Church Blog

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshiped, we praised our unchangeable God who continually gives us hope. As we looked at Genesis 21, we were reminded that God always keeps, secures, and confirms His promises. Abraham and Sarah had waited for more than 25 years for God to give them a son. When Sarah was naturally past the ability to conceive, God supernaturally enabled her to conceive and bear Abraham a son whom they named Isaac. Twenty-five years is a long time to wait! I do not know of anyone who likes to wait, especially if the wait is months, years, or even decades. However, as we wait, remember that God will keep His Word and His promises. They will not fail! Remember this and wait for the Lord who will not fail you. Keaton Bunting and Bob Kauflin wrote a song based on Psalm 62 called “My Soul Will Wait.” The first verse and the chorus say this:

When the enemy surrounds and my heart grows faint within
When the darkness overwhelms and my fears are pressing in
I will trust in You, O Lord, in the silence I will wait
I will stand upon Your Word

You’re my solid rock and my salvation
My steadfast hope that won’t be shaken
My soul will wait, my soul will wait for You.

We can absolutely depend on God’s promises and His Word. We can be certain God brings about every detail of His promises. God moves even in our difficulties when we tend to forget to remind us of His promises.God never fails to keep and secure His promises.

This Saturday, October 25, we will have our annual Trunk or Treat community outreach from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. We need people here by 2:00 PM so we can set up. You can prepare by bringing candy to the church building or just bringing candy for your trunk on Saturday. Pray God would use this event to glorify Himself and to bear a caring witness and ministry to our community.

Sunday evening, November 16, at 6:00 PM is our annual EMBC Thanksgiving celebration. A sign-up sheet is on the table in the foyer for the food needed for this celebration.

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! Last night, we and our Hmong brothers and sisters had a wonderful time of fellowship around the fire pit. Yesterday morning, we worshipped God and asked His Holy Spirit to help us see Christ. Then, from Genesis 20 we saw that even though Abraham made a faithless and foolish decision to deceive Abimelech and the Gerarites, God worked to protect Abimelech and the Gerarites, Abraham, and Sarah from the consequences of that decision. God worked to protect His promise that through Abraham’s descendants Jesus the Messiah would be born to bless the entire world. We learned even in our faithlessness we cannot thwart the plans of God. We do not have that power. Even in our great weakness, even when we act faithless and sinful, God is working to see His promises and Word are fulfilled. We saw that God moves to protect His Word and His promises from the sins of His people. We saw that God moves to provide correction to His children through unlikely sources. And we saw that God moves in lives to correct wrongs and provide reconciliation between peoples. God promises cannot fail. God moves in power bring about the promises of His Word.

On Saturday, October 25, we will have our annual Trunk or Treat community outreach from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. You can prepare for that by bringing candy to the church building. Pray God would use this event to glorify Himself and to bear a caring witness and ministry to our community.

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 looked from Genesis 19 at God’s righteous judgment of the grievous evils that occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah. These warnings from Scripture are difficult. However, they remind us that God is always just, and He will one day completely destroy all evil. The catastrophic judgments of the worldwide flood in the time of Noah, where only Noah and his family were saved, and the fiery judgment of wickedness in Genisis 19 of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot and his daughters were saved, serve as a permanent reminder to us of this: God will ultimately destroy and punish all evil. Today, God gives us a chance to turn from ourselves and our sin and receive forgiveness and life in Jesus. In Christ Jesus, God’s wrath was completely satisfied with Jesus’ death on the cross. The fire of God’s wrath against sin has been burnt out in Jesus. The place of safety is where the wrath of God against sin has already burned. That place of safety is in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says this: “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.”  When we are in Jesus, God’s wrath has been satisfied. However, all outside of Jesus, remain under God righteous wrath. Will you believe in Jesus and accept that He has already been punished in your place?Or would you rather have your sin than the forgiveness and life God offers you today? God will destroy all evil and bring punishment on those who would rather have their sin than the forgiveness and life of God.

As many of you know, Connie is in physical rehabilitation waiting to find a place to move to that provides an elevated level of care. Connie needs help to move her stuff out of her apartment by October 12. Connie’s daughte asked me to see if we could have some people help with this task. She does not have a firm date set to do this. I wanted to give all of you a heads up so we could find some people to help them when they need this done.

On October 12 instead of having a potluck luncheon after worship, we will have a celebration of the garage cleaning at 6:00 PM. We will have a fire pit and meet on the lawn. You can bring hot dogs and/or stuff for smores for your family.

On Saturday, October 25, we will have our annual Trunk or Treat community outreach from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. You can prepare for that by bringing candy to the church building. Pray God would use this event to glorify Himself and to bear a caring witness and ministry to our community.

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 gathered to worship God as His family and joined with all the angels of heaven to praise Almighty God. Then from Genesis 18 and Abraham’s prayer for God’s justice in Sodom, we saw how we can pray boldly relying on God’s character and justice. We cannot be specific when tragedies occur, and it seems like innocent people suffer. We can ask questions about those things and receive partial answers. We can even ask God those questions. God invited Abraham to do just that. However, complete satisfactory answers to those questions of suffering in the world will not come in this life. But we can know that God is a just God and He will always act in perfect justice. God invited Abraham to friendship and intimacy with Himself and God also does that for all who will believe in Jesus. Like Abraham, we can also boldly take our prayers, questions, and petitions to God Himself. We can pray boldly because the Lord invites us to do just that. We can pray boldly based on the perfect justice of the Lord. We can pray boldly because God has no pleasure in the death and judgment of the wicked. We can pray boldly with assurance that God will hear and answer our prayers perfectly.Believers boldly intercede for those around as we understand the justice and mercy of holy God.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper in our worship gathering next Sunday morning, October 5.

On October 12 instead of having a potluck luncheon after worship, we will have a celebration of the garage cleaning at 6:00 PM. We will have a fire pit and meet on the lawn. You can bring hot dogs and/or stuff for smores.

On Saturday, October 25, we will have our annual Trunk or Treat community outreach from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. You can prepare for that by bringing candy to the church building. Pray God would use this event to glorify Himself and to bear a caring witness and ministry to our community.

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 praised God from whom all blessings flow. As we continued to look at the life of Abaham, we saw the blessing of being a welcoming and hospitable people. Abraham and Sarah welcomed the three strangers who came near them with lavish hospitality. As they welcomed them, they were welcoming God and receiving great blessings. As we welcome those we do not know into our lives and our homes, we are welcoming those made in the image of God and receiving blessings. Are we, like Abraham and Sarah, a people of hospitality and are our homes welcoming places? Will we welcome those whom God brings into our live as if we are welcoming the Lord Himself, because, in a way, we are doing just that. Do we realize the blessings God provides that come to us as we welcome others? Many times, those blessing are beyond human or natural explanation. Welcoming others into our lives brings blessings from Almighty God.

Remember, during the month of September we are taking the Care and Share State Missions offering. Make your checks to East Madison and put them in the State Missions offering envelopes on the back table to give to that offering. All gifts received for that offering will be forwarded to the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention.

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! I want to thank Jason for preaching yesterday on such short notice and helping us to see that God is always in control. Our loving Father works everything for the good of His children even when we might not be able to comprehend His mysterious reasons. Carla and I did worship with you through the livestream. However, we really did miss being with you in person.

We will have a virtual church council meeting tomorrow evening, September 16, 2025, at 6:30 PM.

Please especially keep Connie Boss in your prayers. She is in rehab and may have to receive a higher level of continued care which might mean a change of address. I know she would love any visits you could make to see her at Oak Park Place Rehabilitation.

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 sang about the wonderful grace and mercy of God provided to all who believe from the words penned by William Newell:

“Mercy there was great, and grace was free.
Pardon there was multiplied to me.
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.”

Then from Genesis 17, we learned that God never fails to keep His promises. God promised to Abraham and Sarah that He would give them a son even in their old age, and God brought this about. This son, Isaac, was the one through whom God would bless the entire world. We see through this that God never fails to keep His promises.God reinforces and magnifies His promises to us. As we follow God step by step, we grow to see increasingly how glorious and wonderful His promises to us truly are. God’s fulfilling His promises to us makes known His almighty power. And God’s people respond to His certain promises by faithfully obeying Him. Remember always that God never fails to fulfill every promise He makes.

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 Tuesday to all! Sunday, we remembered Christ Jesus our great Messiah and His sacrifice to buy us back for God with His blood. As we looked at Genesis 16 about Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, we learned that God sees and knows our deepest sorrows and moves in our lives to comfort and help us. Maybe you are in a situation you did not want to be in through no fault of your own, like Hagar. God wants to help you. You may be where you are because you have continually made all the wrong choices. I also want you to know, God wants to help you! God is pursuing you like He pursued Hagar when she was running. He longs to help you like he helped her. God loves, sees, and hears you. God is near to you. God will forgive. God will move in your life and your family. Though you think nobody sees or cares about you, God sees, cares, and can help you. Will you let Him?

We will have a workday this Saturday, September 6, here at the EMBC building beginning at 8:30 AM. Our main goal is to clean out our garage so it will become more usable. I hope you can join us for a few hours this Saturday to help us.

We will have a potluck luncheon after the worship gathering next Sunday, September 7. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any guest we may have.

Pray especially this week for Connie as she recovers and does physical therapy. 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 praised that the true and living God. We praised God specifically because He has adopted those who believe in Christ Jesus to be His forever children! We then examined from Genesis 15 Abraham’s faith. Abraham is the one who is considered the father of those with faith. We learned from Genesis 15 about the nature of true faith. We learned that we can and should take our doubts and fears to God just like Abraham did. God can handle our doubts. God knows our doubts and seeks to reassures us of His certain promises. When there is delay in answer to our hopes and prayers, we see that God gives assurance many times into why there is delay. We learned from Genesis 15 part of the reason that God delays his judgments is that He will never be unjust in His judgments. God will never bring justice and judgments at the wrong time. Holy God will bring justice when it is the perfect time. We learned from God’s Word that following Jesus does not mean we never have doubts and questions. Following Jesus means we take our doubts and questions to God and His children and seek reasonable and rational answer to those questions. We also realized sometimes we will not be able to comprehend God’s purposes. At those times, God provides us with peace until we can one day understand. Honestly seeking God in faith means taking doubts and fears to God for confirmation and reassurance.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, August 31, 2025, in our worship gathering.

We will have a workday at the EMBC building on Saturday, September 6, 2025. We will meet at 8:30 AM and work for a few hours, especially at cleaning out our garage storage.

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 thought about how He has revealed His love for us. From Genesis 14, we considered how events far from us in the world affect us. The world of Abram’s time was interconnected, and today the world is more interconnected. We must remember certain things as we live in this interconnected world. God’s Kingdom is happening among every nation and all peoples of this world. God’s Kingdom is among us now and one day will be all that is left. Yes, we are temporary citizen of the nations in the world, but believers now and forever are citizens of the Kingdom of our God and Christ. Right now, we are a part of that worldwide kingdom of Christ! The events of the world will affect us. Do not be surprised when world events reach you and your family. Do not be surprised when you are forced to act because of world events. Do believe that God moves through world events to bring about His forever Kingdom.God brings about His plans and purposes through world events.

I was reminded yesterday of the burdens some carry as they come and worship. Many are facing struggles we know nothing about. They and their families can be going through exceedingly demanding situations. Keep praying continually for each other! Be there for one another as best you can! Allow those struggling to share as little or as much as they need to share at any moment. Galatians 6:2 reminds us to, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church