Muzette’s Memorial

Each year on the Sunday before Christmas we receive the Birthday Offering for Jesus, which is an extra offering of sharing.

Our gifts are in honor of God’s gift of His son Jesus, and in honor of Jesus giving His life for us.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…These special gifts are used to bless the needy and to help maintain our facilities and ministries.

Starting next Sunday, June 10th, we would like to start a Building Fund gift in honor of Muzette.  Muzette loved our church and our people and she prayed each day for the Pastors, their wives, our church families and our future!

During the last week of her life, while we were at the Cancer Center, she talked about how we needed to pay the church out of debt.  We talked together about reaching our children, our teens and our young adults who are living in a very distracting and different day.

Going forward, I would like to honor Muzette and her love for the Lord and our church with a memorial gift for Jesus.

With the “Muzette Memorial” we will be able to retire the debt and insure the Ministry’s future.

Not an equal gift on this Sunday but an equal sacrifice for the cause of Christ and our future!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

/0 Comments/by

Like it, Share it, Live it!

In a social media crazed world, it can be difficult to separate the good from the bad, the fact from the fake. Social media use has exploded in usage and number of members. According to the Pew Foundation, in 2017, 81 percent of the population in the United States had a social networking profile, representing a three percent growth compared to the previous year. According to estimates, the number of worldwide social media users reached 2.34 billion and is expected to grow to some 2.95 billion by 2020. Can you imagine? A potential audience of over 2 billion people!

We know and understand that God has called us to be a witness, to be different and to point people to Jesus. If someone who is wandering through life without Jesus can logon to their Facebook and scroll their way to a message of hope in Jesus, then we must acknowledge that opportunity and use the tool God has given us! We can do this on a personal basis and as a church! We can and we are making a difference in the world, via social media! In 2017, TBC’s content was watched online over 1 million minutes! Hundreds of thousands of people were reached with a message of truth from right here in Asheville, North Carolina! I often wonder if the families that had a vision and established the church could ever imagine that God would use the church and have such an impact for Christ.

Just recently, Pastor shared a message on broken people using the tomato plant from his garden. This video was around 3 minutes long, but was saturated with raw truth and realness. It has reached over 370,000 people from all over the world! You too can use the platform God has given you on social media to reach people for Jesus. How? What you do matters! When you “like” something, people see. When you “share” something, your friends are notified. If we are living for Jesus, then our “likes, shares, and posts”, should reflect Jesus! It’s simple, yet powerful. If we will take on the attitude of “it’s not about me” and if we stop “photobombing” Jesus out of our lives on Facebook and Instagram, and instead use these platforms to make it about Him, then we can make a difference! Make sure you follow the Trinity Baptist Church and the Ralph Sexton Ministries Facebook pages! It’s a good start to the kind of content we should Like, Shareand how we should Live!

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

In His Service,

Winston and Miranda Parrish

/0 Comments/by

Stewardship

Luke chapter twelve speaks of the faithful and wise steward.

The truth is that we can give on impulse or passion, but stewardship involves a learning experience.  I am growing when I realize that everything I have, from my life to my material world, is a gift from God.

God encourages us to be a faithful steward of our lives.  This means managing not only the financial aspect but also managing the gift of everyday – 24 hours to work, live and pray.

Our management (stewardship) of our money can be a lifelong battle, as we use God’s blessing to provide for our families and to support our church.  The place we put our giving, in trust, for the Lord’s work is called the storehouse of the Lord.

Later this year we are planning some classes to be available to assist us in becoming debt free.

The first steps include starting a budget and living within that budget.  Here are a few “thought provokers” to help you begin to budget:

  1. Don’t buy anything on impulse!
  2. If you use your credit card, pay the balance off each month(Charge items only for your convenience)
  3. Buy in bulk, use coupons
  4. Entertain at home instead of an eating-out habit.
  5. Put some money into savings every pay period. (You didn’t make anything if you didn’t make a savings deposit.)

Let’s also pray and work together to bless our church on the journey to being debt-free.

We will honor Sunday, June 10th, as a “Sacrifice Sunday.”  This will be a day of special giving to secure the future of our church. Please join with me in giving—not an equal gift but an equal sacrifice!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph Sexton

/0 Comments/by

We have our orders….

We’ve been reminded over the past few months of the imperative statement made by Jesus in Matthew 5, when Jesus told His followers that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  It is clear that Jesus didn’t make this optional, and the statement is still as true today as it was when He said it!   Our church has a responsibility, as ordered by Jesus, to be the difference and an example to a lost and dying world.  Our call as Christians is to be the living example of His hands, His feet, His countenance, His love. This is why it is so important to have an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, a relationship that grows and is nurtured every day.  Not being in that “place” He wants us to be hurts the cause of Christ, making our “light” dull, and our “salt” less salty.  It is vital to make your prayer life a priority, and to be in His word as much as possible!

We have an opportunity to take this order and put it into action!  On Saturday May 5, 2018, at 6:00PM, multiple churches from all over WNC will come together for a   community service at City-County Plaza, utilizing the amphitheater in Pack Square Park. Earlier in the day our student ministry, along with other student ministries from other churches, will be bombarding the downtown area with a special invitation to the service.  We encourage you to pray, come early and bring a chair. This service isn’t promoting a church, a man or a personality; rather we will be proclaiming the name of Jesus!  In a world that is dark, Jesus is the light! To those who are lost, He can find them! Broken people can find healing, in Jesus!  Addiction can be defeated, in Jesus! To them that are hopeless, there is life eternal, in Jesus! There is such raw, unimaginable, uncontrollable power in His precious, holy, name.  It is our duty, and our privilege, to claim it.

Please be praying and preparing to be a part of this special opportunity. Invite your friends and family and let us, together, carry out the order to be salt and light to a city that needs Jesus!

You are loved and prayed for!

In His Service,

Winston and Miranda Parrish

/0 Comments/by

A House of Prayer

This past Sunday we were blessed to welcome the Korean Children’s Choir and the Missions team from the Far East Broadcasting Company.

Their powerful ministry is wrapped in a lifestyle of personal prayer.  Dr. Park stated that not only do the Korean people meet at their churches to pray each morning, but individuals also pray at home and at work.  They give credit to God for their prosperity and safety in today’s hostile world.

In the book of Isaiah, God speaks of His Holy mountain in Jerusalem.  He tells the people that He(God) will make them joyful in MY HOUSE OF PRAYER.  The later part of that same verse is very important, “For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

God’s house, the local church, shall be called an house of prayer.  God said that He will hear our prayers, lighten our burdens, touch our faith, and make us joyful.

Where? God will make us joyful in His House of Prayer.

In Matthew 21:13, we read words from the mouth of Jesus (red letter text), “It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer; But ye have made it a den of thieves.”

The strong message from Jesus is that His people have stopped praying!  My house is a house of prayer and because you are not praying, you didn’t see or care that robbers and thieves are hiding in my house!

God’s house is not a house of entertainment or a social club, it is a House of Prayer!

Becoming a House of Prayer requires supernatural work, not our hands or our efforts! It must be the hand of God upon our lives and church to make a difference.

When we are people of prayer then God will reveal our spiritual weakness and even expose our sin.  We must pray for God to keep us a holy people.

We need a revival of prayer in the House of Prayer!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph and Muzette

/0 Comments/by