I thought I would give everyone (those who attend First Baptist) a quick reminder of the schedule tomorrow. It will be a busy day but many opportunities to worship our Savior and commune together. Here is the schedule:
1. For our 9:30 ABF hour, all the adults will be in the sanctuary to meet a visiting missionary. They are still raising their support and are on their way to Cuba. Some of you will remember Brandi Cole, she was a graduate of Howland Christian School and as a young girl she attended and was very involved here at First Baptist of Howland. Please be here tomorrow to encourage this couple and to see how God's grace has been at work in Brandi's life.
2. Tomorrow is a very special day to us because we will be having communion together. It is the pattern of many churches to have communion once a month (often on the first Sunday of the month). We have not taken that approach to communion for the simple fact that we do not want communion to just become a ritual to us. In years past, we have taken communion only 4 times a year...while our purpose in this was to keep communion as something very significant and special to the believer...we felt that this was not enough. This year we have scheduled to have communion together about every 6-8 weeks. The Lord's Supper is given to us as a "living memorial" to remind us of Christ's substitutionary death and the gospel message. At the Lord's table, we confess our faith in Christ as our Savior together. It is a family table, where all of the followers of Christ are welcomed to sit at His feet and remember Him!! Because our purpose during this time is to honor the Lord and to celebrate the cross, and because we know that praise and worship is spiritual warfare (2 Chronicles 20:22), we are asking for all to be in prayer for this special day. Please pray that God would be exalted and that Jesus Christ would become very dear to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for all of us to have tender and receptive hearts as we "remember His death until He comes". Pray that we would truly celebrate our freedom from sin's condemning power, from the wrath of God, and the removal of our guilt and shame through what Jesus did for us on the cross. Before we take of the elements we are told to "examine ourselves" in preparation. So, today, I am reminding you to examine yourself even before you walk through the doors tomorrow. Prepare physically, spiritually and mentally to worship Christ!
3. After our worship service, we will be having the Famous Baptist "Pot Luck" Dinner...but since we do not believe in "luck", we will be having a "fellowship dinner" together. Just as saints of old used to "feast" together, we too will be using this Sunday as an opportunity to have an extended time of food and fellowship. Please come prepared to stay after the service for the dinner and enjoy and encourage one another...God has given us one another as a gift from Him and for the purpose of encouragement, growth, and sanctification.
Also, if you signed up to bring something...please do not forget! If you did not sign-up, feel free to bring something anyway. If you are not able to bring anything, come join us as well. We love to use these times to get to know one another better!
4. Lastly, since there is no evening service tomorrow...some of us are going to the Robin Mark concert in Elyria. If you have not heard about this but would like to go, let me know either today through email or tomorrow at church.
Looking forward to seeing many of you tomorrow morning!
In Christ,
Pastor Jerry
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