Category: Church Chat

Project 1189

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Several months ago, while I was on a morning run through Clear Creek Park, the Lord distinctly laid something on my heart. He emphasized that I was to lead our church to read straight through the entire Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22—all 1,189 chapters. He also stressed that we should read from behind our pulpit in our sanctuary.

In obedience to His instructions, we are going to read through the entire Word of God beginning Sunday, March 11 and ending Sunday, March 25. Every person who wishes to participate in reading a portion of the Scripture, will be asked to sign-up for a time slot on the sheet posted in the Sanctuary. The weekday schedule will look like this:

 Week of March 12-16 & March 19-23 / 10am-6pm

Pray about how the Lord wants you and your family to participate. Maybe He will lead you to read or just drop in and listen while others read—just obey Him as He leads.

Here are three important things I believe the Lord wants us to accomplish through PROJECT 1189:

  • Renew our dedication as a church to hearing and obeying the Word of God
  • Renew our commitment in our families to the Word of God
  • Renew our passion as individuals to the Word of God

Willing to Risk?

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“So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul– men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Acts 15:25-26

What do these three men have in common:  the auto racer who set the world speed record at Daytona in 1914, the pilot who recorded the highest number of victories in aerial combat against the Germans in World War II, and the secretary of war’s special adviser who survived a plane crash and twenty-two days on a raft in the Pacific during World War II?  They all lived through dangerous circumstances.  They all displayed courage and steely nerves under duress. And they all happen to be the same person — Eddie Rickenbacker.

Rickenbacker’s prowess in the air caused the press to dub him the “American Ace of Aces.”  When asked about his courage in combat, he admitted that he had been afraid.  “Courage,” he said, “is doing what you’re afraid to do.  There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”  When Rickenbacker died his son, William, wrote, “If he had a motto, it must have been the phrase I’ve heard a thousand times:  ‘I’ll fight like a wildcat!'”

When we look at the life of someone like Eddie Rickenbacker, you can see great courage.  It’s easy to see in war heroes, but it must be present in every great leader in business, government, and the church.

Larry Osborne offers this observation:  “The most striking thing about highly effective leaders is how little they have in common.  What one swears by, another warns against.  But one trait stands out:  the willingness to risk.”  As a pastor, I sense that churches will never see what God can do until they are more willing to take biblical risks!  We must all remember that we serve an awesome God who requires and honors faith.

As followers of Jesus, we CANNOT simply keep doing what we have always done.  Not only will we not maintain our current level of effectiveness, we will decline and die on the vine!  We MUST venture out and try new things.  Sometimes you have to go out on a limb because that’s where the fruit is.

Question:  What are you willing to risk for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Lessons from the Ark

Posted in Church Chat, Discipleship, Funny, Life Happens, Preaching1 Comment

Someone recently sent me an email about Noah’s Ark.  As a preacher, it caused me to think of several sermon ideas I missed over the years.  Read over the following “Lessons from the Ark” for yourself and see if you find them as helpful as I do.

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah’s Ark . . .

  1. Don’t miss the boat.
  2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
  3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
  4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
  5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
  6. Build your future on high ground.
  7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
  8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
  9. When you’re stressed, float a while.
  10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
  11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

I want to thank my email friend for the sermon ideas and the “kernels” of wisdom.  I hope they help you as they have me.

Can A Christian Be Divorced?

Posted in Church Chat, Life Happens, Preaching, Worship1 Comment

I am currently preaching a Summer Sermon Series called Hot Topics. This week’s sermon is entitled, Can A Christian Be Divorced? Several of my pastor friends believe that this week’s “divorce sermon” will be the most difficult message to deliver in the entire series. I suppose they’re correct, but all that I know to do is to explore what the Bible says on the subject.

During this series, I have been reminded over and over that most people want to hear the truth. They want a preacher to stand with a heart full of love and share straight from God’s Word. Even if the topic is difficult, they want to know what God has to say! Well, this summer, I’m desperately trying to share what God has to say on each of these hot topics.

If you would like to hear any or all of the sermons from this series, you can listen to them on our website at http://www.shelbyvillebaptist.com.

Record Attendance on Easter 2011

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We had a BIG Day on Easter 2011 as we kicked off our new sermon series called The Life You’ve Always Wanted. Since 2007, we have been carefully tracking worship attendance and last Sunday’s attendance was a record for that time period. Thank you for all your hard work toward making Easter at Shelbyville Baptist a huge success.

This Sunday we will continue our sermon series with a message entitled Life with Meaning. We will study King Solomon and his quest to find true meaning and purpose in life.

Luke Wisely, our new contemporary worship leader, will be leading our 8:30 am service and Gene Wright, our worship pastor, will be leading our 11:00 am service. See you there!