To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
How do we respond in difficult times? What if we are losing our freedoms, what if we are, "prisoners for the LORD?" The answer of God's Word is clear and simple, walk worthy of the calling we have received.
What does this mean? This means to live together pointing at our LORD with our life and lips, in unity and love. To live as though He exists, for He does. Take the time to review the interaction (Growth Group Notes) at the end of this email for application in your own life and the lives of those around you.
Take the time to invite one and encourage three, and look for opportunities that God gives you to share of the hope you have in Him.
Thank you for seeking to walk worthy with me these past few months and years. What a privilege it is to be called, and to then actively seek to live for His glory! Make it your goal to PLEASE HIM, and let everything else slide off!
The study of God's Word is such a challenge for my own heart and life, and I thank you for the privilege of preaching God's Word to you, and the impact of this service to God on my own life. Your longing to hear from God through His Word is a JOY to me, and a challenge to continue to feed you from Him. Please pray for me, that my words would be loyal to His, and that His Word would change our lives, unify us, conform us, and send us on mission!
Pray we as a church family will WALK WORTHY OF THIS CALLING! Then PURUSE it with PASSION, on your own, and with our family!
Our priorities for this coming year are, delighting together in God, depending on Him together, disciplined pursuit of holiness, and active intentional discipleship.
Delight and dependence remind us of our relationship with Him. We delight in Him as our greatest treasure, and we DEPEND on Him as those who APART FROM HIM CAN DO NOTHING. May we be those who not only acknowledge this reality, but LIVE IT. That we would make this house, a HOUSE OF PRAYER.
What does this mean practically? It means each of us takes prayer seriously, alone and always, as well as together in intentionality. Please make our PRAYER SERVICE a PRIORITY.
Please join us on October 3, for our first PRAYER SERVICE, where we will sing praises to God, and seek His face with our prayers. It is a time of THANKSGIVING, and focus as we remember He is our God, and as we seek His best together. If we all make this a priority, we will never be the same, and we will make a massive GOSPEL IMPACT. Mark you calendar, as God has marked your heart.
How do we respond to an election yesterday that is being described as disappointing to all involved? Well, it is a reminder that we are to be great citizens, so we should vote for who we think best supports those devoted to Jesus, but now that it is over, a REMINDER to pray for our government. Pray that they would know Jesus, that they would free us in our Gospel Impact goals, and that we as a country would value and protect life. We pray to a powerful God who is over all, so if you feel discouragement is getting you a little down, read Isaiah 40 and let it drive you to your feet in prayer and praise! I am thankful God is Sovereign and powerful when it feels like the world around me is going mad. Trust Him, and in confidence and joy pray for and pursue His best in your life and the world around you.
October 3 is also our Newcomers Luncheon. If you have joined the church over the last year, please sign up and join us for a wonderful lunch after the service. This is not only a time of refreshment, but also an opportunity for us to share with you our delight in serving God’s family, and for you to ask any questions you might have of us. We would love to have you join us, and together discover God’s will for where you can serve and be served by God’s people here. You can send an email to pastorray@cloverdalebaptist.
Sunday School for ALL AGES has started, at 9:00-10:00. Our adult class will be in the windows room (246 by the youth room), and focused on knowing and applying the SERMON ON THE MOUNT. We really believe that teaching God’s Word should be a priority for Jesus church at CBC, and that discipleship is almost always an overflow of our understanding and application of God’s Word. There is also Sunday School for all ages where we seek to impact lives with the Word of God. Join us for this! Your time is needed for your growing in the treasuring of God and His Word!
Church Membership Course:
Starting October 17 from 9-10am. Room: TBA
This 6 week course focuses on what it means to be a healthy Christian, and explores the doctrinal beliefs of CBC. Come find out more about our church, and why commitment to the local church through membership is so important. Please register at the Ministry Centre.
Sunday Is Coming:
Series: Church Is Essential:
Title: The Church Awakening: Gospel Life
Text: Ephesians 2-3
Why is Gospel life so important to a WORTHY WALK?
Review what Ephesians 4:1-6 defined as a worthy walk, and measure your life by it.
How can we be sure we are experiencing God's love?
Why is Ephesians 2:10 key to a proper Christ Esteem?
In your own words, write a thank you letter to God for what He has done for you, use Ephesians 2:1-10 as your kick off.
How can you share this Gospel message with those God has placed in your sphere of influence?
Thankful to be a TROPHY OF GRACE, called to serve you...
Pastor Rob
Extra
We want to include the Growth Group Notes from last Sunday's text so that you can work on applying God's Word in community. Whether you are in a Growth Group or not, we would suggest that you work through these with others, and seek to apply God's Word to your life.
Growth Group Notes: Message September 19, 2021:
Series: The Church Is Essential: Sermon #2
Sermon Title: The Gospel Walk Of The Local Church:
Text: Ephesians 4:1-7
Review:
It is essential that we get our belief about the church from God’s Word, and our value of the church from Jesus view.
What comes into your when you think about God is the most important thing about you, what comes into your mind when you think about church is a close second.
Talk about anything from Matthew 16 that is still on your hearts, and why it is important that Jesus will build His church, and nothing an no one can stop Him?
Read the text: Ephesians 4:1-7
What does it mean in your own words to walk worthy of the Calling to which you have been called?
What is the Gospel: In your own words?
For all who are willing, share your personal Gospel story, and include the essentials of the Gospel message…
The Gospel is the central motivator for the follower of Jesus for the experiential passionate following of Jesus: Discuss how the Gospel shapes your…
- Freedom From Condemnation: Romans 8:1
- Passion to live for Jesus: 2 Corinthians 5:14
- Love for one another: 1 John 4:19; Ephesians 5:1-2
- Forgive all who ask: Matthew 18:1-35; Ephesians 4:32
- Humility: Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 5:3
- Confidence: Ephesians 2:8-10
- Missional Living: Philippians 1:27; Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
- Holiness: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Titus 2:11-14
How can you make sure the Gospel forms the heart of your obedience?
If you struggle in any of the areas listed above, how can you experience the Gospel in a richer manner so that you live in obedience as an overflow of that experience?
In your own words talk about what it means to preach the Gospel to yourself every day.
Why is this so important to a healthy church?
How does the worthy walk in this text (verses 1-2) work itself out in the local church in the verses that follow?
Take the time to discuss each attribute that God wants you to have in your life...and what they practically look like.
- Humility
- Gentleness
- Patience
- Bearing with one another in love
- Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
How does Paul use the doctrine of the Trinity to call us to unity?
From this text, how can you change the way you are walking, to walk worthy of the Gospel in a healthy way, in the community Jesus has blessed you with?
Pray for one another, and our church family, that our experience of the Gospel would be so rich that we would let it impact how we live, especially in community with one another.
A good way to summarize this good news is to biblically unpack the words God, Man, Christ,
Response.
- God. God is the creator of all things (Gen. 1:1). He is perfectly holy, worthy of all worship, and will punish sin (1 John 1:5, Rev. 4:11, Rom. 2:5-8).
- Man. All people, though created good, have become sinful by nature (Gen. 1:26-28, Ps. 51:5, Rom. 3:23). From birth, all people are alienated from God, hostile to God, and subject to the wrath of God (Eph. 2:1-3).
- Christ. Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to bear God’s wrath in the place of all who would believe in him, and rose from the grave in order to give his people eternal life (John 1:1, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:26, Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:20-22).
- Response. God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ in order to be saved (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:9-10).
(Some of this material has been adapted from The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever, p. 43)
Pray that we would love the bride of Jesus, and display His character in our devotion to her.
Spend time together praying for the church, and her leaders, that we would stay on mission, unified around the mind of Christ and filled with love for Him and one another.