5th Sunday Q & A Fellowship
Our next “5th Sunday Q & A” Fellowship is scheduled for this Sunday evening at 6 p.m. following our Discipleship Training hour. Bring a snack to share and a drink plus any questions you may have and join us for an hour of Q & A and fellowship!
This is a very informal time but if you have a question but do not wish to ask it publically, jot it down and place it in the container on the table in the church foyer Sunday morning.
Urgent Prayer Requests
* Tom, significant storm damage
* Pete & Brenda, their health
* Brazel family
* Mueller family
* Marilynn Norvell
* Cynthia Wordlaw, need for a kidney
* Aaron Wordlaw and his arthritis
* Dennis fighting kidney failure
* Gene & Lois Schulze at home.
* Anne Overton’s family
* Rachelle in California
* Our church and need for revival
“Free will is a mere empty term, whose reality is lost.”
Martin Luther
Upcoming Activities
1. Bible Study (Brief Books) & Prayer
Meeting, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
2. Sunday school, Sunday, 9:15 a.m.
3. Worship Service, Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
including the Lord’s Supper.
4. Discipleship Training, Sunday, 5 p.m.
5. 5th Sunday Q & A Fellowship, Sunday,
6 p.m.
Outreach Effort
We do have a few bags of energy bars remaining to distribute on the table in the foyer. Please feel free to take them and give them to those who may have a need.
If you would like to donate additional bars, please place the on the table in the foyer. We will attach Bible verses to them and bag them for future distribution.
Thank you to every one who has participated in this effort. May the Lord bless our labors!
“When immoral men and women who live constantly in sin, prate about being God’s children, we discern them at once. ... If Divine Grace does not make us holy, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, it is not worth the having! Brothers and Sisters, if we are God’s elect we must have some substantial evidence to attest it!”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Statement of Faith
Bethesda’s statement of faith is “The 1963 Baptist Faith and Message” and may be read at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfmcomparison.asp. Here is article VII on the two ordinances of the local church.
VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Sermon Extras
My second fact in my message yesterday concerning those who make up the local church was that we are beloved. I noted that it is God who loves us and He does so sacrificially as demonstrated by the death of His only Son. I also mentioned this love God pours upon us is an eternal love. I based this on the form of the word translated “loved” in the ESV.
In the original, this word is actual a participle from the word “agapao”, the verb form of “agape” (love). I believe I would translate the beginning of this verse as “knowing brothers HAVING BEEN LOVED by God”. The form of this participle indicates the love God gives to us is a love given in the past and the results of that love continues forever.
In other words, God, from all eternity, place His love upon those who would be His children (the elect) and that love will never, ever be removed. Here again we have evidence of the perseverance of the saints (or security of the believer). For how could a true child of God ever lose his eternal salvation if the love of His heavenly Father is always upon Him?
Pastor’s Postscripts
During a brief conversation this weekend, someone mentioned to me, with some concern, the low attendance we have been seeing. There are some legitimate reasons why we are down somewhat. It is summertime and folks are taking vacation. We also have some members battling illnesses which keep them at home. Here are some brief thoughts on addressing our low attendance.
1. If you are a member, do your best to be here every Sunday. The Lord wants you in the local church and in public worship.
2. If you have friends, family, co-workers, etc., who are not attending a church, invite them to attend ours.
3. Make an effort to share the Gospel with those lost souls you encounter during the week. Whether they receive Christ or not, invite them to join you Sunday here at Bethesda.
See you Sunday if not sooner!
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