Blessings to you, loves ones.  I’ve been thinking about you a lot this week.  Last Sunday before everyone came in I was there by myself for a while, and I just walked around the sanctuary, praying for a move of the Spirit among us.  I walked up to the pulpit and asked the lord that only the truth be allowed to come from that place.

We believe in prayer at BBT.  We believe that He hears us and that He answers our prayers, even if sometimes the answer is “No.”  That’s why we make time in every service for reports of what the Lord has done and requests for prayer, and that’s why we publish them so that we can refer to it throughout the week.

I know that even though we meet in the afternoon, the logistics of getting everyone there can be a challenge.  I would love to see a group of people committed to praying over the service before it begins, even if this happens earlier in the day before the rush begins.  It does not have to be in the building at least until we have enough people who are able to do that.  I know there aren’t many of us.  We only need two for a start.  Even if you do not normally attend our services, I ask you to consider committing to pray for us for a time.  I will happily provide some direction.

This Sunday, we will be in Matthew 9:35-38.  Over the past few weeks, we have been traveling through the Gospels, examining references to the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God.  Now we come to a new phrase that we have not examined before.  It does occur in Matthew 4:23, but at the time I did not see the significance of it.  4:23 and 9:35 are almost identical.  Verse 35 reads, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” (emphasis added)

Church goers should all be familiar with the term, gospel.  We apply it to the four accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and also to the message they convey.  That message in brief is that He is God’s son, born of a virgin.  He lived a sinless life and was crucified to atone for our sins.  He has given us the gift of eternal life that we could not earn for ourselves.  All we need to do is turn from our sins and choose Him as lord.

But is there more to the gospel message?  This is certainly enough, but if we stop there, we will not experience the full impact of what Jesus did and taught.  Think about all that He had to say about the kingdom of God.  That is why I think that the phrase, “the gospel of the kingdom,” conveys an important truth that we should not miss.  We readily embrace the salvation message, but Jesus taught us so much more, and it is all “good news!”  We are called to preach the gospel; ALL OF IT!

I hope you’ll come and join us.  It has been so good to see more of our folks back with us lately.  Hopefully Kimi will be able to rejoin us soon.  Ruth is having more trouble this week.  Keep her and Cathy in prayer and let them know they are missed.

Love y’all!

Larry