FAREWELL, BUT NOT WITHOUT EFFECT OF EDIFICATION

FAREWELL, BUT NOT WITHOUT EFFECT OF EDIFICATION

Friday, January 08, 2016

To Paul and to everyone who is united with Christ Jesus. Good will and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is yours! I thank my God for all the memories we have of you.  [Phil.1:1-3] 

  Pastor Paul has resigned after almost 20 years serving Lord Jesus Christ at Benson Baptist.

  As he pointed out in his farewell sermon last Sunday, the people and church building at Philippi is long since gone but their ministry still affects us and many others unto this day and will continue to do so hereafter.  And so it will be with BBC whether as a local body it lives or dies.

  Paul will be missed as Pastor. 

  Below I share memory of past sermon that was heard by some, denied by others . . . but then individual personal reaction is part and parcel of effective ministry, isn’t it?!

EBB4

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A CHRISTIAN HOME

Monday, September 17, 2012

Matthew 19:3-6; John 14:1-3; Ephesians 5:31-32; Revelation 7:6-8

  The first song we sang yesterday morning was A Christian Home, a very old hymn written like a prayer.

(http://www.hymnlyrics.org/newlyrics_a/a_christian_home.php) A hymn I don’t remember singing for decades.

  Pastor had us ask a nearby person “What makes for a successful marriage?” (How would you answer?)

  He then asked us “Is marriage between a man and woman outdated?” and went on to explain some of what Scripture says.

  My mind wandered back to an old saying on what is now common practice contributing to societal problems, “Why buy a cow when milk is free?!”. . . and case histories that developed from this attitude.

  By the time I mentally returned Pastor Paul was talking about the violent rending effects of divorce on families, and the resultant woundings.

  He went on to impress how novels, movies, and TV romances typically end with “… and they lived happily ever after.” But don’t show Snow White and her charming Prince after 50 years of marriage.

  Again, how did you answer what makes for a successful marriage?

  I answered “Commitment, all else follows.” (Jn.3:16)

  Pastor closed with “Drawn by feelings, committed by facts.”  EBB4