Pastor’s Note:
We come now to the close of another year.
Many things that I hoped would happen did not.
And, many things I had not thought of did happen.
In all this, I take comfort in the knowledge that God is
sovereign. In other words,
His purposes are being fulfilled on a moment by moment basis for His
glory and my good. How sad
that there are many who do not have this comforting assurance.
Though we may be tempted to doubt this from time to time, yet God
sits firmly enthroned in the heavens.
And, we know this because God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Jesus reveals the Father to us, and He brings meaning to our
lives.
This is a wonderful truth,
a truth we must share with others.
Please make an extra effort this month to invite people to
church, so that they may hear of the salvation that Jesus offers by
faith. Too often, we, like
most everyone else, get caught up in all kinds of activities during the
holidays. These activities
are not bad in and of themselves, but many of them can infringe upon our
much needed time with the Lord in prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, and
worshiping.
I pray that we keep our
eyes on Jesus, the risen Lord, the soon coming Lord, and not get caught
up in the holiday trappings. Use
your time well this month. Shopping
is not more important than worship, nor can it be a substitute for
assembling with other believers. We
make what is important to us known by the priority we give them.
Evaluate your priorities. Would
family members see our relationship with Christ as the most important of
our relationships? Does our
checkbook reflect the importance of advancing Christ’s work through
His Church? Or does it
reflect gratitude for His manifold blessings?
Does our character reflect the character of Christ, the One whose
image we are to bear? Is it
obvious that we love God, His people, and lost humanity?
Brothers and sisters, examine yourselves this month.
Repent of sinful failures, and get back on the spiritual growth
track. Let’s finish well
this year, individually and as a church.
As a matter of fact, let’s finish our lives well.
Meditate on this passage from 2 Timothy 4:7-8 I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the
faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and
not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Oh, that we would long for, and love His appearing!
I look forward to seeing each of you at all of our upcoming services and
events. Other than our
regular services (Disciple Hour, Worship, AWANA, BJF, Evening Bible
study, and Prayer meetings), remember our Church Decorating (3rd),
Annual Members Meeting and Holiday Dinner (6th), Ladies
Christmas Dinner and ornament exchange (11th), Tour of
Churches (15th), and Christmas Eve service (24th).
I may have left something out, so check your bulletin for more
information on weekly activities.
Please continue to pray for our church leadership, as we face many
challenges. Pray for all
who are involved in the many ministries of Bigelow, and pray for the
Lord of the harvest to send more laborers.
Finally, I want to thank you for all your prayer and financial support.
God is at work here on our corner, and I trust we will see more
of His work in the year to come. God
bless.
Pastor Frank
Special Request: A
couple years ago, we had a young man coming to church by the name of
Eric Ray. Eric sang in the
choir, and sang a lot like Rick Carrington.
Eric got into some trouble, and was sentenced to four years in
prison. Eric still has 18
months yet to serve, and desperately needs some encouragement.
Would you be so kind as to write to Eric, and do it from time to
time over the next 18 months? He
can always use envelopes to write back.
If you send envelopes they must be pre-stamped/embossed by the
Post Office. If you have doubts about what this means, then just ask the
Postmaster. And, you can
only send him three at a time. I thank you in advance.
Here’s his information:
Eric Ray
#478-557
P.O. Box 5500
Chillicothe,
Ohio 45601
