Blessings to you, friends and Family of BBT. I know there aren’t many of you who get online and read these posts, but I once read some good advice from an accomplished author and blogger. He said to write like everyone is reading it until they are. Well, my ambitions aren’t quite that grand, but I do believe in what we’re doing here. We have an opportunity to expand online beyond what we could ever achieve from a physical location. We’ll spread the message far and wide that God has a plan and a purpose for all people, regardless of circumstance or disability. So with that, here’s our weekly chronicle.
Last week we continued a tradition. I don’t know that it was ever acknowledged as such, but as I think back, it was something Pastor David always did. Whether or not a formal memorial service was planned for one of our own who left us for the Heavenly realm, we always took the time to acknowledge their lives and share our memories of them. In some cases that is all the recognition they would receive. We do it during our service because of the difficulty of transporting everyone at a different time or place and the fact that they might not otherwise have opportunity to participate.
I did not appreciate fully the importance of this practice until confronted with these last two home-goings that we took time to acknowledge in our services last week. Part of our mission is to affirm the value of all people, regardless of status or ability. Funerals are for those of us still living here. Those who are now living with Jesus probably aren’t much concerned with what we do in their honor. They are with their Lord, friend, and creator. Whatever love and care they lacked here has been more than compensated. But we must remember. We must be true to who we are. We must honor them as we would any friend or family member. And let it be a reminder to us to treat those who are yet here with us with the same love and respect.
A couple of years back, Pastor David went through every member currently attending, conducting a short monthly interview in which we all got to know each other a little better. I’m grateful for these now as I attempt to take up his mantel. I’m thinking of resuming the practice ones we have a few more regulars. We were able to use these, most of which were recorded or filmed, to help remember the lives of Lisa Garza and John Beaty last week. I reposted them as podcast episodes so you can find them there. You will also find my message there from Jesus’ conversation with Martha before He would raise Lazarus from the dead.
This week will be our Fifth Sunday Fellowship. We’ll forgo the Sunday School session in order to make time for the dinner after the service. I hope you’ll make the most of these times that we have together since it’s hard for some of us to enjoy each other’s company as much as we might like. It’s also a great time to bring visitors!
This week’s message is something that has been on my heart for a while. We don’t have a lot of young people, but we have seen a couple of new faces over the past few months. I’ve been thinking about the messages they’re getting at school. I’ve also been thinking about the messages we’re all bombarded with every day. They tell us we are who we are because of genetics and we can’t change. They tell us anything we want to do is ok so long as we don’t hurt anyone, but the world doesn’t really know what is harmful and what is good.
Sometimes the church doesn’t help. We rightly condemn sin, but then we tell those who might want to stop that they can’t. Some will even say that God has made an arbitrary decision about all of us and we have no say at all. Where is the hope in that? Or we condemn the sinner. In stead of sharing love and hope we share judgment and rejection. Can we learn to love the sinner without condoning the sin? We must!
In this message I want to shut down some vicious lies with a central truth. You are not who the world says you are. You are not even who you you think you are. You are who God says you are! It may be that who you are is not who you should be, but that’s why Jesus came. We’re going to read from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. As always we will consider the context, but there’s an important message just in these 3 verses. After a laundry list of people who won’t get into God’s kingdom, he makes this key statement in verse 11, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” When you commit your life to Jesus, He changes who you are!
Please join us this Sunday. We’ll have a great time together!
Love y’all.
Larry