Tomorrow is “Back to School Sunday” when we will pray for and send all of the school-age children off, asking God to bless and use them. There will be a special “Back to School Pack” for each school-age child in attendance in the morning service at 11.30 AM. See you then…
Back to School Sunday
30 August, 2008 at 11:13 pm (Announcements)
Pictures from the Bury Mission Trip
30 August, 2008 at 11:08 pm (Missions)
Here are some pictures from our trip to Bury.
To God Be the Glory
30 August, 2008 at 10:57 pm (Church)
I meant to post about this sooner but I am just now getting around to it. God did something amazing this past week that I want to praise Him for.
As you know, we were in England on Monday through Friday, so naturally we were not there for the Thursday night service. Bro. Lawrence Smyth, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Clogh Mills, kindly agreed to come preach the midweek service. Due to a miscommunication and a lack of planning on my part, no one with a key was there to open the doors for the service, so when Bro. Smyth arrived he just started the song service on the street.
God blessed and even though I had made a few phone calls to say that the service was cancelled, there were still 10 in attendance. One of the ladies was a Chinese lady who lives across the street. She kindly opened her home for the meeting that night. Also, there was 4 teenage girls and another couple who brought a friend with them.
I felt very badly about this and regretted that I did not plan better, but God showed Himself strong with a good meeting and a couple of visitors in spite of not being able to meet in the building and most of our workers not being there. It just shows that this is God’s church not man’s, and that God loves to do things that get Him all the glory. We need to just be still and know that He is God more often.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done!
Back from England
30 August, 2008 at 10:22 pm (Missions)
We had a great time on our trip to Bury, England to help Bible Baptist Church with their Bible club. The church is about 30 years old and is an independent Baptist church just north of Manchester, England, in a city of 180,000 people. The Bible club was Tuesday through Friday from 10-12 in the morning. Our team led the club in teaching, music, and directing the club, but we worked closely with Pastor Simon Watts and the workers there, who did a great job decorating, serving, and helping.
The theme and schedule was pretty much a duplicate of what we did in our church. We hope to make this a yearly outreach, where we take a team from our church and any other churches who are interested to help another church grow through their Bible club.
The Watts and all the people at the church were such a blessing, giving us a place to stay, providing meals for us, giving us a very generous love offering toward our airfare, taking us to see some of the sights. It was a very fun trip, and we are so grateful for their hospitality.
On our way back yesterday, Martin Wickens collected us again from the airport, and we enjoy a good time of fellowship with them and Pastor Tom Dotson, who is over preaching at Faith Baptist Church. Thank you so much for your hospitality and help with our trip.
Update from Bury, England
27 August, 2008 at 11:50 pm (Missions, Update)
Just an update of what is going on here. We have been having a wonderful time with Bible Baptist Church and the Watts family. The Watts are tremendous hosts, letting us have the run of their house, while they stay at a hotel. They are very committed people and fun to be around. The people in the church are so sweet to give us lifts to various places and to bring food by each evening. They are a great help with the children as well.
Yesterday was the first club, and we had a good time with the young people. Today was the second day of the club and the attendance increased some. Pray for God to work in the hearts of the young people and to use us here.
We also had the opportunity to go to the market, which is a famous market all over Britian. It was a good time. Also, we got to see our friends, Ian and Cythian Jamieson, from Blackpool. Bro. Jamieson said he knows of 22 missionaries who are going home for good, some leaving churches without pastors! Please pray for the situation here, for God to raise up men to preach, to pastor, and to plant churches.
Update on Ian Borland
27 August, 2008 at 11:44 pm (Prayer)
Thanks for praying for Ian Borland, Sylvia’s husband. He is home and recovering. He had a fractured, several broken ribs, and a broken collarbone. Please pray for his continued recovery.
First Day in Bury, England
25 August, 2008 at 11:41 pm (Missions)
We left Derry/Londonderry at 1.00 PM today and arrived in Ballyclare at about 2.40 PM. Martin Wickens and Derek from Faith Baptist Church kindly left us off at the airport. We arrived in Manchester today at 6:15 PM, and pastor Simon Watt and some folks from the church collected us and took us up to his house in Bury. They fixed us an amazing dinner, and then we went over to look at the church.
The building is tremendous with a huge auditorium, a nice hall for games, several classrooms, an office, and several other rooms. The people in the church decorated very well, and will be a great environment for reaching out the the children.
Please pray as we have the first day of the club tomorrow from 10.00 – 12.00 in the morning. Here is a picture of the auditorium.
Quotes from J.C. Ryle About Parenting
25 August, 2008 at 9:20 am (Family)
These quotes come from this post.
“As a minister, I cannot help remarking that there is hardly any subject about which people seem so tenacious as they are about their children. I have sometimes been perfectly astonished at the slowness of sensible Christian parents to allow that their own children are in fault, or deserve blame. There are not a few persons to whom I would far rather speak about their own sins, than tell them their children had done anything wrong.” (p. 2)
“Remember children are born with a decided bias towards evil, and therefore if you let them choose for themselves, they are certain to choose wrong.” (p. 3)
“Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys, these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily, these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart.” (p. 4)
“Try hard to keep up a hold on your child’s affections. It is a dangerous thing to make your children afraid of you.” (p. 6)
“We depend, in a vast measure, on those who bring us up. We get from them a colour, a taste, a bias which cling to us more or less all our lives.” (p. 7)
“Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you love them, think often of their souls.” (p. 8 )
“Idleness is the devil’s best friend.” (p. 22)
“Instruction, and advice, and commands, will profit little, unless they are backed up by the pattern of your own life. Your children will never believe you are in earnest, and really wish them to obey you, so long as your actions contradict your counsel.” (p. 30)
Off to Bury, England
25 August, 2008 at 8:21 am (Missions)
Please pray for us as a group of 9 of us travel to Bury, England to help Bible Baptist Church with their holiday Bible club. This trip is part of our Act 1:8 Vision to help other churches in our country.
We will be working the club on Tuesday through Friday. We will lead and teach in the club and they will help us. We are looking forward to a good time. We fly out today about bout 5:15 PM.
May God’s Glory Fill Our Lives, Homes and Church Buildings
25 August, 2008 at 8:17 am (Church)
Yesterday was our Buildind Dedication Day and Offical Opening Service at our church. We had some extra music and Scripture reading during the service. It was an honour to have the mayor of our city, Councillor Gerard Diver, and his wife with us to help say a few words. He is a very kind and gracious man, and it was great of him to make the time to be with us. Watch for photographs in the Derry Journal and the Londonderry Sentinel.
The message notes you can find below sum up the whole though of the day. 28 people were in attendance in the morning service. We are going to have to get some more chairs. A church is giving us some benches for our Sunday school class rooms, but we are running out of seating, so praise the Lord!
Building Dedication Day
2 Chronicles 1-7
Our relationship with God should not be dependent on the building. (1:6)
- The ark of God was in a tent. (1:4)
- Solomon and the congregation sought unto it. (1:5)
- Solomon offered 1000 burnt offerings. (1:6)
- God appeared to Solomon and talked with him. (1:7-12)
The purpose of the temple was to exalt the name of the Lord and to extend the kingdom of the Lord. (2:1)
- Solomon built a temple as a place where people would come to worship. (2:1-2)
- The temple was to be dedicated to the Lord. (2:4)
- The temple was to be great because great is our God above all gods. (2:5)
- No building can contain the infinite God. (2:6)
A church building should be special because it is a place to meet God. (5:1-10)
- God no longer lives in temples made of hands. (Acts 7:48, 17:24)
- Those who are saved are called the temple of the Holy Ghost and God dwells in them. (1 Cor. 6:19)
- But God has promised where two or three are gathered in His Name that He will be in the midst. (Mt. 18:20)
- A church building should be a place where we draw closer to God, where we worship God, where we hear the Word of God preached, and where God speaks to us through.
We should desire that God’s glory fill our lives, our homes, and the places where we meet. (5:13-14)
- The glory of the Lord filled the Temple. (5:14)
- We should want God’s glory to fill our lives and our church buildings.
We should praise and thank the Lord, first and foremost, for giving us this building to meet in. (6:1-4)
We should desire that this building be a place where…
- The Word of God is in a prominent position. (5:10)
- Sinners will repent and find forgiveness. (6:24-25)
- Strangers will come and worship God. (6:32)
- We train and send people out so that “all people of the earth may know [God’s] name.” (6:33)
- People pray and God hears. (6:40)
- The fire comes down. (7:1-2)
- Many sacrifices are made to God. (7:4-5)
- Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.
- We no longer sacrifice sheep and oxen, we bring:
- Ourselves as a living sacrifice. (Rom 12:1)
- Our service to others. (Phil 2:17
- Sacrifice of praise. (Heb 13:15)
- Christians serve God. (7:6)
