From the Pastor's Heart

Church Family, 

 

1 Corinthians 15:9 says, "For I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted the church of God." Here Paul is reminding the Corinthians of how the gospel was preached, and he recounts his own salvation. The thing I find fascinating here is that Paul consistently remained humble in his letters, although from our perspective, he is the most fruitful apostle! He wrote 13 letters in the New Testament, and he was responsible for bringing the gospel to many churches in Macedonia and all the way to Rome. By worldly standards, he is the man! And yet, Paul didn't look at himself from a worldly perspective, but rather, he looked at himself as he was in Christ. And there, Paul saw himself as the least of them all. In a culture that is all about self-esteem and focusing on you, maybe we need to take notes from Paul. We need to look at who we are in Christ and that will humble us, and exalt our joy in Christ! 

 

As for announcements, Homecoming is here! This coming Sunday we will be celebrating 221 years. So make sure to bring the dish that you signed up for and come ready to sing and worship the Lord! I'm excited about it!

 

Second, the Men's Ministry will be having breakfast on Saturday September 21. So if you're a man, then make plans to come and join us for that time of food and fellowship. We are hoping to do these more regularly than we have in the past as we seek to encourage and exhort one another. 

 

Finally, the Saluda Baptist Association Annual meeting will be October 6 at First Baptist Iva. They will have a ministry fair that begins at 4pm, and then the service will begin at 5:30pm. If you're able, I want to encourage you to come a join us at this special meeting. It will be a time of worship, you'll learn about the work that's been done, and you'll get to hear the new Executive Director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Dr. Tony Wolfe, deliver a message from the Word of God! So mark it on your calendar and plan to be there. 

 

With that, I'll see you on Sunday!