September 2016

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! It was wonderful yesterday to worship and fellowship with each of you! We were reminded as we looked at the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10 that we are to place no limits on whom we will love as we love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to love and serve those like us and those unlike us. We are to love and serve our friends and our enemies. We are to love and serve those who vote like us and those who do not. We are to love and serve those who follow Jesus and love and serve those who believe something completely different. In loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are not to exclude anyone from the definition of “neighbor.” There will be someone who crosses your path this week that needs a true neighbor to love them. Be that neighbor to them!

The pot luck lunch was so wonderful yesterday. Meeting upstairs took just a little extra effort, but it was so worth it! It was good to be able to have some people stay who have difficulty with our many stairs. Thank you for loving each other and making this fellowship meal even sweeter than usual.

Love being your pastor!
Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! I am excited today that you and I are part of extending God’s Kingdom. We come into contact daily with those who need the love and life of Jesus, and the forgiveness He offers. Yesterday’s worship time and message reminded us that we have the privilege to share with them that His kingdom has come and they can be part of that kingdom! May God grant to all of us the boldness and wisdom to not miss those opportunities.

We missed those of you who weren’t here yesterday and pray you are doing well. As humans, sometimes sickness, family obligations or just the need for time away means we can’t gather with God’s people on a given week. However, there are some of you haven’t been here in a while and I am concerned for you. The enemy of your soul, the devil, wants you to not be among the people of God. He will try to isolate you. Sometimes the enemy wants you to feel so horrible when you mess up that you just want to avoid God’s people. Don’t let him isolate you! We all blow it and we all mess up and sin. There is God’s promise that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God’s people are not a bunch of arrived saints, but a group of struggling pilgrims that need each other to help us keep moving toward becoming like Jesus. We are here to help each other when we are doing good and when we fall. If when you fall, it causes you to avoid God’s people, the enemy has achieved his goal. Don’t let the enemy deceive you and shame you into avoiding God’s people. We need you and you need us!

I want to thank again all those who helped with the Kennedy anniversary celebration and those who helped in the church work day last weekend. You guys and gals are great!

We will have a pot luck dinner after worship next Sunday, September 25. We will be having this dinner upstairs to make it easier for those who have difficulty navigating the stairs.

Email or call me if you need prayer or ministry from me or your East Madison family. We can’t provide that needed prayer or ministry if you don’t let us know you need something.

Love being your pastor!
Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday afternoon to all of you! We had a great day yesterday with the East Madison family and a lot of guests. Thank you for making them feel welcomed! It is so important to help guests feel welcomed and cared for when they worship with us at East Madison. As someone said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” When people worship with us and somehow find a human connection, it helps our message that Jesus loves them become more believable. Thank you for making an extra effort to connect with our guests.

I hope you learned with me that following Jesus is a great adventure! Yes, it is sometimes hard and there are times of difficulty. But whatever it might cost us to follow Jesus, it is worth it! Can I get and “Amen”! As we follow Him, He provides His Holy Spirit as our constant companion. He provides strength and wisdom for the journey and His people to be our fellow travelers. We follow the One who loves us more than we can even comprehend or understand. We follow the One who laid His life down for us. My prayer for myself and for you is that we will “see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly, day by day.”

We will be helping Kennedy school with their anniversary celebration Friday night, September 16.

Next Sunday during morning worship, we will be observing the Lord’s Supper.

Have a great week!

Love being your pastor! Thank you for being a great church!
Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Tuesday to all of you! I hope you had a great Labor Day holiday and did not have to do much labor! Sunday was a great day to be with the people of God. We missed those who were gone! I know that the end of summer stuff and the celebrations were good for you. In our worship time, we learned that we not only need to confess and follow Jesus as Lord, but we need to understand what kind of Savior He is and what kind of people he wants us to be. Jesus is the Savior who served and suffered for his followers that they may have life. As His followers, we are to serve others and be willing to suffer for them. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. We are to follow the Jesus revealed in the Bible and not a false Jesus made up out of our own desires and imagination or the imaginations of others. We follow one who gave up His life as a ransom for many, and we are to have that same attitude and lifestyle. The way to real life is to lose it to Jesus and find our lives in Him.

I encourage each of you to be involved in Bible Study on Sunday morning. We have classes for all ages, from preschool to adults. Now is a good time to join one of these studies.

Have a great week!

Love being your pastor!
Bob