Sunday July 4,2010

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Greetings fellow Christians and followers of BBT.  I feel like Paul writing to the church at Bartimaeus.  I wonder how Paul would have loved to be able to send his letters out through a blog or email? But his letters were meant to be delivered through a personal messenger and delivered personally. There is still something exciting about having a message brought to you personally.

We had a great time last week in church and by looking at how empty the pews were most of you missed it. Larry brought a great message on “The Love of God” and I think he has several follow up messages for us over the next few months. Don did a great job leading us in our Bible study. Speaking of that, this is the last week and we will have done what we had set out to do, read the Bible in 90 Days or close to it. If you are not through don’t give up keep plugging along.  I hope this will start a new challenge to have time set aside each week to read God’s word and apply it in our lives.

This weekend is the celebration of our Independence as a Country and I can not think of a better way to celebrate it than to be in our church and having the ” Senior Moments ” come and sing the patriotic songs that we all know and love.  I hope you will make plans to be in Church to help us celebrate this great Country we live in. And as I mentioned earlier we will also finish our Bible Study that we started back in February.  I will miss the lessons we had each Sunday afternoon but I know Pris will be able to pick up where we left off as she begins to teach Sunday School again starting on July 11Th.

I have a special prayer request from one of our trustee’s Jerry Gibson. He has asked for us to pray for some dear friends of his Liz and Mike O’Brien. IT seems Liz had to have a double mastectomy and she and Mike are still struggling with her recovery. We pray that the cancer is gone and in Jesus name we pray for a full recovery for this family. Keep praying for Mike Accidental has he is going through his Chemotherapy treatment and remember Kay as she has now been released from the rehab center but she is still in need of our prayers.  I hope you will go to our prayer request section every week and pray for the prayer request we mentioned on Sunday and please call me if you have a special request you would like to have put on the prayer chain.  I hope to see all of your bright and shiny faces in Church this week and let’s celebrate this country the way it was meant to be celebrated. Worshiping GOD! We love you so much and hope to see you on Sunday. May God bless you and keep you and remember to do good things just because it is the right thing to do.

Pastor David & Pris

Message for June 27 – How God Loves You

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We hear it all the time in church.  It’s one of the things we tell people when we are encouraging them to accept Jesus as Lord.  God loves you.  What does that mean?  How is that love expressed?  Do you ever wonder if He really does love you?

You may remember a few months back when we talked about love using 1 John 4:7-5:3 as our base text.  Over the next few months, unless the Holy Spirit has other plans, we will examine each of the points we covered that day in detail.  This week we will focus on 1 John 4:9-10.  I look forward to seeing you there and once again talking about my favorite subject.  Special thanks to Pastor David for giving me the opportunity.

Sunday June 20th 2010

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What a great day we had last Sunday as Rev Douglas Johnson brought the message “What’s for dinner?”. He also played the piano for the service and he really moved us with his songs.  I hope he will be back soon! We have finished up the Old Testament and are going through the Gospel’s this week and it is just a few weeks away from our graduation. If nothing else this Bible study has gotten us to commit to reading the Bible more and I hope we will not  stop now. My prayer is that the Bible will be a daily part of your life and you will continue to see what God has to say to us through his scripture.

This Sunday is Fathers day and I am really excited about the chance to celebrate it with you my kids.  I may not be old enough to be your father but I hold the postion of pastor of this congregation so I feel like I am responsible for leading you and setting an example for you. This week I am going to be talking about a story Jesus told about a wonderful father, and then relates it to our Heavenly Father. The scripture this week is one you should have read this week in your bible study it is Luke 15:11-12. This is the familiar story of the “prodigal son” or as we look at it this week the parable of “a loving Father”.  I hope you will be here Sunday to celebrate with us. And as we did on Mother’s day if you have a story you would like to share about your father please be prepared to do so.

Please keep praying for Mike as he goes back to the doctor this week. I will keep you updated as soon as I hear something. And pray for all our sick and suffering members who are battling all sorts of sickness and other problems. IT is our responsibility to pray for the ones who need a touch from God because by doing so we unleash the power of God inside of each of us. Keep working hard doing the business of God and keep doing good things for other people.  I can’t wait to see you on Sunday. We love you and may God bless you and your family.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday June 13th

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Good afternoon members of the BBT family.  I hope you are having a great day and a great week.  If there is one thing I have learned from becoming a senior citizen that is you really need to appreciate every day and every moment of that day.  Life is way too short to waste.  That does not mean that you have to have your day totally filled with something to do.  There is a time we should be able to relax, read a good book watch a good show on T.V. go out with your family.  Life is not about filling up all the moments of the day but about enjoying the moments of the day.

We had very few at Church on Sunday but we really had a good time.  In our Bible study last week we went through the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations and Ezekiel and the first 8 chapters of Daniel.  What a tough life the Prophet’s had in the Old Testament but what a great lesson we learn from them.  I now understand how patient and gracious our God is.  If he did not love Israel so much he would not have cared about them and the same is true of you and me.  God does not hate us when we disappoint him he just wants us to be better because he loves us SO MUCH.  I hope you will see that God is for us not against us.

This week we will have a guest speaker Rev. Douglas Johnson.  Rev. Johnson has spent 25 years working with the Ambassadors of Christ.  He has also help build a church in Desoto working with the Texas Baptist Men Assoc.  He has served as assistant Pastor for 10 years at the New Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. He has received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in business from Le Tourneau University, a master degree in Ministry and is in the process of completing his Doctorate in Theology.  He is currently serving in ministry as an Elder at the Potter’s House under Bishop T.D. Jake’s.  I am excited that he will be preaching at our service on Sunday so please invite someone to come with you on Sunday and let’s worship and praise the Lord together this week.

Please keep praying for Mike. He has become Jaundice because of all the radiation but they did show his Liver and Kidney was clear of cancer.  He is really feeling poorly but I know God is doing a great work in him as I type this note.  Please keep praying for this ministry and lets spread the word of the Love of our forgiving and gracious God.  Keep doing good things for others so they will see God living in us.  We love you and excited about seeing you on Sunday

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday June 6th 2010

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Well here we are BBT members in the month of June.  Where has the time gone. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating  Christmas and now this year is almost half gone.  I hope you had a terrific Memorial day.  We did and I have the sunburn to prove it. I look like a lobster ready to be boiled.

We had a GREAT time at church last week and if you missed it check out the recording of  Larry’s special music and his sermon.  They were both very inspiring!  We had some special guest visiting this week in Joe and Dixie.  I really enjoyed visiting with them for the few moments we had together.  We had a terrific Sunday School time in Sharing in the Book of Isiah and Jeremiah.

This week I am going to be talking about how to overcome Discouragement.  The scripture this week is Luke 7: 11-17.  I heard of awful story this week about a man who family was killed in a car accident and he was burned over 50 % of his body.  His remaining family is concerned that he has lost the will to fight for his life after he lost his wife and two children.  It is very hard some times to find the resolve to keep going but that is what makes us as human beings so remarkable.  We do have the ability to overcome great tragedies that occur in our lives.  It is not easy but we do have help.  I hope to show you what Jesus has for us in these scripture this week as we read about a Widowed Mother who has lost her only son.  It is a sad story with a terrific ending and I think there are some great lessons to be learned.

I hope you will make plans to be at church on Sunday as we bring in the month of June and I hope you will invite someone to come with you.  We love being part of this body and we miss you when you are not there. I have a special prayer request for Chuck and Lee Cagle and there other member of Senior Moments, Janie.  They are really struggling with some health issues and other things right now and need your prayers.  Please remember them in your prayers this week. Please keep doing good things for the people around you and keep believing the PROMISES God has made to those “that are called according to his purpose”.  We love you and are praying for you and can’t wait to see you on Sunday.

Pastor David and Pris

Message for May 30 – Can God Trust You?

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Once again I thank Pastor David for the opportunity to speak to you this Sunday.

We talk a lot about putting our trust in God, and we should.  He is the only one who will never betray that trust.  I should point out that may not mean He does what we think He should do, but that’s another topic for another time.  We can trust in His character and in His love.

When I decided to frame the message this way, it felt a little awkward.  After all, God knows us.  He knows all of our shortcomings.  How can we even ask if He can trust us?  Granted, it’s not quite the same kind of relationship, but He has chosen to entrust each of us with qualities, abilities, and assets that He expects us to put to work for His kingdom.  We’re going to look at two parables that Jesus used to illustrate this principle.  You may be more familiar with the one in Matthew 25:14-30, but there is a similar story in Luke 19:11-27.  You may want to read both of them before you come and make your own notes about the similarities and differences in the stories.  They seem like very harsh words, and in deed there is a strong warning in them, but I hope you will also see the grace and generosity of our Lord shining through by the time we are done.

Sunday May 23rd 2010

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Good afternoon followers of BBT.  If you had not heard we were very upset about the diagnoses Mike Accdential received from the Doctor on Monday.  He was advised he had stage 4 lung cancer and their was nothing that could be done enclosed is the latest report from Cindy’s Facebook:

Mike is going to get a port in 5/19/10. Went to get a second opinion 5/18/10 from Dr Haggar with Texas Oncology. Mike does not have stage 4 Lung Cancer. He does have Multiple Tumors in his lympnoids causing cancer cells to develop, Stage 2 or 3. Lungs are clear of any signs of Cancer. This is treatable not curable. Starts chemo 5/28/10 with Baylor.

This is really great news compared to what we had been told earlier.  It is still serous but not as critical as we first thought.  See God hears our prayers!

I talked with Joel this week from Summitt and they have so much going on over the Summer they asked to take a break during the summer months of May June and July and hopes to return back in August.  Summitt has been so committed over the last two years we will miss them but maybe we will have a better appreciation for them when they start back up.  What this means for you is that you will have to put up with me this week.  Pris will do a regular Sunday School class as we had taken this week off from the Bible Study but we will start back on the 30Th.  Larry will be preaching on the 30Th.

I hope to see you in Church on Sunday and thanks for praying for Mike this week.  If you have a special prayer request if you will call me I will call Pam and get the prayer chain started.  Keep doing good things keep thinking good thoughts and keep believing God loves you!  We love you too and will see you on Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday May 16, 2010

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Well beloved followers of BBT we made it through another week and  once again I see how good God is.  I have been blessed with a fresh outlook on some scripture I had not understood so well and God just keeps blessing me and it is only  Wednesday!  I love reading through the book of Psalms and Proverbs because even though it was written so long ago it just seems to speak to me as if those were my cries and my praises.

We had a great time at Church last Sunday and it was so good to see Sammy back! Elke had her daughter and grandkids with her to celebrate Mothers day and Cathy and her husband Benni were there with Ruth.  We also had Lisa visiting with us for the first time and I hope she will get the chance to be back with us often.

This week I have just one verse  I want you to look at before Sunday.  It is Matthew 12:25.  I am going to be talking to you about something that has been on my mind for a long time.  I want to talk to you about what is it that is driving a wedge between us as Christians.  What is keeping us from achieving all the success that God wants us to have.  As I was listing last week to the story of Job I was thinking how many of us are like the “so called” friends Job had.  Are we so quick to criticize and so slow to try and comfort our brothers and sister in pain that we actually do more harm then good.  I hope you will be here Sunday and ready to participate in the service.  I love it when I look at there and see in your faces that you really get what I am trying to get across.  I may not explain things as well as I should sometimes but take it upon yourself to find out what God is trying to have us see.  Maybe you can show me something that I might have misunderstood and in doing so you will be helping me to become a better preacher.

Not let me be a minister for a moment.  I want all of you to be saying a prayer for Mike Accidental.  His surgery on Monday showed that there were some Cancer cells and he will not know until Monday the 17Th if they are maligent or not.  Please pray with me that God will deliver Mike from this cancer and he will receive a good report on Monday.  Our prayers are going up every night for Mike and Cindy and their family.  If you have something you would like us to be praying about please call me or Pris and let us know so we can pray with you.  Keep doing good things for other people and I will see you on Sunday.  may God bless you and keep you may his face shine upon you.

We Love you

Pastor David and Pris

Sunday May 9, 2010

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Hello faithful members of BBT. I hope you were able to have been in church last week to hear the testimony of Ms. Candy Ferris. God has delivered her from near death to a great testimony of healing and restoration. If you did not get to hear her you can go on line and hear her testimony. We also had Pam and Linda to share the Bible study for last week with us and I am encouraged that many of us will be able to accomplish the goal set out for us.

Heights Church was not able to come out last week and do the work in the yard and inside the Church as Perry’s wife had emergency surgery. They will reschedule and be here soon.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and I hope you have made plans to honor your Mother’s this week. If you are lucky enough to still have your Mother alive you are blessed if not then we can remember them for what they have meant to us. We are going to take some time out this week to about our Mothers so please try to have a short story of something your Mother did to show you how much she loved you.

I am not going to give you the Scripture for this week’s sermon because I am going to talk about Mothers by using an example of a Mother in Law.  I want you to think about this until Sunday and see if you can guess who I am going to talk about.  I hope you will be in church Sunday, as always we will give flowers to the youngest Mother, the Oldest Mother and the Mother with the most kids.  I especially loved the Bible versus we had in the Bible Study this week and I hope you will be there Sunday to go over them together.

I am so excited about what God is doing in this little Church and I know he has bigger and better things for us in the future. Please continue to support this ministry with your time and money and prayers and with your presence. We will only be successful in this World when we understand what our role is in this World. That is to Love God with everything we have and Love each other the same way.

We will see you on Sunday to celebrate our Mother’s and celebrate another chance to be together again. Do something good for someone this week and we will see you Sunday. We love you and speak God’s blessings on you.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday May 2, 2010

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Good Afternoon faithful followers of BBT.  I hope you are having a great day and a great week.  I am very excited about this coming Sunday as the group from Heights Church are coming out on Sunday morning to do a “Spring clean up” on the church both inside and out.  There will be flowers planted and shelves built and no telling what else.  They are bringing the young people by buses and they will be gone by the time we get there but we will see their handiwork.  I hope you will make plans to be there to help us celebrate.

Last week was Summitt week and as usual the Lord really moved.  I hate to see so many people miss out on the blessings that are poured out by not being there, but I am convinced that the ones there are the ones that were suppose to be there.

This week we are getting back into our Bible study and Pam is going to lead us this week. I know she is going to do a great Job! I hope you are reading the scriptures for each day  then on Sunday we can discuss and understand the scripture we have gone over. If you get too far behind you will need to double up, or in some cases triple up, on the versus for the week.  This matters to God so it should matter to you as well.  We will have a guest this week by the name of Candy who will share her testimony with us.  She is a friend of Sandy and I am told she has a marvelous testimony.  I am going to be preaching, still in the book of John, Chapter 10: 22-30.  We are going to be talking about  “what do we really see”. I think it is very important  that we understand what we see and maybe get a new perspective on what we are actually looking at.  In these scriptures the Jews were looking at Jesus but they did not see him, at least they did not see who he really was.  What we actually see is effected by what we are looking for.  We will overlook what is right in front of us because we are looking for something diffrent.  We are also going to be talking about color blindness but I promise you it is not what you think I am talking about.  I hope you will be there Sunday to bring in the month of May and I hope you will invite someone to come along with you.

Please keep praying for this ministry and lets keep praying for each other because we are family and what is more important then family.  Please do your best in your Bible reading and share with others what God has given you.  May God bless you and keep you safe.  Know that we Love you and can’t wait to see you on Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris