Sunday July, 27th “What are you afraid of?”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by

I hope you were able to be with us last Sunday at BBT.  Linda brought a lesson on how Satan can get us so angry and upset that we lose our prospective.  She explained that we can say “Ain’t no way Satan” are you going to make me get angry and upset when problems come.  It is so easy to lose our temper, say things we don’t mean and even hear things other people are not even saying.  We must be in control of our emotions if we are going to show other people, there is something different about us.  Larry delivered a message about preparing our hearts to receive the seed from God. Not only do we need to have the good soil to receive the seed but we need to work it, prune it, water it, make it productive.  If you missed any of these lessons you can hear them on our website.

This week I wanted to follow up on what Linda was talking about last week. Not only do we need to keep from being angry, we need also not to be afraid.  We are all afraid of somethings but there are many people  that let fear rule their life.  They are afraid to die but they are afraid to live as well.  Know this, fear is a natural thing, like sin we are born with it.  Look how so many things scare children.  Fear does not have to rule your life, think about how many times in the Bible it says fear not.  Problem is we don’t know how to not be afraid.  It is hard to overcome.  This week I want to show you how Jesus can help us lose our fears. The scripture verses this week are in Matthew the 14 chapter starting in verse 22-33. This is a story of how fearless Peter was as he stepped out of the boat but how his fear overcame him and he began to sink.  Does this happen to you?  Do you get so frightened of your surroundings you take your eye s off the very one that can comfort you?  Don’t think you are alone here. We all need to be reminded that we have nothing to fear if we are child of the King.  Please join us Sunday as we celebrate another great Sunday at BBT.

Please continue to pray for those mentioned in our prayer request this week and remember to count your blessing every day.  God bless you and keep you till we meet again!

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

Message for July 20 – Groundbreaking News

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by

What a great day we had last Sunday!  Good things always happen when Priscilla goes off script and opens up the Sunday school time for the Holy Spirit to move.  We missed those of you who weren’t there.  It’s even better with all the family together and especially with new people to welcome, so come on back and bring a friend!

Pastor David spoke from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, prompting us to examine the soil of our own hearts to see whether it is ready to receive God’s word.  I’m going to build on his foundation this Sunday.  Or to retain the farming metaphor, water what he planted.  🙂

If you heard last week’s message and came to the conclusion that your ground is not good, you might be wondering if it is possible to change.  Depending on the motivation and the subject matter, the world tends to give us one of two messages.  Either we’re born that way and we cannot change, or all the changing is up to us.  Neither message is the whole truth.  Consider Jeremiah 4:3 in light of the pastor’s message, and come join us on Sunday as we explore how God changes hearts.

Sunday July 13, 2014 ” What kind of soil or you?”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by

What a great celebration we had last week. We are so thankful for the Country we live in and for those who have given so much for our freedom.  I hope we will never take this freedom for granite. What a great group we had in service.  I hope we can continue to have these great groups all through Summer and into the Fall.  I want to thank all those that help with hot dogs afterwards.

This week we I want us to look at ourselves and see what kind of person are we.  As Jesus was speaking to the crowds he wants them to understand the Kingdom of God.  This is something that was new to them so he explains to them in something they will understand.  In Matthew the 13Th chapter Jesus explains the Kingdom in the parable of the sower.  The scripture vs are in Matthew 13Th chapter vs 1-9 and 18-23.  In this parable Jesus describes God as the farmer who scatters his seed and we are the different types of soil that the seeds fall on.  This parable sounds like the farmer has no idea how to plant his crops he is just throwing seeds everywhere, but the message is not so much about the farmer it is about us the soil.  There are so many different types of soil and they describe us in so many different ways. Out of the soil in this parable there were 3 types that were not able to sustain the crop that the seed needed to grow. Only one received the seed and produced the fruit that the farmer was looking for.  There is only one way you and I can be that soil. We must receive the grace of God and trust him that his promises are good.  God does not need huge numbers to do great things.  He just needs the few to be completely submerged in his love and grace.  I hope you will be part of us Sunday as we talk about what kind of soil are you?.

This week may seem long since we had a short week last week with the Holiday.  I hope you are doing as we talked about last Sunday, and you are not working too long, not worrying, getting enough sleep and I hope you are trusting God to keep his promise to you. If you will come unto him lay your burdens at his feet take his yoke upon you and trust him, you will have peace about whatever situation you may face.  Part of being the good soil we will talk about this Sunday is trusting God.  I hope you have a great rest of the week and use the faith that you have inside of you right now.  God bless you we will see you Sunday!

We love you so much,

Pastor David and Pris

Sunday July 6, 2014 “Do you need some rest?”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by

We had another great Sunday last week at BBT.  Linda led the Sunday school time sharing with us her ideas of  where we are headed and how we can get there.  She believes, as I do, that when more people know about us, the more people we can minister to.  She has great enthusiasm and a great desire to help us be the Church God created us to be.  Larry also spoke about the church, no matter what denomination, must get back to our first love, which is loving Jesus Christ and loving each other.  It is not just important that we do good things we must do them for the right reasons. It was a powerful message that we all needed to hear.  If you would like to hear it Larry will have it on our website.

I hope you are looking forward to the upcoming 4Th of July this week. I hope you will remember those who gave us so much that we may have this freedom. I also hope you can rest and energize yourself for the upcoming summer.  I am going to talk about rest this week as we look at why we are always so tired. The scripture verses are in Matthew the 12Th chapter verses 28-30.  Here Jesus invites us to come to him and let him give us rest.  The rest Jesus is talking about is not when we die and go to heaven he wants us to be less weary right now! He wants us to trust him to keep his promises to us and that we can go to him and be comforted no matter what our situation is.  Are you weary or you tired from all the worries that the world has put on you?  Jesus is offering to carry that burden for you if you will let him. My prayer every day is God I can’t do this on my own. You are my strength and my shield to protect me.  You move my feet where they need to go, you give me the words I need to say. Without you Lord I will not succeed.  I hope you have this same dependency on him. Please join us on Sunday as we learn to rest in him.  We will be having chili dogs, chips and Kool-aid after the service, what can be more American then that!

Thank everyone in church last week that prayed for Kim. There are few churches today that will stop what they are doing and pray right then for someone who is hurting, I thank God we are that kind of church.  Your prayers have been answered and she is feeling better.  Please continue to pray for Pris’s dad. He is still in the hospital and is having a very rough time.  He means so much to our family.  He was a big part of this ministry when he was caring for my father and I hope to get the chance to help care for him as well.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone this Sunday.  I hope you have a safe and happy 4Th of July and get some rest by resting in Him.

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

Message for June 29 – A Good Church

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
What a great turnout we hat last Sunday even with the rain!  And there was not even any food!  That tells me you all want to be there.  I hope you’ll come back next week.  I enjoyed sharing with you the things I learned about Joshua.  Too bad I forgot to hit the record button before I went up front.  I don’t know if God was humbling me since I thought it was good or sparing me the disappointment of hearing what it was really like.  Linda encouraged us to study our Bibles with expectation.  We welcomed at least one new visitor.  That makes for a great day!

This week I’m going to take another detour from talking about the deliverers who picture Jesus in the Old Testament.  I was reading this morning in Revelation 2:1-7.  Jesus is speaking to the church at Ephesus.  He has several good things to say about it, but then one bad thing that cancels out all the rest.

I bet if we went to that church, we would think it was a pretty good one.  They believed in pure doctrine and wouldn’t tolerate false teachers.  Its members worked hard and kept their faith in the face of persecution.  If it were here today, it would probably have a good preacher who stayed true to the Bible and lots of ministry opportunities.

But Jesus didn’t seem to think so.  For all the good things, He had one thing against them, and it was so serious that He would not allow them to remain a church unless they repented.  They left their first love.  He says, “remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent.” (2:5)  All of those things that Jesus Himself said were good about that church didn’t matter, because they forgot the reason for their existence, to be the bride of Christ.

It doesn’t matter how big we grow.  It doesn’t matter how nice our building looks.  It doesn’t matter how many good things we do.  It doesn’t matter if we are doing good things that no one else is doing.  It only matters if He is our first love and everything we do is motivated by that love.  He did say, “”If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)  Notice that the love comes first.  When we do what we do out of love, we are not just a good church, we’re a great church!  Come and let’s take a closer look at the Ephesian church and what Jesus had to say to it.

Modify message

 

Message for June 22 – Joshua, the Deliverer’s Servant

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
We had a good trip and I’m glad we did it, but I’m also glad to be back and I’m looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday.  We were sorry to hear about what happened with Micki and we’re praying for her.  I went to see Kimi on Wednesday and she was ready to go home.  She did go home yesterday.

I get so excited when I find things I never saw before in God’s word.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about Joshua or not, since he doesn’t quite fit the profile of the deliverers we’ve been talking about so far.  I’m so glad I decided to go ahead, because it’s as if God gave me a little nod, saying, “Yes, this is what I want you to be talking about.”

Joshua was Moses successor.  He brought Israel into the land that God promised them after the death of Moses.  There are some great lessons we can learn from his life, and we’ll see how he points to Jesus in unique ways.  Join us in the delightful exploration of God’s word and hear Him say to you, “Be strong and courageous!” (Joshua 1:9)

Modify message

 

Sunday June 15th “The role of a father in todays world”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
We had a great time last week at BBT.  It was really good to see some of our members that had been out for a while. We really do miss you when all of our family is not there.  This week pastor Larry and Linda will be traveling to his grandmother’s home in Arkansas.  We will miss you but we are glad you are getting this chance to visit with her.  Don and Brenda will also be traveling this week, but they will be back by Sunday.  I hope all of you have a safe trip both coming and going.

This week is Fathers day and we are going to look at the role of the Father in our society and what God expects from us as Fathers.  The scripture verses this week is Matthew 7: 7-12.  Jesus talks about how we are to act as parents and how he is treats us as his children.  We have a model to work after.  When he says we are evil, he just means we make mistakes, we are not perfect. It does not mean they we do not love our children. We just sometimes mess up.  That is not the case when it comes to God. He knows exactly what we need and he teaches us how to appreciate what we have. He also loves us unconditionally, a lesson many parents need to understand better.  As we are not perfect parents out children are not perfect either.  They need us to teach them how to overcome their mistakes and show them how much we believe in them.  We can’t do that if we don’t believe that.  I hope you will be with us in church on Sunday as we honor our Father’s on this special day.

I want to thank you for are all your prayers for Kim this week. Her blood test are not in yet but it looks like she will have everything they need by Friday and hopefully they will schedule surgery for the first of next week. Lets pray this will be a quick healing process and she will get back to being Kim again.  John is going to have to miss again this week but we are hopeful that he will be able to be back on the following Sunday.   Keep doing good things and remember God has great plans for you, just make yourself available.

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

 

Sunday June 8, 2014 “Coming Home”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
I believe everyone who went with us last Sunday to Harvest Oaks Church really got a blessing.  It was so good to see some fellow Christians we had not seen in a while and they really did welcome us into their service. Pastor Jay was so kind to allow us to be part of their service.  I can’t wait to get a chance to see them again!

This week we will be back at our regular time.  My message is going to be in Jeremiah 31 vs 8 thru 11.  This weekend my wife’s family is having a family reunion in Kansas. I am not sure if she is going to make it or not but it made me think about how my family doesn’t seem like we ever have family reunion’s.  I kind of miss the chance to see my relatives and talk about old times. Seems like the only time we get together now is at funerals.  That is really to bad.  There are many kind of reunions like class reunions but I have no desire to go back to see old classmates that I have not even thought about in 40 years, but family that is different.  The kind of reunion I am going to talk about this Sunday was inspired by what Jay taught on last week and that is our relationship with our Heavenly Father and how we need to come back home.  I home you will be with us this Sunday as we talk about coming back to God.

We did not have a prayer request time last week but I have a few people that we need to lift up. In my family Priscilla is still struggling with the pain in her foot, it is getting better but she needs our prayers.  My daughter Kim went to the emergency room this week and they found a huge mass on her ovaries. They are trying to determine if it is cancerous or a hemotoma, we will know more next week.  Dee Dee still has houseguest so continue to pray for her.  If you have a prayer request please call me and let me pray for you and get others praying as well.  I hope you are having a blessed week and as I always tried to remind us: “Lets do something good for somebody this week”.  I hope to see you Sunday and know you are blessed!!

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

 

Sunday June 1, 2014 “Road trip to Allen”

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
This week we will be making our 2ND road trip this year. We are going out to pastor Jay Gibson church in Allen this week.  I have been looking forward to this trip for several weeks.  After the service we will come back to BBT and we will have lunch.  I hope we have a good group to make this trip.  If you have someone to invite please do so we will have plenty of room in our bus and vans and lunch afterwards.

I hope you will be praying for pastor Jays church this week it is called Harvest Oaks and they have been very good to us.  Also continue to pray for pastor Danny Mack church in Plano called Renaissance Church. I hope to invite them out to visit with us one Sunday as well.

Please continue to pray for those mentioned in the service last week as we cannot forget those who need us the most.  I hope you will make plans for attending the service this week.  We will meet at the church around 8:30 am and we need to leave by 9:00 am to be in Allen by 10:00 am.  Don’t be late and left behind.  I hope you are as excited as I am for this trip.  Do good things this week, Bless the people that cross your path and we will see you Sunday Morning!!!

We love you so much,

Pastor David & Pris

 

Sunday May 25, 2014

Bartimaeus Baptist Temple Posted on by
We had another great service last week at BBT.  Linda brought a terrific lesson on “Envy” and how we all struggle with this sin.  She showed us how we can grieve with those that grieve, but we can also rejoice when something great happens to another as well.  Larry continued his series on how God used people in the Bible and he spoke this week about Moses.  Moses was not the man you and I would have picked to lead Israel into the promise land, but God saw in him what we could not see. God can see in you what other people may not see but if God’s sees it, that is who you really are. I can’t wait to develop into the man God sees in me!

This week Chris Hail we be in our service to bring the message. This is the third time we have tried to have Chris out let’s just pray it does not rain.  Chris has been with us before but this is the first time he has brought a message. He will also be singing his song “Rain on me heaven”.

I hope you are having a great week and I know you are looking forward to Memorial day weekend.  This is not just a day off work but it is a day to remember those in our armed forces.  Both my dad and Priscilla ‘s dad served in World War II and it means a great deal to us to see us honor our troops. They sacrifice so much that it makes me ashamed sometimes that I complain about the little I have to do compared to the sacrifices they make each day.  I hope you will take the time to pray for our leaders and our armed forces every single day. If you see a military man or a policeman or fireman, tell them thank you for their service, that will really mean something to them.

Please pray for this ministry and pray for a movement in our city that God’s love will continue to reach all people wherever they may be.  We love you and can’t wait to worship with you again this Sunday at BBT!

We love you so much
Pastor David & Pris