather matters. We don’t come together in some haphazard way…

Weekly Update – April 23rd, 2026  Last Sunday, we had an opportunity to witness the baptism of Braydon Cromwell. Braydon’s wife, Rachel, joined our church a few months ago, and since then, we have had many praying for her husband to come to know the Lord. The Lord answered our prayers, opened Braydon’s eyes to see the truth of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) and saved him from his sins. Therefore, his next step was to publicly profess his faith through…