Church Blog

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday our emphasis in worship was joy. We sang “Joy to the Word! The Lord is come.” All accounts of the birth of Jesus have joy as a central theme. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary describes joy as a “state of delight and wellbeing that results from knowing and serving God….Joy is the fruit of a right relation with God.” Joy is closely connected to happiness, but more than happiness. We can have joy even at times in our lives when we might be experiencing pain or grief. Joy is connected to Jesus. Whenever Jesus is present there is joy. Joy is found in the presence of Jesus as we bow before Him as our King and Savior. Joy is found in the presence of Jesus as we realize He is near us. Joy is found in the presence of Jesus as He works through us to bring salvation to the world.  Joy is found in the presence of Jesus as we recognize Christ the Lord is the Savior of the world. The presence of the Jesus the Savior brings ultimate joy.Look to Jesus and find true and ultimate joy today.

East Madison Baptist Church will have a Christmas Eve service at 5:00 PM and a Christmas Day service at 10:00 AM. Our New Year’s Day service will be at 10:45 PM. There will be no Bible Study on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.

During the month of December, we will be taking up the Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions. Lottie Moon offering envelopes and prayer guides are on the table in the back of the sanctuary by the offering box.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday our emphasis in worship was peace. We learned from Isaiah 9, Luke 2, and Romans 5 that peace with God and others comes only through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Peace with God through Jesus ends the hostilities between those who believe and righteous God. Peace with God through Jesus provides eternal friendship between holy God and His former enemies. Through Jesus, God becomes our Father and we become His children. Peace with God through Jesus can provide internal peace during chaotic circumstances. Peace with God through Jesus provides the only means to truly bring peace on earth among people. Yes, let there be peace on earth and let it begin in me. Peace with God and others comes only through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

East Madison Baptist Church will have a Christmas Eve service at 5:00 PM and a Christmas Day service at 10:00 AM. Our New Year’s Day service will be at 10:45 PM. There will be no Bible Study on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.

During the month of December, we will be taking up the Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions. Lottie Moon offering envelopes and prayer guides are on the table in the back of the sanctuary by the offering box.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! I would like to thank Jason for filling in for me yesterday when our flight to Madison was messed up and we had to arrive a day late. I am thankful to God for the giftedness He has given to East Madison and those who step in when needed. I heard you had a wonderful time in in Bible Study and worship as you learned about missions. I am sorry I missed this day. However, even in the interruptions of life, God blesses. We got to spend extra time with our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren! We were also able to worship together as a family at The Front Church, where our son Nate is pastor.

As we begin to prepare to celebrate Christmas and the first coming of our Savior, there is a song that I have grown to love the last couple of Christmas seasons. It is called “O Come, All You Unfaithful.” Look at the wonderful message of hope found in this song.

O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone

O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done

Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you

O come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect love

O come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done

Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you

He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe

So come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has done

Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you

        Songwriters: Bob Kauflin, Lisa Clow. For non-commercial use only.

Here is a link to it video. O Come, All You Unfaithful • Official Video – YouTube

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor!

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sister and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshiped and took the Lord’s Supper, we thanked God for His best gift to us, the precious blood of Jesus that washes away our sins.

Before the cross I kneel and see the measure of my sin
How You became a curse for me though You were innocent
The magnitude of Your great love was shown in full degree
When righteous blood, the crimson spill rained down from Calvary

Oh, the precious blood that flowed from Mercy’s side 
Washed away my sin when Christ my Savior died
Oh, the precious blood of Christ the crucified
It speaks for me before Your throne where I stand justified

And who am I that I should know this treasure of such worth
My Savior’s pure atoning blood shed for the wrath I’d earned
For sin has stained my every deed my every word and thought
What wondrous love that makes me one Your priceless blood has bought                 

       (The Precious Blood by Peter Gagnon)

We then looked at Romans 16 and saw life is about relationships. Life is about loving God supremely because He first loved us and sent Jesus for us. Because of God’s love for us and our loving Him in return, life is then about loving fellow believers as Jesus has loved us, and loving the world that Jesus died to save. Life is found in loving God supremely and loving others as Jesus has loved us.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! What a wonderful day we had yesterday! We worshipped yesterday morning our great God and had a special thanksgiving celebration last night. In worship yesterday morning as we sought to more fully “behold our God,” we looked at the Romans 15. Paul wrote about how his specific calling and giftedness worked together as he served the Lord. We saw God wants every believer just like Paul to be on mission with Him in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. We recognized every believer is gifted and called to serve Jesus and be on mission with Him in some way. No one gets to ride the bench. Every person, from the smallest child who believes to the oldest senior follower of Jesus is called to be using his talents and gifts to extend God’s Kingdom. How can we use our gifts and talents to extend God’s Kingdom and be on mission with Christ? We focus on the ministry for which God has personally gifted us. We seek to involve others who will help us carry out God’s calling on our lives. We strive together in prayer by praying fervently and earnestly for God’s protection and blessing on all who are on mission for Christ. We seek to discover God’s specific ministry for our lives and serve the Lord passionately in that ministry.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! It was good to worship our great God and Savior together and remember the wonderful cross “that bids us to come and die and find that we may truly live” in Christ Jesus. From Romans 15, we thought about finding true life. We asked ourselves if we find life by looking deep inside ourselves and by defining and discovering ourselves. That is the mantra of the culture we live in. The culture says we find real life and freedom by self-determination. Anthony Kennedy wrote, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Is that right? Is that the heart of liberty and the secret to life? Does the universe and cosmos just have to come to terms with whatever I decide about myself? Or is this just untrue? As Albert Mohler wrote about this opinion of the former supreme court justice, “It is not only constitutionally implausible, but also, just to state the very least, impossible. The cosmos (God’s creation and design) does not come to terms with our own self-understanding. We’ve got to come to terms with how we fit into the cosmos.” Looking within yourself and seeking to find yourself will lead you to nothingness, because the answer is not within you. The answer to finding life is by doing what Jesus told us to do. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it,” (Luke 9:23-24, NIV). We find life only in one person, in Jesus! We only find true life by dying to ourselves and finding life in Jesus.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be next Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. If you haven’t already signed up to bring something, come by the church building sometime to see what is needed for the

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped, we meditated on the Savior’s great love for us and how we need Him every minute of every day. We learned from Romans 14 about living in harmony in the church of Jesus even when we see non-essential issues differently. We saw that we are not to waste time arguing about non-essential issues of Christian living and trying to convince others of the correctness of our opinions. We are to accept people where they are in their Christian lives and give them time to grow without forcing our understanding on them. This will also give us time to grow in case we have it wrong! We are to realize others and ourselves ultimately and only answer to Almighty God. Almighty God is for all who believe in Jesus even when they disagree about non-essential issues. We saw all of us are to sacrifice personal freedoms to help others grow into Christlikeness. We are not to look in disdain on those who see issues differently or judge those who might serve the Lord with less restrictions on non-essential issues than we do. Believers need to continually remember we will answer to Almighty God for our faithfulness to Him and our faithfulness to helping His people grow into Christlikeness.

I wanted to thank everyone for their giving and work for our “Trunk or Treat” event last Saturday. It was a tremendous success! We gave out more than 125 gospel tracts to children and lots of candy. The children who attended had a least one parent with them, so we probably had more than 200 people during the two hours. The bouncy houses and popcorn machine were busy for the whole two hours! I think we provided an impactful ministry to our community. It was wonderful!

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont’s funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie, on Tuesday, November 1, at 11:00 AM. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped together and sang about the love of God that comes upon us like a flood. From Romans 13, we thought about our responsibilities as believers to the government. God’s Word teaches us that believers submit to government authorities because they are God’s servant for our good. Only when they seek to have us disobey God can we obey God rather than human authority. As Tim Talent said, “We will obey the rulers on earth when it doesn’t conflict with the Ruler of heaven.” Then we learned that believers seek to let no debt remain unpaid except the debt of loving others. The debt to love others and seek for their good is a debt we will never completely repay. And we do these thing as we seek to live in the light of Jesus as we await His soon return. Believers continually seek to submit to God-ordained authorities as they live awaiting Christ’s return.

This Saturday, October 29, is the big “Trunk or Treat” event from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Dress in consume if you are inclined and bring your trunks with some candy to hand out. Try to be here a little after 2:00 PM so we can arrange the cars and set up the bouncy houses and other things from the block party trailer. Be praying that God will use this event as a light for the gospel in our community.

Next Sunday afternoon, October 30, we can bless Kathy McElmurry by helping her load a moving truck.

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont passed away. The funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist/Emmanuel Church Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday as we worshipped and shared the Lord’ Supper together we remembered all of us who will come to God come through our Lord Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. Then as we continued to study Romans 12, we were challenged to realize that we live in the world, but we are citizen of the Kingdom of God with heaven as our ultimate home. We live humbly in relationship to God’s people seeking for God to work through us as He has gifted us. We love and care for other believers as we would for members of our biological family. Then as we live in the world among those who have not believed, we bless those who curse us. We never repay evil for evil. We trust in God to avenge every wrong and we pray for those who have wronged us to find forgiveness where we found forgiveness, in Christ Jesus. We are not overcome by evil but are overcoming evil with good. Believers seek humbly to live as representatives of Jesus while living on this earth by overcoming evil with good.

We will have a potluck luncheon next Sunday, October 23, after our morning worship. Bring enough food for your family and a little extra for any quest we might have.

Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice Lamont passed away last Wednesday. The funeral will be at Cress Funeral Home, 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie, Tuesday, November 1, at 11:00 AM. Pray keep Connie and her family in your prayers.

The East Madison Baptist Thanksgiving celebration will be on Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer for the food we will need for the celebration.

Keep praying for our “Trunk or Treat” event on Saturday, October 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. We need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. We will pack a few sacks of candy and a gospel tract to give out during our potluck next Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, October 30, we can bless Kathy McElmurry by helping her load a moving truck.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church

Sisters and brothers,

Happy Monday to all! Yesterday we worshipped God the Father, who in His deep love gave His only Son to save us. We then saw from Romans 12:1-2 that our response to this deep love is to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him. In surrendering all to God who loves us so much, we will not be conformed to the dead and destructive patterns of the world. We will be transformed from the inside out by His Holy Spirit who renews our minds. The Holy Spirit renews our minds as we feed ourselves the Word of God and spend time sharing our lives with others who have trusted their lives to Him, seeking together to live for Him.

Ladies, remember the luncheon to honor Kathy McElmurry  this Saturday, October 15 at 11:30 AM at the Great Dane, 876 Jupiter Dr, Madison, WI 53718.

We will observe the Lord’s Supper Next Sunday, October 16, during our morning worship gathering.

Keep praying for our “Trunk or Treat” event on Saturday, October 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. We need a lot of candy and plenty of help to reach out to our community on that day. Thank you to everyone who stayed after worship Sunday and helped us plan for the event.

Please continue to keep Connie Boss’ sister-in-law Alice in your prayers as she is in hospice. Also, pray for Connie and the family in this situation.

Remember to keep praying continually for each other. 

Love being your pastor,

Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church