Sunday March 4, 2018 "Guess who is coming to dinner?"

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I hope you are having a blessed week and able to stay dry.  We have had more rain this last week than in a long time and the potholes in the road are showing it.  As we begin the month of March I hope the cold weather is over and I am looking forward to Spring.  Isn’t it amazing how God created the seasons and how each one has something so special?

 I hope you enjoyed church last week as Priscilla shared with us how the Holy Spirit is working in us and how we can overcome any trial if we will just praise God through whatever we are going through.  I brought a message about how we should not live our lives always asking what is in it for me.  Salvation is about putting God first and asking how I can help my brother or sister.  It was so good to see so many at church but there are still some missing that we would love to see them back. 

This week I want to bring to you a message about how we make excuses for not answering the invitation that God offers us.  The Scripture verses this week are Matthew 22:1-14.  This is the parable of the master offering an invitation to the wedding banquet for his son, but those who were invited made excuses for why they could not attend and even killed the servants that the King had sent to deliver the invitations.  The King was angry and punished those that had murdered his servants and instructed his servants to just go out and invite anyone who would come.  This is Jesus showing us how we have been invited but few answer the call as Jesus ends this parable by saying “many are called but few are chosen.”  I want to look this week at all the excuses people make not to answer the greatest invitation ever given. I hope you will join us Sunday as we look at why it is so important to answer the call of God.

I hope you are praying for those mentioned in our prayer request last Sunday because it is so important for us to pray for each other.  As Pris talked about in Sunday School we are all going through some kind of struggle and we all need prayer, what better thing can we do for someone then to lift them up to God and ask God for his mercy in their lives.  We hope to see you Sunday and invite someone to come with you!

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday February 25, 2018 "It is not always about you!"

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Thank you to all followers of BBT.  We really appreciate your support and encouragement.  This week we learned about the passing of one of the greatest men of our time, Billy Graham. I was lucky to hear Mr. Graham speak on 2 different occasions and it is amazing how his words moved people. I am sad to see him pass away but so glad he is where he longed to be.  Our prayers are with the family. 

Last week Linda brought an inspiring message about doing everything you can do and then just stand firm.  It was so good to have Linda back and we loved the lesson she brought.  Pastor Larry brought us a message about how important it is to bear fruit, not just any fruit but the good fruit that comes from being a born again Christian.  If you want to know what that fruit is, it is the fruits of the spirit that Larry went over one by one.  How important is it to bear these fruits?  If you are an apple tree you will produce apples, if you are a child of God you will produce these fruits.  What kind of fruit are you producing?  It is important question.  I hope you were with us last week but if not you can hear both of these messages on our podcast.

This week I want to talk to you about something I believe is one of the things wrong about this world today.  It is the attitude that we are always looking at what is in it for me?  It seems it is hard to find people who are not motivated by this attitude.  It is not a new problem it is an age old problem from the beginning of mankind.  In our scripture vs this week in Mark the 8th chapter vs 27-38, Jesus talks about this kind of attitude.  The disciples were looking for the Messiah and they knew Jesus was him but they had a different idea about what the Messiah came to do.  They wanted Jesus to restore the power to Israel.  They did not want to hear about a new kingdom in heaven they wanted it here and now.  Jesus had to rebuke the disciples, especially Peter, then Jesus told them what it required to be a disciple of Christ.  Today the same requirements are still in place.  It is not about what is in it for us but what can we do for others, how can we show the love of God to other people?  It is not easy but Jesus told us it would not be easy but he is also promised us we will be blessed.  I hope you will be with us on Sunday and invite someone to come with you!

Please pray for those mentioned Sunday in our pray request and be ready to share a praise of what God has done for you this week.  If you need something this week call us and let us see if we can help you.  I hope you can stay dry this week with all this rain but look at it as a blessing and thank God for it.  Do something good this week for somebody and we will see you on Sunday!!

 We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

Message for february 18: Let Me See Your Fruit

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  Here’s this week’s update.

Out of an abundance of caution because of the extra problems people may encounter getting to church, to keep everyone safe, we decided to cancel services last Sunday under threat of icy conditions.  It proved a non-event, but we’d rather miss a Sunday than see someone get hurt.  I am sorry that I didn’t post any notice about it.  I hope no one showed up to an empty parking lot.  We’re looking forward to seeing you this Sunday.

When I get ready to prepare a message, One of the first things I do is ask God what He wants me to say.  Even if I am totally clueless like I was this week about what I might like to talk about, He always brings me something and before I know it I’m excited about the message.

I started thinking about the primaries coming up next month.  We’ve already been subjected to a barrage of political advertising telling us why the candidate is the best choice and what’s wrong with the opposition.  How do you know what to believe?

That question isn’t limited to politics.  We have so many denominations in part because every little detail of Christian theology has been magnified by some group or other into a pivotal issue that defines who is really Christian or at least faithful and who is not.

Please understand, I believe the truth is knowable and cannot be disputed once established, but I do not suppose that I or anyone else on this earth knows all of it.  Only God is that smart.  He defines what truth is.  We’ll always have disagreements, and probably one of us is right or maybe all of us are wrong. But Jesus did give us a way to help determine who is telling the truth.  It works on profits, preachers, and politicians too!

He said they will be known by their fruit.  Is what they say demonstrably true or false?  Do their words stir up strife or bring peace? Do they inspire good works?  When the spotlights are off, are they the same person?  What about our own lives?  Are we producing good fruit, no fruit, or rotten fruit?  By what measure do we judge it?  We will start reading in Matthew 7:15-20 and explore the scripture to answer these questions.

So many people have been sick the past few weeks.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Hopefully this week everyone is better and we can all get back together.  Please come and worship with us.

Larry

Message for Sunday, February 11, 2018: The Power of Love

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 Last Sunday we had a great time at BBT. Theresa was back after being out several weeks.  Pris led Sunday School in a lesson about the difference in being happy and having joy.  She showed us that happiness is a temporary thing that comes and goes but Joy comes from inside and is a product of having the Holy Spirit living in us.  I brought a message on setting goals and accomplishing these goals but the lessons are learned on the way to reach these goals. 

This week I want to share with you about how to love yourself.  So many Christians have been taught that it is wrong for us to love ourselves because we will become full of pride and self-dependence that we no longer will need God.  There is a difference between self-love & self-centeredness. Jesus was all about loving our self. In our scripture verses this week in Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus says we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  It is important for us to love ourselves because until we do we will not be able to love others the way Jesus wants us to love.  I hope to show you this Sunday how it is not wrong to love ourselves and in fact it is a necessity.  Join us Sunday as we worship together and invite someone to come with you.

Continue to pray for those mentioned in our prayer request last week and have a great week. Do something good for somebody this week and we will see you on Sunday!

 

 

 

We love you so much,

 

 

 

Pastor David & Pris

 

 

Message for January 21: How to Be Perfect

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Blessings to you, friends and family.  Here’s your weekly update.

I can’t think of a better thing to have done on my birthday than to worship the Lord with all of you.  We did have several out sick, so keep them in your prayers.  Priscilla taught us how we should respond to the changes that life brings.  We should be ready to change ourselves as God teaches us.  Pastor David spoke of how we need to learn to listen to God and to each other.

Do you ever find some things in the Bible a little scary?  I do.  I think I can still remember the first time I read out of my braille King James New Testament, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)  Jesus says a lot of things we find hard to do in that passage we call the sermon on the mount, but surely this is impossible!  If that’s the expectation, I need firemen’s gear ’cause I’m going where it’s hot!

Why would Jesus give us an impossible task?  How could anyone except Jesus Himself be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect?  When we come together, I’m going to give you some principles that will help as we reach for that perfection, but there’s only one way to get there.  Jesus Himself is that way.

I hope you’ll come.  It’ll be a perfect day if I get to see you there!

Larry

Thanksgiving Celebration, November 19

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Blessings to you, church family and friends. We’ve got a great Sunday in store for us. Harvest Oaks Church is returning this year to bring food for the body and the spirit. Associate Pastor Mark Cimino will bring the message and his wife Marie will have Sunday school. After the service we’ll gather in the fellowship hall for a meal. Don’t miss out!

Message for November 12: Do You Know Who You Are?

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Blessings to you, friends and family.  Here’s what’s new.

it was good to see Debra back again and to have the pastor’s friends John and Nancy pay us another visit.  Priscilla led into her Sunday school lesson with one of her stories and taught us how to have patience when things are hard.  The pastor challenged us to be good neighbors with the story of the good Samaritan.  We were still missing a lot of people though.  Pray for John.  We don’t really know what the issue is, but I understand he had some kind of surgery.

I’ve been thinking lately about how best to encourage everyone as we all struggle with different challenges.  Sometimes we fight well.  At other times maybe we don’t.  Sometimes we just don’t know what to do.  I wonder if part of our problem is that we have an identity crisis.  We don’t really know who we are.  I’m speaking to us as individuals.  Sometimes we let others label us.  Sometimes we label ourselves.  We adopt things about us, true or not, as the whole of our identity.  But when we become God’s children, we take on a new identity.  We become a new creation!  Our concept of who we are dramatically affects our lives.  It informs the choices we make and the things we are willing to accept.  If we could really understand the new identity given to us as God’s children, joint heirs to the inheritance provided by the creator of the universe through what Jesus did for us, I think it would change a lot of things for us.  We’re going to start from 2 Corinthians 5:15-18 and start living as the saints we are, not the sinners we used to be.

See you there!

Praise and Prayer Requests from Sunday Service of November 5

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Rejoice with us and pray with us.

Ruth came through her medical testing well.  Pam reports progress on getting her new shoes.  Debra is back with us!  Treatments are helping with her pain.  Didi is thankful for the help she has recieved and for the Lord’s protection.  Anita’s aunt is out of the hospital and doing better.  Richard and Barbara got their land.  Edward got a better car after his gave out.

Didi asks us to pray for a cousin Sonny who will have a heart operation.  Marry Ellen is still in the hospital and will need to go into rehab or maybe a nursing home.  Kimi has been feeling sick.  Cathy asks prayers for the Henderson family, related to one of Cathy’s friends.  Pray also for the situation in south Texas where there has been a shooting this morning at a church.  Pam asks prayer for ongoing medical problmes.  She asks us to pray for Brenda O as she struggles with medical needs.  Pray for Didi as she tries to resolve issues that will clear the way for her to get housing.  I was not able to capture the requests from Barbara.  Someone please chime in.

Be blessed, and be a blessing!

Larry

Message for October 29: Making Good Decisions

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Blessings to you, loved ones.  Here’s your weekly update.

As always, it was good to be together last Sunday to worship the Lord and learn from His word.  I long for the day when all of us are back where we belong.  It was good to have Anita back with us and also Didi.  John was almost back to his old self too.  Keep praying for those we didn’t get to see.  Priscilla led us in a time of teaching and sharing.  It is delightful to me that we have the freedom to do that.  Pastor David shared with us the importance of giving back to God.  There is none of us that does not have something that He can use for His glory, and you will be blessed.

This Sunday, I’m going to share with you about making good decisions.  We make hundreds of decisions every day.  Most of them are of little consequence, but sometimes we may have no idea what will come of a seemingly insignificant choice.  Then there are those times when the choice is hard.  The right way is not obvious.  Are there principles we can apply that will help us choose well?  There certainly are, and we’re going to talk about some of them.  I’m going to read from a few different places, but if one passage has to summarize the message, it would be Proverbs 16:1-3.

I’ll give you one good decision right now.  Choose to come and join us on Sunday!  I’m planning on seeing you there.  😀

Larry

Message for October 15: Working God’s Way

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Blessings to you, family and friends of BBT.  Here’s your update for this week.

It is always a joy to meet together with the People of God, worshiping Him and learning together.  Though we were missing some of our beloved family, we rejoice that others were able to come back again this week.  Priscilla taught us not to fear but to keep our trust in the Lord.  Pastor david spoke about how we  should respond to the evil in the world around us like the shooting that happend the week before.

Next week, I want to talk about working God’s way.  I know a lot of us aren’t working.  Some of us aren’t fully able.  Others have put in their time and now get to enjoy the benefit of their labor. 

So why would I go there?  Well, because God did, and He wouldn’t let me go anywhere else.  I hope you’ll come and join us, because I think you might be surprised and encouraged by the message.  The best way to summarize it would be from Colossians 3:17.

I’m delighted to know we’re taking our committment to each other to heart.  Linda has been blessed by the calls and messages from all of you.  I know the same is true for others. Let’s keep it up and invite more to come and join the family.  See you there!

Larry