I would like to state that it has been a privilege and pleasure to worship with the folks at First Baptist Church of South Hill and to deliver the morning message. Though only being with you for two Sundays thus far, I feel that I have known many of you for a longer period of time. I case you are wondering, that is a compliment. The good part is that we will have the time to get to know one another better. I will have the privilege of delivering the message for three out of the five Sundays in July. The Sundays I will not be with you are July 3rd when I will be enjoying time away with my beautiful wife and granddaughter, and July 17th which is when the church you will be leading the morning worship service.
As I continue to be with you, you may see that my sermons primarily deal with; 1) Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, 2) Our relationship with each other, 3)and Taking care of ourselves.
Sunday, July 10th I will focus on Deuteronomy 11:18-31. The words from this piece of scripture are not just a passage of scripture that we read and forget. It is actually a commandment from God. It is so important that we drench ourselves in God’s word so that when challenged, we can stand firm in our beliefs and testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Sunday, July 24th, the scripture passage will be Luke 25-37. This is the very familiar story of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, Jesus it is answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” We too will be looking at that question. Who is my neighbor? Is it the folks next door, down the street, in another town or state, in another country?
And Sunday, July 31st we will look at Luke 10:38-42. There is no doubt that we are living in busy, and sometimes confusing times. When I was working full time, there were distraction caused by home life, work, and other life circumstances. There are even distractions from our church life that often distract us from Jesus who died so we may live. We need to be less worried and distracted by so many things.
I am looking forward to the month(s) we will have together and hope to know each of you better as our time together moves along.
Rev. John Carey