Sunday December 15, 2013 “Are you who you say you are?”

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I was so disappointed that we had to cancel our service with Harvest Oaks for the second time this month! There is a reason for these delays but I am still disappointed. When speaking to pastor Jay this week, they will set a date in January to come and have our service with them, hopefully there will be no more ice cancellations in the near future.  I hope every one was safe and warm, and you had power to your houses.  I was so grateful we never lost our power but there were many of you who did.  This week, the Lord willing, we will have our Christmas party at the church and Heights church will be with us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  The ladies that do our Christmas stockings will be with us as well. I hope you will be with us as we fellowship together.

As I was feeling down and disappointed about last week I read in Matthew where John the Baptist was even questioning how he had spent his life.  Christmas is the time of year we usually talk about being jolly but this time of year is hard for many people.  It is not hard to long back at some things in our past that we can say we really messed this up, or things really did not work out like we expected.  It is normal to feel this way. There are always things we have been disappointed about.  I want us to look at the scriptures in Matthew 12: 2-11 and see if we can get a true idea of what John the Baptist was feeling as he was in prison and about to be executed. There is a lesson we can learn from what message Jesus sent back to John.  I hope you will be with us as we start at our regular time of 2:30 pm.

On a sadder note this week Lisa Garcia’s mom Thelma passed away. Lisa and her family have been part of this church for many many years and we are praying for Lisa and her family as they go through this terrible loss.  I hope we can offer comfort and support to Lisa this Sunday.  Continue to pray for those loved ones that are struggling as we go into this Christmas season and I hope you will be thankful for all your many blessings.  I hope to see you in Church on Sunday and keep doing good things for the people you meet as we celebrate the fact that we have been so blessed.

We love you so much!
Pastor David & Pris

 

Sunday December, 8 2013 “Harvest Oaks Church Sunday”

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Well December is here and Christmas is right around the corner then we celebrate a New Year.  We have so much to be grateful for.  Every day is a new blessing a new challenge and a new chance to show God’s love to one another.

We will be celebrating with Harvest Oaks church this Sunday.  We will start right at 2:30.  I know it will be cold but hopefully no rain or ice.  Please come and invite someone to come with you. I would love to see us fill the church. Jay will bring the message and his church will lead us in the music.  They will then have dinner ready for us in the fellowship hall afterwards.  This is actually our Thanksgiving dinner we had planned two weeks ago but the weather prevented us from having Church.  They are excited to serve us and we are excited and grateful they want to.

We will have our Christmas party at the church on the 15Th, and Heights Church will be here for that celebration.  They have gifts for all the members and we are blessed again by another great group of people who are just love the Lord and are following his example.

I am looking forward to this month at BBT and I expect 2014 will be a great year if we will just do our part.  Let’s make some promises to each other and to God for this New Year and lets do every thing in our power to keep those promises.  Keep praying for those who need a touch from God and lets do what we do best, doing good things for somebody who need our help.  We love you and we will see you Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris

 

Message for December 1 – Behold: When God Says, “Pay Attention!”

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Hello BBT friends and family.  As I’m writing this, we would normally be at church and about to get started.  However, due to the potential for icy conditions, it was decided to play it safe and cancel today’s services.  I miss being with you and it looks so far like our concern was unnecessary, but we would rather everyone be safe.  I look forward to seeing you all next weekend as we celebrate with Tim and Cindy.  Harvest Oaks is still planning to do the service and dinner for us.  It has been rescheduled for December 8.

A few weeks ago, I was reading in the Bible and a word jumped out at me.  It’s a seemingly insignificant word.  It occurs so often in the Bible that many commentaries and word study resources ignore it. The word is, “behold.”  Look!  Pay attention!  Take note!  Sometimes it’s part of conversations between people and may not have any more significance than when we preface our sentences with something like “look” or “you see.”  But maybe we should look a little more closely when Biblical authors use it to highlight what they have written.  Maybe we should pay special attention when God says, “Pay attention!”  Walk with me through some key places in the scripture when God said, “behold!”  I can’t wait to see you on Sunday!

 

Sunday November 24, 2013 “Harvest Oaks is in the House”

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We are at that special time of the year when we start to celebrate the Holidays.  This week Harvest Oaks Baptist Church will be with us. They will do the entire service and provide our Thanksgiving dinner afterwards.  They are such a blessing to our church.  The service will start right at 2:30 and we would love to see you there to celebrate God’s blessings in action.  If you need any other information please call me at 469-394-3928.

We have so much coming up over the next few weeks.  This week is the Thanksgiving celebration, on Saturday is the wedding of Tim and Cindy at 2Pm, and we will have mini-church that evening at our house.  On Sunday December the 1st Joel and his group will be with us, it has been a long time coming but I am so grateful to have them with us during this busy season, we have truly missed them.  On Sunday December the 8Th Pastor Larry and Linda will have the service. Then on Sunday December 15Th we will have our Christmas party with The Heights church providing food and presents to all our members.  What a blessing Heights church has been to us over the years, they really are special people and a special church.  We are so thankful for all these people who believe it is better to give than receive and  I know they are blessed every time they come because they are doing the will of God.  We will be forever grateful and amazed at their willing to do so much.

Please remember our brother Jerry Gibson he has been in the hospital this week as they had to put a feeding tube in his throat as the chemotherapy prevent him from eating and swallowing.  We are praying for Jerry every day for his healing, his son Jay will lead us this week in our service and we can’t wait to see Jerry again.

As I was looking on facebook this week I see so many people listing all the things they are grateful for.  We are truly blessed to live in this Country and we are really blessed when we can call Jesus as our personal redeemer.  If you have not yet asked Christ into your life you are truly missing out on the Joy that comes with this personal relationship. I urge to look around you as we celebrate this season of thanksgiving and joy and ask yourself am I just going through life hoping to one day find peace.  There is no Peace till you know Jesus.  We want to invite you to come a join with us as we praise God and worship every Sunday at 2:30 and we want you to know that you also are a child of the King.

Do good things this week and we will see you on Sunday

We love you,
Pastor David and Pris

 

Message for November 17 – We Should All Be Arrested!

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Hello loved ones!  What a wonderful month we are having!  With all the funerals we’ve had in the last few years, we get to have two weddings this month!  Breedlove and Jana will be married this evening.  Tim and Cindy will be married on the 30th.  What better time to have this happen than on the same month that we also celebrate Thanksgiving?  God is good!

Last week we heard more encouraging words from Priscilla and then Breedlove gave what I’m calling part 1 of his testimony.  I could probably say that about any of us, because God is always working in our lives.  I also think Pastor David’s message was particularly appropriate this month.  After all, married people better learn to forgive!

My health is improving.  I was pretty certain I knew what was happening or I would not have risked exposing anyone.  I turned out to be right.  It was a recurrence of the same thing that put me in the hospital back in February.  The good news is we got it in time and I am back to normal activity.  Thank you all for your prayers and concern.  Keep in mind the other prayer requests that were mentioned.  You can always refresh your memory from the web site.

This Sunday, I want to talk to you from the book of Galatians.  It’s not a long book, so I urge you to read it this week.  The truth is that we are all law breakers.  If God had a police force, we’d all be in danger of being arrested!  Not only that, but we’d be convicted and the penalty is death!  But instead of sending a Heavenly hit squad, God sent His son, Jesus, to take it for us.  The trouble is that we think we know better.  We seem to think that if we do everything right, we’ll make the cut.  Sometimes we’re so arrogant that we appoint ourselves God’s police force and try to make everyone else follow the law as we see it.  Paul has some very harsh words for that kind of attitude.  He also has some very encouraging words if we choose to walk with Jesus by His Holy Spirit.  Come and let’s explore them together.

 

Sunday November 10, 2013 “What does it mean to forgive”

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I really did enjoy the chance to worship with everyone last Sundayat BBT.  I really got ministered to and we hope we were able to minister to you as well.

This week I am going to do the last in a series of what we need to do to be a better Christian and a better person.  I was going to do a message on living with Hope but Pris really answered that question last week in her lesson on “Just let it go.” Instead I am going to talk about living a life of forgiveness.  When I think about forgiveness I think of the question Peter ask Jesus, How many times must I forgive a person, 7 times?  I want to look at this scripture and see what Jesus said to Peter and what he is saying to us. It is found in Matthew the 18Th  vs 21-35.  This is something we all struggle with including myself.  It is very hard to deal with anger and hurt feelings the way Jesus asks us to, but it is not a request it is a command.  Jesus says if you want to receive forgiveness then you must give it.  We do not get to get even.  I hope you will be able to join us this Sunday as we look at this hard but important lesson.

Continue to pray for those we mentioned last week, especially remember Jerry Gibson as he goes through his chemotherapy over the next 2 weeks.  He took his first session on Thursday and will go again this Thursday.  I hope you will remember to think about the lessons we learned over the last month, be thankful, never give up, keep your promises, and learn to forgive. Do great things this week in Jesus’ name.  We will see you on Sunday!

 

Sunday November 3,2013 Is your word your bond?

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We had a relaxing and restful weekend last week.  Thanks so much to all of you at BBT for allowing Pris and me to get away last week.  I really missed you but we all need some time to get away.  That being said I can’t wait to get back in church worshiping with by christian family.  It is nice to get away but there is nothing better than coming home, especially if you love being a part of something like BBT!

This week I want to talk to you about keeping your word.  There is nothing that shows a persons integrity more than  they keep their word.  We may not have a lot of money or have a high position in our society but our words should matter.  More important than money and fame is a good name. I want to discuss the promises we make. I believe it is very important that we keep our promises to each other and especially to God.  This week verses are in gospel of Matthew 5: 33-37.  Jesus is talking about taking an oath or as we say make a promise and how our yes should mean yes and our no means no. We say somethings just to receive the praise of men and we make promises to God just to receive a blessing or answered prayer.  We make promises  not realizing how people may be counting on you keeping your word.  We all have made promises we have not been able to keep, but it should break our hearts when we disappoint our fellow brother’s and sister by not keeping these promises.  When we break our promises to God we should be asking God for forgiveness. When we hurt other people we show them we can not be trusted to keep our word, when we break our promises to God we are in sin and need God’s mercy and grace to help us be better.  I am so proud of this group of people at BBT as you work very hard to keep your promises to each other and to God.  But we can do better.  Lets’ talk about it Sunday as we discuss about how important our words are.

I want to thank all of you for praying for Kim this week.  She is struggling but she did find out she has a blood clout in her arm. They chose not to do surgery at this point but they are still trying to decide what to do.  We pray they will find an answer and get this fixed.  On Wendsday my great granddaughter was born. She is healthy and her and her mom are doing great.  My grandson was able to be in the delivering room and saw what a miracle birth is.  I think he has a new idea about what is important in life.

On a very sad note Jerry Gibson, one of the trustees at BBT, was again diagnosed with cancer. He had the cancer removed several years ago but it has come back. The doctor did not give him much hope and the alternative to removing this cancer was not what Jerry wanted.  I am going to pray for Jerry every day the rest of this year and believe God can do things Doctors can not.  I am making this promise to him and it is a promise I will not break.  Please pray with me and lets believe in the healing power of God.

I will see you on Sunday and I hope you will bring someone with you.  Do good things and make sure you keep the promises you make.

We love you so much!

Pastor David and Pris

 

Message for October 27 – As You Love Yourself

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Hello again friends and family.  I’m sorry we missed you last week, but we took the opportunity to bless some family members who have had a rough time, and it was a day well spent.  Pastor David returned my digital recorder last night, so I’ll get the podcasts up as soon as I can.  I’m looking forward to hearing Tim’s testimony and the good message we missed.

This week I’d like to share some thoughts with you from Matthew 22:35-40.  When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, he responds, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Have you heard someone take this passage and use it to show that we should love ourselves?  I have, and I may have even used it that way myself.  I think when we do that we’re turning this passage on its head.  It isn’t about us.  In fact, it’s about everyone but us.  Jesus here acknowledges the reality that we do love ourselves and teaches us to give the same attention to God and to our neighbor.  Come and explore this teaching with us on Sunday

 

Sunday October 20th, 2013 “Faith that just won’t quit”

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I really enjoyed being in Church last week.  It was great to see you there as well.  As the weather changes and we get closer and closer to the Holiday season, I hope you will include Christ in your plans.  We talked about being grateful last week both in my message and in Priss’s Sunday school lesson.  I hope you are looking at the blessings in your life each day and stopping to give God thanks for his mercy, grace and provision.  We will never be able to thank him enough but we should sure try.

This week we are going to stay in Luke this week in chapter 18 vs 1-8.  Jesus wants us to show that our faith should never quit! He tells the story of the widow who wore know the corrupted judge because she would not give up.  Have you ever finally succeeded at something after you have been trying to accomplish this for a long long time?  You had failed so many times but finally you are successful.  What a great feeling that is.  But in more times than not have we just given up when it looked like we could never win?  That is a terrible feeling, a feeling of failure a feeling of unworthiness a feeling of  being no good.  God does not want you to feel that way. He wants you to succeed in all things but it will take courage, pertinence and above all Faith.  Faith is what will keep us going when it seems hopeless; Faith will keep us going when there seems no way out. It is Faith in God that keeps us going despite our failures and obstacles. I hope you will be in church with us this week as we talk about a Faith that will not quit!!

I am so excited about the weeks ahead but don’t overlook today to look to tomorrow.  God has something very special for you TODAY, claim it believe it receive it. Remember those who are sick and hurting and pray for them daily. Remember our prayers for thanks are not just for the dinner table but all day long. Invite someone to come with you to church this week and lets do good things in God’s name.  We will see you on Sunday!

We love you so much,
Pastor David and Pris

 

Sunday October 13th 2013 “Are we a grateful nation?”

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We had another great service at BBT last Sunday.  I loved the sharing during the Sunday School time and the words of encouragement many people had for those that were hurting. I am so grateful for the spirit that is in this membership.

Speaking of being grateful, I was reading is Luke this week and read about the story of the ten lepers.  It is amazing to me how nine out of the ten lepers never came back to thank Jesus for healing them of this terrible disease.  What would we have done? I hope we would have fallen at the feet of Jesus and cried tears of joy for being set free, but lets not kid ourselves, how many blessing have we received that we have never acknowledge Jesus as the provider of the blessing much lest to stop and thank him.  The scripture verses this week will be in Luke the 17Th chapter vs 11-19.  I want us to look at this story again and I want us to put ourselves in the story.  I know that we think we are a grateful person and I know we try hard to be grateful even in the tough times we are going through in this country, but we can do better.  I want us to look at this story and see how it applies to us.  As bad as things are for us right now I promise you none of us are as bad off as these ten men.  That being said, should not they have even been more grateful for what Christ did for them?  I hope you will be with us this week and lets talk about how we can have a attitude of gratitude in this upcoming season.

Please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers each day.  There are many people with health issues as well as financial issues in our membership.  God will use you to minister to these needs if you will be open to receive the words God has for you.  My prayer for us is that we will be a blessing to others and an instrument for God.  Do good things for others not because you want the glory but do it for the glory of God.  Invite someone to come with you on Sunday and lets worship together in God’s house.

We love you so much

Pastor David & Pris