Please Vote

In the New Testament we read the teaching of Jesus. Some of His teaching concerned everyday life in this world.

We are reminded that we are of God, and the whole world remains in sin and darkness (I John 5:19).  We live in this world but this is not our home.

Jesus asked us to remain faithful until He returns.  One of the ways we can honor His Word is to be Salt and Light.

In Matthew, chapter five, Jesus is teaching about our part or our responsibility in the Christian walk. Notice His statements about us:

Ye are the salt of the earth (verse 13)

Ye are the Light of the world (verse 15)

The phrase, salt of the earth, could also be read salt of the land, or, you are the salt for where you live. Salt provides protection from spoilage. It is a preservative.

When we vote, we demonstrate our Biblical responsibility to be salt, to prevent corruption.

When we go into the world, we are to be light.  As salt is physical to our land (community), light is spiritual!

Light is used to guide, to illustrate, and to locate the right path.  Jesus is the light of the world, because He lives in us, we are to let our light shine in this dark world.

Part of pushing back the darkness and helping the future of our children and grandchildren is to go vote!

Please, register to vote!  Then go vote your faith and values.  You can help preserve a future of family values and pro-life with your powerful vote!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

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Come On In… We Are

What a wonderful Homecoming Sunday!  It was a great day of family, friends, food and fellowship.

It was amazing to see 16 serving lines in action at one time.  We had ribs and chicken, all kinds of sides and cobbler with ice cream.  We were blessed and full!

During the message we talked about “Being the Church,” and how important it is that we not just attend church but that we become the church every day.  When we live the love of Christ in front of scared, lonely, hurting people we do “Become the Church.”  You are a visible, real, and genuine Christian whether you are in the 10th grade, or a senior in college, or a co-worker in the office.  You get the idea?

Needy people are all around us.  People who need to be shown the love of Jesus and people who need to feel accepted and wanted in our fellowship of faith.

They need to drive up in front of our church and read:  “Welcome!”  “Come on In!”  “We are open!”

Come on in, we are still having church!  We are still singing, reading the Bible, listening to the choir, going to the mission field, and preaching and teaching from the pulpit.

We are still sharing the Word of God and giving to programs for our children and teens.  We really are a hospital of hope, and we still operate a life-saving station for those who need it.  We are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  We are church … Come on in!  You are welcome!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

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HOMECOMING

Welcome Home!

I love that phrase. Welcome to the place where you are loved and appreciated.  This is home, this is where you belong. This is you, this is your heritage and this is your legacy.

My spiritual home is my place of praise and worship.  This is my church and my church family, the people I worship with. I don’t know all their names, but I do know we go to church together.

These are people of like faith, people of prayer, people known for their love and generosity. These are the people who are kind, loving and welcome all to join them in serving Jesus. These people are just like you. People that are not perfect, but are forgiven. People who know they have passed from death unto life, and who care and pray for each other.

WOW! What a blessing to know that in a world of confusion, in a culture in collapse, I have a home! I have a place of help, hope and comfort – my church.

This is why once a year we have Homecoming.  It is a time to remember what matters in life and a time to keep my feet on a firm faith foundation.  It is a time to affirm my love and support for the future.  Our legacy will be to insure the children and grandchildren of this church have a clear message of salvation from the pulpit and a clear vision of the mandate to be salt and light. Let’s be sure that they can enjoy what we have enjoyed for the past 52 years.

Trinity Baptist Church, a place to call home! Where we work together, pray together and give together to make a difference as we worship together.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you, as I serve the Lord!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

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We Need Church

Last week I was in a place of business here in the city. During the time there, I entered into a conversation with an employee. This lady began to ask me some questions about church “Are you a Pastor?” “Do you like going to church?”  “Are your people friendly or kind?”

Many other questions over the next few minutes proved she was very sincere and was interested in knowing more about God, faith and eternity. I paused for a moment, and then asked her about her faith and relationship with Jesus. She stated that she was a person of faith. She professed to believe in Jesus for salvation but had dropped out of going to a building to attend “church.” She continued by telling me that she just watched TV services or downloaded Bible teachings.

At the end of the discussion, come to find out, she misses church.  Remember, she is not sick or a shut-in, she was just attending a place of social activity, a place where people may not have been warm, concerned, or even kind.

We need church!

We need the community of faith around church. “Community of faith” is formed when like-minded people commit to sharing time and space with each other.

These are the people that I need in my life.  Family and friends help us draw closer to God.  These people help me want to worship the Lord and give Him praise!  These church people help us understand each other, pull us closer together and help us become the real person God created us to be.

You are the church!   You are the new friend to a visitor.  You are the one with the words of encouragement and acts of kindness for discouraged and hurting.   Be the church!  We need you and we need each other!

Thank you for being faithful!

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

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The Word and Our Works

According to the Word of God our Christian service is to be all to the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ.

I Corinthians 3:9 For we are laboures together with God: Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

That verse speaks of a great concept.  We are God’s fellow workers.  We are given the honor and privilege after salvation, to work with God!

As we have increased our opportunities in the Word of God for study, we have seen an increase in service and work for the Lord and our church family.

We meet for Bible Study every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM, men and women meet again during the week for study in the Word.  We have now added Tuesday nights, a basic Bible Institute. The Bible Institute offers, How to study the Bible and overview courses on the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In addition, the church family is reading the New Testament together.

All these opportunities to read and study have blessed our church with a new sense of, “What can I do?”, “Where do you need help?”!

The past few weeks we have seen an outpouring of energy into Hearts with Hands, Tent Crusade, Celebrate Recovery, Awana, Thrive and New City Christian School.  We are blessed with many opportunities to serve.

Thank you for being faithful to attend, to give, and to serve.

You are loved,

Pastor Ralph

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