To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church
It is good to be a part of the family of God. Loved our New Comers luncheon, and meeting so many new people who are celebrating with us what God is doing in our church family. Love the baptisms, and the testimonies of people who have found joy in God! Love the interaction with so many of you on our new series, and the impact it is already making. It is good to be a part of the family of God. Please continue to use the books to grow and discuss with one another. Love a Sunday School teacher who shared that his class is now focused on briefly reviewing the messages and using the books. Think so valuable to seek to apply God's Word to our lives.
This morning Lori called me, and invited me to come home from work. I love what I do, and our staff prayer was only moments away, but when she used the word, fire, and when the sound in the background is alarms going off, you tend to respond quickly. What was a little funny was that she made sure, even after using the word fire that I would come home right away. Of course I was already on the way, but unfortunately the last time we had a fire (long story, that includes my boy who wants to be a fireman), I did not respond quite as quickly as I could have. Being calm most of the time is not always good. Short story, made long, I rushed home, found our dryer on fire, which was quickly solved with the help of police (not sure what they did) and fireman (they sprayed it, moved it outside, sprayed, pulled apart and sprayed again). Thankful we were all okay, and Lori caught it so quickly!
We did discover our dryer was full of lint (a few weeks ago Lori asked me to clean it out, and now I don't have to), and that lint and heating elements do not always produce good results. A reminder for me that in our lives we sometimes let little things build up, ignore them, maybe don't even know they are there, and they can cause tremendous damage. A reminder to deal with sin quickly, to choose obedience passionately, and to live our lives free and clean. If you struggle with sin, or a lack of forgiveness for someone, or bitterness that is building, deal with it now so that you don't have to rush home and fight a fire or worse
I hope our little fire experience can remind our church to keep our lives clean from lint, and cause us to look carefully, even in hidden places and 1 John 1;9 our lives consistently...had Lori not caught this and called for help, it could have been a lot worse!
Don't forget to begin to pray for our AGM coming up on May 29. Pray that we would know God's will and do it and the unity we are experiencing would deepen as together in the power of the Spirit we seek God's will!
Sunday Is Coming:
Judges 3
Title: Cry Out To God
The book of Judges is a book about God. We see who He is, and who He wants us to be.
This Sunday we are going to briefly look at the first three judges in this book, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, but really we must be reminded that the main character in this book is God.
He is jealous, wants our exclusive devotion, and is filled with mercy when we cry out to Him in our time of need...even when it is our fault.
Reflect on Judges 3...
When is the last time that you cried out to God?
How does knowing His response in Judges help you to be confident in your own life as you seek Him?
How can we break the cycle n our own lives and church and stay loyal to God?
Make sure as you prepare your heart for Sunday that you also remember the overall passion we have as a church as we study this amazing book, IN CLOVERDALE BAPTIST CHURCH WE HAVE A KING, THEREFORE WE WILL SEEK TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS EYES!
Privileged to call you family,
Pastor Rob