The Good Life

What are the ingredients of a good life?  Our culture emphasizes the importance of riches, popularity, and comfort.  Our Bible emphasizes the importance of faith, purpose, and community. In June we begin our summer series entitled The Good Life.

Our students through 5^th grade will be learning about The Good Life in Vacation Bible School on June 13-17 as they embark on “The Big Apple Adventure: Where Faith and Life Connect.” Make sure to invite your friends and neighbors and to pre-register your children and grandchildren for Vacation Bible School.  We also need a few more tour guides, so make sure to contact Jean Ingram or Maile Gowing in our Children’s Ministry and sign up to work in The Big Apple Adventure.        

During the summer months we are being “doers of the word” by engaging in a variety of mission projects and mission trips. For the next few months, many of us will be working with Project Alabama, our initiative to assist in rebuilding homes and lives in the aftermath of devastating tornadoes.  In the months ahead we also have mission teams going to Russia, Costa Rica, and Haiti. Additionally our Chapel Choir is going North to Niagara and our middle school students are going to World Changers in Birmingham.

Other events coming up in June include the following:

June 5           30^th Anniversary Reception for Lynne Lauderdale

June 11          VBS Kickoff for The Big Apple Adventure

June 17          VBS Family Night and Concert

June 19          Baptism

June 26          Chapel Choir Homecoming Concert

At First Baptist, summer presents great opportunities for learning, growing, and going.  Be faithful to the Lord and to our church with your time, your talent, and your treasure all summer long.

Sermon Topics for June:

June 5           “Good Courage” Psalm 27:1, 4-5,13-14

June 12          “Good Faith”  Proverbs 19:6, Romans 10:17

June 19          Chaplain Darren Stennett, preaching

June 26          “Good Medicine” Proverbs 22:1

A Time to Remember and Never Ever Forget

The last Monday in May is a unique holiday. Memorial Day does not generate as much holiday enthusiasm as Christmas, Easter, or Independence Day, perhaps because it is more an observance than a celebration.  This important holiday is not just another “day off” but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country.

In a culture that is increasingly attention-deficient, remembering is a painful but necessary discipline.  Remembering historical facts should help us to remain consciously aware of the harsh realities of global conflict.  Revisiting stories from the battlefield may enable us to learn from both the successes and the failures of our national ancestry. When we remember the fallen we keep alive the individual and corporate legacies of valor and courage that inspire and challenge us to be responsible citizens of the free world.

To fail to remember is to develop a convenient amnesia that eventually robs succeeding generations of their national heritage.  To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both freedom and citizenship.   To fail to remember can produce a false sense of protection and a perceived exemption from future warfare.  A loss of memory eventually leads to a loss of national identity.  Remembering is a painful but necessary discipline, a discipline that forges vision from memory, and a discipline that extracts wisdom from knowledge.

In The Roadmender Margaret Fairless Barber suggests that “To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

This year take time to observe Memorial Day…A day to remember the past with gratitude and to look to the future with hope and faith.

This Sunday is Senior Recognition Day, a day set aside to recognize and encourage our graduating high school seniors.  We will meet for Bible Study at 9:00 a.m. and then meet in a combined service of worship at 10:30 in the sanctuary. 

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we continue learning to “be doers of the word.”

Let’s Make It an Aloha Sunday

Let’s make this Sunday an Aloha Sunday.  I invite you to join me in wearing an Aloha shirt or your beach colors to both of our worship services this Sunday morning.  Then on Sunday evening we will meet at Casino Beach at six o’clock for Allelulias by the Sea.

Allelulias by the Sea is a beachside concert presented by our Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra that is scheduled once every four years.  This musical extravaganza features a wide variety of musical genres including Broadway tunes, patriotic music, and inspirational selections. What a great opportunity to invite a neighbor or colleague who is not currently connected with a church family!   So bring a friend and a chair, and join us for a fun evening on one of the World’s Most Beautiful Beaches.

What a week we have had at First Baptist!  We have been sweetly saying “goodbye for now” to dear friends, including our pastor emeritus, who have now gone to be with the Lord.  But we have also been saying “welcome to the world” to new babies being born.  And we have been saying “hello” and “welcome to First Baptist” to new friends and new members who are joining us.

We are learning a couple of important lessons in all of this: Life is short and things are constantly changing.  How do we make the most of our time on earth?  How does our faith equip us to make every day count?

This Sunday morning as we continue our series on Real Religion  we are exploring “Real Time: The Vapor Factor” from James 4:13-15.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday in your beach colors as we continue learning to live by the book.

Project Alabama: Pray, Give, and Go

In Pensacola, we know a little bit about storms and the devastation that can be left behind.  We also know what it feels like to see your church campus heavily damaged.  Many members of our First Baptist Family are ready and eager to assist our neighbors to the north.

This week we have launched Project Alabama: Pray, Give, and Go.  We will be joining hundreds of churches and faith-based organizations in ministering to the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of our Alabama neighbors.

First, I encourage you to continue praying.  The devastation across Alabama is horrific.  As I write these words, there have been 251 storm-related deaths confirmed in Alabama and a total of 340 deaths across the South. There are still over 400 folks unaccounted for.  Pray for the residents of storm-damaged communities and pray for the relief workers who are there to assist.

Second, I invite you to give.  Give a generous and sacrificial gift to assist those in need.  Donations given through our church will be channeled through our existing ministry partners and through our FBCP volunteer teams.  Make your check payable to FBC Pensacola and designate it for Disaster Response.

Third, consider going to Alabama on a volunteer work crew.  If you have not already signed up, call the church office and leave your name and phone number, and indicate whether you are available on weekdays, weekends, or both.  All kinds of skill levels will be needed during the recovery period including carpenters, cooks, counselors, and cleaning specialists.

Our first team is going to the Birmingham area this week to deliver supplies and assess needs.  After we send teams to one or more communities, we hope to adopt at least one church and community for a long-term partnership, much like we did in Gautier, Mississippi following Katrina.

In the weeks and months ahead, I envision the following:

·        We will devote thousands of dollars to the recovery effort.

·        We will send dozens of volunteer teams to do clean up and home repair.

·        We will send ministry teams to offer encouragement, lead conferences, and share in worship.

·        We will help our adopted church to re-build and re-tool for the future.

Keep posted on upcoming trips and opportunities by checking the Project Alabama link at www.fbcp.org.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day.  We look forward to hearing a testimony from Todd and Nicole Blancheri, and then an encouraging word from James 2:14-18 on “Real Faith.”

I look forward to seeing you in worship and Bible study this Sunday.

Real Religion: Exploring the Book of James

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

James 1:27 NIV

During the month of May, we are beginning a new sermon series entitled Real Religion: Exploring the Book of James.  On Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, we will be digging into some of the specific ways James teaches us to be “doers of the word.”

May is filled with great opportunities to serve and to celebrate.  On May 1 we will celebrate Heritage Day, a day to recognize all of those who have been members of First Baptist Church for 50 years or more.  On May 8, we observe Mother’s Day, and on May 29 we will meet for a combined worship service as we recognize our high school graduates on Senior Recognition Day.

On Sunday evenings we will enjoy great concerts.  The A Cappella Singers and the Sanctuary Bells will share in the Spring Forth Concert on May 1. On May 15 we look forward to our Spring Children’s Choirs Concert.  Then on the evening of May 22 we will gather at the Pavilion at Casino Beach for Alleluias by the Sea.

Also, our next quarterly Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 4.  During the first fifteen minutes we will receive brief reports from our major committees and ministry partners. Then we will hear stories and testimonies from our Mission Cycling Team.

Spring is a great time to treasure the relationships that are important to you and to expand your network of relationships by reaching out to those who need to be connected to God’s family.

I look forward to a month filled with engaging worship, inspiring music, and growing friendships.

Topic for Sundays and Wednesday in May:

May 1              “Real Religion” James 1:27  (Heritage Day)

May 4              Congregational Meeting/Iran Team

May 8              Seamless Unity” James 2:14-26(Mother’s Day)

May11            “The Best Seat in the House” James 1:1-13

May15            “Real Wisdom” James 3:13-16

May18.           “It Only Takes a Spark” James 3:1-12

May22            “The Vapor Factor” James 4:13-15

May25            Stories from England by Gerald and Elizabeth Craft

May29            “Don’t Fool Yourself!” James 1:19-24 (Senior Recognition Day/Combined Service)