it is the gift of God.

Transcription

1 Evidence of Faith For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 Faith Baptist Church 5750 N Hwy 101 ~ PO Box 570 Lincoln City, Oregon Phone- (541) ~ Fax (541) FaithLincolnCity@earthlink.net Webpage January 2014

2 Pastor Brian I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you... Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Your word is a lamp unto my feet Psalm 119:11, 18, 97, 105 Part of a leader s job is to look ahead. I do a lot of thinking and praying about where Faith Baptist is headed, what God has planned for us, and what we need to do next. For a long time, one of the big things God was doing in our church was the building project. Now that it is largely complete, I know many of us are thinking, What s next? But it s important to keep questions like that in their proper place. While change is a necessary part of church life, it is certainly not the goal. We don t live for the next big thing; we live for Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. I pray that Faith Baptist is always sensitive to whatever the Spirit of God has for us in a particular season, but I also pray that we remain committed to those things that are foundational to our identity. No matter how much our culture changes, no matter what ministries come and go, Faith Baptist must always be a church that is committed to the authority of the Bible, the Word of God, and to the Gospel it contains, which is so desperately needed in our community. I also pray that this commitment to the Word would be seen in our personal lives. Our society gets busier and more godless all the time, and just as there are fewer churches proclaiming the truth of God s Word, there are also fewer people reading it. I grew up in churches where it was understood that faithful followers of Jesus read the Bible daily. Now, I meet fewer and fewer people who have made this basic spiritual discipline a part of their lives, even though they would call themselves sincere believers. I believe it s our responsibility as a church to help people develop a personal commitment to and understanding of the Word. Without this, they will struggle their whole lives to keep from being deceived by the world around them, and they will never grow into the mature believers Christ desires them to be. So what s next for Faith Baptist? Reading the Bible! Beginning January 6 th, I m inviting you to join many others from our church who are making a commitment to read through the entire New Testament of the Bible in This works out to roughly one chapter a day. I realize that for some people, this is less than what you re already doing. If that s you, then please continue with the Bible reading plan God has led you to! But if you re not a regular Bible reader, or you like the idea of going on this journey with other brothers and sisters from your church, then please pick up one of the reading schedules at the information desk, or check it out on our website. I ll be talking more about this on Sundays, and will be sharing some pointers for how to approach this important discipline if it s new for you. May God bless you, and Faith Baptist, for being committed His Word.

3 really were. As a friend, I couldn't challenge her with how out of line her sentiments were; she was already admitting to that. Somewhere in her line of reasoning, admitting her sin was justification for committing it. And she's far from alone. I'm a mess of contradictions. I eat what I know not to eat, stay up when I know I should sleep, sit around when I know I should exercise, and generally just don't practice what I preach. I'd feel worse about it if you weren't the exact same way, but I won't call you out on it if you won't call me out. It's a gentleman's agreement, really: I'll turn a blind eye to your hypocrisy if you turn a blind eye to mine, and we can coexist just like the bumper sticker wants us to. It's a funny thing about our culture. We like to think that so long as we mentally acknowledge the truth, it doesn't matter what we do - even when our actions contradict that very truth. Does your favorite television series feature debauchery and immorality that makes you squirm? Say so out loud, and then press play! Does a certain pop music star's on-screen behavior disgust and offend you? Write a facebook post about where her parents went wrong, and then sing along with her chart-topping tune! Is all the extra bacon you're eating clogging your arteries and lowering your life expectancy? Make a joke about it and ask for seconds! At least we're not ignorant, right? At least we know what we're getting ourselves into! While I was a youth pastor in Tennessee we had an incident with a messy kid at church that brought out the worst in a lot of us. He was foul-mouthed, disrespectful, conniving, and, meanwhile, very committed to attending our Vacation Bible School one summer. I remember the words of one of our VBS volunteers after she'd had enough: "I know this isn't the attitude of Christ, but I don't want that boy here anymore." The statement stands out to me even now as I consider the implications of it. Somehow, this rooted-in-the-church follower of Jesus felt justified in maintaining her feelings against this boy even though she was aware of how "anti-christian" they Every now and then we get a glimpse of how good life can be when we do the things we ought to do: pass on the junk food, get plenty of rest, keep the trash on television out of our living rooms, and love people with the attitude of Jesus even when we don't want to. Self-denial is what that's called, and Jesus spoke of it as the way to follow Him to salvation (Luke 9:23-24). The New Year is when we all start praising the merits of self-denial, but willpower alone doesn't last until February. What if we, the Church, can be the solution to that? What if our gentleman's agreement to let each other get away with what is less-than-good is killing us before we can start? It's a small step, but reading through the New Testament with the church might be a good way to gain some traction. Ask someone to read through with you, if only to serve as a mutual reminder of a good goal. Plug into a relationship that you can trust to point out the hypocrisy in your life and that gives you permission to do the same (gently!). That's the Church functioning as it was designed: moving beyond coexistence and into relationship. After all, I don't look forward to a heaven in which I "coexist" with my Creator. I want to know Him! This year, make an effort to close the gap between what you know is right and what you do. Connect with a brother or sister in the church to help you out. Connect with them over breakfast - but take it easy on the bacon. Stay on FYRE! Luke

4 Children s Ministries! The other night, I watched on TV as over one million people were packed into Times Square to celebrate the coming of I must admit, that I am not much of a fan of the entertainment offered on any of the New Years countdown shows, so we usually just turn It on with a couple of minutes to go to watch the ball drop. This year even that was too much. The amount of inappropriate clothing and conversation digested in about 5 minutes was shocking. That said, I m not writing this month to discuss the TV industry or the music industry or where our social standards are. I think that horse has been beaten well enough, and I don t have anything noteworthy to add to that conversation. Instead, what I was struck by most was the amazing quantity of people. So many people. Gathered together for what? To celebrate the fact that the earth has circled once more completely around the sun? To resolve that this year will be better than the last? To be united with others also hoping 2014 will be different? As I watched and wondered, I imagined what it would be like if those one million people were gathered on Christmas instead of New Years; If they were putting their hope for change, not in the turning of the calendar, but the redeeming power of Christ s love and forgiveness. People want change so badly. They know they need something different in their lives and hope each year that things will get better. Yet year after year, the willpower people try and muster for whatever they resolve to improve withers away. So many resolutions fizzled by January 10 th or 30 th or if they re really committed maybe much longer. But what commitment will last without Christ to sustain us? How would marriages improve if instead of just trying to argue less or do a little more around the house, we genuinely believed and lived Ephesians 5:22-33? What if instead of saying I want to be a better parent, we allow the words of Ephesians 6:3-4 to penetrate our hearts? Or what if (and I m speaking as much to myself here as anyone), instead of vowing to get to the gym or shed a few pounds, we simply took a Biblical view of self-discipline (Romans 13:14, 1Corinthians 9:24-27) or gluttony (Proverbs 23:19-21)? And the most transformational of all would be if we truly loved in the most excellent way as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13, because without love all the rest is nothing. My resolution this year is simply to be penetrated by God s word. My prayer is that Romans 12:2, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing or your mind, would be evident in my life. If you want access to real transformative power, not the kind that comes from vowing for a better year, but the kind that comes from your loving Creator, then seek His will for your life. I can t think of a better way to start than to join us as we travel through the New Testament together this year. Pick up a reading guide and make a plan. Read with your kids before school or alone in your car before work or with your spouse before you turn off the light. Hear from God daily, and then allow Him to help you live what you learn. The best part is, if you re already behind, you don t need a New Year to start. Jesus will be ready to renew you whenever you re ready to reach out to Him. JD Winters Children s Ministries Director at Faith Baptist

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6 Faith Baptist Church January 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Office Closed Men s Breakfast 8am 5 Communion 6 Deacon Meeting 6pm Missions meeting 7pm 7 Pastors prayer in Salem 8 MOPS 9:15am 9 Deaconess meeting 1pm Secret Sister Reveal Luncheon 11:30am 12 FYRE 6pm 19 FYRE 6pm MOPS 9:15am Missions ConneXion in Portland Pastor Bard s 80 th birthday at Bethel in McMinnville 26 Hymn Sing 5pm FYRE 6pm F a i t h B a p t i s t M e n s R e t r e a t a t C a m p T a d m o r J a n u a r y F e b 2

7 Secret Sister Reveal Luncheon Saturday, January 11 th at 11:30am In the Family Room at Faith We ll have homemade soup and rolls and we re asking you to bring a salad to share. Instead of a gift for your Secret Sister, we d like you to bring her a card with your name and favorite scripture verse written in it. Mark your calendar! Faith Baptist Church Praise Banquet Sunday, February 9 th 6pm