Church Blog

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, the worship team taught us a great new song called “My Worth is Not in What I Own,’ by Keith and Kristen Getty and Graham A. Kendrick. Here is a link to Fernando Ortega’s rendition that Pete mentioned yesterday: https://youtu.be/05jKxv8ApuI. Then from 2 Corinthians 5, we looked at the beautiful reconciliation that God initiated and gives it to us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 teaches us this wonderful truth that, “For our sake (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Those who will believe are reconciled to God through Jesus’ substitutionary death and His victorious resurrection! Now those who believe are compelled by the love of Christ to take the message of God’s reconciliation to our world.Our call from God is to proclaim to an alienated world that God has reconciled the world to Himself through Christ Jesus. We saw a picture of that kind of reconciliation when Mary Johnson invited Oshea Israel, the man who killed her son, to be her neighbor. Our sin killed the Son of God on the cross. And now God the Father, because of the sacrifice of the Son, invites us to be his forever neighbors and live with Him. Will each of us respond to God’s reconciliation by believing in Jesus and then living for 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, it was wonderful to be with God’s family singing about the more than 10,000 reason we have to praise our great God. Being with God’s people and worshipping Him together is such a blessing. I am grateful to God for parents who knew being with the people of God week by week was important to them and to the raising of their children. I believe that regular worship with the family of God is essential. It is essential for our continued growth as believers, and it is essential in the lives of our children and grandchildren if they are going to be saved and become disciples of Jesus. I am not talking about parents who come to church and then do not live for the Lord the rest of the week, as has happened to some. I am talking about believers who know they cannot walk with God apart from vital connection and regular participation with the family of God.

Then from looking at 2 Corinthians 4 and 5, we saw that Paul listed some of the struggles he has gone through to serve Jesus and how he faced those struggles. Paul’s struggles were being looked down upon by many connected to the church at Corinth. They had the wrong idea that a true apostle would not have these continual struggles. They did not see the life of the followers of Jesus as denying themselves, taking up their crosses and following Jesus. Paul had to help them see the struggles he faced, and the struggles faithful followers of Jesus will face, in the light of the glorious future God has for them. Paul’s struggles were intense and grew more intense. Paul wanted them to see the difficulties and struggles of a life lived in faithfulness to Christ as a reflection of God’s call on every life. As we looked at Paul’s struggles and our struggles in light of eternity, we saw from this passage that the ultimate home of every believer is with Jesus. Home is where we are with those we love. Our ultimate home then is being with Jesus in heaven, whom we seek to supremely love because He first loved us. Believers need to look to our glorious future knowing our struggles and afflictions in this life produce a glorious eternity. We know our mortal and decaying bodies will give way to immortal and incorruptible bodies. Believers look in certain faith to their glorious eternal home with Christ.We look forward to going “home where we belong.”

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 our God who is great and greatly to be praised. Then, as we investigated 2 Corinthians 4, we learned about the great trials and suffering Paul willingly endured as he served Jesus and spread the good news that Jesus saves around the known world. Though Paul suffered and paid a great price, we learned through him that Jesus is worth whatever it cost to know, love, and serve Him. Somethings are priceless and worth whatever they cost. Those things are usually not things at all, but loving experiences and memories with those we love. The most priceless thing we can possess is knowing Jesus and being entrusted with sharing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus is the priceless treasure that is worth everything. Remember handling the priceless treasure of Jesus requires utmost integrity, handling the priceless treasures of Jesus requires God provision and protection, and handling the priceless treasurers of Jesus requires faith in God’s future for His children.God entrust believers with the priceless good new that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

Pray for Connie Boss as she goes through rehab so she might soon be able to return to her home. We love you, Connie, and we are praying for you.

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 remembered Jesus as we took the bread and juice of the Lord’s Supper to remind us of the great price Jesus paid for our salvation. Then from 2 Corinthians 3, we learned once again that we could never earn our salvation. Trying to work for salvation and being unable to do that leaves us burdened, frustrated, and enslaved. Salvation is a gift we simply receive found in Jesus Christ alone. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,”  (Romans 6:23.)  Believers receive this great and forever salvation and experience what it does in our lives. Salvation that comes through faith in Jesus marks our lives as God’s children. Salvation that comes through faith in Jesus only happens by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Salvation that comes though faith in Jesus brings eternal results. Salvation that comes through faith in Jesus provides true freedom. The good news of salvation by faith in Jesus frees us to love and obey God.

Next Sunday, February 9, 2025, we will have fun gathering and watching the Super Bowl. Invite a friend, bring snacks and games, and join us in this fun time at 5:00 PM on that Sunday evening.

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! It was great to be with all of you worshipping our merciful God. His mercy, love, and justice are greater than all our sin. From 2 Corinthians 2 we then thought about the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness sets us free as we receive it and as we dispense it. When we believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness, we are set free. When we practice that forgiveness by forgiving those who wrong us, we are set free. Forgiveness enables us to overcome the schemes of Satan. Forgiveness empowers us to refocus on the opportunities before us. Forgiveness equips us to face suffering as take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Forgiving others enables us to bear witness to God’s great forgiveness found in Christ Jesus.

Next Sunday, February 2, 2025, we will observe the Lord’s Supper in our morning worship.

On Sunday, February 9, 2025, we will have fun gathering and watching the Super Bowl. Invite a friend, bring some snacks and games, and join us in this fun time at 5:00 PM on that Sunday evening.

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! As we worshipped yesterday, we proclaimed, as the redeemed people of the risen King, that we live every day experiencing God’s marvelous grace. Then from 2 Corinthians 1 and 2, we saw how we can live with integrity and extend God’s grace to others, especially when we have misunderstandings with others. We will have misunderstandings with those close to us and with those not close to us. We are called to be peacemakers. That call does not mean we seek to avoid confrontation but seek to make peace and live in peace with others, as far as it is possible with us. At times after a painful misunderstanding, we seek to let things cool down before we seek to reconcile with others. As we communicate, we never seek to deceive and always seek to be true to our consciences as people of integrity. Then, we seek to always communicate truth as clearly as possible. As servants of Jesus who is the Truth, we seek to clear up misunderstandings when we have been misunderstood. As followers of Jesus who is the Truth, believers seek to live with integrity and in peace before God and others.

Carla and I were much surprised and then blown away by the celebration of our ten-year anniversary serving East Madison Baptist Church. Your generosity was overwhelming! We want to thank you so much for the generous gifts you provided us that we will enjoy so much. We love all of you and thank God for allowing us to serve Jesus with you for these ten years. We look forward to what God has for us together in the days ahead.

Thank you to all who helped serve the Smith family last week in providing a meal after Donald’s service. It was beautiful to see Donald’s brothers and sisters in Christ come together to honor him and to minister to Deanna and family.

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 our great God and Savior and recognized His great love for us. We sang one of the old hymns of the faith that reminds us of God’s great and undeserving love, “And Can It Be,” by Charles Wesley. I love mysterious truth that it teaches us about God’s love:

“And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Then we thought from God’s perfect Word in 2 Corinthians 1 about God’s contagious comfort. We learned that no circumstance in the life of believers is wasted. Even the most difficult and tragic of circumstances God uses in our life for our personal good, the good of His children, and for the glory of His name. Although sometimes we say it flippantly, it is true that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  We saw that as believers know God’s comforts in life’s most difficult circumstances, we can then later share that comfort with others. We can also as believers realize that life’s greatest difficulties remind us to trust in God and not our own strengths or abilities.Believers know God will bring His contagious comfort to us in every difficult experience and we can share that contagious comfort with other sufferers.

Donald Smith’s celebration of life service will be held on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at Gunderson Funeral Home, 5203 Monona Drive3, Monona, WI 53716. Visitation will be held from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and the service will take place at 12:00 PM. Following the service, there will be an interment at Highland. After this, East Madison Baptist Church will furnish a meal for those who can attend at our building. Please keep praying for the Smith family.

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 our Lord and confessed that Jesus is our Rock and our Redeemer. Jesus is the one we can and should build our lives upon. Then we looked at John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” and once again remembered thatGod’s love for us gives hope to us in 2025. God loves the world and each of us individually. God did not just say He loved us, but God proved His love by giving Jesus to die for us on the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection provides forgiveness and eternal life to those who will believe. Any person, without exception, any “whoever,” who believes in Jesus will not perish, but will be given the eternal life of forever communion and fellowship with God and His children. Have you found this hope today in Jesus? Have you come to trust in, believe in Him? Is there anything holding you back from believing in Him today? In the horrific circumstances of your life, will you look to Jesus’ dying on the cross for you and know that proves God’s love for you no matter how terrible life’s current circumstances are? Will you find rest and find hope today in this truth: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life?”

The New Year provides a fantastic opportunity for you to join one of our small group Bible studies that meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM. We provide studies for all ages. For adults, we provide two different studies. David Juhlin is just beginning a new study that reviews the Bible in chronological order. This study reviews timelines, family trees, etc. to help make sense of all the stories and other information. This study helps us see how all the Old Testament points to Jesus in the New Testament. Jason Donaldson is finishing a study of Revelation by the end of January and then will move to some single unit studies for a brief time. After that, Jason thinks that his group will be studying Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament.

Please remember to pray for the Donald Smith family. Donald, Deanna, and family, you are loved and continually being prayed for in these difficult days.

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 and Merry Christmas to all. The theme of the fourth Sunday of Advent was love. We sang about the deep, deep, love of Jesus our Redeemer. Then in the message, we considered because God loves us, He does things in a way that no one else would do them. It was strange that God Himself would enter the world as a helpless baby. It was strange that this Savior would be born in a barn. It was strange that Jesus’ birth would be announced by angels to outcast shepherds and then they alone would greet Him on the night of His birth. It was strange that the mightiest act of God would be dying on the cross for us. God the Son, the sinless One, would take our sins upon Himself and suffer the penalty for them that we justly deserved so we could be justly forgiven through Him. Because Jesus died for us in our place and rose again, in Him we have forgiveness and life. What a strange way to save the world! Yes, God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom, and His weakness is stronger than man’s strength!

Our Christmas Eve service will be held at 5:00 PM on Christmas Eve, December 24.

On December 29, we will only have a worship service at our regular time of 10:45 AM. There will be no Bible Study on that morning.

We will observe the Lord’ Supper during next week’s, December 29, 2024, worship service.

On January 5, 2025, we will have a potluck luncheon after our morning worship gathering.

BRemember 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! Again, have a “Merry Christmas!”

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, the second Sunday of Advent, we focused on the theme of peace. We sang that God provides “peace on earth” to all who will receive it in Jesus. Then from John 1, we learned Christmas was born in the eternal heart of God. Before time began, God planned for our redemption. God planned that Jesus, God the Son, would step into history and provide for us salvation and peace. Jesus Christ declares who the living God is and what God is really like. Jesus of Nazareth is the very God of eternity who can save us from our sin and give us eternal peace.

Carla and I attended the Madison Symphony Orchestra Christmas concert last Friday. All through the concert, the songs that were played and sung proclaimed the good news of the Gospel. People in this season through the wonderful carols and celebrations are being bombarded with gospel truth even though most do not realize it. I just want to encourage all of us to take advantage of this time of year by talking to people about the true meaning of Christmas. Also, invite people to worship with you. Give them a special invitation to come to our Christmas Eve service. Many people would come to worship, especially at this time of year, if a friend invited them.

We will have an all-church Christmas party this Friday, December 13, at 6:00 PM. We will gather at the church building and then carpool to Connie Boss’ apartment building in Sun Prairie to carol. After we carol, we will then come back to the church building for snacks and games.

Our Christmas Eve service will be held at 5:00 PM on Christmas Eve. On December 29, we will only have a worship service at our regular time of 10:45 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