Church Blog

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped our glorious Christ Jesus and proclaimed the truth that only through the name of Jesus can forgiveness, salvation, and real life be found. Then, we learned about how believers should deal with conflict. In Genesis 12, there was conflict between Abram and his nephew Lot over grazing land. Abram acted in faith to resolve this family conflict and gave Lot the first choice of the direction to move his herds. Abram could have demanded the first choice because it was his right as the family patriarch. Instead, Abram acted generously toward Lot. Abram acted in faith that God would provide for Him. However, Lot looked with his eyes and did not consult God in what choice should have been made. He trusted completely in in own senses and judgment. Abram was unselfish and generous and trusted in God. Abram saw life as a journey of faith and following God. Lot saw life only through the practical, human, physical seeing of circumstances around himself. The choice Lot made brought about terrible consequences for Lot and his family. We live in a day where people are told they can determine everything about their lives. We are told to trust our feelings and our reasoning ability. We are told that no one outside of us and no outside authority can direct us in those choices. The advice is often given to follow our hearts, to trust our emotions and let them guide us. That is terrible advice! The Word of God tells us something far different. It tells us that, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?” The Word of God tells us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. It tells us if we want to save our lives we will lose them, but if we will lose our lives to Jesus and the gospel, we will save our lives. Life is not found by looking internally and trusting ourselves but looking outside of ourselves to God’s perfect Word which reveals Jesus to us. Jesus is the One who took up His cross and lost His life for our sake so that we could be forgiven and given the eternal life of God. We are to trust Him and seek His guidance in our lives. Believers seek to trust God to lead them in life rather than trusting only what they observe. Trusting ourselves without seeking God leads to death. Trusting God and looking to His Word and His Holy Spirit in a walk of faith in Jesus leads to life. Which will you choose today?

Dr. Trey Turner, Executive Director of the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention will be with us next Sunday, July 27, to preach God’s Word. Be with us to meet Trey and hear what God will say to us as Trey preaches.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! We worshipped yesterday together by remembering our wonderful, merciful Savior and learned together about seeking God’s direction in every circumstance from Genesis 12. There is something special about being with the people of God and adoring Him together. Living for Jesus is meant to be done in community, not in isolation. It is not “me and Jesus,’ but “we and Jesus.” I am glad we can offer online worship for those confined to their homes, for those who cannot attend physically on any given Sunday, and for those who are curious about what following Jesus is all about and need a safe option to “check us out” and explore knowing and following Jesus. However, if you are a believer and physically able, it should be a regular practice to gather physically with the family of God.  If you do not, you are depriving God’s family of your needed presence, depriving your family of relationships with God’s family, and depriving yourself of the intimate connections you need with God’s children to faithfully follow Christ. Do not miss the blessing of gathering with God’s family regularly!

We will have a virtual church council meeting on Thursday evening, July 17, at 6:30 PM.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! We worshipped yesterday by remembering our great Redeemer and His grace. Then from Genesis 12, we considered the call of Abram to leave all that was familiar to him-family, friends, and nation-to follow the call of God to go to an unnamed place, people, and nation where God promised to bless Abram. Abram had to decide if he trusted God who had called him to the unknown. Abram did trust God and so Abram went. All the families of the world were blessed through Abram’s obedience. What do you believe about God? Do you believe He loves you more than you love yourself and wants the absolute best for you? That is the great question of the ages. If you believe God loves you and the best thing you could do in life is to follow Him wherever He leads you, you will follow. You will not fear trusting God to lead you in life. Christ bids us to surrender to Him without us knowing where He might lead us. The question is one of trust. Will we trust in Jesus no matter where He leads? We can trust the One who gave up His life for our forgiveness so we would know Him and be with Him forever. Romans 8:32 reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  We do not have to know where we are going and when we will get there because we know the One who loves us, is calling us, and leading us. We know God who holds the future.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped God outdoors in His beautiful creation. From Mark 10, we learned that no sacrifice is too great to make in following Jesus. We looked at one known to us as the rich young ruler. We learned that this ruler eagerly desired to know the truth. We learned he humbly went to Jesus, the One who is Truth itself, the place where truth can be found. We learned this rich young ruler asked the right question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He asked the question that helps us know what life is about now and what life in eternity is all about. We saw that as Jesus looked at this rich young ruler that Jesus loved him. Jesus told this rich young ruler he lacked one thing. One thing stood between him and eternal life. The riches the young ruler held on to kept him from receiving the eternal life Jesus wanted to give to him. You cannot receive eternal life if you are holding on to and trusting something else. Are we holding on to the pennies, the worthless things, of this world, when Christ would give us eternal life, the riches of heaven, and a relationship with the living God? Abandon anything that keeps you from knowing, loving, following, and serving Jesus. Knowing, loving, and walking with Jesus is worth it. No sacrifice is too great to make in order to follow Christ.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we turned our eyes to the only One worthy of worship and praised Him for who He is and all He has done. Then from Acts 11, we thought about the march of God in history and remembered that history is “His story.” We saw this as God moved to bring people from every tribe, language, nation, and people into His Kingdom to worship Him and bring Him glory forever. We understand that God will provide gifted people to help His children join Him as he marches. We also know that God’s people will care for each other and those around them. God is bringing about His purposes in the world. This world will one day become like the Garden of Eden, completely restored. Evil will be completely destroyed. As God marches on, we need to make sure we do not seek to hinder His work. We need to make sure we are willing to serve Him unnamed and unknown. God will completely bring about His redemptive plan for this fallen world. I pray we all join Him in this work.

On Sunday June 29, weather permitting, we will hold an outdoor worship service followed by a picnic on the property. We will have a special time for our worship gathering at 9:30 AM. There will be no Bible Study on that morning.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, we worshipped God who never changes and who is our Rock and our Redeemer. Then as we continued to worship by looking at 2 Corinthians 13, we saw the difference between true godly strength and weakness. In 2 Corinthians, the Corinthians looked at Paul’s method of relying on the power of God rather than human methods as a weakness. The Corinthians assumed that if you had power you used it. Often, true strength means you refuse to use power even when it is within your capacity to use it. Paul was not trying to be the dictator of the Corinthian church. Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit was working with them in gentle and persuasive ways to help them believe in and follow Jesus. The Corinthians were used to seeing in Corinth self-promoting people, who through flashy, manipulative, and strong-arm methods sought to dominate people. Jesus is not like that, and neither were Paul or the other apostles. They refused to promote themselves or the gospel with those kinds of methods. However, just because they were gentle did not mean that God’s power was not present and working through them. There are things that seem weak but actually have great power. Jesus’ crucifixion seemed like weakness, “but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” (1 Corinthians 1:18).Believers need to understand what God’s strength truly means. God’s strength happens as we continually examine ourselves so God’s strength might continually flow through us. God’s true strength becomes reality among us as we, His people, seek unity in Christ. From 2 Corinthians 13, we see this eternal truth: God’s weakness far surpasses the greatest human strength.

Remember to bring your baby bottles back on Father’s Day, June 15, for the CareNet Pregnancy Center of Dane County. CareNet has a wonderful ministry of saving lives and helping women and families.

On Sunday June 29, weather permitting, we will hold an outdoor worship service followed by a picnic on the property. There will be no Bible Study on that morning.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Tuesday to all! I hope Memorial Day was meaningful as we thought about those who gave their lives in defense of our country. Sunday, we learned in our worship that our worth comes from God’s love for us that was revealed most graphically “at the cross.” Then from 2 Corinthians 12, we learned to differentiate between true servants of God and false teachers and self-centered leaders. We learned what healthy churches should look like because nobody wants to be in a troubled church. Healthy churches are where true communities of Christ based on love for Jesus, each other, and the lost world, happens continually. We need to guard ourselves from being self-centered persons. We need to be a person who seeks to continually center our lives in Christ. We need to seek to have a discerning spirits so we can see whenever false teaching and division might be happening. We need to learn to differentiate between true servants of God, who genuinely love and care for others, from false teachers who live self-centered lives full of selfish ambitions. We need to seek and facilitate true Christian fellowship based on a life of continual repentance and avoid divisive disunity.True servants of God seek the glory of God and true unity of the people of God.

We will be having a potluck luncheon after our worship gathering next Sunday, June 1. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any guest we might have join us.

During the weeks between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, we will be passing out baby bottles for us to collect offerings for the CareNet Pregnancy Center of Dane County and the wonderful work they do in saving lives and helping women and families. Take a bottle and fill it with an offering to be brought back on Fathers’ Day.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! The subject of yesterday’s sermon was hard for many of us. We looked at 2 Corinthians 12 and thought about the struggles of life that do not seem to go away. We pray about these things and, instead of finding relief, we become frustrated because the prayer seems unanswered. There are times when we beg God to do something that we think is necessary for our survival and flourishing and it seems like God is doing nothing. Paul wrote about one of those times in his life in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul was suffering from something unnamed, a “thorn in the flesh.” Paul prayed his heart out for it to be removed, but God told Paul the thorn would not be removed. We, too, pray our hearts out for some pain or struggle to be removed. But after a time, it becomes clear that God is not going to change that circumstance. Why? It is not because God does not love us and wants us to suffer. It is because God has something greater that will come about from us living with that thorn. There is something good that will ultimately happen for us, for His people, and for those we love that would not come about if he delivered us from that thorn. We might not understand at the time what God is doing. We might not even understand it in our lifetimes. But we do understand that if God does not give us specifically what we ask, He will give us something far better in the long run. One of the greatest things God can give us right now is not some answer to prayer for a miracle or relief from our suffering. One of God’s greatest gifts is knowing God’s very presence and power in our lives that comes to us in our struggles and weaknesses. So, in faith we offer praise to God. We, with Matt Redmond, proclaim:

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

During the weeks between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, we will be passing out baby bottles for us to collect offerings for the CareNet Pregnancy Center of Dane County and the wonderful work they do in saving lives and helping women and families. Take a bottle and fill it with an offering to be brought back on Fathers’ Day.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped, our hearts were “filled with a thousand songs proclaiming the glories of Calvary.” As we looked at Paul writing of all his experiences and struggles as he served Christ from 2 Corinthians 11, we saw him boasting about what God was doing in all his struggles. We saw the difference between wrong boasting and right boasting. We asked ourselves, “What are we boasting about today?” Are we like a self-deluded eleven-year-old who thinks he is one of the great three? Are we impressed by the famous people of the world who have done nothing? Do we boast in abusive and self-promoting leaders who promote themselves and seek others to follow them instead of seeking for people to follow Jesus? Do we boast about our ancestry, pedigrees, and lineages? Or do we boast correctly in the grace and power of God as He reveals Himself though our struggles and weaknesses? We might impress people through our wrong boasting, but we bring no glory to God and do not impress Him. What should we truly boast about as we live? We are to boast in the grace and power of Almighty God as He reveals Himself through weak people like us.

During the weeks between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, we will be passing out baby bottles for us to collect offerings for the CareNet Pregnancy Center of Dane County and the wonderful work they do in saving lives and helping women and families. Take a bottle and fill it with an offering to be brought back on Fathers’ Day.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday it was wonderful to join with all creation in praising the Lord. Then from God’s Word in 2 Corinthians 11, we saw the need for discernment in differentiating between the Lord Jesus who saves from many false Jesus’s. In our day, many name the name of Jesus but proclaim a different Jesus than the crucified and risen Jesus of Scripture. They teach and preach a self-help Jesus. They teach a Jesus who burdens with ceremonies, rules, and regulations. They teach a Jesus who is only a moral example. They teach a Jesus who does not call us to turn from sin and embrace Him. They teach Jesus who is not the only way but simply one way among many. Those who teach and preach a different Jesus sometime even think they are true servants of the living God when in fact they are serving Satan himself. The Jesus these false teachers proclaim is not the true and living Savior. Know the difference between the living Savior and worthless imposters. Do not be impressed with the style of someone’s teaching or preaching over the content and substance of their teaching. Do not be fooled by those who proclaim a Jesus who wants to make us successful and prosperous now without pointing to the future. Do not forget that Jesus and the apostles chose hard lives of taking up their crosses over the fame and comfort of the world. Be a person who continually grows to recognize true servants of Christ and reject false teachers and their teaching. Continually grow in understanding of Jesus as revealed in Scripture and reject all false imposters of Him.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church