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Greetings, everyone! Our deacons met this morning in regular session to pray, consider the ministry needs of the congregation, and plan for future ministry needs in the congregation and community. I am so happy to be serving the Lord with these men, and trust that our hearts beat as one in terms of the mission Christ has given us to make disciples who make disciples. You can be thankful for these men who are seeking to be an example to the flock of godliness and Christian zeal.
TODAY the MACH IV Men's Ministry is meeting at 6 pm at Fairport Baptist for a meal and fellowship. We will also talk about some more specifics related to our community-wide revival services with M.R. Hamilton, June 27-30. All men and boys are invited and welcome to attend this evening. The meal is provided by Fairport. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY, and we will gather for Bible Study (9:30 am) and worship (10:40 am). Take a few moments to read and meditate on the Scriptures below that will frame our time of corporate worship tomorrow: Fighter Verses: Colossians 3:1-3 Call to Worship: Psalm 113 Scripture Readings: Acts 10:44-48; 1 John 5:1-6 Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 2:1-2 Sermon Text: Luke 6:1-11 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 THIS WEEK
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message audio of "The Gospel of Christ vs. Legalism" Luke 5:33-39 Please visit our YouTube Channel to see the edited service video. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 19 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: 1 Samuel 26-27; 1 Chronicles 8; Acts 18 Day Two: 1 Samuel 28-29; 1 Chr. 9; Acts 19 Day Three: 1 Samuel 30-31; 1 Chr. 10; Acts 20 Day Four: 2 Samuel 1-2; 1 Chr. 11; Psalm 96, 106; Acts 21 Day Five: 2 Samuel 3-5; 1 Chronicles 12; Psalm 122; Acts 22 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! BONUS: Allow me to share a resource for your use in memorizing Fighter Verses, and that is the Fighter Verse App for Android and the Fighter Verse App for Apple. Download these apps to your favorite device and you will have instant access to sermons, songs, commentary and a host of other resources on our current Fighter Verse. One great help is the fill-in-the-blank quiz which aids memorization by gradually eliminating word from the verses until you have the whole thing memorized. I encourage you to take advantage of all the resources available to assist you in hiding God's Word in your heart. One of those resources is The Verses Project. Here is the link to the upcoming Fighter Verses, Colossians 3:1-3. See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg Dixon
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Greetings, everyone! It is good to be back home after a quick trip to the Cape Girardeau/Jackson area of the state on Sunday and Monday. Your Missouri Baptist Historical Commission met in semi-annual session at First Baptist Jackson on Monday morning. Monday afternoon, we drove out to the "Old Bethel" historical site on the outskirts of Jackson. "Old Bethel" is the restored structure of Bethel Baptist Church, the oldest non-Catholic church west of the Mississippi. The meeting house was originally built in 1806, with the church disbanding officially in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War. A combination of war and the anti-missions spirit caused the decline and death of the once vibrant church. Over time, the log building was dismantled and the logs stored in an unknown location. By 2006, the logs were found, and the effort to restore "Old Bethel" began. Today, many of the projects referenced on the Bethel Historical Data page have been completed: rebuilt and fully restored 60-seat meeting house, complete with electricity, heat, and air; metal roof canopy over the entire structure to preserve it from the elements; adequate parking for roughly 25 vehicles; gravestone restoration and maintenance in the cemetery; modern restroom facilities (still under construction).
TODAY is Martha Spiers' 97th birthday. Please take time to wish her a happy birthday. Martha is our oldest living member. TOMORROW is...
THE LORD’S DAY "O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light, O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful, most bright! On thee the high and lowly before th'eternal throne sing 'Holy, holy, holy" to the great Three in One." -- Christopher Wordsworth, 1862 As we gather for worship on the Lord's Day, remember the "rest" that worship represents: resting from regular labor, trade, and commercial enterprise done on the other six days so that the day may be set aside for the work of worship, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, studying God's word, reading those authors and classic Christian works that will build you up in the most holy faith, engaging in acts of mercy, kindness, and compassion, and not neglecting works of necessity. The Puritans called the Lord's Day a "market day for the soul," and so let it be for us as we approach the feasting table of our Lord to partake of the bread of life. Take a few moments to meditate on these Scriptures which will be read during the service. Click anywhere on the link to go to a printable version:Fighter Verses: Psalm 1 Call to Worship:Psalm 98 Scripture Readings: Acts 8:26-40; 1 John 4:7-21 Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 32:1-2 Sermon Text: Luke 5:33-39 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 THIS WEEK
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message "Christ's Call to Discipleship" Luke 5:27-32 Please visit our YouTube Channel to see the edited service video. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 18 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: 1 Samuel 18-19; 1 Chronicles 3; Psalm 59; Acts 13 Day Two: 1 Samuel 20; 1 Chr. 4; Psalm 56, 57, 142; Acts 14 Day Three: 1 Samuel 21-22; 1 Chr. 5; Psalm 52; Acts 15 Day Four: 1 Samuel 23-24; 1 Chr. 6; Psalm 54; Acts 16 Day Five: 1 Samuel 25; 1 Chronicles 72; Acts 17 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! MAN KNOWS NOT HIS TIME Richard "Dick" Lionburger, longtime pastor in our association (Big Lake, FBC Savannah, FBC Stanberry), died unexpectedly on Thursday morning. His services will be Monday at 1 pm at Heaton-Bowman-Smith Chapel in Savannah. Please pray for his wife Linda and the rest of the family as they grieve his passing. His obituary is available here. See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg Dixon Greetings, everyone! Hallelujah, Christ is risen! He is risen from the dead! Let all who trust in Him give praise, praise to our exalted Head!
TODAY is the last day of quizzing for our Nationals Bible Quiz Team members. Pray for them as they compete and as they travel back from Wisconsin overnight, arriving in St. Joe mid-morning tomorrow. Follow this link, then click on site 1, 2, or 3 to see some of the quizzing live streamed. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY! We will gather for Bible Study at 9:30 am followed by corporate worship at 10:40. Dads, I want to exhort you especially on this point: One of the best things you can do for your family's discipleship long-term is to lead your family to consistent, weekly attendance at Bible Study and worship. Moms, if Dad is unable or unwilling to lead out on this point, it is up to you to make sure you and your family are present. Providential hindrances (the proverbial "ox in the ditch") and works of necessity (police, fire, EMS, emergency healthcare, folks who keep our utilities functioning) are exceptions, but otherwise, worship with God's people on the Lord's Day. That is a commitment you will never regret. As we gather, we will be reading the following Scriptures. Take a few moments to read and meditate on them as you prepare for corporate worship: Fighter Verses: Psalm 1:1-23-4 Call to Worship: Psalm 23 Scripture Readings: Acts 4:5-12; 1 John 3:16-24 Assurance of God's Pardon: John 10:9-11 Sermon Text: Luke 5:27-32 Benediction: Romans 15:5-6; 13; 33 THIS WEEK
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message "Forgiven and Healed" Luke 5:17-26 Please visit our YouTube Channel to see the edited service video. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 17 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: 1 Samuel 9-10; Acts 8 Day Two: 1 Samuel 11-13; Psalm 38; Acts 9 Day Three: 1 Samuel 14; Psalm 124; Acts 10 Day Four: 1 Samuel 15-16; 1 Chronicles 1; Psalm 39; Acts 11 Day Five: 1 Samuel 17; 1 Chronicles 2; Acts 12 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! BONUS: I recommend podcasts from time to time, and one that I recommend on a recurring basis is The Briefing, a daily 25-minute podcast with Al Mohler. Dr. Mohler is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the more insightful commentators on culture from a biblical worldview. This episode from Thursday describes what is going on in England and Australia to effectively silence Christian teaching and Christian morality, specifically when it comes to the advancement of the LGBTQ+ agenda. The current controversy involves government bans on so-called "conversion therapy," a loaded term which formerly referred to extreme techniques such as electro-shock therapy to try to "convert" someone from homosexuality to heterosexuality, often employed against their will. Now the term "conversion therapy" is being used to refer to any and all attempts to help someone change unwanted homosexual desires, behaviors, or orientation by any means, including parental conversation with their own teenagers, preaching from Christian pulpits, and even prayer. Mohler discusses how this is coming to America. The revolution is on our doorstep, and it is not going away. What can Christians who are committed to the Bible and the Lordship of Christ do? 1. Keep preaching and teaching the truth. 2. Keep standing athwart the coming revolution and shouting, "Stop!" (apologies to William F. Buckley) 3. Be prepared to go to jail. We recently saw this happen in Canada in a church where the pastor dared to defy the provincial government mandate on limiting gatherings. He was jailed, and only released due to public outcry. 4. Be prepared to go "underground." I have been advocating this for years. Churches of the future America will need to meet secretly in homes for worship, teaching, and fellowship because public gathering will be outlawed or greatly curtailed. 5. Be prepared to surrender comforts and privileges. If jail and harassment by the police are not used, other means will be. This will be the soft totalitarianism of a "social credit" system, not unlike what is going on in China now. The public is monitored by the technology they voluntarily use (smart phones, electronic tablets, and computers combined with public cameras and facial recognition software). Those who download the speeches of the Communist Party chairman, who buy things approved by the Party, go places approved by the Party, etc., will have a higher social credit score, resulting in more "freedoms" granted by the Party. More freedom of movement; more favor from the Party in issuing government contracts, loans, and grants; more economic opportunity in terms of job promotion and higher wages; more freedom from harassment by the state police. On the other hand, those who use their devices to listen to Christian sermons or read the Bible, who buy things not approved by the Party, who go to church, etc., will have a lower social credit score. Their movement is impeded, their employment is stifled, they are frequently harassed by the state police, and they may even be jailed for their activities, especially for religious or free-speech activities. This last item is the most pernicious because it is coercion by voluntary means. Those who go along with the prevailing opinion of the secular state will be treated with preference, while those who go against it will be treated with disfavor. To all this, what Jesus said to His disciples should sustain us as well: "In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone! Here is Part Two of our weekly update:
TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY and as we gather for worship, we once again rejoice in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. To remind us of this and to help prepare our hearts to gather tomorrow, I share with you these words from John of Damascus who died in the year A.D. 750. Click on the link to hear a glorious choral arrangement of this hymn and follow along with the lyrics: "Come, ye faithful, raise the strain of triumphant gladness; God hath brought his Israel into joy from sadness; loosed from Pharaoh's bitter yoke, Jacob's sons and daughters led them, with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters. "'Tis the spring of souls today; Christ hath burst his prison, and from three days' sleep in death as a sun hath risen. All the winter of our sins, long and dark, is flying from his light, to whom we give laud and praise undying. "Now the queen of season, bright with the day of splendor, with the royal feast of feasts, comes its joy to render; comes to glad Jerusalem, who with true affection welcomes in unwearied strains Jesus' resurrection. "Neither might the gates of death, nor the tomb's dark portal, nor the watchers, nor the seal hold thee as a mortal; but today a midst thine own thou didst stand, bestowing thine own peace which evermore passeth human knowing." Our corporate worship will be framed and informed by the following Scriptures. Please take a few moments to read and meditate on them as you prepare for worship. Fighter Verses: Psalm 1:1-2 Call to Worship: Psalm 4 Scripture Readings: Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7 Assurance of God's Pardon: Romans 8:1 Sermon Text: Luke 5:17-26 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 THIS WEEK
COMING UP: SAVE THESE DATES!
Please visit our YouTube Channel to see the edited service video. Also, the virtual Good Friday service is in this collection. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 16 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Ruth 1-2; Acts 3 Day Two: Ruth 3-4; Psalm 37; Acts 4 Day Three: 1 Samuel 1-2; Psalm 120; Acts 5 Day Four: 1 Samuel 3-5; Psalm 23; Acts 6 Day Five: 1 Samuel 6-8; Acts 7 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in church! Grace and Peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone! It is the end of a full day of ministry, so I will make every attempt to be brief and to the point.
TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY You can view or download tomorrow's bulletin here. Take a few moments to read through and meditate on the Scriptures for the service. Please note the correction in the Scripture reading, Acts 4:32-35 and 1 John 1:1 - 2:2. THIS WEEK'S Fighter Verse (James 1:4-5) and Announcements are available here. Tomorrow evening is church council at 5 pm followed by our monthly member meeting at 6 pm. COMING UP: SAVE THESE DATES!
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message "I Have Seen the Lord!" John 20:1-18 Please visit our YouTube Channel to see the edited service video. Also, the virtual Good Friday service is in this collection. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 15 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Judges 7-8; Luke 22 Day Two: Judges 9-11; Psalm 17; Luke 23 Day Three: Judges 12-16; Psalm 146; Luke 24 Day Four: Judges 17-18; Psalm 21; Acts 1 Day Five: Judges 19-21; Acts 2 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! BONUS: If you are concerned about the moral revolution so rapidly happening all around us (and you should be), you will do well to listen to this episode of The Briefing with Al Mohler. Here, Dr. Mohler discusses the current legislation in Arkansas to protect youths and children with gender dysphoria, the "scandal" of a British Labour Party leader attending a Christian church which actually adheres to the biblical understanding of gender and sexuality, and the subject of Biblical complementarianism with particular reference to Beth Moore and her recent announcement that she is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention. See you in church! Grace and Peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone! Thanks to all who came out in support of our weekday Holy Week services each noon hour this week. We had a tremendous time fellowshiping around God's word and pondering the events of the last week of Jesus' ministry prior to His crucifixion. Today, we considered John 18-19, and taught on the subject of "Jesus, Our Great High Priest." We have a big weekend coming up:
TODAY (FRIDAY)
THE LORD’S DAY
MONDAY
COMING UP
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message "A Time to Remember Christ" Matthew 26; John 13 To view last week's service, and previous services, in their totality, visit our YouTube Channel. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 14 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Joshua 14-17; Luke 17 Day Two: Josh. 18-21; Psalm 15; Luke 18 Day Three: Josh. 22-24; Psalm 116; Luke 19 Day Four: Judges 1-3; Psalm 16; Luke 20 Day Five: Judges 4-6; Luke 21 Christian Sympathy is extended to Audrey Ousley, Irene Sifers, Nancy Jo Stahl, and Keith Estes on the death of their brother, Marvin Estes this week. Services are scheduled for Saturday, April 10, 1pm Visitation, 2 pm Funeral, at Poland-Thompson Funeral Home in Cameron. Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in Church! Grace and Peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone!
TODAY three of our Bible Quizzers competed in regional quizzing put on by Midland Ministries in preparation for nationals in April in the Wisconsin Dells. Regionals began Friday evening and continue through late afternoon today. Please pray for Ruthie Clements, Chloe Dixon, and Olivia Wright as they prepare to recall the Scriptures they have committed to memory. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY On the traditional Christian calendar, this Sunday is "Palm Sunday" (also called "Passion Sunday"), both references to the events of the week before Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Tomorrow, we emphasize the "passion"part by participating in the Lord's Supper following the sermon, which is entitled "A Time to Remember Christ," and will focus on Christ as Covenant-Giver, Servant, and Betrayed One. If you haven't already done so, spend some moments in self-examination, asking some basic questions in preparation for receiving the Lord's Supper. I have attached some sample starter questions, but feel free to go deeper. Remember, the goal of self-examination is to participate in the Lord's Supper, to approach the Lord's Table with an attitude of confession and contrition for sin, and with the resolve to reconcile any broken relationships with other believers. As we do so, we feast by faith on Christ's broken body and shed blood in the symbols of bread and the fruit of the vine. We do so joyfully as members of the body of Christ in its local expression. Below are the Scriptures that will frame our worship service. Please take a few moments to read and meditate on them in preparation for the Lord's Day. Click anywhere on the link to view a printable version of these verses, or use your favorite format for reading them elsewhere. Fighter Verses: Philippians 2:12-13 Call to Worship: Psalm 31:9-16 Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-9a New Testament: Philippians 2:5-11 Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 32:1-2 Sermon Text: Matthew 26:26-29, 45-50; John 13;3-15 Benediction: Hebrews 13:20-21 THIS WEEK
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message The First Disciples, Luke 5:1-11 To view last week's service, and previous services, in their totality, visit our YouTube Channel. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 13 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Deuteronomy 27-31; Luke 12 Day Two: Deut. 32-34; Psalm 13; Luke 13 Day Three: Joshua 1-4; Psalm 143; Luke 14 Day Four: Josh. 5-8; Psalm 14; Luke 15 Day Five: Josh. 9-13; Luke 16 (When you get through this week, you will have completed one-fourth of the reading plan. Way to go!) Visit the website for more up-to-date information! BONUS: As we prepare for the events of next week, culminating in Good Friday, take a few moments to listen to the congregation of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., singing the Hymn "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted." Be in awe at the silent majesty of the crucified Christ, reigning as King from the tree, rejected by His own people, making full atonement for sins with His shed blood. See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg **NOTE: Due to length, you may want to scan this week's update from top to bottom for highlights before reading the whole thing. Blessings!
Greetings, everyone! As we approach Easter, I want to encourage you to give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. We have reached a little over 25% of our $1200 goal so far. We will continue to receive this offering through "Resurrection Sunday," April 4. For more information on the AAEO and where the money goes, visit https://www.anniearmstrong.com/ TODAY between 10 am and noon, Muriel Elder will be honored for her retirement from over 20 years as administrative assistant for St. Joe Baptist Association at a drop-in reception at McCarthy Baptist Church. If you have been involved in the association during that time, you have been affected by Muriel's ministry. Please take some time to extend your appreciation to her if you are able to do so. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY! From The Valley of Vision, a book of Puritan Prayers, a prayer entitled "New Beginning" is a fitting way to mark the new season, the season of new beginnings: "Incomprehensible, great, and glorious God, I adore thee and abase myself. I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing, a creature worse than nothing. My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze. My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance. Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin, to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities, to resign myself to that agency which can deliver me from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Thou hast begun a good work in me and canst alone continue and complete it. Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err, and of my exposure to sin. Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion, its compassion, love, pity, courtesy, and employ me as thy instrument in blessing others. Give me to distinguish between the mere form of godliness and its power, between life and a name to live, between guile and truth, between hypocrisy and a religion that will bear thy eye. If I am not right, set me right, keep me right; And may I at last come to thy house in peace." (The Valley of Vision is one of the few books of written prayers which I recommend. The language is so steeped in Scripture and the prayers of the Puritans that it can be, not a replacement for, but an enrichment to your personal prayer life. I recommend even just taking a few phrases or sentences which are meaningful to you and incorporating them into personal or public prayer to help avoid sameness and dullness of expression). As we gather for corporate worship tomorrow morning, remember the words of the psalmist, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Read, meditate on, and inwardly digest these Scripture passage as you prepare your heart to meet the living God with the living people of God through faith in His Word: Fighter Verses:Philippians 2:10-11 Call to Worship: Psalm 119:9-16 Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:31-34 New Testament: Hebrews 5:5-10 Prayer of Confession: Psalm 51:1-12 Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 51:16-17 Sermon Text: Luke 5:1-11 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 Right after morning worship, join us for a brief VBS INTEREST MEETING at the front of the sanctuary. The purpose of this brief meeting will be to determine interest and set dates and format for Vacation Bible School. (Anticipated length 15 minutes). THIS WEEK
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message Jesus, the One with Authority, Part Two Luke 4:38-44 To view last week's service, and previous services, in their totality, visit our YouTube Channel. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 12 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Deuteronomy 6-9; Luke 7 Day Two: Deut. 10-14; Psalm 5; Luke 8 Day Three: Deut. 15-18; Psalm 115; Luke 9 Day Four: Deut. 19-22; Psalm 6; Luke 10 Day Five: Deut. 23-26; Luke 11 Visit the website for more up-to-date information! BONUS: Voddie Baucham has a new book coming out entitled Faultlines, dealing with the effects of Critical Race Theory in evangelicalism today. The book comes out April 6, but if you would like to pre-order it, let me know and I will add it to my order next week. Here is an interview from The Sword and Trowel podcast with Tom Ascol and Jared Longshore on the subject with Voddie Baucham as a guest. (This podcast dates from fall 2020 before Voddie's heart surgery, which we as a church prayed for). See you in church! Grace and Peace, Pastor Greg "Rejoice evermore!" This two-word verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is one of only two in the New Testament with only two English words comprising it. (The other one is John 11:35, the familiar "Jesus wept."). Nestled in the middle of thirteen unqualified commands from Paul to the church at Thessalonica, this one is easy to overlook. But its message is packed with power for us as believers for whatever we face from the world: sorrow, sadness, sickness, and even death are ultimately overcome through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In these weeks leading up to Easter, remember to "rejoice evermore," for the Savior has bled and died for the remission of our sins and that isn't all: the tomb is empty, our Savior is risen indeed!
TODAY remember our Bible Quiz team "Contagious" as they compete with 25 other teams from our region in this final competition of the regular season. They have done well this year and deserve our congratulations. If you would like to watch them compete today, go to Journey Baptist Church, 5708 King Hill Ave., in St. Joe. You will need a mask once you go inside. Competition starts at 12:30 pm and usually goes until about 4 pm. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY, so don't forget to join your fellow-believers in corporate worship. As Hebrews 10:25 reminds us, "Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves, and so much more as you see the day approaching." We are blessed to be able to gather, and we treat it as a privilege to do so. In this country, that God-given right is guaranteed in our Constitution. May we never take it for granted. Here's what's happening tomorrow:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 19:1-11 OLD TESTAMENT: Exodus 20:1-17 NEW TESTAMENT:1 Corinthians 1:18-25 PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Psalm 19:12-13 ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Psalm 28:8-9 SERMON TEXT: Luke 4:31-37 BENEDICTION: Numbers 6:24-26 THIS WEEK in addition to our regular opportunities for Monday Evening "Sunday School" via ZOOM at 7 pm (see Pastor Kyle for details) and Midweek Service in person and via ZOOM on Wednesday at 6:30 pm, don't forget:
COMING UP
Currently, these things are tentatively scheduled and will likely take place. Please stay tuned as we keep this information updated. ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message Jesus, the Incarnate Word Luke 4:31-37 To view last week's service, and previous services, in their totality, visit our YouTube Channel. READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Week 10 of the 5 Day Bible Reading Program. Read through the entire Bible following this plan, or read only the New Testament (in italics). Day One: Numbers 8-11; Colossians 1 Day Two: Numbers 12-14; Psalm 28; Colossians 2 Day Three: Numbers 15-18; Psalm 113; Colossians 3 Day Four: Numbers 19-21; Colossians 4 Day Five: Numbers 22-25; Luke 1 How are you doing with this? If you have kept up with the plan, you are more than one-sixth of the way through your Bible reading for the year. Congratulations! But what about if you haven't? I want to encourage you: it is common to fall behind and give up altogether. Resist the urge to give up! Even if you have fallen behind, just do one of two things: keep going at your own pace until you have read the Bible all the way through. This might take two years instead of one, but that is ok. The other thing you can do is to simply start afresh this week with the assigned reading. You can then come back to the part that you missed later. Either way, keep pressing on! BONUS: Some of you have been thinking about the various vaccines that have rolled out for the COVID-19 virus. Please allow me to stress at the beginning that I am neither recommending that your obtain the vaccine nor that you avoid obtaining it. I am simply providing what I believe to be true and accurate information in order to help us think through the moral and ethical implications. Pfizer and Moderna have been on the leading edge of vaccine production back before the first of the year, while Johnson & Johnson just completed the third clinical trial and is just on the horizon of availability. A number of ethical considerations have been raised concerning how these vaccines were tested and how they will be produced. The primary question, as I understand it, revolves around the role of fetal tissue lines. A little history here. Two fetal tissue lines, the so-called "immortal lines," came from two aborted children in the 1960s. One abortion in particular in the Netherlands at that time produced the HEK293 cell line in 1972. These lines have been replicated ("cloned") for use in much current medical technology, not just the COVID vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna did not involve fetal cells of any kind in the production of their vaccines, although some of the replicated fetal cells may have been used in the testing of those vaccines. The J & J vaccine used replicated fetal cells from the aforementioned immortal lines both in the production and in the testing of the vaccines. It is important to note that none of the vaccines currently in production involve or rely on the current aborting of babies or the use of aborted baby parts. The involvement with abortion is an historical involvement with two babies which were aborted more than 50 years ago. Does this remove the the taint of abortion from these vaccines? No, it doesn't. If it were not for the abortion of two babies in the 1960s, the J & J vaccine would not exist at all. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may have an indirect relationship to these replicated cells in the testing phase, as mentioned above. If given a choice, it appears that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do not have a direct link to these two abortions, while J & J does. But it is likely that, if and when you decide to obtain the vaccine (and I believe this is a matter of individual freedom and choice), you will not, as Al Mohler puts it, "be given a menu. You will be given a vaccine." In order to arrive at the most ethical choice, one must take into consideration proximity in time of the vaccine to the actual abortion, directness or indirectness of the use of fetal tissue obtained from those abortions, and whether any more babies will need to be aborted in the future in order for the vaccines to be produced. (The answers in order are: 50+ years ago; a mixture of direct and indirect use, depending on the company; and "no"). For a more thoughtful discussion of this subject, I recommend that you listen to or read the transcripts from The Briefing with Al Mohler from Monday December 14, 2020 (concerning Pfizer and Moderna) and Wednesday March 3, 2021 (concerning Johnson & Johnson). Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg |
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