Weekly Encouragment

Good Thursday Everyone,

This had been a great week.  As we prepare for upcoming events, please mark your calendar for the first part of October.  Bethel is adding a second weekly fellowship gathering.  Starting Wednesday, October 12, and each Wednesday thereafter, Bethel Baptist will begin Wednesday Night Fellowships.  This will be a time for the entire Bethel family to get come together, share a meal, enrich our children, and then enrich ourselves in Bible study and prayer.  Wednesday nights will become a time to refuel and finish the week strong.  This will also be an excellent opportunity for in-reach and outreach for our congregation.  Bring and invite those who need a break in the week.  Wednesday Night Fellowships will be from 6:00 – 7:30 P.M.

This coming Lord’s Day will be the conclusion of our Acts of the Apostles sermons series.  This has been an incredible series to prepare and to preach each Sunday.  We shared twenty sermons from Acts, and there could have been many more.  Remember the uniqueness of Acts as it is packed full of Christianity’s “firsts”.  The formation of the first Christian Church.  The first conversions to Christianity.  The first revivals.  Sadly, the first Christian martyr – Stephen, and the first wave of Christian persecutions.  The first time we were called “Christians”.  The first missionary travels.  And the first letters explaining of God’s redemptive process.   

All through Acts we meet normal people living supernatural lives.  This is still the story of Christianity – We are ordinary people living normal lives and we met someone who changed everything.  We met Jesus Christ.  Once we did our faith changed, our attitude changed, our personality changed, our speech changed: In every respect as Paul explained we were new creations.  How do people see these changes in us?  How do people know these changes in us are real?  The answers to these questions conclude our sermons series.  People see what Christ did to us by the way we obey God’s Word. 

No sermon spoilers here, but this Lord’s Day we know Paul landed safely on the island of Malta.  God saved 276 souls from a certain and terrifying death at sea.  But what now?  Did Paul appreciate his life more?  Did Paul suddenly have a new “lease on life”?  Did Paul NOW decide to live is life fully dedicated to God?  Nothing about Paul internally nor externally changed.  Paul never stopped living an obedient life unto God.  And the people around Paul SAW what obedience looked like.

The Acts of the Apostles is an incredible book to read and study, but it must be a mirror to adjust your life.  A mirror reflects your image others will see.  The image others see is an incredibly powerful image.  As a Christian you reflect obedience to God.  Because you are a Christian: People see what you do; People hear what you say; People want what you have; and People try to copy who you are!!! Never discount the power your reflection has on the lives of others.

Here's a story.  I was stationed in Ecuador in the early 1990’s assigned to the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador.  An incredible assignment.  One evening there was a function at the US Ambassadors home. The Ambassador, Peter Romero greeted each guest personally and the quest line was very long to enter the Ambassador home.  At the moment I met Ambassador Romero it was a nice and pleasant encounter, but I didn’t appreciate how important and how impactful meeting the US ambassador was for the Ecuadorans waiting in line, until is SAW their reflections.  See, meeting Ambassador Romero was as close to meeting the President of the United States they were ever going to get!!  Ambassador Romero reflected the United States of America.    

Paul explains the importance and the impact a Christian has on life of another person.  Every Christian is Christ’s Ambassador.  When people meet you and you meet them, at that moment, they are as close to Jesus as they will ever or may ever get.  This is what happens on Malta.  The islanders SAW what Christian obedience looked like.  Paul was Christ’s Ambassador.    

Come this Sunday and close out the sermon series with us.  Tell someone about Bethel Baptist, and when you do let your obedience reflect what Christian obedience looks like.  We are around shipwrecked people every day, and these “People really want what you have – They just don’t know it yet.”      

Blessings in Christ Jesus,

Pastor Michael