Bartimaeus Baptist Temple

Hello friends.  It sure was good to see you last Sunday.  I’m so glad we decided to come back together.  As we continue to heal as individuals, I look forward to seeing how God brings new life into our corporate body.  He has preserved us this far.  He is not finished with us yet.

As most of you will know, we had a scare with Ruth this week.  She was taking to the hospital with bleeding and kept overnight for observation.  The good news is they got the bleeding stopped and she is now back at home.  I’ll let Cathy share any further details as she sees fit during praise and prayer tomorrow.  Continue to pray for her and also for Cathy.

Tomorrow we have the joy of being together again, and I hope you’ll be with us.  I will confess that with the extra time I have had to spend at work the last few weeks, I have been prayerfully pulling from old notes for material to share with you.  God wouldn’t let me get away with that this week, so I know this message is meant for at least one person, identity unknown to me, who will hear it.

“What goes around comes around.” “He had it coming.” “They deserved it.”  We hear things like that all the time.  We have a sense of justice, and generally expect that eventually one’s actions will catch up to them.  We’re quick to judge the actions of others, but not so quick to judge our own.  We expect others to consider our motivations, but tend not to extend the same grace to them.  We are all in need of mercy.

We know and teach that God grants that mercy.  Does that mean we’re free to do as we please?  We all know better, but we don’t always act like it.  We say things like, “You can’t judge me.”, or a church favorite, “you’re being legalistic.”  Sometimes we are legalistic.  Sometimes we are too quick to judge.  Sometimes that judgment serves as a cover for our own weaknesses.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes primarily to confront the assault upon the good news of grace by those from the Jewish tradition who were attempting to add the necessity of keeping the Jewish law to the message of salvation.  The Galatians were being swayed by their arguments.  He explains the purpose of the law, declares the sufficiency of faith in Christ, and concludes with instruction of discernment and holy living.  Keeping the law cannot bring salvation.  Freedom from law does not give license for sin.  Paul makes this plain as he begins to wrap up his letter.  We’ll read from Galatians 6:1-10.

Love y’all!

Larry

Good day friends.  I hope it has been a better week for you than the one before.  It certainly was a warmer one.  We had hail at my house a couple of nights ago.  Abut the only thing left for February to throw at us is a tornado.  A lot of us probably feel like we’re already in one, but we know the one who can calm the storm.  Better days are coming.

We decided last week to base returning to the building on whether we could get a thorough cleaning done.  We weren’t able to do that, so we’ll have the call again.  If you need the number, contact one of us or leave a message here.

Has anyone ever called you religious?  What did you think of that label?  It hasn’t always been this way, but now it seems not even Christians want to be identified as being religious.  You’ve probably heard and maybe even used the phrase, “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship.”  I’m pretty sure I’ve used it.

We understand why an unbeliever might feel this way, but how did religion get such a ad rep even among the religious?  Books have been written on that question, but I think we might feel differently if we defined religion the way God does.  Read James 1:26-27.

Love y’all!

Larry

Blessings to you, loved ones.  I hope you’re all staying warm during this unusually cold season.  Surprisingly, it has been colder.  It was -8 degrees on February 12, 1899.

We have decided to discuss week by week when we will be returning to in-person meetings, so watch this space for updates.  This might be a good time to point out that you can subscribe to updates from the web site via email.  On a computer or mobile device in desktop mode it is at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.  On your phone you will find it at the end of the page.  The email address you provide will not be used for any other purpose, but i should say that the company behind WordPress is managing this feature and stores the addresses.

We will be meeting by phone tomorrow.  If you have not been receiving the text messages with the conference number, contact us and we will be sure that you get the information in whatever form you need it.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s day, so I get to talk about love.  You all know it’s my favorite subject.  I also know that many of us are hurting, and this might be a tough one.  Sometimes we don’t feel loved.  Sometimes we’re disappointed because our expectations about what love should look like are not met.  People let us down.  We might even begin to think that God has let us down.  Your enemy will certainly try to make you think so.

What if love comes in forms we may not immediately recognize?  Some years ago while I was reading in John, Chapter 11, my attention was drawn to these words in verses 5-6.

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

This seems to indicate that the reason Jesus stayed where He was after hearing that His friend was sick was because He loved him.  We would have expected this to read “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then came quickly to the place where Lazarus was staying.”  But that’s not what it says.  Jesus had something much bigger in mind.  It would involve more suffering for Lazarus and his family, but the result would be something greater than any of them expected, affecting the lives of many others who would witness what he was about to do.

I pray that you’ll be encouraged by this message.  When you can’t understand what is happening to you, when god seems far away an in no hurry to come your way, when love seems like nothing but a nice notion, know that God has not forgotten you.  He has something better in mind that goes beyond anything you have imagined and touches more lives than your own.  Trust him, and act on that trust.

Love y’all!

Larry

Hello friends and family.  It’s Saturday afternoon as i write this, 73 degrees and sunny.  Welcome to Texas winter, y’all!  My heart is warm too, as I thank the Lord that we are all getting back to health.  Unless something changes, we plan to be back at church on February 7.  Tomorrow will be virtual, and I’ll send out a reminder before the service.  If you wish to be included, let us know.  Linda has something to share with us.  Don’t miss out!

I will be speaking from James 3:1-12.  It seems there’s not much we can agree on lately as a country, but there’s one point on which we do seem to agree that I  think would be a good place to start.  That is that words matter.  The battle over what has been said and who has the right to say it has escalated to the point of absurdity, but everyone seems to be in agreement that what is said has power.

James would agree.  He says in verse 6, “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”  Back in verse 2 he says in part, “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man…”

The tongue can be a weapon, and too many of us fire it without sufficient thought to the damage we may cause.  Often it’s ourselves we end up shooting.  If I hand you a loaded gun, chances are you are going to handle it very carefully.  You know the damage it can do.  If we would give the same care to what we say, we could avoid much pain and misery.

It can also be used for good.  We can speak words of love, healing, and restoration.  We can speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.  We can proclaim the Good News that Jesus provided the way of salvation.  Join us as we explore God’s powerful words together.

Love you all,

Larry

Hello friends and family.  My prayer for you this week has been for health, and that we all grow in our relationship with the Lord such that we can see His goodness even when our circumstances tempt us to question.

I am happy to report that Ruth did not have the virus and is doing much better now.  Edith is doing fine and plans to be back at work on Monday.  Pris and Kimi are still struggling but showing signs of improvement.  I apparently developed bronchitis but have medication now and seem to be improving.  From what I could gather, Don is also getting better.

Anita became ill with Covid-19 last Tuesday and has been in the hospital.  She was hoping to go home today when I spoke to her.  She sounded good.  Cathy’s x-mother-in-law has passed away and she is asking that we pray for the Kilgore family.

We emphasize prayer a lot here.  Each week I type up the requests that come out of our Sunday services so that we can remember them throughout the week.  We believe in prayer.  We believe we have a God who can and does answer prayer.  But is that all prayer is?  What are we to think when the prayers seem to go unanswered?  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has asked at some point in his journey why we pray at all.  God is sovereign and is going to do what He is going to do.

What is prayer really?  Is it simply the means by which we express our wish list for God, or is it meant to be something more?  It will always have the aspect of supplication, since we are in communication with the Creator of all things, infinitely greater than ourselves.  Thus it will also involve worship and submission to His will.  But I haven’t mentioned the most wonders characteristic of prayer.  It is an open door to a relationship with this almighty being who greatly desires that we enter in.  He knows us, loves us anyway, and wants us to know Him; truly know Him.

During this time of trouble, I imagine many of us have put in more prayer time than we might have in happier days, but has it been quality time?  Have we left space amidst our cries of pain to hear the still small voice speaking to us?  Are we so focused on our troubles that we cannot hear the very words that would comfort and bring healing?

we know that Jesus Himself spent a lot of time in prayer.  On one such occasion, His disciples asked that He teach them how to pray.  His answer is notable for its brevity.  We know from examples of Jesus’ own prayers as well as those of his followers recorded elsewhere in scripture that Jesus is not setting down a liturgy to be repeated.  Rather He is describing the attitudes with which we approach God in prayer.  He then follows up with assurances that our Heavenly Father is ready and waiting for us to come to Him, and faithful to answer.  Our text will be from Luke 11:1-13.

I hope you can join us.  I’ll send out a reminder via text to the regular attendees with the dial-in number.  If you would like to be included, please contact us via the web site or on Facebook.  We will not be doing a live online session, but the message will be uploaded later.

Love y’all!

Larry