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Notes from 3rd Pastoral Celebration (11/13/11)

November 14, 2011 in Notes from Sunday, Special Events with 0 Comments

Yesterday we celebrated three years the Lord has blessed us to serve him together as pastor and people at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

What a church!!!

Either time flies by or I am getting older. Or both.

Wednesday evening, Pastor George Hurtt of the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church of Los Angeles was our guest speaker. He kicked off the celebration in a great way with a message from Psalm 23:2.

Yesterday, our guest was Pastor Romell Williams, who leads the Lilydale Baptist Church in Chicago. He preached from Matthew 20:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. They were both solid messages.

It was good to have a Sunday off from preaching. The bow that is always bent will inevitably break.

My daughter, Natalie, led a song with the children choir during our 10:15 service. If she would have sung another verse, I would have completely fallen apart .

Maurice Griffin was our guest soloist this weekend. He did an excellent job, as usual.

I was greatly encouraged by every expression of love, kindness and support the members of Shiloh showed my and my family. I am blessed to serve a great people. I am grateful for the privilege and thankful for the all the Lord is doing in us and through us.

In the afternoon, our choir was in full concert. It was a moving time of worship and praise.

I even sang a little with the choir!

I am scheduled to preach today at the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas that is meeting in Irving (Dallas) this week.

I missed my flight last night. And, of course, it was the last flight of the evening.

Crystal found me an early morning flight to Dallas, while I slept.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…”

Please pray for me as I minister the word today.

Speaking of Dallas, the Cowboys put a whippin’ on the Buffalo Bills 44-7.

The Jags defeated the hapless Colts 17-3.

Saturday, the USC Trojans beat down the Washington Huskies 40-17.

I slept through the Pacquiao-Marquez fight Saturday night. From all reports, I did not miss anything.

Ministry Emphasis Day 2011 at SMBC

February 25, 2011 in Christian Service, Shiloh, Special Events with 0 Comments

This Sunday is Ministry Emphasis Day at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. And I can’t wait!

One of the key factors in my spiritual growth over the years has been the responsibility to serve others that I have been entrusted with. The fact that I am called to serve has been a God-given and built-in means of accountability in my spiritual walk. And I do not want my congregation to miss this important means of spiritual growth.

Mark it down. To come to church and be ministered to week-after-week without ministering to others stunts your growth. What happens if you keep eating without exercising?

So we will be encouraging our members this Sunday to get off the bench and into the game. Representatives from our various ministry programs will be set up around our campus. And we are encouraging our members to hang around after the services to get information, ask questions, and get plugged into a place of service. We will also have listings opportunities to serve members can participate in without making a long-term commitment to a particular program.

I am really looking forward to Sunday. I plan to preach on the greatest reason I know why we should serve one another: Jesus was a servant! In John 13:1-17, Jesus gives us an example to servanthood to follow and even announces divine blessings on those who obey his call to service.

Our volunteers make it happen at Shiloh. We are able to do what we do because of their faithful service. But we still have a long way to go. And I trust that or Ministry Emphasis Day will be a step in the right direction that reminds us that we are saved to serve. May Shiloh increasing become a culture of servanthood that encourages our members to join in the great adventure of Christian service.

My prayer is that 1 Peter 4:10-11 would be fulfilled in and through the body-life of SMBC: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (ESV)

Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church History Video

May 16, 2010 in Shiloh, Special Events with 0 Comments

Notes from Sunday – 2/28/10

February 28, 2010 in Ministry Emphasis Day, Notes from Sunday, Shiloh, Special Events with 3 Comments

Today was Ministry Emphasis Day 2010 at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

Our worship services today were meant to challenge the church to get plugged into a place of Christian service. There was also a ministry fair to give our members an opportunity to learn more about our ministries and to get involved.

Our theme for today was “Get Plugged In.” I planned to say this to members I greeted today. However, many of the members I chatted with today were people I recognized to be already serving in some area of ministry. Praise God! And may their tribe increase!

Thanks to all our ministry leaders and teams for being on your post today. You make it happen. And I thank God for you.

I media team prepared a video that featured some of the members and ministries who are actively involved in the body life of the church. Thanks, guys, for your service.

As always, I was grateful and glad for all of the guests who were in worship with us this morning.

Our Youth Choir and Young Adult Ensemble led the musical praise today. They did a great job. I am greatly encouraged by their progress under the leadership of Reggie Bass.

The youth choir sung “I Belong to God” this morning. This is an “old school” gospel song that the youth choir used to sing when I was in it years ago. (I am getting old!)

I preached from 1 Peter 4:10-11 today. I labeled the message, “Serve One Another.’ My goal was simply to explain the priority of Christian service and challenge the membership to serve one another.

My sermon was actually the third message I selected for this morning. The first half of the week I worked on a passage from the Gospel of John. The second half of the week I worked on a message from Message. I finally landed on a message from 1 Peter. Go figure.

I was preoccupied with the clock today, for some reason.

Next Sunday’s Sermon: “The Cost of Discipleship” (Luke 9:57-62).

Praise the Lord for all of those who were saved and added to the church in our worship services today.

Many of the members were still rejoicing today from the ministry of the word this past Wednesday by Dr. John R. Adolph of the Antioch Baptist Church of Beaumont, TX. The entire Wednesdays in the Word series was a great blessing!

The kids had a late night last night, hanging out with the men of Shiloh at the Monster Truck Show. Apparently, Monster Trucks are a big theme here in Jacksonville. The football arena was sold out. Thanks P. Wesley for letting the kids tag along.

While I was typing these notes, George Hurtt sent me a text that he was having dinner with John Piper – Yes, that John Piper – who spoke to at Mt. Sinai this evening. I am officially a hater tonight!!!

Celebrating Holy Week

April 4, 2009 in Holy Week, Special Events with 2 Comments

Holy Week is an observance of the Christian church that remembers the final week of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. It begins with Palm Sunday, which commemorates the Lord Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. During the Triumphal Entry, the crowds rejoiced as Jesus’ entrance into the city stoked the messianic hopes of Israel. In those days, the arrival of a conquering king would be typically celebrated with a royal procession. But in this impromptu triumph procession, they laid out their garments along the path. They also covered the path with palm branches, which symbolized victory and triumph. And they cried out, “Hosanna, to God in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The main event of Holy Week is Good Friday, the day Jesus died on the cross as our substitute to atone for our sins. There is a sense in which Good Friday is the darkest day in human history. On that terrible day, the sinless Son of God was condemned to death and executed as a common criminal. He had done nothing wrong, except for being a religious nonconformist to the Jews and a political nuisance to the Romans. Yet our Savior died in a manner that was so painful and shameful that a new word was coined to describe death on a cross: “excruciating.” Yet while man was at his worst, God was at his best. God, in his sovereign grace and predestined will, accepted the death of his Son on the cross as the payment for the sins of all who repent and put the faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Holy Week climaxes on Easter Sunday, with the celebration of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is God’s stamp of approval for the redemptive work Jesus accomplished on the cross. The resurrection was of such importance that it caused the first disciples, who were all Jews, to change their day of worship from the Sabbath, which is our Saturday, to Sunday, which the New Testament calls the Lord’s Day. And since then, Christians gather every Sunday – not just once a year – to celebrate the face that Jesus lives!

I encourage you to spend this week in grateful and prayerful reflection on the inestimable price that was paid to purchase your salvation from the eternal wrath of God against sin and to provide the gracious handout of eternal life. Likewise, pray diligently for those in your sphere of influence and around the world who have not run to the cross and called on the name of the Lord for salvation.

Following is an outline of the major events of Holy Week and corresponding scripture references for you to read as you savor the goodness of God in Christ this week:

Sunday: The Triumphal Entry (Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-1; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19)

Monday: The Cleansing of the Temple (Matt. 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48)

Tuesday: The Authority of Jesus Challenged (Matt. 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33; Luke 10:1-8)

Wednesday: The Plot against Jesus (Matthew 26:1-16; Mark 14:1-11; Luke 22:1-6)

Thursday: The Last Supper, Gethsemane, & Arrest (Matt. 26:26-56; Mark 14:22-50; Luke 22:14-53; John 13-16)

Friday: The Crucifixion (Matt. 27:32-54; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37)

Saturday: In the Tomb (Matt. 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)

Sunday: The Resurrection (Matt. 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10)

SMBC Make A Difference Day 2009

March 27, 2009 in Outreach, Special Events with 3 Comments

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

In the morning, the membership of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville will engage in a one day missionary blitz that we are calling, “Make A Difference Day.” Various member districts, Bible Study Fellowship groups, and ministry teams will participate in practical acts of service to show the love of Christ throughout our city.

From helping to building low income homes, to serving at local rescue missions, to running helpful errands for the elderly, to serving in mission organizations, to serving the needy in the neighborhood around our church campus, the members of SMBC will be striving to bring glory to our Father in heaven by serving others.

Please remember this special outreach in your prayers.