Be Encouraged
Good Wednesday Everyone,
Weekly blessings to all. What a wonderful week of weather, cool mornings with warm days. Thank you in advance for all your help in giving and to the Shoebox ministry. The deadline for all supplies to be received is today, November 8th. We will receive more information as we move forward. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right in front of us. We have Bethel’s Children’s Christmas Play on Sunday, December 3rd at 4:00 P.M. Following the children’s play we will have a snack/dessert reception in our fellowship hall. Please bring something to share with all family members who come. Then don’t forget tonight – Our Wednesday Night Fellowship has on the menu Fried Chicken, and if you are able, please bring a dish or dessert to pass. We want all to come to Wednesday Night Fellowship. If you cannot go home before departing school or work, please come anyway. Bethel Baptist wants to be a blessing to you and your family.
Many thanks to you Bethel, for your approval of the proposed motion from our Building and Grounds Committee. We purchased the flat screens at an excellent price and will mount them as soon as possible. The use of flat screens in our sanctuary is such an enhancement for our worship and towards the discipleship aspect in our sermons. So many of us are visual learners and hearing plus seeing what is presented is very beneficial. Also, the upgraded size of the flat screens will be something we can utilize for future movie fellowships, and discipleship training. Also, the media purchase will allow for a fully mobile flat screen cart for use anywhere inside Bethel Baptist. Bethel Baptist is a giving church, not only financially but also in servanthood. God will reward both giver and the receiver.
This coming Lord’s Day we will conclude our “sidebar” sermon “sub-series” in the life of Elijah. The life of Elijah is exciting, faithful, and obedient. Elijah has a dramatic entrance within our Scriptures, and Elijah’s departure is unprecedented. Never has anyone left the earth as dramatically as did Elijah.
God’s power is the theme throughout Elijah’s life. My challenge to you has been to understand how God demonstrates His power in our lives. Remember: God displays His power for all to see – Not everyone believes. God controls His power to bless everyone – Not everyone receives. God withholds His power to protect everyone – Not everyone is protected. It is by faith God’s power is displayed in our lives. Faith is the key. Elijah lived by faith. Ahab in contrast refused to live by faith.
Consider the power that you see in the lives of fellow Christians. We do not live mistake free and perfect lives, rather we live intentionally faithful lives. We fully recognize God’s power in our lives and strive to please God in all we do and say. We want God’s involvement, God’s control, and God’s protection in our lives. The unfaithful person wants nothing to do with God. This is how we see the life of Ahab. Ahab is living a “buffet” style of faith, and many today are taking on the name of “Christian” but intentionally refusing and ignoring the completeness of God. Ahab did not want morality in his life, he wanted unbound freedom. Ahab did not want faith in his life, he wanted conviction-less religion. Ahab did not want God in his life, he wanted idolatry to worship his own way.
We have all met an “Ahab” in our lives. The question is when we meet an “Ahab”: Does the person influence us, or do we influence them? This is all that matters. You live to influence them and let God’s power do everything else. God will display, control, and withhold His power as He sees it. We don’t want to be a church, or a Christian who waits back for the “Ahab’s” of the world to be destroyed. We want to be a church and Christians who go to them, and tell them of God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s love, and God’s grace. We are only to plant seeds into the hearts of every “Ahab” we meet.
If we will be obedient to God at it concerns the “Ahab’s” around us, God will change hearts and God will save souls. Tell people what you know is true. Show people that what you believe works. Be the spiritual influence for every “Ahab” you know. You will go from being a “troubler” in their life, to being an evangelist in their life, “You just don’t know it yet!!” I look forward to seeing you tonight and this Sunday.
In Christ,
Pastor Michael
