STIRRINGS AT BETHESDA
A Weekly Publication of Bethesda Baptist Church
June 9, 2014
CHURCH PICNIC!
Join us for an Outback B-B-Q!
Our church picnic is THIS Saturday, June 14 beginning at 4 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs and any type of umbrella you want to use for shade plus any games you may like to play in addition to our planned activities.
The church will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, and buns. Bring 2 side dishes and a drink. If you would like a brat instead, just bring it and our master griller will fix it for you!
You are welcome to bring family, friends, and neighbors. Just call Debbie or Karla so they have a good headcount and can purchase the meat accordingly.
SEE YOU SATURDAY!
Upcoming Activities
1. BUSINESS MEETING, Wed., 7 p.m.
2. Church Picnic, Saturday, 4 p.m.
3. Sunday School, Sunday, 9:15 a.m.
4. Worship Service, Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
5. Discipleship Training (“The Attributes of God”), Sunday, 5 p.m.
Congratulations to…
Austin Wildgrube in graduating from Francis Howell Central this past weekend!
Business Meeting
Our monthly business meeting is this Wednesday at 7 p.m. Some of the items we will be deciding this month are:
* Georgia Baggett & Glenda Averett’s request for membership in our church.
* Amendment to Section 6 on the Deacons of our church bylaws.
* Possibly some recommendations from the Nominating Committee.
So join with us as we try to discern God’s will for our church.
Coming Sunday…
We begin the body of the book of Romans this Sunday by looking at Romans 1:8-10 in a sermon entitled “Prayer and the Gospel”.
Spurgeon Speaks
“He is kind to the unthankful and the evil, and makes His rain to fall upon the field of the miser as well as on the ground of the gracious.”
New Additions to Our Church Library
* Several works of author Janette Oke including:
– “Love’s Enduring Promise”
– “When Hope Springs New”
– “Love’s Long Journey”
– “When Calls the Heart”
* On CD, a sermon by John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, entitled: “Sanctification and Sins of the Mind”
Sermon Seconds
Here is Martin Luther with some thoughts on a Christian being both a sinner and the “beloved of God”.
“Paradoxically, a Christian is both right and wrong, holy and profane, an enemy of God and a child of God. These contradictions no person can harmonize who does not understand the true way of salvation. Under the papacy we were told to toil until the feeling of guilt had left us. But the authors of this deranged idea were frequently driven to despair in the hour of death. It would have happened to me, if Christ had not mercifully delivered me from this error.
We comfort the afflicted sinner in this manner: Brother, you can never be perfect in this life, but you can be holy. He will say: “How can I be holy when I feel my sins?” I answer: You feel sin? That is a good sign. To realize that one is ill is a step, and a very necessary step, toward recovery. “But how will I get rid of my sin?” he will ask. I answer: See the heavenly Physician, Christ, who heals the broken-hearted. Do not consult that Quackdoctor, Reason. Believe in Christ and your sins will be pardoned. His righteousness will become your righteousness, and your sins will become His sins. …
A Christian is beloved of God and a sinner. How can these two contradictions be harmonized: I am a sinner and deserve God’s wrath and punishment, and yet the Father loves me? Christ alone can harmonize these contradictions. He is the Mediator.”
Pastor’s Postscript
I encourage every member of our church to attend our picnic this coming Saturday at 4 p.m. Maybe you do not wish to participate in any of the games. Maybe you have no one to bring with you. That’s fine. Bring your drink and a couple of side dishes to share and then enjoy the time of fellowship where we may share our joys (and sorrows) with one another and get to know each other better than we do. Such fellowship enables us to better pray for one another in the coming days. It is important in your growth as a Christian to spend time with your Christian family and that means more than just Sunday mornings! I look forward to seeing you there.
May Jesus be magnified in all you do and say this week!
Pastor Bruce