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11/3/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, did you know that when Bible translators go to a people who have never had the Scriptures in their own language, they usually begin by translating the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the most translated book in the entire world. One reason is that it is the shortest Gospel, but the other reason is that this Gospel was written for people unfamiliar with first century Judaism. Mark wrote it for the Romans.
The key verse for the Gospel of Mark is Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Hence, Jesus is portrayed as a servant or THE SERVANT here in Mark’s Gospel. This verse also happens to be one of our key verses for 2024. As we make our way through the Gospel of Mark may we not only become more familiar with Jesus but also fall more in love with Jesus. May Jesus be the passion of our lives! Blessings- Pastor Joe
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10/27/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, toward the end of his letter to the Colossians, Paul exhorts Archippus saying to him, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” Paul could have easily been speaking to each of us. Each one of us has a ministry to fulfill and the plea today is that we would fulfill it.
Now, what that ministry is and how it takes place is unique to each one of us. But what is not unique is the fact that we are called to finish the job, to complete the task while working as unto the Lord. May each of us indeed fulfill the ministry that we have received in the Lord. May we finish well and may all the glory go to God! Blessings, Pastor Joe 10/20/2024 0 Comments Pastor's PenBeloved, Paul is nearing the end of his letter to the Colossians, and he begins to give his final greetings. In today’s study we notice that Paul mentions the carriers of the letter and then those of the circumcision, His fellow Jews who had become Christians and were fellow workers for Christ.
One of the main facets that this portion of Scripture points to is the fact that Paul was not alone. Yes, he was in prison, and it was certainly challenging but thankfully, the Lord had provided Paul with friends and fellow workers. I know at times it may seem that we are all alone and that nobody cares. The truth is that there are those who care, especially our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. May we cherish our friends and especially the one that sticks closer than a brother! Blessings- Pastor Joe 9/22/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, marriage and the family is under attack. It is under attack from outside sources, and it is under attack from inside sources. Even within our fellowship today, marriages are struggling. They are struggling for many reasons including unconfessed sin and unrepentant hearts. But more than that, marriages are struggling because couples do not attend to the biblical model of doing what the Bibles says to do.
We, as a fellowship, have gone through a resource by a ministry called FDM (Family Discipleship Ministry). Their website and resources are located at FDM.world. We have used their resources for new believers and marriages. If your marriage is struggling, I would encourage you to use one of their resources to help you and your marriage. Please understand, FDM is simply a tool. Ultimately, a life surrendered to the Lord and His Word is the answer to our all relational struggles. In Him- Pastor Joe 8/25/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, we just returned back from our annual Youth retreat. Once again, we ventured to the HEB Camp and had a great time of relaxation, restoration and rejuvenation in the Lord. Our theme for this year’s retreat was Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”
This morning we will look over the study that I presented to the Youth and Counselors at the retreat. We will study how not to trust in the Lord and how to trust in the Lord. Beloved, God wants us to trust Him. Unfortunately we often go through life trusting everything and everyone else except the Lord. Hopefully as we look at a couple of characters from Scripture we will learn that we can trust God at His Word. As Peter said in John 6:66–69, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Indeed, Jesus has the words of eternal life! Blessings- Pastor Joe 8/18/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, many of us are at the HEB Foundation Youth Camp and we will be returning this afternoon. Please pray for a safe return for us all. Pastor Joel will be teaching in my place with a study from John 10 entitled, “Lead On Good Shepherd."
As the summer winds down please note that we will returning to Wednesday Evening Services on September 11. Please also consider signing up for our Men’s Retreat in September and our upcoming Men’s Study as well. We look forward to seeing you soon. I pray that you have enjoyed the Summer Home Fellowships and that you will soon be completing your studies! Blessings- Pastor Joe 8/11/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, years ago a food processing plant decided to manufacture a cake mix that all you had to do was add water to the mix, bake it and you have a cake. Unfortunately, it never sold. Homemakers did not believe that it was real. It can’t be that easy, can it?
So, the food processing giant was stuck with thousands of unsold instant cake mixes. Fortunately, one of their product managers said, “Why don’t we make a cake mix where the consumer has to add something to it to make it work, like an egg or something? And that they did. They made a cake mix that required you to add an egg to make it work. They marketed the product, and the cake mixes were flying off the shelves. Why? Because people wanted to add some work to the mix. That is what happens when we try to add to the Work of Christ. We call it legalism. The Gnostics were good at this. Religion is good at this. Don’t fall for it. It doesn’t help. Blessings- Pastor Joe 8/4/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, the believers in the church at Colosse were facing a great danger. False teachers had been telling them that Jesus was not enough. False teachers came into the church and said, “We know you’re Christians, but that’s not enough. There are things that you need to add to your Christianity. Things that will make you more spiritual than just knowing and loving and serving Jesus Christ.” The same kind of dangers face us as Christians today: saying that Christ is not sufficient or that Christ is not enough.
The false teachers in Paul’s day, as the false teachers of our own day, were teaching Christ plus legalism, Christ plus mysticism and Christ plus asceticism. But Paul has made it clear that we, as Christians, are complete in Christ. The moment you were born again, you were placed in Christ, and Christ is the fullness of God. You draw from that fullness, and you have that fullness. It is because Jesus went to the Cross and rose again that we possess eternal life. Yes, the results of the Cross are life, change and growth. Is Jesus enough? Absolutely! Blessings- Pastor Joe 7/28/2024 0 Comments Pastor's PenBeloved, at this point in the book of Colossians, Paul is concerned that the believers are not led astray from Christ. The danger in Colossi was real; false teachers had come into the church and were trying to substitute Paul’s teaching with human reasoning, Greek philosophy, Jewish legalism and eastern mysticism. That teaching was pulling the believers away from Christ so that they were looking to other things to meet their spiritual needs. So in Colossians, Paul sets forth the sufficiency and adequacy of Christ in the life of the believer.
Colossians 2:10 says, “And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Another word for filled in him is complete. You are complete in Christ! Hence, when you become a Christian, you have everything you need. Now you grow and you don’t grow by addition. You grow by appropriation by knowing Him, loving Him and walking in Him. You don’t need human philosophy, psychology, Greek mysticism, Jewish legalism or what the cults have to offer. You have Christ. But all you need to do is discover who Christ is, what Christ has done, what He has made available to you and what you have “in Christ.” Then start to appropriate what is yours “in Christ.” Beloved, you are complete in Christ! Blessings- Pastor Joe 7/21/2024 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, For Paul, real riches were found in the believer’s full assurance of God’s character and their personal salvation. Many lack full assurance about the character of God and are unconvinced that He is really good and loving. Others lack full assurance of their salvation and wonder if their Christian life is for real. Great freedom and confidence comes when we come to this full assurance.
Years ago before I became a True Believer I went to confession and asked the Priest if I was going to heaven. His reply left me searching. He said, “I don’t know, nobody knows.” Wow! That certainly was a lack of assurance. But Scripture says in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” Beloved, we can have the full assurance of our salvation and of God’s goodness. I pray that you and I will rest in this full assurance! Blessings- Pastor Joe |
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