First Baptist Church of South Hill, Virginia will press on into the Summer season regardless of heat and vacations. We’ve blessed the Moms on Mother’s Day and the Dads on Father’s Day. We will feature and bless the High School Graduates, and also feature First Christian School later this month. Sunday School, Children’s Church, and Nursery are again part of our weekly ministries.
First Christian School is in break with some special weeks in the Summer. We are grateful for God’s blessing of FBC and FCS, and we anticipate wonderful things in the future. We also plan on conducting Vacation Bible School the last week of this month!
We have been encouraged by attendance at the Sunday Morning Worship Services, and by visitors most weeks. Our prayer is that Jesus Christ our Lord will be magnified in our Services, God’s people taught God’s Word and equipped for ministry in their various circles of influence, and that those who do not know Jesus personally will come to know Him as their Savior and Lord.
I just completed a seventeen-sermon series – “Joy from a Jail Cell” – on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians – from “Grace and Peace” to “The Grace of Giving” – and I have been personally blessed spiritually through the process of reading, praying, studying, teaching, and preaching through this book of the Bible.
The book of Philippians reminded us to rejoice in the Lord, regardless of our circumstances (ironically, Paul wrote this letter from a jail cell.) We were also encouraged that God will complete in His people what He began in them, and that we should strive to work together for the Lord in His Kingdom, looking at the humble example of Jesus, and in us knowing that we are citizens of Heaven.
God make it clear through the Apostle Paul in the letter that salvation is never accomplished though our own merit, effort, ritual, or rite, but only by His grace through the avenue of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We were warned to be careful of false teachers and false teaching in this regard. Paul conveyed to the Philippians how he prayed for them, which serves as my example for our church. It is powerful, and you can read this in Philippians 1:9-11. This is my desire for you and me.
We were taught by Paul’s desires and example to also want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, and participate in His sufferings by pressing on by His grace, regardless of our scarcity or supply in our current circumstances, since we can do all things He wills through His strength.
So, let’s think on things which please God and let’s live to honor Him. As He meets our every need according to His wise will, let us rejoice in Him and glorify Him in all we do.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve