Message for October 16: If My People

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Blessings to you, family and friends of BBT.  Here’s what’s coming next Sunday.

It was good to see more faces last Sunday.  Priscilla taught us to keep our eyes on Jesus and not be distracted by life’s storms.  We went right into a time of prayer and I know that people were blessed.  Pastor David spoke on being thankful from the account of the ten lepers.  It was a timely message as our trip to the fair was this week.  We have so much to be thankful for.  Thanks to everyone who made the trip possible, from those who donated the money to those who came from Pastor David’s office to help push wheelchairs.  A great time was had by all.

After writing all that I hate to change the mood, but this is something that has been on my heart for a long time.  I talked about it once before, but I’m approaching it from a different angle this time.

If you can stand to watch the news, it paints a pretty bleak picture of the world we live in.  The things that are happening in our own country can be depressing if one doesn’t keep the right perspective.  When I hear of the violence, the racial tension, and lawlessness going on I wonder if we can ever turn things around.  When I watch the presidential contest I wonder if we deserve anything better.  Our politicians are elected.  They only reflect who we have become.  When I think about millions of unborn children murdered in the womb, I wonder if it is even right to ask for any more mercy from God.  I wonder if judgment has already begun.  Yet there may be reason to hope.  God’s people hold the key.

Some Saturday mornings, I attend a prayer group here in Richardson that meets to pray for the city and beyond.  As I am sure is the case for many similar groups, we have as our theme 2 Chronicles 7:14.  It reads from the New American Standard version as follows, “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  It looks wrong, doesn’t it?  That’s probably because you’re used to seeing it starting with “if” instead of “and.”  But that makes a very important point.  This verse is part of a greater context and maybe it shouldn’t be lifted out of that context.  So, can we appropriate this verse for our nation and pray to that end?  Maybe.  Come and let’s explore it together.

Larry

Message for September 18: The Goal is the Soul

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Here’s your weekly update.

We just had our 2016 Homecoming celebration, and it was great to see so many come to be with us.  Linda and I got stuck in traffic and missed the first part, but I know Priscilla was going to share from the experience of her mother’s passing and I have no doubt that we missed something good.  I’m sorry that also means we don’t have the podcast to share with anyone who missed the service.  Anita’s son Sean Hooks was our guest speaker for the day.  He shared with us from the story of Bartimaeus.  That we do have online.  As always, the food was great!  Thanks to everyone who helps make that happen.

During this service and any time we have new visitors, Pastor David takes a moment to explain the history of the church and why we do the “Victory March.”  We are a unique church with a unique mission to people affected by disability.  Linda and I are delighted to be a part of it.  I was thinking about that this week.  I was thinking about what we do and what we have done in the past.  In a couple of years, we’ll celebrate our 60th year of ministry.  David’s father went home long before Linda and I came along.  We would have liked very much to hear from the man himself the vision he had in founding this church.  That vision lives on thanks to Pastor David and all of you who have given so much for it.

Why do we do it?  What drives us to keep going even when things get messy?  I think there is genuine compassion and a desire to give, to comfort, and to love.  I also think that from time to time we need to remind ourselves that there’s a greater mission than what appears on the surface.  We can get caught up in all the good things we do.  Pastor David rightly exhorts us to go out and do something good for someone each week, but why?  We can and should spend ourselves doing good for others, but we dare not forget the greatest good.  Our objective is ultimately that people are led to the place where Jesus becomes Lord and savior of their lives.  If we miss that, we’ve wasted everything.  We’ve provided a bit of temporary comfort in the place of eternal salvation.

So are good works important?  Absolutely yes!  On Sunday, we’ll read from Matthew 5:14-16.  There we find that it is our good works that should lead others to glorify our Father in Heaven.  But it is not the works themselves.  Many well-meaning people do good works but they don’t necessarily point to God.  It is the light, illuminating the good works, that draws them in.  The reasons why we do what we do are more important than the works.  When we reach out in compassion for the broken bodies, let us not forget that it is the broken souls that we really must reach.  Sometimes a doctor can heal the body, but only the Holy Spirit can heal the soul.

Linda also has a special guest lined up for the Sunday school time.  I look forward to seeing you there!

In His love,

Larry

Please excuse the hammers

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We’re making some changes at bbtemple.org to make the site better organized an easier to use.  The biggest improvement will be that the podcasts will be integrated into the site and won’t require so many clicks to get to.  Along the way we might make a little noise, but hopefully we’ll avoid any major construction accidents.

Message for August 21: A Picture of Redemption

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  I’m looking forward to sharing with you again this Sunday.  We were missing some folks last Sunday, but we also got a visit from old friends.  Priscilla urged us to keep our trust in the Lord when the pieces of our lives don’t seem to fit together.  Pastor David made it clear that Jesus demands a choice from us.  We are either with him or against him.  Taking our stand may cost us even in our family relationships, but we must stand with Him.  If you missed out, the podcasts are available under the Media link.

Speaking of the podcasts, some time in the near future we’ll be upgrading the way we host them so that you can listen to them without having to click through.  When that happens, the ones we have up now will move, but we’ll be sure to provide a way for you to access them.  If you have set up a pod catcher you may have to update it.  Stay tuned!

Over the weekend, Linda was talking to me about what she was reading in the book of Ruth, and it suddenly came alive for me.  You might remember that I’ve been working on a series of sermons showing how Jesus as deliverer is pictured in the people that God used throughout the Old Testament.  It has been a while since I’ve done one and I wasn’t sure who would be next.  I almost missed Boaz!  If you don’t remember who he is, it is probably because the person you would remember in his story is Ruth.  It’s really her story, and it is a beautiful one.  It is she who makes the choice to leave behind everything she knows out of loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi (Ruth 1:16.)  Because of that choice, she is brought into God’s family.  Quite literally, because she became part of the lineage of Jesus.  There’s so much for us to learn here about the mercy of God and the importance of the choices we make.  Go ahead and read the whole book.  It’s a short one.  Come and join us as we worship and learn together.

In His love

Larry

Message for July 31: Teach Us to Pray

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Blessings to you, family and friends of BBT.  I’m looking forward to seeing you this Sunday and sharing His Word with you.  Last time we met Cindy tested our memory of the story of the “good Samaritan”.  Pastor David preached on that not so long ago, so I’m glad we were able to supply the answers to her questions.  I was inspired by Tim’s message to speak out boldly about the truth and the Gospel.  I hope you were too.

Every week, we share the praises and prayer requests that are voiced at the beginning of the service.  Prayer is a big deal to us, because we know that God hears our prayers and that He is able to answer them.  We don’t know what the answer will be.  We don’t always like the answer we get.  But we know that we can trust Him.  Jesus died and rose again so that we could have this open avenue of communication with the creator of the universe.  That is too awesome for words!

Knowing that, we pay special attention to His instruction on how we should pray.  We are all familiar with the “Lord’s prayer” in Matthew, chapter 6, but there’s a shorter version in Luke, chapter 11.  There we learn that Jesus answered a request from his disciples, “Teach us to pray…”  Did he mean for us to recite the prayer?  If so, then why are the two versions we have slightly different?  Jesus is teaching us the attitudes an principles that should guide our prayers.  Let’s learn together from Matthew 6:5-15.

I’m praying that you’ll be there!

In His love,

Larry

Message for July 17: Don’t Be Shy

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  I am thankful for the honor of speaking to you again this Sunday and I’m excited to share what God has given me.  Last Sunday we had a small crowd.  We missed you all, but there sure was enough food to go around. 🙂  No one had any reason to leave hungry, physically or otherwise.  Priscilla delivered a moving lesson about trusting God no matter the circumstances and Pastor David spoke of extravagant devotion to Jesus.

linda and I stay tuned into the news most of the time.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to keep perspective in the face of everything that’s happening right now.  It seems our country and our world is falling apart.  That’s because it is.  It will continue to do so until the Lord’s return.  As long as He allows us to go our own way, we will keep choosing the wrong way  What does a Christin do with this knowledge?

It’s tempting to withdraw.  Some people like a good fight.  I think it’s safe to say most of us would rather not.  I will go out of my way to avoid controversy .  Oh every once in a while I might write or share something a bit provocative on my blog or social media, but even there I am more careful than I used to be.  Sometimes the fight is worth having, but if winning only causes you to lose the larger objective, then you have really lost.  The objective should always be to bring more people into God’s family.

That doesn’t mean that we should avoid speaking the truth when it needs to be spoken.  That’s the message for this week.  As our society becomes increasingly divided and hostile, our temptation will be to go along to get along.  I’m telling you, that breaks God’s heart.  Now more than ever we must be willing to speak out boldly for the truth.  There is a solution to the hatred, lawlessness, and moral depravity around us.  His name is Jesus.  There is no other.  You can’t put enough police on the streets.  You can’t run a government tightly enough.  Until we turn to Yahweh, we will seek out evil, and we will find it and even call it good.  Most of us haven’t really had to deal with persecution on any significant level, but it is on the increase.  What will we do?  Peter has some instructions for us in his letter to Christians who were being persecuted in his day.  We’re going to focus on 1 Peter 3:8-18.  It’s a good summary of what we should do and how we should live so that what we say will be heard.  Don’t be shy.  Be bold!

I apologize for not posting the prayer requests from our July 3rd service.  As I recall I had to get up and help with the video and then I forgot that the request were never sent out.  I found the draft when I went to do the ones for last Sunday.  If there is something from that week that hasn’t been brought up at other times that you want us to put out there, let me know on the web site or directly and we will post it.

Pray for each other.  Encourage each other.  See you Sunday!

Larry

Message for June 19: What Can We Say?

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  I’m looking forward to sharing with you again this Sunday.  Last Sunday we got an unexpected surprise as Cindy brought the Sunday school lesson on wisdom and the importance of teaching our children.  Pastor David brought a great message about how God sees people and that we should learn to see them as He does.

As we were gathering, news was just breaking about the tragedy in Orlando.  Since then the news has been filled with little else.  A man with ties to Moslem terrorists killed 49 people and injured 53 more at a gay night club.  How do we respond at times like these?  What would God want us to say?  Maybe not much.  Maybe what He would like us to do is act with compassion.  We tend to be particularly vehement in our rejection of the sin of homosexuality.  In part this may be due to the militant activism we encounter, especially in recent years.  In part it might be because God seems to speak out so strongly against it in scripture.  We should not shy from calling sin what it is, but do you realize that God has just as strong a revulsion for many other sins?  Some of them we don’t think are so bad.  Maybe we should be looking at our own lives.  When we find some of those there, maybe we’ll discover a little more compassion for those struggling with another one.

There’s a reason that God hates sin.  It destroys the people for whom Jesus died.  It is not love when we refrain from sharing the news that saves from Hell.  Neither is it love to use the truth as a weapon to attack people who are already hurting.  Let the Holy Spirit be your guide to the time and place.  Remember God’s heart in the matter.  He does not want anyone to die without knowing Him.  I had a hard time settling on a single scripture that carries the point of this week’s message, but I think 2 Peter 3:9 is a good place to start.  Pray that those misled by the false teachings of Islam will find Jesus.  Christianity is the true “religion of peace.”  Pray that those trapped in the sin of homosexuality will be restored to the kind of relationship God made for us.  Therein they will find life and true love.  Join us on Sunday as we explore God’s word together.

It was great to see Edith back with us last week!  Keep praying for Kim.  She is at home now but still requires daily treatments.  Cindy was doing the Sunday school because Priscilla had to stay and help her.  Debra has been out for several weeks still battling the pain and vertigo and it doesn’t seem like the treatments are helping her much.  Check the prayer requests page for the other requests that were made in our service.  There’s also a link there where you can submit one during the week if you want.  You can select a box to have us share it with everyone or else only the leadership will know.

See you this Sunday!

Larry

Message for May 29: Worth Remembering

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  I’m excited to get to share with you again this Sunday.

Last Sunday, Priscilla shared with us God’s comfort as she works through the imminent home going of her father.  Pastor David spoke on the necessity of forgiveness.  It was good to see Sandra and Malcolm again.  We missed having the Terrells with us.

The day after we meet will be Memorial day.  It is set aside to remember our soldiers who have fallen in battle defending our nation and the principles for which we stand.  We should remember them, and know that freedom isn’t free.  The value of memorial is not only in honoring those who deserve it, but also to remind us of greater things that we aught never to forget.

Our Lord also established memorials so that we would keep in mind the things that are most important.  Often after He accomplished a miracle for Israel, He would instruct them to establish some sign that would remind them of what He had done for them.  He included in the law physical representation as well as practices that were to illustrate the standard of holiness and the need for redemption.  When Jesus came, he established a memorial practice.  As he broke the bread at what we call The Lord’s Supper He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)

I hope you will join us next week as we consider the things that are truly worth remembering.  Don’t forget!  🙂

Larry

Message for May 15: The King’s Heart

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Blessings to you, family and friends of BBT.  It seems every one of us is facing some kind of difficulty right now, but I hope that in the midst of it you are encouraged that we have a faithful Lord who will carry us through.

We had a smaller crowd last Sunday but we had a great Mothers Day celebration.  Linda interviewed Ruth and Cathy to highlight a Godly mother-daughter relationship.  It was a precious time.  Pastor david spoke of how moms exemplify the kind of love we are supposed to have for each other.

Next Sunday I want to share with you something that helped me to process what is happening right now in our nation.  You can hardly turn on the news right now without hearing about the upcoming elections.  The primaries are winding up, and regardless of which party you prefer, odds are you are very happy or vary unhappy if you care at all.

Whatever your feeling, I have a message for you.  Your savior doesn’t wear a party label.  Your Savior is the one true king.  You can’t find Him in front of a camera.  You can’t find His office.  But he rules the world and He will put it right.  Nothing surprises him.  Nothing is beyond His control.  Whatever you think about our current or future leadership, just remember this.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD;
He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1 NASB)

I look forward to seeing you next Sunday.  Do remember to pray for each other.  Debra is going to have her oblation at 4:00 this Thursday.  She would like for us to be praying at that time.  She would really like it if some of us could be there to pray with her before she goes in.  Please get in touch with me if you would be able to go and I will give you the location.

In His love

Larry

Message for April 17: Joy for the Journey, Wisdom on the Way

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Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  Yes, it’s me again one more time.  Pastor David is home and he’ll be back in the pulpit next week.

Last Sunday Tim and Cindy had the teaching, and I hope we all understand the necessity of repentance and how to defeat the lies that Satan tells us.  I got to interview Don for the belated honored member feature, but I forgot to turn on the recorder.  That’s why there’s no podcast.  Linda did get a video though and will put that up as soon as she has time to prepare it.  It was good to see more people there, though we still missed those who weren’t able to make it.

That brings me to the inspiration, if I can call it that, for this week’s message.  Because of our unique composition, we’ve always had more than our share of difficulties, but it seems we’re going through an even tougher season right now.  Kimi, Debra, Lupe, Shelly, and Clarke are all facing chronic health issues and those are just the more seriously affected.  Edith is recovering from a broken back! Still others are facing their own declining health or that of loved ones.  I could go on.

How are we to respond when the trials of life come our way?  You might be saying, “I suppose you’re going to tell us now.”  “What do you know about it?”  A little, but I don’t need to go into that except to say that I consider it part of God’s plan.  We are uniquely prepared to reach out to others who are suffering.

I think there is a lot we can learn from the book of James that will help us.  We’ll read James 1:2-12 and see what God has to say to us.  You may find it challenging, but I hope you will also see the encouragement in it.  When we see things from God’s perspective, turn to Him for wisdom as we face hard times and learn to trust Him, We can find the joy that we are told we should have.  I hope you can come and be strengthened and encouraged by the good Word of God.

In His love

Larry