mayodanfbc.com Blog

Hello FBC Mayodan!

I hope this Monday finds you blessed, rested and ready to tackle another week.  You know today is November 2nd… only 24 more days until Turkey Day!!! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!

The food part is a no-brainer, but I also love getting together with my family and just soaking up all the things God has so richly blessed me and my family with over the past year.  This year our family got 2 new additions… my beautiful wife Laura and my sister Emily and her husband Luke’s  new baby boy Jackson.

But more importantly than that, I am so thankful that I have a Heavenly father that would stop at nothing to show me how much He loves me

This past Saturday I was at home just spending some quiet time with the Lord and the thought of how big and powerful our God is just kind of invaded my mind… I want you to try and picture how BIG God is… He holds all of creation in His hand… we can’t even hold a single tree in our hand… God has control over everything in all creation… we have a hard enough time just controlling  our tongue

David wrote in Psalm 97

¹ The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.² Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. ³ Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. ⁴ His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

We can’t even fathom how great God is– We forget so easily that He is in control over EVERY aspect of our lives.  Folks, if God told the ocean to dry up, it would… If He told the sun to quit shining, it would

It’s almost impossible to comprehend how powerful He is, let alone even think that we could even approach Him

But here’s the good news !!! He is for us!!! The God of this universe– the God who holds all of creation in His hand– The God who merely spoke and stars were made– The God who has the power to give us life or death LOVES US!!!

And He showed us how much He LOVES us when his only Son hung on a cross that was meant for you and me– and He died a death that was meant for you and me– for sins that He didn’t commit– OH WHAT LOVE THAT IS!!!

So maybe today you’ve got a case of the Mondays and it’s hard for you to find something to be thankful for– Be thankful that you’ve got the God of Heaven on your side who loves you and is willing to give anything– even His only son to be with you

I want to leave you with the lyrics of a song that brings me to tears almost every time I hear it– It’s from David Crowder– it’s called How He Loves Us.  If you get a chance to go to I-tunes or David Crowders web-site and listen to it I would encourage you to do so

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves

Be Blessed!<><

TJ

Good morning all!

This is my first attempt at a blog, so it may be a little touch and go at first… I kind of feel like I should be at a Starbucks or something with my laptop and my i-pod in my ear listening to Cold Play or something… I don’t know, maybe I’ve got the wrong impression of blogging

Anyway, I am super excited that I have another avenue to communicate to my people at FBC Mayodan.  I know I get to speak to you on Wednesday and Sunday Nights (By the way, I know for a fact we have more than 50 members here on Sunday Mornings– I would love to see you back on Sunday and Wednesday Nights… Shameless Plug, I know, but I Had to)but this is an excellent way to communicate with you throughout the week

I want to just put up a video today, and if you’re able, please watch it…

Ephesians 2:10 says– For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago

You know, that passage of Scripture in Eph. 2 is probably one of my all-time favorites (TJ’s top 10) because it spells out the Gospel completely– it says that we are saved, not because of anything we could ever do, but by the AWESOME, WONDERFUL, and POWERFUL Grace of our God which was shown to us through Jesus Christ.

And we love to read that don’t we?  I know I do!!!  We love to hear that our sins are forgiven and we are God’s Masterpiece, but do we truly know what being God’s materpiece entales?

Did you know that it took Michelangelo over 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling? WOW!!!   I’m having a hard time painting my kitchen!!!– My point is, masterpieces take time to make

Michelangelo was suspended 60 feet above the ground painting upside down for 4 straight years!!!  I’m sure that saying the job was difficult is a definite understatement!

We need to remember that when we commit our lives to Christ, He commits Himself to us as well… and when He commits Himself to us, He’s not satisfied at leaving us the way we are…

So, what does He do?  He begins to work… slowly, but sometimes painfully chipping away the sinful desires– the worldly habits– the walls of guilt and pain from a past that we can’t reconcile on our own

But what we will realize as we continually mold to his Plan for our lives is that the things God does to us is for our ultimate good– He’s making a masterpiece… Let Him Work!!!

You will probably need to right-click and copy the link below and paste it in your browser tab.

How neat is this – we have found a way for the staff of First Baptist to reach out and give you all thoughts, messages, and more. check back daily.

Thanks,

Jessica W. Byerly

Webmaster