BBT OPEN FOR BUSINESS ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28! :)

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Greetings & Blessings & PRAISE GOD we get to go back to church on Sunday!  Just got off the phone with Pastor David who says we’re a GO for church on Sunday!  (no pun intended)  😀  The renovation is not quite complete but good enough to get back together and PRAISE THE LORD.  I went by on Wednesday and the new restrooms look great–well worth the wait.  Thanks for your patience, and look forward to seeing y’all on Sunday for Worship & Praise with Joel and the Summitt Church Team.

In His Accessible Grace,
Linda

Sunday February 21st 2010

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I have GREAT news!  The men working on the church have given us the OK to have church on Sunday!!!.  There is still some work to be done but they say the bathrooms and sanctuary should be ready for use.  I hope all of you will make plans on joining us Sunday.

I am going to preach on Luke 5: 1-11.  I was going to do this sermon last week but we did not have church but it is a message that I want to share with you. It is about accepting the challenges life throws at us.  I know how much many of you have suffered but I also know how God has blessed you in spite of your problems.  I hope we can look at these versus and see ourselves and we will continue to make strides in advancing the kingdom of God.  Linda wants to wait till the beginning of next month to kick off our Bible study of reading the Bible in 90 days but you can always start now and get a jump on the class.  Priscilla will have a sunday school lesson for this week.

I am so excited about seeing each and every one of you again this week.  I know you are going to be thrilled at what God has done for our Church.  Lets show him how much we appreciate this by worshipping together in our new house.  We are going to start at the regular time Sunday.  We love you so much and can’t wait to see you this week

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday February 7th 2010

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It is so good to have the chance to talk to you again. The renovations on the Church are going well and we hope, with no unseen problems, we will be back in Church this week at our regular time. My week has not been the same since we did not meet last week, but it makes me realize how much I miss seeing you.  I hope you will all be here Sunday to see the changes and get back in fellowship.

I know Linda is excited about kicking off our new adventure of reading the Bible in 90 days.  I hope you will be here for the start of this challenging and exciting adventure.

When I was thinking about what lies in front of us over the next few months I thought about how the disciples must have felt when Jesus called them into his fellowship. How excited and nervous they too must have felt.  I am going to be preaching from Luke 5:1-11. This is the story of Jesus call his disciples to be “Fishers of men”. We by nature love a challenge and Jesus challenge to them was life changing.  I believe this new Bible study can do the same for us if we will take the challenge to heart and committ to achieving the goal set for us. It won’t be easy but it will be GREAT.

Continue to pray for those in our family that are struggling and never doubt that our God cares about us and what we care about.  I will see you in the NEW BARTIMAEUS TEMPLE this week.  I know this was an example of how God can move and we will be forever grateful to these dedicated and caring men who gave so much that we may see our dream become a reality.  These men are God’s angels and I hope they are as blessed as we have been.  Pass this blessing on and do something for somebody and you too can be an angel of God.  We love you and we are excited to see you on Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris

Message for January 24

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First of all, I missed being with all of you yesterday.  I look forward to seeing everyone next week and talking about my favorite subject.  Pastor David started off the year by explaining how important love is.  I couldn’t resist the opening to continue that discussion.  I hope that as we embark upon the reading of the entire Bible we will all see the love that is written into the pages of His word.

I know some people who bristle when I say that God is love.  In part I understand, because sometimes we forget that His love also requires justice and we leave out that part of the message.  However, that’s exactly what the Bible says about Him.  Read 1 John 4:7-5:3.  This will serve as a rough outline for what I want to share with you.  In this passage we see “God is love” in two places.  This simple statement changed my life from the time I first read it at the age of seventeen from my Braille King James New Testament.  I wish I could say I now understand what it means, but I suspect it will take the whole of eternity to do that and we’ll still have more to learn.  The material I am presenting was intended to kick off an eight part series that I once did as a Bible study.  The Bible has so much to say on this topic, but I’ll try not to cram all eight lessons into one.   🙂  See you there!

Sunday January 17th 2010

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O.K. be honest with me, how many of you are still writing 2009 on your checks and letters?  Old habits are hard to break!  But it wont take you long before it will come natural.  At least I hope so.

This has been a tough week for me because I learned this week that the office I work in during the week is going to close down on Friday the 15Th.  I love my job and I am sorry to have to go elsewhere but God is good and I will be going back to my previous job starting Monday.  The really hard part is having to start over at age 60, but I am grateful that I still have a place to go to work, and maybe one day I may can devote myself fulltime to the ministry.  At least that is my dream.

We had a great service on Sunday as Sean Haynes came back and played his music for us this week.  His family is so devoted to the ministry and he can’t get enough of serving God.  He is setting an example we need to follow.  Linda brought forth a idea she had found of a Bible Study course that would allow you to read the entire Bible from cover to cover in 90 days.  I hope we have a good group of followers who would actually be willing to committ to this and finish the course.  Summitt Church will be with us this week and Joel is excited about the time they will get to share with us on Sunday.  Please invite someone to come with you and lets worship together  praising God.

Please pray for those that have asked for our prayers and remember me and my family as we go through this time of adjustment in my new job.  We love you so much and we are excited about what is in store for us in the near future.  Come be a part of us as we grow in the Lord and remember to do something good for somebody this week.  We will see you Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday January 10,2010

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Hello faithful BBT members.  I am sorry to have to say that our brother Earl has passed away this week.  There will be a viewing at Anderson Clayton Funeral home in Mesquite on Thursday from 6 to 8 pm, and the funeral will be a graveside service for the family on Friday.  Remember to keep Earl’s family in your prayers as they deal with their loss.  I got to speak to Earl just before he passed away and he was ready to answer the call to come home.  We should all be as prepared as he was.

We did have a good group at Church on Sunday and we started the year off right with having communion together.  Linda brought the Sunday School lesson last week and she will continue to do so all month long. You don’t want to miss any part of this 4 part lesson she has for us.  We will have a special guest on Sunday, so be there to see what God has for you.

Continue to pray for the renovations that we are hoping we will be able to get started on soon and be thinking about what role you can fill in this body.  We will be supportive of anything we can do to help you become involved in this ministry.  It is one thing to be a member and a whole nuther thing to be committed to this ministry.  It is like your breakfast,  a chicken may be involved in providing you eggs but a pig must be committed to provide you that bacon.  I hope to see you in church again on Sunday and remember to do someting good for somebody this week.  We speak blessings on you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday January 3rd 2010

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As I am writing this is it New Year’s Eve and I am wondering what lies ahead for us in 2010.  I know God has something very special for us but you know what he had something special for us in 2009 as well.  Did we receive it?  If not why not?  Let’s not make the same mistakes this year.  We need to be completely sold out for God in this new year and that means we will have to take some chances, we will have to do some things we may not be comfortable doing.  We are going to have to exercise our Faith. I am so excited about what we are going to be able to do and God is excited about your potential too.  He is anxious for the chance to show us what he can do through us if we will just allow him.  With growth comes change.  I am not talking about change for the sake of change. I am saying as we grow in Christ we should see change.  A change for the better.  None of us are as good as we can be and none of us are useless in God’s eyes.  In the service on Sunday we are going to talk about the unpardonable sin of not loving others and the unwillingness to allow others to love us.  I know we don’t want to think that we can so offend God that he is unwilling to forgive of this but Jesus is very clear on this and I will show the scriptures to back this up.  If we don’t Love we cannot be loved.  If we don’t forgive then we cannot be forgiven.  If we do anything better in 2010 we need to learn to be better lovers and follow the example of the greatest lover of all, Jesus Christ.

As we make our new year’s resolutions, and I made that word plural. I hope you have looked at your life and you are ready to make memories that will last you a life time.  To make a difference in someone else life and to rededicate yourself to looking at your brothers and sisters through the eyes of Christ.  Lets love more and hate less.  Lets forgive more and hold grudges less.  Lets be more active in the business of Christ and not just sit back and let someone else do our part.

I am excited about this new year and I am excited that I may get the chance to see you on Sunday.  Every chance we have to be together should be cherished and I pray that in 2010 coming to Church will be exciting and fulfilling not just something we do to try and fulfil our obligations as Christians.

My family wants to wish you and your family a very prospours new year, A year full of blessings and changes. A year that you will remember.  Lets start the new year by praying for those that are less fortunate than we are, lets pray for the sick and brokenhearted. For those who may be feeling like they have no purpose in life. We can direct them to a place where they can find a purpose, a place where they can be useful.  We love you all very much and speak blessing on you this new year!

Pastor David & family

Sunday December 27th 2009

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Are you ready for Christmas?  It will be here before you know it and as soon as it gets here it is gone.  I remember as a kid how excited I would be then BAME it was over and it was a whole year away again.  I hope you will make some memories this Christmas that will last a lifetime.  I don’t know how many more Christmas we will have or for that matter how many more days we have so let’s make every one of them count for something.  Not only is Christmas here but in just a few days we will be into year 2011.  My wish for you this new year is that you will receive all the blessings God has for you, and if you do, this will certainly be a year to remember.

I want to think Heights Church for the gracious gifts given to us last Sunday.  They are a remarkable group of people who share what God has given them each year with us and we benefit from their generosity.  I know they receive a blessing too, because that is how God works.  I also want to think Chuck Cagle and his group for coming and singing Christmas Carols with us last week.  They too are very dedicated to doing God’s work and are so unselfish with their time and talent.. God has a special place in heaven for them.  We had a good group of members there and it was especially nice of Edith to come and visit with us play the piano for us.  We are hoping she will be able to come back again often!

This week Summitt will not be able to be here because of the holidays but they will be back in January.  So I guess you are going to have to listen to me.

I am going to read the Christmas Story from Luke the 2ND chapter starting in verse 1.  The question I am going to ask is “What would we have seen at Bethelem “?  We know what took place because we read about it, but what if we were actually there what would we have noticed about that night?   Would we have been like most people and not noticed anything diffrent about this night or would we have realized what a significant night this first Christmas was.  What about today?  Is Christmas just a holiday to be off work and see family and exchange gifts or is it more than that?  I know we know this is day we celebrate the birth of Christ but do we realize how our lives were changes by this seeming unimportant day 2000 years ago?  I hope we have developed a true appreciation for the sacrifice God made for us to send his Son to dwell among us and the suffering Christ went through to pay the price for our sins.  We are truly lucky to be called Sons and Daughters of our Creator and Master.

I hope to see you on Sunday but those that are traveling I hope you have a safe trip and a wonderful time seeing family and friends.  Take Christ with you everywhere you go and hurry home.  Keep praying for those of us that are hurting and suffering because we do have a responsibility to help one another. Not because we have to but because we love to.  I will see you on Sunday for the last time this year and we can share what our dreams are for the new year.  We speak great blessing on you and your family this holiday. We love you and are thankful for the chance to be of service to you and God.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday December 20, 2009

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Wow Christmas is just around the corner, I hope you are ready.  It feels like Christmas to me.  The air is cold, there is Christmas music playing on my radio all day long, the lights are up on the houses and trees all over the neighbor hoods.  I actually saw a string of lights in Wall Mart this week that said ” for indoor or outdoor use only”?????  Where else are you going to put them?  Do they think I am going to line the bottom of the swimming pool with them?  In spite of the the glitter and nonsense the World puts on this holiday I see that people are diffrent during this time of year.  People are smiling and talking to each other, People are coming to church, Families are coming together and it is not just  the exchange of gifts that make this holiday diffrent. There is something diffrent in the air.  As hard as the World is trying to take Christ out of this holiday, it is not working.  His children will not let that happen.  We will not let them steal this celebration from us.  We are here to celebrate the birth of our saviour and we will not be shut up.  We will shout it from the roof tops, we will let his love show in our lives, we will make the World change it’s idea about Christmas.  Is this wishful thinking on my part?  I believe we can make this the best Christmas ever if we will celebrate by letting our lives mean something.  We have a chance to show what Christmas is all about by the way we live our lives.  Are we a loving, forgiving, compassionate group of people?  Are we doing the things that Christ did when he was living amongst us?  If not then we need to change and not just for the few weeks leading up to Christmas but it should be our way of life!  I am very proud to be called a child of God and a member of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  I hope you are too!

Last week  Pastor Livingston Emaew brought a message of encouragement to us.  I hope if you were not able to be there you will listen to his message on our webpage where it is recorded.  This week is our annual Christmas party. Heights Church has very genoursly supplied gifts for all of us and we should be very grateful they care so much.  They have “adopted” us each year to make sure we all have a gift.  Have you “adopted” anyone this year?  Maybe a prisoner or homeless person.  Maybe a missionary overseas or maybe a child in your neighborhood.  If you are looking for someone to help this year there is a lady at my work who has a 7 month old grandbaby that has nothing for Christmas this year.  If you would like to join me in helping this family please call me. Whoever God puts on your heart I pray that you too will make this Christmas a time to remember. A time we remember how much we have been given and take the opportunity to give back.  I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday to celebrate this Christmas season.  Chuck Cagle and his group will be there to sing Christmas carols and then we will have our Christmas party afterwards.  Church will still start at 2:30 and if you bring a guest remember to bring a small gift for them so no one will be left out.

I know you know this but I need to say it anyway.  I love each and every one of you and love sharing Christmas with my church family.  I hope you feel the same way and we can celebrate together on Sunday.   Do something good for somebody this season and show the World what Christmas is really all about.

Pastor David & Pris

Sunday, December 13, 2009

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It may not be officially Winter yet but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  As I am writing this, the weather is below freezing and so am I.  We may be in for a cold winter this year so  let’s just remember those 100 degree days last July and August and we can sit back and enjoy the cold.  The weather sure has put a damper on the last two Sundays, as attendance is down, but everyone is now back from Vacation’s and I am hoping for more people to be able to attend each week.  My family had a great vacation and we are very glad to be back in town.  We are ready to get back in the swing of things and I hope you are too.   We will celebrate our Birthdays and Anniversary’s this week after church and on the 20Th we will have our Christmas party.  The Senior Moments will sing for us as well on the 20Th.  Then Summitt will be back on the 27Th.  I hope you will make plans not to miss a service the rest of the year.  Now if I could just get you to make that promise in January instead of December!

This week I am going to be reading The Christmas story. We read this every year before Christmas.  It is found in Luke the 2ND chapter verses 8-20.  This is one of the few verses I like better in the King James version, maybe because I have heard it so much read like that as a child, but it is just such a beautiful story.  The question I have this week is Why the Shepherd’s?  Of all the people to be at the birth of Christ why them.  I think there is a very good reason, I want you to read these verses this week and see if you come up with the same theory as I did.

As the year is coming to a very quick end I am so grateful for all the new friends I have made over this year. I am also so very very thankful for the longtime relationships I have that support this ministry and our goal to reach out to the disabled in this community.  God has given me a dream and all of you are a part of this dream.  I believe there will be many changes in this ministry in 2010 and they will be for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.  We will be able to share with more people and God will pour out his blessings on us if we have prepared ourselves to receive them.  Remember last week I told you how do we prepare for the coming Messiah?  By repentance and sharing the gifts given to us by our Heavenly Father.  If we do this God is prepared to bless us beyond our biggest dreams.  He will do his part I promise you, will we do ours?  I know we will!  I am exacted about seeing each and every one of you this week and my Family wish you a Very Merry Christmas.  Make this Christmas the best ever by doing someting really special for someone that needs to feel that they matter and that someone loves them.  You would be amazed at how many people need to feel that including your pastor.  I speak blessing on you and your family and I pray that this will be your best Christmas ever!

Pastor David & Pris