Bartimaeus Baptist Temple

Merry Christmas, y’all! This Sunday will be our traditional Christmas celebration. The traditions have changed a bit in recent years, but I think they are better because we all have something to give. We’ll have a short service. I’ll read the beloved story and make a few brief (I promise) remarks. Then we will head to the fellowship hall for refreshments and a gift exchange. It would be a fun time to bring a friend, but make sure you bring an extra gift too ($10-15 suggested value) so that no one is left out.

See you Sunday!

I hope you were all able to enjoy time with family and friends this Thanksgiving, and that each of us took a moment to consider how much we do have to be thankful for. We all face difficulties in our lives, but God is still good. We are still blessed beyond measure. There is no greater blessing than to know that we are part of the family of God.

This week, we’ll pick up our study with John Chapter 16. As we begin, Jesus is still speaking to the disciples about the persecution that will come to them for the sake of His name. Then, he returns to the topic of His immanent departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. I believe that one reason he comes back to this topic is to emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit as helper it times of persecution. He has already told them, as recorded by Mark, “And when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.” (13:11) Now, He provides more insight into the action of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the life of a disciple. Jesus is no longer with us in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit is always with us, and in is. He speaks for Jesus, and he directs all glory to Jesus.

We have instances in scripture where the Father is worshiped. We also have accounts of Jesus receiving worship both on Earth and in Heaven. We have no such accounts of the Holy Spirit receiving worship. It is not that He isn’t worthy of it. He, too, is God. But He directs all attention to Jesus and to the Father.

Yet, it is the Holy Spirit whose presence we sense. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks to our spirits. It is He who guides us to the truth and warns us away from error. It is He who lives within us and desires to have that communion with us. He is the Spirit of almighty God, and that is a wonder beyond words. You have the potential, even the right as a child of God, conferred by Jesus at the cross, to be in the presence of your creator, and to have His presence within you! What an awesome thing! Even to think about it makes me want to get up from my chair and fall on my face in reverence. Do not take this lightly. Let Him fill your heart and change your life!

See you at church!

love you all.

Blessings to you, family and friends of BBT. I never did write down the prayer requests from last week. I started that practice back when we first built the web site. I thought it would be a good way for us to have a reference as we pray throughout the week. I am also very aware that what is written here is available to the world, so I always try to be careful not to reveal too much personal information. It might be more useful to us if I took it private, requiring members to log in to read them. That way, I or whomever keeps the requests in future would be able to be more specific without revealing things that ought to be kept among ourselves. Let me know what you think. Do you refer to the prayer request page? Would you find it more useful if we could provide more detail on the requests? Do you have other ideas that would make our web site better?

This Sunday, I’ll be continuing with our study of John’s gospel in Chapter 15, verses 18-27. Jesus has been preparing His disciples for his immanent departure. He has told them to love each other and showed them what He means. He has told them how to show their love for Him, and these things are connected. He has promised them the Holy Spirit. Now, he tells them how the world is going to respond. It will hate them, just as it hated Him. This is because they are no longer of it. He has called them out.

He has also called us out. When we answer, he begins a transformation within us that makes us something completely alien to the world. We think differently. We act differently. Our values change. At least, these are the things that should happen. If they don’t, we have some tough questions to ask ourselves. In too many churches today, we are trying to make the world love us. If the world loves us, it means we are still a part of it. That makes us His enemies, not His friends. That is not a place we want to be. Let us be known as those who follow Jesus, even to the cross.

We enjoyed our 5th Sunday Fellowship this week. I only wish there were more of us to celebrate. It is comforting to be among the Family of God, spending time together, building each other up, worshiping our Lord, and sharing a meal together. It is my prayer that as we share that love outside the walls of our building we will add to our little branch of God’s family.

On Sunday we will continue our study of John’s gospel with Chapter 15:1-11. In this chapter, we will see Jesus expand on the things He has been teaching on the night before His crucifixion. He has already set forth the expectation that his disciples should love and serve one another, that their love is evidenced by the keeping of His commandments, and that they will do even greater works by the authority of His name. This is all made possible by His coming work of redemption at the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus now uses the analogy of the grape vine to further illustrate what He has been teaching. He is the source of life. Those who belong to him draw their sustenance through Him, and thereby produce fruit. Fruit-bearing branches are pruned so that they will produce more. A branch that does not fruit will be cut off. Scholars may debate the meaning of this, but one thing is clear. The mark of a true disciple of Jesus is the bearing of fruit. Fruit is the evidence of His life within us. So, what does it mean to bear fruit? What does a fruitful Christian look like? We can look to Jesus to find the answers. Come join us!

First of all, my sincere apologies for last week. We were planning to do thing the usual way, but as the time approached it became clear that I could not safely leave Linda alone, and we did not have anyone on tap to come and be here with her. I look forward to seeing you next week. So, let’s try this again.

Last time we covered the final verses of John Chapter 14, but I want to go back and focus on verse 27. So many of us are facing major issues that can steal our peace. May God’s word help us to hold on to that precious gift, given to us through the Spirit of peace, because of the Prince of Peace. The world challenges us with, “Do you want a piece of me?” Our God invites us with , Do you want a peace of me?”

love you all.