Posts by Michael Nelson (Page 10)

Weekly Update – December 1st, 2022 The Christmas offering that we as Southern Baptists participate in every year is named in honor of a woman named Lottie Moon.  On July 7, 1873, the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) of the Southern Baptist Convention appointed her a missionary to China. Lottie spent most of her missionary years in Tengchow and P’ingtu, China where she taught at mission schools and ministered to women. Through having immersed herself in Chinese culture,…

Weekly Update – November 24th, 2022 Every year churches all around the world take time out of their normal schedule and celebrate the season of Advent.  Advent means “coming” and it is designed to prepare us for the celebration of Christmas.  As we look forward to this celebration, let us remember that it is more than gifts, lights and food.  It is a time for us to remember the first coming of our savior while also longing for his second…

Weekly Update – November 17th, 2022 What does it mean to be born again?  This phrase garnered a lot of attention back in 1976 when President Jimmy Carter officially declared that he was a “born again” Christian.  Being “born again” then became almost a sort of add on to the faith.  People began to proclaim that they were not only Christians but that they were “born again” Christians, as if there is a difference.   Even still, the use of the…

Weekly Update – November 10th, 2022 In Ephesians 1:15-16, the apostle Paul says that he does not cease from giving thanks in his prayers for the Ephesians.  The reason for his thanks is because of the Ephesians’ “faith in the Lord Jesus” and their “love toward the saints.”  Now, these two phrases about the Ephesians’ faith and their love, they are necessarily connected.  The reason why I said that is because within the church, there can be no display of…

Weekly Update – November 3rd, 2022 It is that time again.  It comes around every two years.  That’s right – it is election time.  Every two years it seems as though the stakes are higher, the parties are more divided and the nation is in peril.  Now I don’t want to downplay this election, there are clearly multiple ideologies being promoted that will take our nation in one direction or the other.  But I do want to communicate that despite…

Weekly Update – October 27th, 2022 In our September members’ meeting, the main proposal that was presented, was a complete rewrite of our church’s constitution.  The reason for this proposal is so that our church might best reflect the structure that is presented in the New Testament.  What we see throughout the New Testament is what we call congregationalism.  This is where the final authority for all matters, specifically regarding doctrine and direction, rests in the hands of the congregation…

Weekly Update – October 20th, 2022 We need each other.  Have you ever thought about that?  Sure you have.  We have talked about it in various ways in the past.  That doesn’t mean it is any less true though.  We need each other.  I’m not simply referring to a basic human need for interaction or the need of others for our physical necessities such as food and water.  Instead, I am talking about the need we have as Christians to…

Weekly Update – October 13th, 2022 Last Sunday we looked at Titus 2:1-10 and the effects that sound doctrine has upon the church.  Where Titus was stationed, on the island of Crete, some false teachers had come into the church, and with their false teaching they were “upsetting whole families” (1:11) and causing many to “turn away from the truth” (1:14).  As a result, those who turned away from the truth, ended up with lives that were “detestable, disobedient, unfit…

Weekly Update – October 6th, 2022 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end,…

Weekly Update – September 29th, 2022 This week I want to highlight a couple of points from our members’ meeting last Sunday night. This is the first time we have held our members’ meeting at this time and it seemed to be a great transition for us. We started with dinner at 5:30pm before we moved into our meeting that night. What resulted was one of the largest crowds we have had in years for a members’ meeting. Here are…

Weekly Update – September 22nd, 2022 This coming Sunday night, we will have our regularly scheduled “members’ meeting” for the third quarter of the year.  Most churches call these meetings, their “business meetings” but we have opted to call them “members’ meetings” instead, in order to convey a different sort of tone for this time.  You see a “business meeting” sounds cold and informal.  It is almost as if you are here to simply cast a vote and make sure…

Weekly Update – September 15th, 2022 There are two things that I want to update you on this week as we consider life at First Baptist Church. First, I want you to be aware of our new Bible Study and Sunday School options for Sunday mornings. Then second, I want to highlight an aspect of the sermon from this previous Sunday, as it pertains to what we will be considering at our Members’ Meeting on Sunday night, September 25th. First,…