First Baptist Church New Brighton: May 2014

Friday, May 23, 2014

Street Picnic

Instead of the regular update this week, I want to make sure everyone know that we are continuing our street picnics this year...

On Sunday, July 20th we will be hosting the first Street Picnic of 2014 between 5pm and 7pm.

We cook burgers and hot dogs on the grill and provide all the sides and beverages.

All are welcome to join us. No offerings will be accepted.

Also, our Vacation Bible School is coming up soon!
VBS will be for those in grades K-6. It will run Sunday, Juyly 27 - Thursday, July 31. Please call us at 724.846.3830 to let us know your children will be attending. Thank You!.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Pastor's Note from May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mom's, including our spiritual mothers in the Body of Christ.

Our Bible reading plan continues through 1 Chronicles and Romans this week. As always, we’ll be reading about some amazing things this week.

In our OT reading we come across 1 Chronicles 13 and the account of David having the Ark of the Covenant moved. While traveling with the Ark, Uzza reached out and grabbed it to keep it from falling off the cart. Uzza died immediately as no one was to ever touch the Ark; that was the command and the Ark was holy. David was angry about Uzza’s death, but did he have a right to be? Certainly not! They were doing the wrong thing, and not moving the Ark in the way God had instructed it to be moved. It was to be carried by a family of Levites only, not transported on a cart. We too easily forget that God has set certain rules about things. We don’t like rules and so we start labeling all such rules as “legalistic.” Yet, God has given us a body of instructions in the Bible (even in the NT!) as we are to be holy and thus need to live a certain way in order to maintain our fellowship with Him, for He is holy and can have no fellowship with sin. Disobedience is sin, even if we think we’re doing something good.

This is a perfect lead in for our NT reading as we head into Romans 6. It starts by asking a question, based on the discussion of the grace and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. It asks, “What then, shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?” The answer is given immediately, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Several verses later, Paul through the Holy Spirit writes, “consider yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Is that legalistic? No, it is a command from God that we should forsake sin and instead “present our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Bible reading:

5/12	Monday	1 Chronicles 13-14	Romans 4
5/13	Tuesday	1 Chronicles 15-16	Romans 5
5/14	Wednesday	1 Chronicles 17-18	Romans 6
5/15	Thursday	1 Chronicles 19-20	Romans 7
5/16	Friday	1 Chronicles 21-22	Romans 8
5/17	Saturday	1 Chronicles 23-26	None
5/18	Sunday	1 Chronicles 27-29	None

Bible memory verse: Romans 5:12

"Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned..."

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Pastor's Note for May 4, 2014

Due to all the special events and announcements, it has been weeks since the Pastor’s note was about the Bible reading for the week. Even though there is still much going on, I decided to get back to the Bible reading for this week's note.

In our OT reading we finish up 2 Kings this week. This is a fascinating section of the OT and we see the consequences of God’s people rebelling against Him and how that plays out through the rest of the Bible. Keep in mind as you start 1 Chronicles that some of the text will be familiar to you as it covers the same period as Samuel and Kings.

In our NT reading we finish up Acts and start into Romans. This week our memory verse is Romans 1:20 (see below). I picked this verse because it coordinates well with our Wednesday sessions on how to share the Good News. One of the common questions people ask when we are telling them about the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the only Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, is this: “what about the people in the deep jungles who’ve never heard about Jesus?” Romans 1:20 is God’s answer to that question. Even if you don’t have God’s “special revelation” (the Bible), you have His “general revelation” (the universe). The fact that the universe gives testimony of its Creator leaves every person without excuse for denying or ignoring Him. Just in case that isn’t enough for you, there is another piece of evidence every person has as well. It is mentioned in Romans 2:14-16 which tells us that God’s law is written on the heart of every individual, so that we know right from wrong and are thus accountable for breaking His law.

I invite you to come on Wednesday’s where we will cover more of the common objections and how to address them. So that we may do all things for the sake of bring the lost to the life-giving Truth of the Gospel, and edifying those who do believe.