This weekend at FBR

It’s hard to keep up with everything going on at First Baptist Raytown, so here are some exciting things that happened at FBR this weekend:

• Hope Network Gala. Friday night was the annual Hope Network Fundraising Gala with dinner, a silent auction, and the main event, the live auction. The final numbers aren’t in yet, but the event has raised an estimated $46-48,000! One big ticket item contributing to that total was a trail ride with our own Clay Withers going for $3,000!

• ROC Volleyball. Saturday was the first game day of the ROC Volleyball season for 4-9th graders. 148 girls from FBR and the community on 16 teams played their hearts out for their first games of the season. Not only are these girls getting training in volleyball, but they and their families are being exposed to the gospel at every practice and game. Continue to pray for this ministry!

• Electronic Check-In. The new electronic check-in system for infants through 4th graders launched on Sunday with an overwhelmingly positive response from the parents. Not only will it speed up the check-in process, but it will improve the safety of each child.

• Decisions for Christ! The pastor preached on “What Jesus Said About Salvation” on Sunday saying, “Once you get it, you got it, and it cannot be removed!” There were 17 decisions made Sunday morning; 15 of those decisions were for salvation. Now those 15 individuals have it and it will not be removed! Praise the Lord!

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.

Caller ID

Have you ever screened your calls? Of course you have.

Yesterday I had planned on spending the entire day catching up on email, sorting papers on my desk, entering request forms on the printshop timeline, and several other little jobs that get overlooked during the craziness of my week, but I kept getting interrupted by phone call after phone call. “Can you do this?” “Can I have this?” “Can you help me?” “Is this done yet?” “When will you have it ready?” “Are you busy?”

I would run upstairs to help one person with something and come back to my office to find two voicemails with people asking for something else. I’m reluctant to admit it, but toward the end of the day I realized that I had to start screening my calls and dodging some so I could actually get some work done. Don’t act shocked. You know you’ve done that too!

Aren’t you glad God doesn’t use caller ID to decided which prayers He’ll listen to right away and which ones He’ll get back to later? He gets asked the same things over and over, but He always listens and always answers. He never tires of hearing from us. In fact, Jesus tells us to ask, to seek, and to knock. God wants to hear from us and He wants to answer.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

Do you want to know more about talking to God? This Sunday our pastor will preach on the importance of prayer by looking at what it can accomplish.