A “One” Story – Don’t make this mistake!

I was at Macy’s at Summit Fair in Lee’s Summit this past Wednesday evening. They have a Starbucks inside that location. I happened to be over in that general area of the store and I decided to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte. The young lady behind the counter and I began to talk, as she didn’t have any other customers.  The subject of Pageant and church came up. She admitted to me that she did not have a church home anymore, although she used to go to church. I then invited her to our church. However, I then realized that I did not have any of those little invite cards that have been in our bulletin and in our Bible study classroom for quite some time! So I told her that I would stop back by with more info.

It is now Friday night. I stopped back by Macy’s/Starbucks and left an invite card and a copy of the Advance Magazine.  It has a list of all the Pageant performances, which I circled, and I wrote down my cell phone number and my name.

Moral of this story – don’t get caught without those invite cards (we will have a pile of them in class on Sunday). Luckily I knew where she worked and I could remedy my mistake! Next time I may not be so lucky!

This gal told me Wednesday, “It must be that I am supposed to be getting back to church. I keep having people ask me to go to their church.” 

See you Sunday! – Don’t forget to ask people to join you. I am surprised by the responses I get. I think a lot of people are just waiting to be asked. They are interested in getting back into the routine of church; they just can’t seem to make that first step alone.

– Cheryl Sands

Where does all the money go in the summer?

Summer is upon us and we all have plans… travel, rest, sun, fun, friends, family… where do you plan on going?  Most of us in our church family will be gone from our church home at least one weekend this summer if not several. So why it is that most churches in the summer see a decrease in their offerings?  Is it because we are not physically there to place our offering in the plate?  If so, when we return what happens to the money that we don’t give while we are gone?  Did we use it for our vacation because we needed it or felt like we deserved a break?  Does this question make you feel guilt or say that God doesn’t need my money, he owns everything, including the cattle on a thousand hills, what is the big deal for a week or two?

Let’s examine this a little closer. God NEVER in scripture commands that we are to love Him out of guilt or pressure from others. If this is how you give, do you truly know His grace and the preciousness of our Lord Jesus?  I recently listened to a chapel service on 2 Corinthians 9. We see Paul laying out before the Corinthians the need to take up a gift for Christians in Jerusalem. They will send someone out ahead to gather an offering and not collect it when he arrives so it is not out of compulsion or guilt. We have all heard parts of this verse, whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly and God loves a cheerful giver. Why does Paul say this though?  He wants us to know that we give from the heart. Why do you give your tithe?  Is it out of love for your Savior who has bought you and redeemed you?  Is it because He has given you everything you have, from your house, clothes, food, family, children, entertainment, to the very breath your breathe?

C.H. Spurgeon said that too many people think so little of their Savior because they think so little of their sin. Do you truly understand the depths of your wretchedness and the magnificence of Christ’s atoning work on the cross and his resurrection?  In this we rejoice and worship Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and give glory to God!!!  How can we do anything but give back?  Not to give thanks for the stuff He has blessed us with but out of love and out of obedience to our Lord. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul states we have been bought for a price. We are not our own, nor is anything we have. We give back in worship and adoration of our Redeemer, the Sovereign God over all creation. We do not give back because we need to pay church bills, to meet church budgets, or to ensure that ministries at our church will survive. We do not give back because in some way we are paying God back for our salvation, the cost for that is unmeasureable!  We give out of love. God wants us to give back what means the most to us… our money. Sound bad?  It is, but He knows it. Jesus told the rich, young ruler to sell everything to follow Him because that is what was keeping him from following Christ. Jesus wants you to give over to Him what means most to you so that He will mean the most to you.

The pastor has been going through Philippians and the Apostle Paul states the following:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8 ESV)

Everything we have in our American culture that we count as worthy: houses, retirement, jobs, iPhones, HDTVs, vacations, EVERYTHING IS LOSS!  We have Jesus and in Him is everything, our worship is to Him and we give back to Him adoringly and reverently, not out of compulsion or guilt.

King David says in 1 Chronicles he will not give anything if it costs him nothing. It has to cost something to be a sacrifice. That does not mean you have to give a large amount of money, or even that you give twenty dollars. It means you give sacrificially out of your heart. The widow gave pennies compared to everyone else, but Jesus tells us that she gave more. How about that?  If you have five dollars to your name and you lay that five in the plate, the church might never know who you are and what you gave or that it looks consistent. But in reality Jesus tells us you gave more than the couple sitting next to you who just wrote a two hundred dollar check and have plenty. The other churches in 2 Corinthians 8 had given beyond their means out of joy and by the grace which God blessed them with to be an offering the church in Jerusalem much needed.

So this summer, examine why you give and what you give and see if there is truly any sacrifice to your giving and see where your most important things are. And then, let it become regular practice that if you give weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, that you are giving from the heart cheerfully and sacrificially.

– written by Sam Walker

Are you ready for Sunday?

I am excited about the new series as our pastor is going to go through the book of Philippians verse by verse. We have high expectations for our pastor, but our expectations of ourselves are just as important. I thought it would be useful to send out some thoughts on preparing for sermons, that we can do proactively as members of the body of Christ. A blog post I had previously read came to me as I was praying Sunday morning during the 24 hours of prayer and praying for the church. These are important all the time and not just for this series or any other series.

• Read, re-read, and re-read the text for the week. This week is Philippians 1:3-11, but Philippians is only 4 chapters so you could probably read the entire book several times!
• Pray God would open your heart and mind through the aid of the Holy Spirit to gain wisdom in understanding the text.
• Get plenty of rest the night before church. You would not normally stay up late before a day of work, how much more important to be awake during the preaching of the Word of God.
• Come to listen to the pastor, but more importantly the Word of God.
• Confess your sins before studying and before sitting in the sermon. It is important to be forgiven before approaching the alter. Matthew 5:24
• You only get to listen to your pastor preach one hour out of the entire week; make it count. Listen actively and take notes.
• Sit down with your family afterward and review the text and the teaching to teach your children.
• Seek personal application through guidance from your spouse / friends who are believers and from the Holy Spirit.
• Review the teaching against the Word as Apostle Paul tells us in Act 17:11.
• Pray for the pastor in preparation and for his sermon that the Holy Spirit would work in and through him. The Apostle Paul asked several times to be prayed for in his preaching ministry.

HT*: Tim Challies

I pray that you all have a glorious week in scripture in preparation for this Sunday and every Sunday! Amen.

Your brother in Christ,
Sam Walker
Soli Deo Gloria (For the Glory of God Alone)

*To give credit to the author of the blog or article you get your information from in the blog world you give a Hat Tip (HT) to the author.

Growing in Christ: Caleb’s Story

Below is a touching testimony from a proud mom and a thankful church member. It is so great to see how the ministries of First Baptist Raytown are making an impact in the lives of children.

Caleb Fisk

Hi, FBR! I’d like to introduce you to our son, Caleb. Well, actually his name is Joshua Caleb Aaron, but we call him Caleb. Caleb was born on the same day as the new First Baptist Raytown building was dedicated – April 11, 1999. This year, he will be 11 years old. He’s rather excited about turning 11 on the 11th. What excites us, his parents, is watching Caleb grow in Christ together with this growing church.

Our family of five began attending FBR in October of 2006. Caleb accepted the Lord as his personal Savior during Pageant that Christmas, and was later baptized at the same time as his sister, Rachel, who had been saved during Upward soccer. We immediately noticed a change in Caleb’s attitude after his salvation – a softening towards others and a gentle spirit about him.

As he grew, Caleb enjoyed participating in church activities as much as possible. At first only participating in Sunday School and Upward sports, but after a rockin’ first summer at children’s camp (The joy of turning at one point during the children’s worship service at camp and seeing his hands lifted high, eyes closed, singing to his God, was amazing! but I digress.), that fall he expanded his activities to include Royal Ambassadors.  I will never forget his words to me as we drove home from his first RA Congress: “Mom, it was so cool. There were no girls, just a bunch of us guys, and we got to worship, Mom!” His evident enthusiasm for worshiping his Lord and Savior touched my heart; I will never forget how he said that to me that day.

From there, Caleb expanded his church activities even more in the fall of 2009 after another rockin’ summer at children’s camp, and that fall added Bible Quiz and Children’s Choir to his repertoire. In Bible Quiz, out of 187 quizzers, Caleb ranked 15th in the first two months of quizzing, and wound up with an 8th place trophy, his team finishing in 3rd place. He was self-motivated in his attitude toward Bible study, and his accomplishments were reached of his own accord in that effort. Likewise, he’s coming into his own in choir, even trying out for a part and getting it, as a dancer in the upcoming spring children’s musical Everyday Heroes. He loves singing to his God.

I can see how his Christian walk is affecting his school life, where teachers remark at what a great person Caleb is; he loves school, and is excelling in virtually every area. He is also well liked by most. In Cub Scouts or baseball, whatever the activity, he shines with integrity, discipline and good will.  He blesses this mother’s heart.

I am so thankful for FBR and the way God has used it to grow my son as well as our family, individually and as a whole, in their relationships with Christ.  I just thought that now would be a great time to say, thanks! We love First Baptist Raytown.

Sincerely,
Laura Boatright-Fisk

Rejected or Protected?

I was sitting at work, quite content, minding my own business when I received a call from an old friend.  He and I worked together for a long time and have remained friends for more than twenty years.  A position opened to be his supervisor and he wanted me to apply.  At first I didn’t want the job but I played around with the idea when things weren’t going so well at work.  I would think, “I could just leave and take this other job and all these problems would go away!”  I knew that wasn’t really true.  Every place you work has challenges and it’s only a matter of time before you realize the new place is just as messed up as the one you left…if not more so!

On the last day of the job posting, with only three hours until the position closed, I thought, “Why not just go for it and see what happens.”  I found my college transcripts, updated my resume and wrote a cover letter in two hours.  At the last possible minute I uploaded all of my documentation on the website and submitted my application for the position.

About a month later, I received a call from a gentleman that was conducting interviews.  I was to be interviewed by a nine-member committee.  I thought, “Wow, this is getting serious!”  I went to the interview and literally sweated my way through the questions.  I haven’t interviewed in eleven years so I’m not very good at it.  I left thinking that was the end of it.  A few weeks later, I received another call to interview with two additional people – which I did.

I was so confident that I would get the position that I shared it with a couple of people at work – not a good idea.  As with all “secrets,” the word spreads like fire and now I’m on the watch list…will he get the job or won’t he?

Another week went by and I received a call informing me that I was very much liked by the committee and the hiring manager, but the organization was starting the process over due to reorganization.  They encouraged me to submit my application once again and go through the process with the new hiring manager.  What a nice way to say, “You were great but we don’t want you.”

I put a lot of time and effort into the process but I wasn’t devastated by the loss.  I toyed with the idea of the new position but all along I prayed that God’s will be done in the situation.  When you pray that God’s will be done, you are saying, “Lord, I don’t know what is right for me but I know you do.   I trust you Lord and I need your help with this situation.”

I couldn’t wait for people to know so they would quit stopping by my office to see if I got the job.  As I told people, they would ask questions like, “Are you upset?”  “Are you mad they put you through all that interviewing for nothing?”  “I’m sure you are disappointed.” “Do you feel rejected?”

My response was, “I don’t always know why things happen they way they do, but I do know that God is in control.  So no, I don’t feel rejected, I feel protected!  I have no doubt that if God wanted me to have that position, it would have happened.  I trust the Lord knows what is best for me.”

My Christian friends usually reply with an “Amen!” while my other friends just look at me in wonderment.  But I know, when they have periods of disappointment or rejection in their lives, they may remember how my faith determined my response to the situation:

Rejected or Protected?  I chose Protected.  Thank you, Lord!

I’d like to say I always show my faith at work but I’m sure I fall short.  I try to remember that non-believers are all round us.  They are watching us to see how we handle hardship; how we help those in need; how we handle rejection.  I hope they see my faith in these situations and someday come to know God for themselves.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

– written by Scott Beard, FBR member since 2005

Experiencing God’s Grace: Gayle’s Story

David & Gayle Williamson

I remember as a freshman student at Moody Bible Institute being asked to share my testimony. Fellow students had told their incredible stories of being saved from drugs, crime, or rebellion. Some of them told fantastic tales of dramatic transformations from evil to good by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I was hesitant to share my testimony because to me it paled in comparison.  Simply put, I was raised in a wonderful Christian home, accepted Christ as my Savior at a young age, and never caused my parents any (serious) trouble.  I was a model of a “good” Christian woman.  Where was the heart-string emotional tug in that?

I married shortly after my first and only year at Moody.  However, after many years I began to struggle with my marriage.  My husband was a salesman, and we moved often. sometimes across town, sometimes across county, once
even into Canada.  The next big deal that was just around the corner always seemed to remain just out of grasp.  I followed him wherever we thought the Lord was leading us.  But disappointment upon disappointment began to build,
as did my resentment and disillusionment.

Finally, my marriage reached a crisis point.  We were deeply in debt, our home was being foreclosed on, and we were going to have to start over. Again. I made the difficult decision that if I was going to start over, it would be on my own this time.  I simply could not stay in that marriage any longer.

Moving back to Iowa, I had a place to stay, quickly found a job, and was able to purchase a car.  But then came the hard part – learning to live with myself.  I was now a DIVORCED Christian woman.  I saw myself as “damaged goods” compared to the rest of God’s family.

I knew that I still belonged to God and He still loved me, but I felt I belonged in the last chair in the farthest corner of the remotest room in God’s kingdom.  I visited a few churches, but it just never seemed right to be sitting there in “worship” when I felt out of touch with God.

But God was so faithful, patient, and gentle.  He began to tell me that He still had a purpose for me in my life.  He brought me to Jeremiah 18:1-4:  “The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah.  He said, ‘Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made.  I will speak to you while you are there.’  So I did as he told me and found the potter working at this wheel.  But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again.”

God showed me that I was that lump of clay in the Potter’s hands.  He was now going to start over. remake me into something brand new, useful and beautiful for His pleasure once again.  I’m the one who made the wrong choices for my life – not God.  But just as the potter started again on his pot, so God was starting again with me.

To know that I could again serve him and live my life in a way that glorified Him filled me with great joy, love, and peace. The brokenness that was trying to consume me, enticing me to do things I knew I should not be doing, was replaced by a desire to become holy and pleasing to God.

I know God has given me a new purpose I would not have been able to realize before in my previous life.  He has given me an incredible new marriage with a wonderful husband who is far and above what I could have hoped for or felt worthy of.  The love that I now feel for God who lavished his grace on someone like me is beyond description.

The grace I did not recognize as a young child is the grace that I experienced as a “mature” believer who had fallen but was incredibly restored.

God’s grace is available to anyone, anytime, anywhere, regardless of the situation.  It is ours for the taking. We just have to be willing to accept it, to recognize the sin that has placed us in the position of needing that grace and desiring to be free from the burden of that sin.  This grace was purchased at a tremendous price on our behalf, but it is offered freely and lavishly to the broken and receptive heart.

– Gayle Williamson, FBR member since November 2009

Scott’s Story: Stepping out in faith one note at a time

Do you have a “hidden” talent? Maybe it’s something you forgot you could even do. It could be singing, photography, teaching, or playing an instrument. Read how Scott dusted off his clarinet and stepped out in faith by serving in the church orchestra:

“I put my clarinet in the case and stored it in the garage immediately after leaving high school. I had absolutely no plans of ever playing it again until the night I attended Piano Praise. My wife, Bev, and I sat a couple of rows back from the orchestra where I had a good view of the woodwind section. The concert was fantastic, and though I hadn’t played in twenty-five years, I was inspired to get out my dusty old clarinet to see if I could play again.

“The following day I went to the garage, found my clarinet and started practicing. I had to look up the names of the notes in a book and learn the fingerings all over again. My wife likes to tell everyone she hid out in her office and the dogs hid outside while I practiced. After a couple of months, I felt like I might be good enough to audition.

“I found that stepping out in faith can lead to great rewards. I stepped out in faith when I started practicing again. I stepped out in faith when I first talked to Larry Jones’ assistant, Stephanie Peterson, and asked her for some music samples. I stepped out in faith when I walked in the orchestra room for the first time, and I stepped out in faith when I played my first worship service and my first Heart of America Christmas Pageant.

“It’s been four years since I received the call to play again. I started playing as a way to give back to God, I had no idea God would use it to give so much to me. The Celebration Orchestra is a family of believers who truly love and care for one another. We share the good times and the bad. We pray for each other and we grow in our faith and our music skills every week. I would encourage everyone who attends church to pray about your service to the church. Don’t be surprised if the answer to those prayers leads you to serving in a capacity you never expected. Just step out in faith, take a chance and see where it leads. You’ll gain far more than you ever expected.”

– written by Scott Beard, FBR and Celebration Orchestra member since 2005

Are you ready to step out in faith? Maybe you want to dust off that old instrument of yours. If so, you can email Larry Jones at ljones@firstbaptistraytown.com. Do you want to get those vocal chords back in shape and sing in the choir? Email Lynn Lewallen at llewallen@firstbaptistraytown.com. If you want to take pictures of events or write articles for The Advance monthly newsletter, email Alyson Browning at abrowning@firstbaptistraytown.com. Aren’t sure where you want to serve? Call us at 816-353-1994 and we’ll help you find a place to serve.

Faith: Lydia’s Story

I felt lost in 2005 as I came crashing down with diabetes.  My parents were worried and we didn’t know what was going on.  The more weight I lost, the more food I ate.  The more food I ate, the thirstier I got, leading to more weight loss.  Many blood tests were taken, but the doctors kept saying that it was just the flu going around.

I felt like I was going down a never ending dark tunnel inside.  I prayed and prayed to God over and over again all the time.  I was lost.

On February 7, 2005, we went to the doctor’s office for what seemed like the hundredth time.  This time they checked my blood sugar, something so simple that they seemed to have missed with all the other blood tests they had taken.  They sent us straight to Children’s Mercy downtown.

We spent several days at Children’s Mercy, taking in all the new information about diabetes.  I started taking insulin so my body could take food in again.  Although I was getting physically better, I still felt like there was a hole in my heart.  So I kept praying.

All my life I have gone to church.  My parents have always told me about God, and I have always believed in Him.  When I was younger, each time I would say Jesus, for some reason, it would always make me giggle.  2005 was my down point.  I felt like I was all alone and couldn’t find Jesus, but with the help of my parents and going to church, I finally realized, that once you give your heart to Jesus, he never lets you go.  He never leaves you either.  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for my God is with me.”  It took me a while to have faith that God would never let me go.  Also, just because you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, doesn’t mean that you have to live there.

God has always taken care of me and my family.  He has always gotten us through the hard times.  He never gives us more than we can handle.  I believe in Jesus Christ.  I believe that anything is possible with the Lord, and I believe that you have to have faith.

– written by Lydia Todd, member since 2007

Caroline’s Story: Big Hearts, Big Vision, and Big Passion

When I came to FBR five and a half years ago, I found a church that captured my heart. I love this church because of the people I found here: People with Big Hearts, Big Vision, and Big Passion.

Immediately, I found big hearts in orchestra and a Bible study class. Since I play the viola, I joined the orchestra and found a place to use my talents. But more importantly, orchestra drew me in and has become my second family. Here I am loved for who I am and I belong. I have also found this sense of family and belonging in my Bible study class. It is a place where we can pray for each other’s needs (no need is too small) and help each other through life’s trials. We also get to study God’s Word more in depth and apply it to our every day lives.

The next thing I found amongst the people at FBR was a Big Vision – a vision that extends beyond themselves and beyond the church and into the surrounding community, the greater Kansas City area, and into the world. One example of this is the Heart of America Christmas Pageant, in which I have played my viola since I started here. The goal of the hundreds of dedicated people who help put this production together is to tell as many people as possible about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through drama and music. And this is just one of the myriads of ministries that you can find at FBR that are reaching out to the people around us.

Lastly, you can’t have Big Vision without even bigger Passion and expect to get your vision accomplished. Now that I have the privilege of working on staff as the Instrumental Music Assistant, I not only get to see all the hard work that our lay people put in but also the tremendous amount of passion and energy that our staff gives to this church and it’s vision to tell the world that Jesus died for you and me so that we may live!

– written by Caroline Jones, member since 2004
Caroline is the Instrumental Music Assistant at FBR.

Tiffany’s Story: The Power of an Invitation

Over the past couple of years, God has impacted my life in a huge way through FBR. Before joining the church, you could compare my church attendance with my favorite simile our pastor once said: some people use church the same way as cake- reserving it for special occasions like Christmas and Easter. Fortunately, church eventually became more like my daily bread.

My new relationship with Christ never would have happened without my little sister, Natalie.  I am grateful that she invited me time and time again to pageants and weekly church services, even though I always had the same answer, “No thank you.” Natalie soon realized that telling me how great the music is every week and that the church had an awesome orchestra would make me want to visit. She was definitely right about that.

It is very important to invite people we love, or may not even know that well, to visit our church with us. Sometimes people just need to be invited because they’re not comfortable with going it alone, even though they’d really like to begin building a strong relationship with Christ and find a church that’s right for them. I am a great example of this.

I visited the church once with Natalie and have been a faithful member ever since. After being baptized and becoming a born-again Christian, I joined the Celebration Orchestra, which has been a huge blessing in my life. The orchestra members and other great people at FBR have helped me get through several obstacles in my life over the past couple of years. Without God and my orchestra family, I’m not sure how I would have handled those stressful situations. I thank God every day that He helped Natalie get me to church, which gave me a new, meaningful relationship with Jesus.

–written by Tiffany Scanlan, FBR member since 2007