Church Blog

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

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped Almighty God and focused on the beauty and majesty of His creation and the grace of His redemption toward us. Then from 2 Corinthians 10, we looked at the spiritual battles Paul faced as he sought to carry out the Great Commission to reach people with the good news of Jesus. From this we realized we, too, are in true spiritual battles. We saw that God has provided us with spiritual weapons to fight and win those battles. We don’t win those battles by deceit, manipulation, or other worldly weapons. We realized that the victory has already been won for us in Christ. We reminded ourselves that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. We win those battles one by one and deal with opposition by not seeking the destruction of our enemies but seeking to destroy false teaching and ideas. We saw we can deal boldly with opposition by using spiritual weapons and not weapons of the world. We understood that we can deal boldly with opposition by recognizing wrong understanding and thinking. We realized that we can also deal boldly with opposition by seeking God’s glory in the area of service He has assigned to us.We learned this timeless truth: Believers face intense spiritual opposition which will be overcome through the spiritual weapons God has provided.

If you have not given to the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions, you still have time. The envelopes for that offering are at the back table in the sanctuary. You can make your check out to East Madison and then we will forward all that is given to Annie Armstrong on to where it needs to go.

On Thursday, May 1, East Madison will host the spring meeting of the Greater Wisconsin Baptist Association from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. You are invited to come and join this meeting.

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 Easter Monday to all! Jesus is risen! Jesus is risen indeed! It was a wonderful weekend of worship as we worshiped together on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We considered that Jesus was a different kind of King. Jesus was the King who died for His subjects. Jesus gave His life so we could be forgiven and live eternally with Him. Then yesterday, as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and His conquering death forever, we looked at the apostle Thomas from John 20. Thomas was known as “doubting Thomas.” Thomas’ voicing his doubts to his fellow apostles gave us one more convincing proof that Jesus physically and bodily rose from the grave. We learned that it is not wrong to doubt. It is only wrong to not work through our doubts. We are not to stay in doubt. When we doubt, we need to be careful not to isolate ourselves from other believers. Other believers can help us work through our doubts and all the difficulties of life. We are not to be afraid to be honest about our doubts. We need to share them with those who can help us work through them. We also need to be a church where people can ask challenging questions when they doubt. We never want to be place where people are told to not ask challenging questions. Also, we should realize we can trust the witnesses of God’s Word. It is reliable and true. Jesus calls us to battle through our doubts to sure confidence in Him as the resurrected Lord.

If you have not given to the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions, you still have a few weeks. You can make your check out to East Madison and put it in the Annie Armstrong envelops and drop it in the offering plate. We will forward all that is given to Annie Armstrong on to where it needs to go.

On Thursday, May 1, East Madison will host the spring meeting of the Greater Wisconsin Baptist Association from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. You are invited to come and join this meeting. There are a couple of special reasons you might like to attend this meeting. Dr. Leo Endel, the Executive Director for the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention will be with us. Leo is retiring at the end of June after serving the MWBC for more than 23 years. Many of you know Leo and might want to see him at this meeting. Also, a representative of Alliance Defending Freedom will talk to us about making sure a church’s by-laws and constitution protect churches from liability. The schedule is as follows:

  9:00 AM   Refreshments and Networking
10:00 AM   GWBA Spring Meeting
12:00 PM   Lunch
  1:00 PM   Dismiss

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 remember at this season the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Let us consider all Jesus said and did on that week. Jesus proclaimed Himself as the servant King and Messiah as He entered Jerusalem in the triumphal entry. Jesus then taught for a couple of days in the temple amidst the growing hostility of the religious leaders. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His apostles and gave it new meaning. Jesus told the disciples that His body would be broken and His blood shed for them and that believers of every age are to take bread and wine regularly to remember this sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus, in anguish as He faced the cross, would on that night pray that the cross be removed from Him if that were possible. Then convinced it was not possible, Jesus willingly surrendered to the cross knowing it was the Father’s will for Him and the way of forgiveness for us. Jesus went to the cross and suffered in our place and died for us. Jesus was buried in a borrowed grave that could not hold Him because Jesus rose from that grave never to die again. Jesus today and forever is our living Savior! We worship Him as the only hope of the world and the only way of salvation.

Our Good Friday service will be held this Friday, April 18, at 7:00 PM. We will partake of the Lord’s Supper during Good Friday service.

On Easter, Resurrection Sunday, we will have an Easter Breakfast at 9:30 AM. Our Resurrection Sunday celebration and worship will be at 10:45 AM.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Who might you invite to worship and hear about Jesus on Good Friday, Easter, or both?

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 praised our great God and gloried in our Redeemer. Then from Luke 18, we saw Jesus marching toward the most challenging task of His earthly life. Jesus marched toward the cross where He would take the punishment for our sins upon Himself. We learned from Jesus’ example to not put off dealing with the demanding situations we have in life. As we deal with those demanding situations, we are to seek the leading of God’s Spirit. As we do this, we are to walk toward and not away from those difficulties knowing that God will see us through them. We do not have to be a victim of the difficult things we face in life. Through Jesus we will be a victor! We also learned that as we walk toward the difficulties in life, we do not want to miss opportunities that God places in our paths. As Jesus was walking to Jerusalem and the cross through Jericho, God brought a blind man that Jesus could heal. When Jesus did heal this blind man, this man began to follow Him. When we take advantage of unexpected opportunities even amid our difficulties, God will work in mighty ways. God will use us in those opportunities that come as we walk toward difficulties. God may even give us a loyal friend to help us along the way.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held next Sunday, April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

Our Good Friday service will be on Friday, April 18, at 7:00 PM. We will partake of the Lord’s Supper during Good Friday service. On Easter, Resurrection Sunday, we will have an Easter Breakfast at 9:30 AM. Our Resurrection Sunday celebration and worship will be at 10:45 AM. Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

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 Sunday to all! When we worshipped together, we considered from 2 Corinthians 8 the blessings of being generous. We learned generosity in giving inspires others to be generous. We also saw that generosity in giving results in increased generosity. We learned that generosity in giving inspires praise towards God and spurs growth in others. Generosity is not costly. It truly rewards us with many blessings. True generosity enables us to live happier and more contented lives.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

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 as we worshiped, we sang about our worth and our unworthiness. Our worth is in the value Jesus placed on us by dying in our place on the cross while we were yet sinners. If we, like the hymnwriter, ask ourselves,

“Why should I gain from His reward,

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart,

His wounds have paid my ransom.”      

Then, from 2 Corinthians 8, we thought about how the children of such a generous God should overflow with generosity. God looked at us and did not give us what we deserved but gave us what we needed. God sent His Son to be our Savior and the Savior of the world. Our God is the greatest examples of generosity in history. When we know this God and walk with Him, we will reflect His continual generosity toward others. Generosity is God’s gracious gift to those who trust and walk with Jesus. God’s generosity towards us pushes us to true generosity towards others. God’s generosity enables us to give with wisdom.Christians willingly give to others as we realize God great generosity toward us.

Good Friday and Easter are a season where unbelievers are more open to invitations to worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus during on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

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 Jesus, the Rock of Ages that we can hide in and be completely safe. We thank God that in Christ we have forgiveness and life. Then we looked at 2 Corinthians 7 where Paul is facing a tremendously difficult period in his life. Paul had been arrested, beaten, and jailed while doing ministry in Phillipi. Paul then went to Thessalonica where he had a short but successful ministry but was driven out of town by a violent mob. He then went to Berea where he found a receptive audience to the gospel in the Jewish synagogue. When the hostile crowd from Thessalonica found out he was in Berea, they came and stirred up a crowd against Paul and again drove him out of town. While all this was happening, he was dealing with the troubles in the Corinthian church that were robbing him of his emotional strength. It was during all this that God worked to give Paul relief and comfort from the multiple physical and emotional difficulties he was facing and which he writes about in 2 Corinthians 7. Like Paul, there are times in all our lives that life crashes down on us and we might be on the verge of despair. At those times, we have force ourselves to remember, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”  God will enable us to have the strength to follow Him step by step. Do not look too far ahead but follow Jesus day by day and step by step. Be faithful one step at a time and remember this: After the darkest nights, God brings joy to those who faithfully serve Him.

Good Friday and Easter are a time unbelievers are more open to invitations to Christian worship. Pray about who you might invite to worship and hear about Jesus on Good Friday and Easter.

The annual business meeting of the East Madison Baptist Church will be held on April 13, 2025, following our morning worship.

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 took the Lord’s Supper together to remember Jesus and remind us that we need each other. We prayed for one another. We sang praises to the eternal God of the universe. We read His perfect Word, and we asked Him to draw each of us closer to Him and one another. From 2 Corinthians 6, we saw that each of us need to continually guard ourselves and make sure no rivals false gods, idols, arise in our hearts that would compete for the affection and faithfulness owed to God alone. We specifically looked at the dangers that any kind of binding partnerships with unbelievers might bring to our relationship with God. We were encouraged to not have those binding relationships where our faithfulness to God would be discouraged. We saw the blessings that we receive as we seek continually to belong exclusively to Jesus. Believers guard themselves against any partnership that might turn us from being completely faithful to Jesus.

We will have a potluck luncheon after our worship gathering next Sunday, March 16, 2025. Please bring enough food for your family and a little extra for our guests.

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 we worshipped Almighty God as His thankful children. Then from 2 Corinthians 6, we thought about how to determine who could be trusted to faithfully deliver the good news of Jesus to others. We saw how we could evaluate true messengers of God from uncaring messengers and false teachers in our day. We learned God’s faithful messengers value God’s message over their personal comfort. We learned God’s faithful messengers guard their personal integrity so as not to discredit the message. We also saw that God’s faithful messengers use spiritual weapons and not human weapons or deceitful techniques. We saw that God’s faithful messengers value the praise of God more than the acceptance of men. We discerned God’s faithful messengers care about those to whom they deliver God’s message. True messengers are not just accomplishing goals and tasks but genuinely loving people and seeking for them to know Jesus and live for Him. Faithful messengers of God testify to the truth of the good news of Jesus. Faithful servants of God live lives that validate the message of Jesus before others.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, March 9, 2025, in our morning worship.

Remember to “spring forward” on your clocks next Saturday evening as daylight saving time begins.

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