Weekly Encouragement
Good Wednesday Everyone,
Blessings from your pastor. The week has been filled with travel up and down I-65. I hope your week has gone well and I pray you end strong. Last night we enjoyed a wonderful Wednesday Night Fellowship, the noise of children playing, the fellowship of our congregation, then we enjoyed our meal and Bible study. It was a great night for God’s people in His church. Of course, we need to eat food, but we must always feast on Christian fellowship and God’s Word. This is what is happening on Wednesday nights at Bethel Baptist. Don’t miss Wednesday nights. Bring something and bring someone to The Lord’s House each Wednesday.
Stay with me for a moment concerning Christian fellowship. In the world of metal, material not music, we all know what a “weld” is even if we have never “welded” a day in our life. A welders most basic job is to weld two or more individual metal pieces together with a permanent and strong metal “bead”. The better the welder, the better the bead. The stronger the bead, the stronger the welded metal. We know God is our great provider, our great physician, our great sustainer, and He is also our great “Welder”.
Bethel Baptist is full of gifted, important, knowledgeable, and valuable individuals who will do more, be more, and give more only when we are welded together. Like the metal bead used to weld metal, fellowship is the bead God uses to weld us to one another. In Jesus Christ this weld is unbreakable. The question then is this: Are you an available piece in His church? Whether we live near to or far from our immediate family members, our church family is pivotal in our daily lives. Your greatest asset in life is your church family. The reason behind this awesome truth is because we are welded together.
This Lord’s Day, the Apostle Peter will explain the “break” Christians must experience from the world, and the joy Christians experience as God welds them to His church. The greatest attributes of God are found in the way He fixes us. God mends our broken hearts. God repairs our broken homes. God strengthens us in our weakest moments. Sadly, we see people trying to bond their lives together with masking tape and gorilla glue instead of the strong and secure weld God provides. Like any great welder, God has an incredible metal shop. God’s metal shop is His Christian Church.
When God sends others to us, they may have no idea what to expect. They may be entering church for the first time ever, or for the first time in decades. What they must find is people willing to open their arms and extend genuine and gracious hospitality to them. We don’t want visitors at Bethel Baptist. Visitors are wonderful and they will always experience a warm welcome from us, but as their name implies, they are visiting. Visitors do not stay long. We want guests who come from among us and because of whose we are – They stay. Then as they remain with us God welds us together. The Christian church is the best example of healthy and vibrant relationships. The Christian church is where we can grow and mature as individuals and as a body of believers.
We must care that others do not have what we enjoy, and we must want others to have what we cherish at Bethel Baptist. Keep reading and meditating our series Scripture 1 Timothy 2:1-6 for clarity and depth of insight for what God wants from you. If you are not welded to Bethel Baptist, pray about this. We would love to have God weld you to our fellowship. As we prepare for this coming Lord’s Day BELIEVE, “Other people want what we have – They just don’t know it yet!” The best way others will experience what we have, receive what we have, and be welded to us is to promote our Christian church to them. Tell others about Bethel Baptist. Direct them to our website so they can see for themselves what kind of people we are. Finally, and foremost, pray. Pray God will use you to bring others to Jesus Christ and glorify God.
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Michael
