News and Notes for January 29 - February 5

Purpose, Promise and Passion

Here lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about my purpose as a follower of Christ. It caused me to take a look at these words of the Apostle Paul when he was standing before King Agrippa on trial in Rome. You will find the account of Paul’s trial before King Agrippa in Acts chapter 26.

"I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ In this passage we see our purpose, a promise and a passion."

Here is the purpose, Why did Paul say that Jesus said He had appeared unto him? Jesus said to Paul: I have appeared to you for this purpose; to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. Our purpose is to be a witness of all that Christ has done in our lives and of His power to save.

Next in this passage I see a promise that Jesus made to Paul,  a promise to “deliver you from the Jewish people, (see verse 21) as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, (vs 20) Whenever we stand up for Christ He has promised to stand with us.

Finally, there was a passion that consumed Paul’s life. His passion was to “open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me (Jesus.)

So, join me in living out the purpose of witnessing to the lost about what Christ has done, hanging onto the promise that Jesus will be with us as we do it, and in living out the passion of seeing lives changed for the glory of God. Mark

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Happening Here!

With Upward Basketball in the mix, the weekly schedule is quite busy! Here are two things to remember for your calendar:

• This Sunday (February 1): Lord's Supper in the AM service
• This Tuesday (February 3): Zaxby's fundraiser for the youth, 5-8PM

Pretty straightforward! And here are two things to keep in mind:

• Please continue giving to our newly-dubbed "Go and Tell" Mission Fund! We are on track to raise $30,000, and we'd like to raise more! Please consider giving an extra $5 this Sunday (just designate it on your offering envelope).
• Part of the purpose of this fund is to help our members do mission projects right here in the area. Your Sunday School class is one of the most important ministry teams we have at FBC; bring up an idea for a local mission project on Sunday and then let the Missions Committee know how we can help you fund it. If we want to Serve the World Together, we have to be active about it!