The Bartimaeus Blog 2024.5

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Sometime I feel like it is my duty as pastor to paint a bright picture even if I can’t see it myself. I have always maintained hope, believing that God has bigger and better things in store for Bartimaeus Baptist Temple, but I’ll confess sometimes I feel like a hypocrite standing up there saying that when I can’t see the way forward. I still choose to trust. I still choose to believe, and I think this could be the year we start to see new fruit. It starts just by doing what we can with what we have, and that is what we’re doing. Let’s give it our all!

This Sunday, I’ll be wrapping up John Chapter 17 with verses 20-26. Here Jesus goes back to the theme of unity and says it 3 times. He prays for us the same kind of unity that He has with the Father. I don’t think that’s possible until He returns, but we sure are a long way from it today. Events of the past week make that abundantly clear, and I am saddened and angered by what I have seen. I pray in agreement with Jesus that we would all be one, so that the world will know that there is one true God and the way to know Him is to know Jesus.

Please Join us on Sunday.

Love you all.

The Bartimaeus Blog 2024.4

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First, thank you all for the birthday celebration last week. It is good to love and be loved. It was cold outside, but warm in our hearts. I am looking forward to seeing what happens when we share that warmth with the community around us on March 16. We’re going to have some resources to help us and volunteers on the day of the event, but we are going to be the ones to plan and execute. More to come.

Our study continues with John 17:12-19. Jesus continues His prayer for the disciples, that they be protected from the evil one while they remain in the world, and that they be sanctified by the truth of His word. He said that the things He spoke to them were so that they would have His joy, and affirms that they have been sent into the world for a purpose. The world would not love them for it. This prayer is also for us, and we can take instruction, comfort, and joy from it. I hope you can join us as we explore this very special chapter. When God the Son prays to God the Father on our behalf, we can be sure of the answer.

Praise and Prayer Requests from Sunday Service of January 21

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Rejoice with us and pray with us.

We are so happy to be here today. Pris’s eye surgery went well and she’ll soon have her cataracts done. Don is thankful to hav come through all of his health issues.

Brenda and Don ask prayer that they get all the paperwork straight so that they get the compensation they are supposed to. Debra’s dog needs eye surgery. April prays for housing and work opportunity. Don asks prayer for a former coworker named Mark with pancreatic cancer. Another coworker Annette has esophageal cancer. Also another former coworker James with cancer. Debra prays that DART continues to improve. Pray for Kimi. Pray for a friend of Pris whose name I missed. Pray for my family. Remember Gary. Remember Cathy’s friend Teresa. Deedee and B.J. Ask for prayer. Pray for Brenda’s mom.

The Bartimaeus Blog 2024.3

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We ended up canceling services last week. We’ve got another cold one coming this weekend, but not quite as bad and with less threat of precipitation during the time that would concern us, so I’m looking forward to seeing you all there. I have some good news. The outreach project that we thought was not going to happen has been approved. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 16. I’ll tell you what I know on Sunday.

The message for this week is the same as last week. 🙂 I’ll be continuing in John Chapter 17 with verses 6-11. Jesus is praying, and he now turns his attention to his disciples. He notes that the father has given them to Him and that He has revealed the character and nature of the Father to them. They believed His words, and He was glorified through them. Jesus makes a point that this prayer is for them and not for the world. He then makes an amazing request, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

The theme of unity is expressed repeatedly in this prayer and follows Jesus’ teaching on how they, and we by extension, ought to love each other. He desires for them, and for us (see John 17:20-23) the same kind of unity that He has with the Father! How is that even possible? Does the church today look like that prayer is being answered? Be assured, it will be answered. The only question is whether we will cooperate willingly. I pray that we will hear the very heart of God expressed in this prayer, and commit ourselves to the fulfilment of His desire out of our love for Him.

The Bartimaeus Blog 2024.2

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Winter takes its time, but it does make some brief appearances here in Nort Texas. We don’t like it much, but we can be thankful that it doesn’t stick around. It’s going to be cold this weekend with a chance of some freezing precipitation moving in Sunday evening. So far, it doesn’t look like a problem for us, but we’ll keep an eye on things and let you know if that changes. For now, bundle up and come on in!

For anyone who may not have gotten the news, I’m happy to report that Priscilla’s eye surgery went well and she has been recovering at home. I’m hoping we get to see her Sunday, but no pressure. 🙂 It was good to have Don back with us after his recent challenges. I was also encouraged by the discussion we had after the service. Let’s keep thinking about how we can be about God’s work in the community.

I’ll be continuing in John Chapter 17 this week with verses 6-11. Jesus is praying, and he now turns his attention to his disciples. He notes that the father has given them to Him and that He has revealed the character and nature of the Father to them. They believed His words, and He was glorified through them. Jesus makes a point that this prayer is for them and not for the world. He then makes an amazing request, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

The theme of unity is expressed repeatedly in this prayer and follows Jesus’ teaching on how they, and we by extension, ought to love each other. He desires for them, and for us (see John 17:20-23) the same kind of unity that He has with the Father! How is that even possible? Does the church today look like that prayer is being answered? Be assured, it will be answered. The only question is whether we will cooperate willingly. I pray that we will hear the very heart of God expressed in this prayer, and commit ourselves to the fulfilment of His desire out of our love for Him.

I hope to see you there on Sunday. For those who may be trying to connect online, I apologize for all the technical difficulties we have been experiencing. I hope to be able to try something different this week that may help with the sound, and we’ll pray for no more connectivity issues. We lack the resources for professional quality production.

Love y’all!

The Bartimaeus Blog 2024.1

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We have made it into a new year, and I am so thankful. It is my belief that God has been preparing us for new and better things, and it is my expectation that this is the year that we will begin to see those new thing. Let us rise to meet the challenge. The Lord is our strength.

Over the holiday season, we took a break from our progress through the Gospel of John as we observed our familiar traditions. I also wanted to wait until we had an unbroken stretch of Sundays in which to examine the next chapter. It is very special, because it contains Jesus’s prayer for us! John has included a great deal of detail in his gospel so that we cannot miss the deity of Jesus as well as His humanity. He is the son of God, and He is also God. Therefor it may be said that God prayed for you! If you wish to know His heart, I can think of no better place to start.

Scholars typically divide John 17 into 3 sections. In verses 1-5, which we will cover this week, he prays for “Himself.” In verses 6-19, he prays for the disciples, and in verses 20-26 for all who would believe through their teaching. That would be you and me. However, the whole of this prayer has application for all of us.

Jesus began His prayer by declaring that His time had come. Within hours, he would be arrested, tried and crucified. In that which appeared to be His final defeat was actually His victory and glorification. The price would be paid and the way opened that we can know God. So, even as he asks His Father to restore His glory, he askes for our sake. To know God is to know life eternal. Hear the heart of God, and rejoice!

See you Sunday.

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.43 – Happy New Year!

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I hope everyone was able to enjoy the holiday sharing the love of friends and family, and maybe even a stranger or two. We did not hold a service on Christmas Eve to give our hard-working staff that opportunity. We will be meeting this Sunday at our regular time. I think most of us will be sleeping in the new year when the clock strikes midnight. 🙂

I’ve never been a big fan of enslavement to the calendar, but the changing of the year does provide us with an opportunity to evaluate where we’ve been and where we’re going. Many of us will make New Year’s resolutions to do something better for the future. I notice as I read the research on the kinds of resolutions people make that they are generally self-focused. The top resolutions according to one survey were to improve fitness and to improve finances.

Those are good things, but I can’t help thinking a Christ follower’s resolutions might look a little different. Our model is Jesus, so we’re always going to fall short, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying. Self improvement is good, but self-sacrifice is better. What resolutions might we make that benefit others instead of ourselves.

There is no Biblical foundation for a New Year’s resolution, though there is certainly nothing wrong with choosing this time to make one. However, I think the Biblical standard is higher. Once we know the right thing to do, to continue not to do it is considered sin (James 4:17).) If we have determined that something is worth doing, what are we waiting for? Start today!

I love you all and look forward to seeing you Sunday.

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.42 – Merry Christmas!

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We will not be meeting this Sunday since we will have key people out spending Christmas Eve with family. We had a good time celebrating together last weekend. I look forward to many more to come, and maybe finding even better ways to honor the One whom we are celebrating.

Be blessed to be a blessing this Christmas. See you on New Year’s Eve.

Love y’all!

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.41

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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!

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.40

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Merry Christmas Everyone! Whatever we believe about the actual timing and circumstances of our savior’s birth, I hope we won’t miss the opportunity provided by the season to share the good news! There is a reason that He came. There is a reason that we celebrate it. The hope of humanity, the Lord of life became one of us to die for all of us. There is no Christmas without Christ. There is no salvation without the Savior.

I am taking a break from our study of John’s gospel because we will have our Christmas celebration on the 17th and there will be no service on Christmas eve. We will resume with Chapter 17 in the new year so that we may be able to get through it uninterrupted. In this chapter, God the Son prays to God the Father for His disciples and also for us. What a wonderful window into the very heart of God! I want us to be able to soak up every word, and, as much as is possible given the constraints of our meeting, see the prayer as a whole.

So, this Sunday, we’ll pick up the Christmas theme and take a close look at who Jesus is and why it matters. I won’t be telling you anything new, but I hope that by keeping it fresh in our minds we will be able during this time of opportunity to (paraphrasing from 1 Peter 3:15) “make a defense to everyone who asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us.” We know our God to be eternal, having no end and no beginning. Yet we celebrate the day when God was born.