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Keeping the Sabbath?
Weekly Update – January 23rd, 2025 Last Sunday, we saw Jesus interacting with the teachers of his day about the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, began at sundown and ended at sundown the next day. Yet, in Luke 6:1-11, Jesus and his disciples are castigated by these so-called teachers of the law for their supposed Sabbath breaking principles. The problem is that the principles Jesus and his disciples were breaking were the additional laws and…
Child Evangelism Fellowship
Weekly Update – January 16th, 2025 Last Sunday, we had the Snodgrass family share with us a bit about their ministry with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). Then, Simon Snodgrass preached for us from Philippians 1:1-11. What a joy it was to have them back with us after not having seen them in person since 2020. Hannah joined our church back in 2018, and shortly after we began to support her ministry with CEF. Once she and Simon married in 2019,…
Three Challenges
Weekly Update – January 9th, 2025 Last week I gave you 10 evidences of God’s grace that have been clear to me, and hopefully clear to you, as we look back upon the last 10 years together. Though there have been ups and downs during this time, God has been at work, and I believe, will continue to be at work in us and in First Baptist Church. As I said last week, not only did I want to give…
10 Reflections for 10 Years
Weekly Update – January 2nd, 2025 I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting this week. Not only because it is a new year, although like many of you, I will try to set goals and plan for the year ahead, but I have also been reflecting for another reason as well. You see, January 5th, 2015 was my official start date here at First Baptist Church. My first Sunday preaching was just a week later on January 11th. That makes…
New Year’s Goals
Weekly Update – December 26th, 2024 As we begin another year, it is hard not to reflect upon the year behind us and aspire to new things in the year ahead. Typically most people will set goals to eat better (71%) or exercise (65%), as they approach a new year, but according to the New York Post, most people give up by January 12th. That doesn’t sound very hopeful, does it? I don’t think that means that we don’t set…
Being Intentional at Christmas
Weekly Update – December 19th, 2024 Christmas is almost here. Some will have family come into town this weekend, others will connect with family next week and in the days that follow. Either way, many of us will have some sort of contact with friends and family members as we get together to share a meal, celebrate the holiday and remember the birth of Christ. The question that should come to mind is, “How can we make the most of…
Celebrating Advent
Weekly Update – December 12th, 2024 Traditionally, Christians will remember four weeks of Advent as we look forward to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Advent means “longing” or “anticipation” for the coming of the Messiah. It reminds us to look back in joy to the first coming of Christ, but to also look ahead in expectation to his return. It is a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle that often accompanies this frantic season of events,…
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
Weekly Update – December 5th, 2024 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,…
Thanksgiving 2024
Weekly Update – November 28th, 2024 Thanksgiving is often a great time to catch up with friends and family members. Sometimes though, in the midst of trying to talk with someone you haven’t seen in a while, or sitting around a table with a bunch of people, it can get difficult to have real, meaningful conversation. Below are a list of questions, put together by Donald Whitney, to hopefully aid in meaningful discussions that fit the season. – What’s your favorite…
Praying the Scriptures
Weekly Update – November 21st, 2024 One of the common trends among many Christians is discouragement when it comes to prayer. Often times, we have the tendency to set out on the path of prayer looking to pray for everything we can think of to only glance at our watches and discover that we have only been at it for all of 3 or 4 minutes. Quite frankly we feel as if we are simply praying the same old things…
The Genealogy of Jesus
Weekly Update – November 14th, 2024 This week we returned to our series in the gospel of Luke. So far, we have seen the births of John that Baptist (1:57-66) and Jesus (2:1-7), side by side. We have also seen a bit of John the Baptist’s ministry (3:1-20), ending with him being in prison for calling out Herod Antipas’ sin of adultery and incest (3:20). Yet as we came to chapter 3 verse 21, it is almost as if Luke…
Responding to the Election
Weekly Update – November 7th, 2024 One of the fundamental graces that has kept our democracy going for over 245 years is the smooth transition of power that occurs every 4 to 8 years. Elections occur, voters vote and the losing party concedes allowing this country to remain peaceful as its history continues. We all had the opportunity to witness this up close on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning as Donald J. Trump became president-elect of the United States. President Biden has…