Church guide

No service today. Please read 2 Peter 1:1-15 for next week.

Prayer request from Erika York's mom .... Hey, can you help me get a prayer chain going for my friend micheal bass's little boy named Dakota. They had to life flight him. He is having seizures. Forward this to everyone you can please!

We will not have morning services today at Rea Valley Baptist Church. Join us tonight at Whiteville Baptist for the 5th Sunday Sing. Stay Safe!

Welcome to our online worship today. If you know it, sing I John 4: 7-8 together with whomever your with. It will set the stage for what we are talking about. God bless you today as we lift Him up and love each other. Do You Know... the evidence of knowing God is Love. I John 3:14 - 5:5 Focus vs., 14 ... "...we know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren." This morning we are meeting online because of the snow. For those who have not been with us, we have been considering the theme ' do you know'. John uses the phrase ' by this we know...' several times in this small letter. However small it may be, it is jam packed with certainty about checkpoints concerning one's fellowship with God. Here is a quick summary of what we have covered so far. 1. Jesus IS 'that eternal life that was with the Father'. 1: 1-2 2. We have an invitation ( from God signed in His own blood) to have that eternal fellowship with Him and His Son Jesus Christ. 3. Sin is the culprit to keeping us from this fellowship, but Christ is the solution ( propitiation). 4. The evidences of this fellowship are... a. Obedience... " by this we know that we know him if we keep His commands". (2:3) This is more than just saying I've kept the 10 commandments. The rich young ruler could say to Jesus " I've kept these from my youth up" , but Jesus said in response "one thing you are lacking, sell all you have and come follow me". b. The Annointing... all believers have the Holy Spirit. The question simply put is does He have them. He is your comforter, guide, teacher, reminder and so much more. This is in contrast to the spirit of antichrist which John said was already in the world. c. Righteousness... " ...(3:28-29) " ...abide in Him, that when He appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous you know that everyone who PRACTICES righteousness is born of Him." Simply put, righteousness I'd doing the right thing. Not according to our definition but rather His. This is all throughout scripture and in particular the New Testament concerning how we should walk. And today we move into the evidence of LOVE. Chapter 3 verse 14 He says " we know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death". Our culture uses the word love broadly and therefore sometimes confusingly. We also have mostly limited it to physical attraction ( sexual) or family connections. The Greek language defines love in four ways. Eros, sexual love, however distorted by the world system is still ordained by God and to be used in the context of marriage for a man and woman to be joined together for their enjoyment and to reproduce. Phileo, brotherly love , deals with friendship; being cordial to one another. Storge, ( pronounced storgay), is the love shared in family connections; father or mother with children. Agape, God's kind of love, deals with the way God loves; it is without reservation. It is not given depending on your doing something. Romans 5:8 says God commends His love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. It is this love, agape love that is used throughout the letter of I John and the one evidence he spends the most time on. Note that he says that " we know that we have passed from death to life" when this evidence is present. In fact, he says that if it is not there we are still abiding in death. The 'doing of this is not what saves us, but the regenerate heart changed by His grace is one that is able to 'give' that agape love like He gave it. Note also, this is indeed a heart change; a real conversion. Yes, it does require some development which is why the Word says " put off the old man and put on the new". We are to "grow in this grace". But, the conversion is to a realization and response to His love ( agape) to you. Note also this love is defined by that very action that he did to prove His love and set the example for us to follow. "By this we KNOW love, because He lay down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren". This is the love that God has for us. He has given that love to you whether you receive it or not. Whether you believe it or not has not changed the fact that He has done it. Jesus became the atonement for your and my sin regardless of your response. Your response of repentance, your heart change, the new birth, is the marriage consummation connecting you and He together. It is receiving His agape love and giving it back to Him and now to others that is evidence of his eternal life fellowship that He invites us to. What usually keeps us from this love is fear. We're afraid of getting hurt, rejected or maybe even killed. That's why He ends this passage with "fear has torment". The torment is the unstableness in your life; the lacking of certainty. But He also says "perfect love casts OUT ALL FEAR. ". That's what we can KNOW. His love is eternal and is not governed by fear. Jesus proved that on the cross and conquered the grave. He offers us THAT fellowship with Himself, the risen savior and with the Father. It's that fellowship, the agape love, that we can give out to others too. "By THIS shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE (agape) one another". John 13:35

Greetings from snowy, springtime Rea Valley Baptist. Because of the snow, we have cancelled services AT the church, BUT I will be preaching the 5th sermon of the series 'Do You Know...' . We are looking at I John as the Lord speaks to us about our 'fellowship' with Him. Join us if you can. And...don't forget to move your clocks up. Blessings, and happy snow day!

http://reavalleybaptist.com/?p=574

Come see us this Saturday for VBS! 9AM - 4PM (3-4 family)

This is the picture that goes with the closing out chapter I wrote previously. This was my final Sunday preaching about the Samaritan woman at the well talking to Jesus (John 4). I didnt realize someone had captured this moment during the presentation. It pretty well captures the the whole thing of what God is doing in that part of the world. Again, thank you for praying. Ephesians 3:10 Jack

This will close out the chapter of 'Jack's Art Ministry' at a Bible college; unless, of course the Lord says 'let's do it again. Thanks Rea Valley church for 'sending' me ( or I should say allowing me) to go. As one man says " only eternity will tell what God does with this ". But I can say that with Terry and Cathy's planting and watering of 30 years and a bunch of Filipinos now on the field ministering, you can be sure that God is very much at work blessing this island and beyond with the gospel. Thank you very much for praying.

Apple (yes, that's her name) is telling her story of the 'sower and the types of soil' that Jesus gave. Many are taking their drawing skills back to their places of of ministry and using them to enhance their own planting and watering. It's been a huge blessing to watch this bearing fruit already.

What a blessing to watch the Lord Jesus touch a bunch of hearts this morning with His instruction to ABIDE IN HIM, the vine. Honey Boy helped me demonstrate that it's like 'making yourself at home' with Jesus. We get to make ourselves at home ... a. In the WORD b. in His love c. In His Spirit and d. In His prayer. Read John 15 and you'll see it. The several came up and made sure they were in the vine. Thanks for praying! God is blessing.

What a blessing to watch the Lord Jesus touch a bunch of hearts this morning with His instruction to ABIDE IN HIM, the vine. Honey Boy helped me demonstrate that it's like 'making yourself at home' with Jesus. We get to make ourselves at home ... a. In the WORD b. in His love c. In His Spirit and d. In His prayer. Read John 15 and you'll see it. The several came up and made sure they were in the vine. Thanks for praying! God is blessing.

Today's surprise was getting to be at the local village school's 6th grade graduation as a LRF representative. They get to teach Bible classes there. That's me on the back row. After we hiked up the mountain (again...other side today) to a pig roast at one graduates house.

"Yes, I would love to see Julie Andrews sing so joyfully as she trudges up this 'little' hill here in Mindanao...by the way it's at least 90 degrees. . . And Cathy knows all these people and loves them ( and they her). The man who lives up here had a stroke 30 years ago. We shared the story of Mary and Martha with Mary sitting listening to Jesus while Martha was busy in the kitchen. No, they dont KNOW the Lord yet, but they're listening. Sorry, didn't get the family photo ...ran out of battery juice. Janese, our little trail guide, will be a student at LRF next year. She's saving her pesos so she can." Blessings Jack

All the students learned to develop and draw their own story then present it. This is Honey Boy showing his about Jesus calming the storm. He is one of the 4 boys at LRF this year. It was a great 4 day conference. Again thank you for your prayers.

"This little guy is hearing the good news of Jesus this week, singing the songs of praise to Jesus, as well as watching his parents worship and serve the Lord Jesus. But he lives in a society which is either tolerant of that or very opposed. He is watching his parents and over 50 others come together and pray for guidance and strength as they return back to the field all over these islands carrying this message to those highways and hedges. This morning, Easter, he heard that He has a RISEN SAVIOR. Soon he will make a decision to accept Jesus and commit to follow Him or join the 'tolerant / opposed " group. Your prayers will help make the difference.". Happy Easter, CHRIST IS RISEN! Jack ( on the island of Mindanao)

Which children are you most likely to pray for? We may be inclined to pray for people selectively ( like/don't like). Jesus doesn't pray that way. John 17:20 gives us a picture of the way God prays . . ." I pray not for these ( present disciples) alone, but for those (all) who will believe on me through their word." The God that we say we serve is passionately pursuing those in the 'higways and hedges'. Walk with Him. God bless Jack

Meet two of your family members who are surrendering their lives to the Lord to GO to those places right here in their 'back yard' ... You can read about it on Rea Valley website http://reavalleybaptist.com

We're about to get this figured out about the picture problem. Stay with us for further instructions and keep praying. Here's the immediate prayer needs: 1. RAIN. Elijah where are you? 2. God's amazing grace poured out on the M's coming for the conference this weekend. 3. ...did I mention RAIN.

Good morning prayer partners... As we mentioned , we're having difficulty posing pictures on this fb page. We will keep you updated this way for now. We are at Life Resources Foundation, which is a Bible Training Center for Filipino students who have answered Gods call on their lives to go reach their world for Jesus. They're having a conference for past and present students this week end. Pray that this will be an inspiring and refreshing time for all the students and faculty.

The Chapman Bunch from Revive ministries blessed us all.

Isaac was Baptized this morning!

Here is a picture video of the out reach in the Flippin area from Connect over the weekend. If this interests you let us know so we can sign you up for next year! http://absc.org/vols-and-missions/student-missions.html

That is a wrap on VBS 2012

Connect 2012 Photo's. To God be the glory.