Our Blog

Pastor's Points - November 2019

Dear Church Family,
Last month I shared an article with you about thankfulness. We have much to be thankful for as a church family! Thankfulness should not depend on our circumstances, or our emotions.  Simply put we should just be thankful.  We choose thankfulness.  And one way we show our thankfulness to the Lord is by giving regularly and generously to Him.  Currently our church is exceeding our budget by about 3% which we thank God for.  But we are entering a time in the life of our church where we will need to raise funds over and above our regular giving to the church.  This is an exciting opportunity for us to grow in our faith in the Lord as we give over and above our regular giving.  Consider this article written by Dr. Jason Allen, President of Midwestern Baptist Seminary about giving.

“Did you know that Jesus spoke more about money than any other topic? That’s right. In fact, sixteen of Christ’s thirty-eight parables reference our handling of earthly treasure. In the Gospels, one out of every ten verses when Jesus is speaking addresses money. As John Piper observed, “Jesus spoke more about money than he did about sex, heaven, and hell. Money is a big deal to Jesus.”

I learned long ago that what is important to Jesus ought to be important to me. If this principle is true, then we must think intentionally about money, just as he did. If Jesus died to redeem every aspect of us—as we mentioned before—then the gospel affects our pocketbooks. As his gospel transforms our life, he transforms our view of money—and its use.

How then, should we view money? How should we evaluate earthly wealth? What does it mean for the gospel to redeem our pocketbooks? How can you honor God with your earthly resources? As we consider these questions, know the stakes are high. Remember Billy Graham’s observation: “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.”

Don’t Love the Provision, Love the Provider
One of the reassuring realities of the Christian life is God’s scrupulous care and lavish generosity on his children. Not only is he able to care for us; he is committed to doing so. Not only is he willing to bless us; he delights in it. In Matthew 6:26-33 to see that this is true.

The sparkling reality of the Christian life is that God not only meets our needs but often far surpasses them. As he provides, we must worship the Provider. As he gives, sure, we can enjoy the gift, but we should delight in the Giver most of all.

Pursue Contentment More Than Gain
This is key, as the apostle Paul teaches us: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6). The reality is, discontentment is like a leaking basin that can never be filled regardless of how much water you put into it. Conversely, contentment is like an artesian well, never running dry regardless of how much you take out.

I love how Paul David Tripp frames this reality. He writes, “Love of money is really about contentment. Love of money is about humility. Love of money is about identity. Love of money is about worship that really roots at deep issues. Maybe the most subtle of the indications of love of money is an ongoing, chronic discontentment in me that, no matter what I have, I am still not content.”

Realize that in Christ, you have all you need. Be content in him.

View All That You Have through the Prism of Stewardship
Stewardship is a concept we are all familiar with, but perhaps not as much as we should be. To be a steward is to recognize that we are not the owners of our possessions—just temporary overseers. We will be judged by rightly stewarding—storing up for ourselves treasure in heaven.

As we conclude, ask yourself: How are you doing with the love of money? Are you content in Christ? How are you stewarding your resources? How you answer these questions will reveal a lot about what you actually think of the gospel.”

As we give regularly to the Lord, I pray we see it as an act of worship to the One who has given us everything!  He is so good to us!  And if you do not give regularly, please read these words and find encouragement to begin to give regularly and walk in the blessing of obedience.  And in the coming days as we share about our church’s future, lets thank God for the opportunity to give sacrificially over and above what we normally give as we expand the footprint of our church for the continued growth of the church and most importantly for God’s glory!

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Spare Change - November 2019

Jamaica Mission Trip Report

Jamaica is a gorgeous country.  It has crystal clear water, amazing beaches, lush jungles and beautiful mountains.  We went there to help one of the rural schools in the mountains.  We flew into Montego Bay, which is one of the big resort cities on the island.  It was a nice city with shopping and many “touristy” things to do.  We didn’t get to stay there long, however, we were actually staying in Mandeville, the largest town in Manchester Parrish, about 2 ½ hours away from Montego Bay; we had to travel over the mountains to get there.

Most every day we took about an hour journey on the curvy, windy roads into the mountains to Leicesterfield.  We worked with Leicesterfield Primary School and Leicesterfield Baptist Church.  Leicsterfield is a rural community in the mountains will very little infrastructure. The people have water delivered or collect water in big cisterns. Many work in the mountain fields harvesting various fruits and vegetables. Some do manual labor jobs like brick laying or other skilled trades. Others travel to the cities to work in businesses. Some even travel to work in the bauxite mines (bauxite is a key ingredient in aluminum). Even though they don’t have much, the people make the best of it.

The school is a charming three building structure.  Many of the teachers travel from other cities to Leicesterfield.  The teachers were amazing!  They really keep the focus on helping these kids get a good education.  The kids don’t have a lot and the school doesn’t have a lot of extra funds.  The only play area the kids have is the parking lot, which has a couple of basketball hoops.  Our goal was to provide a fun play area for the children.  We had to remove some old concrete pads and put down fresh gravel for a play surface.  We constructed a play dome and hired a local welder to make us a play structure that included some monkey bars, slide, and swings.  We had to set it in the ground with concrete.  We spent a total of three days working and playing with the children.  The kids were so happy to have some new play structures.  There is one video that we took of a little girl just standing on the play dome giggling and giggling.  It was those things that filled our hearts with joy.
 
We also were able to worship with Leicesterfield Baptist Church on Sunday.  Their worship was vibrant, and spirit filled.  They were so welcoming and allowed us to give a Bible study lesson for the adults, children, and even preach in worship.  It was so encouraging to be worshipping with other believers in another country.  The church recently put in a basketball court next to their church and hopes to host a mission team that would do a basketball camp next summer.  This might be a future mission opportunity, coupled with installing another play structure at another school.
 
Jamaicans are a proud people with a rich heritage.  Almost everyone born on the island has ancestors that were slaves brought to the island by Europeans.  While the country gained its independence in 1962, there is still much work to be done, especially in the area of missions.  There is a large contingency of Christians, however, not all are orthodox believers.  Many have been trapped by cults like the Seventh Day Adventists.  There really needs to be a bigger gospel presence, especially with teenagers and young adults.  Like America, the churches are not reaching this demographic.  The young people chase after worldly things and want nothing to do with the faith of their elders.  We need to be open to assisting the church in reaching the island of Jamaica for Christ.  Just a short distance from America but still so much need.  I pray that the Lord would bring more laborers into the harvest to reach Jamaica for His glory!