This Lord's Day (January 28, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

"Goin' to the Chapel, and we're going to get married." These are the words of the old song speaking of the blissful moments in a couple's life when they are about to get married.  We have been studying the life of Jacob and he has just left home hoping eventually to be "Goin' to the Chapel to get married."  

He is on his way now to find a bride and get married.  Blissful moments...high hopes...or are they?

As we come tomorrow to those initial steps "to the Chapel," we find Jacob in Genesis 28: 10-22 meeting someone else more impactful than a woman...God.  We will discover your father may be Isaac and your grandfather Abraham, but unless you know God personally none of that really matters.

 And we will quickly discover the most important decision someone will ever make in life is not a marriage partner, but their relationship with God.

Join us in worship tomorrow at Rainsville First Baptist Church at 10:15 as we sing, pray, fellowship, hear God's Word, and respond to our God with worship.

The Complexing Grace of God

As a church, we are in the life of Jacob right now fulfilling our desire to preach verse-by-verse through the entire book of Genesis.  I have entitled the series "The Making of a Prince" since Jacob became Israel - "The Prince of God."

What is absolutely shocking is Jacob seems to be the less desirable to actually get the name "Israel" of the lineage beginning with Abraham, his grandfather, and Isaac, his father.  He is a deceiver, cheat, and scoundrel, and permits his Mom to manipulate his Dad for his sake.  This is going to be the man God names His people after?

How? Why?

There is only one answer and it is simply one word...grace. I am being challenged by God's grace in the life of Jacob. I have had a working definition of grace for many years.  "It is God's enabling power to be and do what God calls you to do."

But Jacob is causing me to expand that definition.  God's grace is not clean and understandable.  It is complex and confusing.  God's actions from His generous heart are always right and proper.  They can never be anything else but right.  So, when God sets His favor (grace) on someone, what He does is right and proper.  Yet, at times, it surprises us - no, shocks us.

Then I remember myself.  I know more about myself than Jacob. And I know of the times I have been far worse than Jacob as the sinner I am.  And yet God's grace...He gives us His grace in spite of our failures and faults.

G. Campbell Morgan once said the most beautiful word in our language is grace. God's grace is free, unmerited, unconditional favor of God on us - who are all sinners.  

Robert McAfee Brown wrote: "That's what grace is - God hanging with us whether we deserve it or not, loving us no matter how unloveable we may be, and refusing to give up on us, no matter how discouraging it may become."

So the next time I am complexed about why God is using or blessing so-and-so, or "that" person - I need to be reminded I am worse than them all and if God uses me or blesses me is only due to one thing - His grace.

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (January 21, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

As a church, we have had a long relationship with Hope Project International in Nicauargua sending teams there for several years now resulting in our church financially helping with the mission and some of our people adopting children for them to be fed on a daily basis.

Tomorrow, one of the leaders, Farrell Burton, will be speaking in the 10:15 service.  He was with us in September speaking in a Wednesday night service, so we look forward to his return.

Find our more about The Hope Project International here. 

Why Do We Stand At the Reading of the Word of God

For several years I would ask people to stand when the Word of God was read.  I have stopped doing that because you should not be forced to be obedient to Scripture.  One's obedience should come from them as they see clearly what God desires and from a heart seeking only to please Him, they gladly obey whether anyone else does or not.

Now, at Rainsville First Baptist Church, when I (or anyone else is preaching) read the text from the Word of God, people will stand without being asked.  Why?

This came about because of preaching through the book of Ezra in the summer of 2022 on the theme of revival.  As we were studying Ezra, we read in Nehemiah 8:1 and following: "...and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, of men and women and all who could hear with understanding,...And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.  And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the grounds."

Out of reverence for God speaking, the people rose to their feet for what was in their hearts toward God and His Word. 

So let me encourage you to get to the place where you obey God no matter what anyone else does.  This is much wider than just standing during the reading of God's Word, but it is one place for sure. 

What a beautiful sight when God's people rise out of that reverence and obedience to honor His Word. And what further is beautiful when God's people then obey what they hear from the Word.

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (January 14, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

What is the most important decision you have ever made in your life?  Or what are the two or three most important decisions you have ever made?  

As we seek to answer, maybe I should give you some guidelines on how to determine the important decisions against lesser decisions.  

First, one should consider the length of that decision that will affect your life.

Second, how much will that decision radically impact your life?

Thirdly, how much will that decision impact the lives of others most closely connected to you?

Tomorrow, we return to preaching through the book of Genesis and the life of Jacob as we look at Genesis 28:1-9 around the theme of "The Father Blesses His Son for Marriage."

Teachers of the Word of God (preachers, Sunday School)

James 3:1 warns "Let not many of you become teachers..." That warning should cause every one who is a teacher or aspires to be one a second (third, fourth, etc) take.  Harsh words.

But I want to look at the positive in this truth.  Edgar Dale Cone of Learning said people remember:

10% of what they read

20% of what they hear

30% of what they see

50% of what they see and hear

(passive learning ends here and active learning begins)

70% of what they discuss

80% of what they do

90% of what they teach

WOW - what a blessing to be a teacher and leader.  You will ALWAYS get far more from what you teach than those who hear you.  

Blessings;

David

We welcome Isaiah Craig and Family to Rainsville First Family and Plans for Worship Tomorrow (January 7, 2024)

We "officially" welcome Isaiah Craig and his family to our church tomorrow as we gather for worship on the first Sunday of 2024.  Isaiah will be preaching in the 10:15 service.  Isaiah is our Associate and Mission Pastor.

He and his wife, ShaRhonda, were married in 2006 and have nine children:  Zoie (17), Zaria (15), Zimri (14), Zavin (12), ZaiLee (10), Zekaree (8), Zakobi (5), Zyrie (3), and Zylas (1).

He was licensed to Ministry by Loretto (TN) First Baptist Church on April 23, 2006, and ordained to Ministry by LaBelle Haven Baptist Church (Memphis) on January 25, 2009.

He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Secondary Education from Athens State University in 2007, and has studied at Luther Rice Seminary.

He comes to Rainsville from Worcester, MA where he served as the Church Planter/Lead Pastor at Pleasant Street Baptist Church.  This is where our church served with him in summer of 2023. He moved to Worcester in conjunction with the BCNE (Baptist Churches of New England) where he also served as a Multiplication Leader for Central and Western Massachusetts.

He has served prior as Pastor, Associate Pastor, and Youth Pastor in Tennessee and Georgia.  One of his main callings is as a Church Planter/Mission Catalyst since 2008 overseeing and equipping church planting movements in two nations.  He has planned and coordinated multiple trips to  India, Nepal, Peru, Uganda, El Salvador, and Honduras.

We are excited about God bringing the Criags to Rainsville to lead us in outreach and missions seeking to reach our community, county, and throughout the world.

More in '24

 

I am not one who gets "a word" for every year.  I do not seek for it and do not feel I am more spiritual if I get one or something is wrong if I don't.  But sometimes God surprises me with a sense of a word for the year.  2024 is one of those.

"More in '24" - catchy.  Right.  But it is tied to James 4: 6 where James says, "But He gives more grace."  Then ...."But God gives grace to the humble."

More grace?  Paul learned in response to his request three times to have a "thorn" removed that "My grace is sufficient for you..."  (II Corinthians 12: 9) We can all quote the verse because we all have felt, at one time or another, we were dealing with our unmoved thorn for which we have begged God to remove.  So we settle for "My grace is sufficient."

God's grace is enough....until through the Holy Spirit He says "He gives more grace." That is intriguing.  Are there times in our life we need "more grace?"  Apparently...   

But the key is He gives it to those who are humble.  Being humble has caused me many questions.  I have heard all my life God will humble you.  Yes, He will bring us down, but even while lying on the ground we could still be proud and arrogant.  Humility is as far away as from the heights from which we just fell.

In my older years, I have come to believe God does not humble us. We must humble ourselves.  James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

God can provide the platform (sickness, relational problems, financial ruin, public embarrassment, etc) on which would be a great place for us to recognize our fallen humanity and weak souls causing us to call on God in humility.  But many times on those platforms of opportunity we grow more determined in ourselves to push through and make it on our own.  No humility.  No recognizing of our need.  Our weakness.  Of our need for God.

So when there will be moments in my life when I will need "more" grace, then I need to always seek to walk humbly before my God so I can have my hands and heart open to receive his extra measure of grace.

Micah 6:8 "And what does the Lord require of you...and to walk humbly with your God."

Humlity = more grace.

Blessings;

David

Resources for Fasting in 2024

Yesterday we kicked off our "28 Days of Prayer and Fasting" around the theme of a devotion that I have written "Who Is My Neighbor? The devotional guides are available in the foyer of our church. 

"Fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose."

Your Level of Participation:

Enter into time of prayer and fasting at whatever level you can.  Prayerfully consider your limitations as you determine your level of participation. Some cannot participate in a food fast due to health reasons, pregnant, or other reasons.  However, even those limitations can find a way to participate in this time of fasting;  or a part of it.  

If your fast cannot be food-focused, then seek to fast from something else that is a regular part of your life:  social media, TV, internet, sports, hobby, etc. Whatever activity that you sense is exerting too much influence on your heart or time and we need to fast from it to regain a more biblical perspective. 

Abstaining from food is the most powerful, but fasting from other things can have powerful benefits.  
Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Primary Purpose of Fasting?

The fast is a spiritual discipline designed to better connect us with God.  As a church, we are fasting in order to deepen our relationship with God, to better hear His voice, and to walk with less distractions in obedience.  

Fasting is not some kind of hunger strike that is forcing the hand of God to move.   

You use the time you would normally eat to pursue God.  Fasting is a biblical practice and a spiritual process that God anoints powerfully.  Fasting is not a diet;  it's a spiritual discipline.  As you neglect yourself to pursue God, you are winning the war against the flesh.  The walls come down when you approach God with this kind of focus, intentionality, and passion.

There is no mandate in the Bible to fast except on the Day of Atonement.  But fasting is assumed just as is praying and giving (Matthew 6).  Biblical fasting takes a lot of discipline and strength.

Types of Fasts:

*  Absolute Fast (no food/drink)  Ezra 10: 6; Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9

*  Normal Fast (no food, drink only liquids such as water and juices).  This appears to be what the Lord did for 40 days.  This is the most common type of fast.

*  Partial Fast (certain foods are given up).  This is what Daniel did in Daniel 10:3.  One could give up a meal or a particular kind of food.  Daniel fasted for 21 days.

Online resources helpful for fasting:

Jentezen Franklin - great resources and a free e-book
Daniel Fast
Ronnie Floyd - Fasting and Prayer as Your Spiritual Worship - GREAT article - a MUST read

Donald Whitney article on Fasting