Church guide

Our Provider What brings us vitality? What sustains us as we navigate our journey of life? Most of us like to think that we are self-sufficient, and many of us try our best to live out our lives in an arena of self-sufficiency. We do not want to depend on anyone for anything. We will provide our needs, and we will make it through the good times, the bad times, and in short, all times! But we were not created to be alone. Self-sufficiency becomes an issue of pride for many of us. We are too prideful to rely on anyone else. And once our self-sufficiency becomes a habit, we are unable to differentiate between help from our friends and the divine intervention that we so desperately need. In Matthew 4:4, the Jesus tells us, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Our lives depend on God’s action in them. He provides what we need. Food alone will not suffice. Food does not bring health and vitality. We are consistently sustained by the word of God. His Word is life-sustaining and life-altering. His word brings healing, and provides the salve for for the broken-hearted. His word ushers in fresh water to stagnate lives. His word provides a rope for those in a state of desperation and disillusionment. We should never minimize the power of God’s word. What He speaks is power! We He provides is sustaining. What and whom He loves, is us. We are the object of His affection. And we live best, when we live according to His word, and when we live in Him!

Finish Well One of the travesties of the Christian faith are the countless numbers of Christians who waver in their commitment to God and fulfilling His call on their lives. We need to be mindful that God has our best interest at heart. His will is always in our best interest. In Philippians 1:6, Paul reminds us, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What God begins, He finishes. He will see it to completion. We need to discern the work of God in our lives, and we need to enjoy every moment of the journey so that we can benefit from knowing the completion of the good work in us. God desires complete joy for our lives, and His good work in us is never meant to make us temporarily happy. His work is always about completion—completely finishing a task, and completely providing joy to our lives. Following God and pursuing His will is not always easy. There are many steps of faith in which we are walking in an unknown area. But we always know who is leading and guiding us. God is always directing our feet, our hands, and our hearts. With God there is no dead end journey. He will always see our journey to its completion. If we find ourselves on a road that dead-ends to a brick wall, we need to ask ourselves two questions: 1. Is this road the road that God wants me to travel? 2. Is it possible I have gone down the wrong road? If this particular journey is God’s design, He will either move the wall in front of us, have us climb it, or obliterate it from our path. We must always remember that with God, nothing is impossible. We must make sure that we are pursuing His will, and that we are on the road that He has chosen for us. Consider the following: 1. What area of my Christian journey feels as though I have reached a “dead end?” 2. Is this “dead-end” journey an alignment to God’s purposes and will? 3. How can I best insure that I will finish my journey well?

We Can Do More We can always be better stewards of our time and resources. We always need to give our very best to every endeavor we undertake. There is no room for half-sized commitments. But if we are not careful, we WILL burn out. When we serve in our strength, we are bound to get weary. Life goes on, and it does not slow down for anyone. It does not take very long for a zealous, energized, and spirited person to become sluggish, haphazard, and careless. The transition between these two extremes has to do with the source of our strength. In Ephesians 3:20-21, Paul reminds us, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” God is at work. He is able to do “immeasurably more” that what we could “ask” or even “imagine.” When His power is at work in us, we are not serving with our power but with his. Therefore, we will not get tired, because serving Him in the strength that He provides is not tiresome but is invigorating. When we are tired, it is a sign that we have begun to serve in our own capacity. We need to maximize on His power that is in us. Consider the following: 1. Lately, am I more irritable than usual? Do I find myself overwhelmed when I look at what I have to accomplish? If so, then seek God’s power, and begin serving, and working through the strength that He provides. 2. Are there issues and problems that I have not been able to solve? Am I having trouble FULLY giving those circumstances over to the Lord? If so, release yourself to God’s purpose. Quit trying to control things, and begin surrendering those issues, circumstances, people, places, and things to Him. He is able to do far more than we can “ask” or “imagine.”

Choir Resumes 6:00PM on Wednesday, July 10. JOIN US!!

Our View It seems that with every passing moment our world becomes more and more polarized. The divisiveness and corruptness of leadership—the unwavering bigotry—the disdain for the marginalized—and the list could go on! How should we live? What should be our view? In Proverbs, God reminds us, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (14:34). If we want a nation that is blessed, then we need to seek God’s righteousness. And there is often a difference between the righteousness that we seek, and the righteousness that God provides. As fallen creatures we always seek our best interest. We have to put aside our wants, our desires, and our plans for God’s purposes. Sin corrupts and condemns all of us. Greatness is achieved by the unleashing of God’s Spirit within us. We cannot seek God’s will without going to God first. We cannot be a part of God’s will and receive the bounty of His righteousness if we are not putting Him first. Our great nation will celebrate its 243 birthday tomorrow. The answers to our problems is not going to be aligning ourselves with a progressive view. The solution will not be found in being more traditionally aligned. There is one reason that many of us speak about the importance of “values.” It is because we have lost in the arena of morality. God is not on any one’s side. In fact, we don’t need a conservative view; we don’t need a liberal view. We need God’s view. It is never an issue of liberal or conservative? (What do these terms actually mean?). It is always a concern of right and wrong, namely, God’s RIGHTeousness being pursued. If we find ourselves disenchanted with our way of living, then it’s time for a change. We need to quit trying to change others and begin changing ourselves so that ‘God’s view’ becomes ‘our view.’

Searching the Heart Our hearts are at the center of our being. Beliefs, motives, and behaviors emanate from our hearts. This life presents so many challenges: sickness, death, envy, lust, broken relationships and many more issues. We may not be able to fix all things, but we can own what is ours. We can do our part in making sure we do not contribute to our continued brokenness. The Bible reminds us in Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “‘I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve’” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). God examines our hearts. He alone is able to discern its condition. He rewards us based on how we conduct ourselves. Our hearts are always linked to our conduct. We need to take a peek into the depths of our hearts. What impurities can we see? What imperfections can we remedy? What changes do we need to make? We need to pray that our hearts are completely purged of anything and everything that hurts, harms, discourages, or damages ourselves and other people. This must be a continual prayer and action. We need God’s healing. We need his deliverance. If our hearts are heavy, He is the only one that can remedy that weight. May we release ourselves to Him, so that he can lighten the load of our journey.

We are so proud of Cortlyn Holdren as she leaves for Summer Missions in Thailand. Please follow her activities and ministry through her blog at this link.

Our morning crew is ready. Come visit us and play some cornhole at The Covered Bridge Celebration.

The last night of a fabulous week of ROAR VBS at FBC Elizabethton. Thank you Jason and LeAnn Holly. What a great week!

The stage is set! Come adventure with us to Africa at Roar VBS! June 9-13 from 6:00-8:30. Dinner will be served! Life is wild...God is good! Come join us!

VBS! VBS! VBS! ROAR!!! VBS WorkNight begins at 6pm tonight. LeAnn has so much to do and so little time! Come join us!

Vacation Bible School is about to “ROAR”!! Come join the fun nightly at 6pm as we prepare for the “wild” time. VBS WorkNights all week at 6pm.

Contact the Church Office at 423-543-1931 for more information.

Caregivers We typically think of caregivers as those individuals who help senior adults with day-to-day tasks. Caregivers serve in the gap to protect, care-for, and provide support to others who may need assistance with life’s basic tasks. The fact is that all followers of Jesus need to be caregivers. Paul alludes to this in Romans, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves” (12:10). We need to be devoted to each other—not out of obligation, but out of love. We love others because Christ first loved us. God’s plan for our relationships with other people involves loving others and considering other’s needs above our own. Can we imagine what would happen if the world followed this ethic? Broken friendships would be restored. Broken families would be mended. Enemies would become friends. People would be united. Love would emanate from the core of human existence. Divisions would be less-pronounced. Diversity would fade into cohesion. Elephants would sit with donkeys. But most importantly lions would sit with lambs. This is not a lofty dream. This is God’s pronouncement. This is a goal that could happen. The reason it doesn’t happen is that we lack the passion, zeal, determination and faith to see it done in our time. Love never occurs without sacrifice. Like the rich young ruler, many of us are not willing to sacrifice what it would take to see radical love lived out as mentioned in this passage. May God forgive us for our selfishness, and our inclination to manage problems and brokenness rather than being a solution to them.

Howdy Neighbor! The Bible is pretty clear on how we should treat other people. We should treat them the way we want to be treated. We were created to have a relationship with God, and to have relationships with one another. These relationships are built upon trust, compassion, forgiveness, and grace. The Bible tells us in Romans, “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up” (Romans 15:2). Our role with those around us is to build people up. This runs counter to our culture which seeks to take people down. We need to be an encouragement to others. When I look around our world, I see much disgrace. People are constantly try to compete for position, attention, favor, and love. We need to seek the good in other people. This does not mean that we are drawn to everyone. God created us with personalities, and those personalities do not always align with one another. But we must be careful not to demonize other people with whom we disagree. We need to bring out the best in others. If we find ourselves having enemies today, we have corrupted the relationships we were attended to embrace. Enemies were not created in a vacuum. We need to ask ourselves, “What have I done to cause this problem?” “What have I said, or what actions have I taken, that caused this breakdown in a relationship?” “How could I have been misunderstood, and how could I have communicated better?” The sooner we realize our culpability in a situation, the easier it will be for us to seek to remedy it. Conflict has two sides. It is never 100% the other person’s fault or the other side’s fault We will never go wrong when we try to encourage other people. Over the years, I have had numerous difficult people to address. Some were quite mean to me personally. Some spread lies, and falsehoods about me. Others just didn’t like my personality or my sarcasm. But what they really despised about me is that I refused to retaliate against them. I would bless them. I would encourage them. I didn’t ignore the issues, but I refused to allow those circumstances to prevent me from being the person that God desired me to be. I was careful with my words, and careful with my actions. I have always tried to see my “enemies” in light of God’s grace, and I have hoped that reconciliation would only be a prayer away. Some might argue that I am idealistic, but I really do believe that God can mend relationships no matter how devastating the brokenness.

Join us for the Feast of Sharing, this Thanksgiving Day at FBC Elizabethton.

The History of First Baptist Church, Elizabethton Tennessee CLICK THE LINK & DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY: https://www.fbcelizabethton.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/History-FBC-Elizabethton.pdf

Winter Retreat Informational Video

https://www.buzzsprout.com/10498/534315-move-forward-philippians-3-12-14

For those of you who are experiencing a difficult time, take Christ's words to His disciples. "Come and See!" Come and experience a God who cares for you in ways that you and I can only imagine! First Baptist Church cares for you and your family. "Come and See" for yourself, and be awakened to His amazing love and compassion for each of us. https://www.buzzsprout.com/10498/525458-come-and-see-john-1-39

https://www.buzzsprout.com/10498/517424-seek-first-his-kingdom-matthew-6-33

The FBC Kids presented our Resurrection Play tonight. It was a great start to Easter Week! Thank you to these amazing kids for setting our hearts right and to everyone who helped! Praise Jesus!

Multiply

They were getting pumped up!!!#FBCYouth

Sunday night Worship in song at First.