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FWMBC Members and Friends,
Thank all of you who met me at St. Paul United Methodist Church (Galveston, Texas) for the noon day service. I appreciate the warmth and love that you exhibited by driving such a long way to be there. In addition to the St. Paul members who were present, there were also FWMBC members, classmates, and other friends present as well. We really enjoyed each other. I am still on vacation, but I miss the fellowship at FWMBC, and the service at St. Paul was the next best thing. I will be back from vacation on the 2nd Sunday in September. Until then, keep us lifted up in prayer. And by all means, remember to pray for our sick and shut in.
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| Weekly Message
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW JESUS?
"That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." (Philippians 3:10)
Over the years I have determined that there is a difference between knowing about someone, and actually knowing that person. For instance, I know about Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. However, I do not know Michael Jordan personally. Sometimes, husbands and wives can live together for many years, and really not know each other. I wish I could tell you how many times I have heard a person say that his/her spouse changed on them after they were married. I suspect the spouse really did not change, but the person really did not know him/her as well as previously thought.
Many of us in the Christian community profess to know Christ. If a person accepts Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior I will not argue that he/she doesn't know Him. But my question is, how well does he/she know Him? You see I am really surprised that the Apostle Paul would state in Philippians 3:10 that he wanted to know Christ. Actually he was admitting that he did know Jesus as well as he would like. I am surprised because this man is the same Paul who had met Jesus on the Damascus Road. He had written more letters in the New Testament than anyone else; and had gone on 3 Missionary journeys while preaching the Gospel message. But he wanted to know Christ better. And the way he felt he needed to go about knowing him better, is very interesting. He wanted to experience the "power" of His resurrection. How great a power it is that would take Jesus from death unto life. Paul wanted to feel that same power. In addition, he also wanted to have fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. Would you be willing to experience more suffering in your life to know Christ better? How many of us want that kind of fellowship? And finally, he wanted to know the reality of conforming to His death. Perhaps he was saying that he would never truly know Christ the way he wanted to until he had experienced death as Christ had.
If you want to know Christ better; you can start with more prayer; and then proceed to more study of His Word; and then allow Him, by way of the Holy Spirit, to control your thoughts, words, and deeds more. You should really want to know Him better. Spending time with Him is a must. I assure you, the better you know Him, the more you will love Him. You will never learn that Jesus is all that you need, until you are at a place where Jesus is all that you have. If you will do those things, you will have a good start on knowing Him better. You can put off "confroming to His death" for a later time. To God be the Glory! |
News Update:
Keep in mind that this Sunday is Mission Sunday. I am hearing good reports regarding the services and our preachers while I am visiting other churches on my vacation. I know that our congregation will keep it going.
The Marriage Ministry Conference is September 12, at 10:30 am. See George and Cheryl Johnson for more details.
Remember that we will honor our Senior members on September 13, 2009 at the 11:00 am hour. Pastor Thomas and the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church will be our guest. I will return at that time.
God bless you and keep you is my prayer!
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