Blessed to Bless has been in our conversations for the past four years. It truly has been a blessing to see how God has blessed our direction and provided through His faithful followers who call themselves Trinity Baptist Church. Your hearts of cooperation, sacrifice and stewardship inspire us to continue the good thing that God has placed before us. We serve a God who has grand schemes and desires of redeeming this world. He has given His greatest gift to us in Jesus. I am amazed at God’s faithfulness to accomplish what He has begun. As we near the date of Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for our journey together and pray we can encourage more to journey with us.

 

There are just a few more details and then we will be announcing a special day to dedicate our new ministry space. If you have not taken the time to look through the open areas leading into our new building, do so and imagine with me the gathering of our present church and those who will come to join us. We will be back in our refreshed offices before long and will look forward to visiting with you there.

 

The word picture I have of the verse printed above is of a piece of paper where I have listed everything I could ever wish for and God coming to me and telling me that He has something so much better. in fact, it is immeasurably better. The greatest joy that we have ever experienced will not compare to that which God is bringing our way. I want to be busy serving God until it is revealed. I hope you will join me.

 

On Friday, November 11th, as a nation we will celebrate Veterans Day. I hope you will make a note to stop wherever you are at 11:00 a.m. and say a prayer of thanksgiving for our veterans who have served our country and afforded us the freedoms we enjoy today. Many have given the ultimate sacrifice of life while others have been wounded in many ways. “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” — G.K. Chesterton. Thank you, veterans, for your service.

 

Continue to be in prayer for our Minister of Worship Search Committee. The committee is doing a great job of moving through the process to discover our next Worship Leader. Our committee loves our church and it is apparent as they follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We have a wonderful ministerial staff and church staff at Trinity. God has knit together a group of individuals who work well to lead our church. Thank you for all your appreciation to our ministers. We love and appreciate the opportunity of walking alongside you as we serve the LORD. To God be the glory, great things HE has done, is doing and will do!

 

In Christ,

 

As I write this article I am also watching and hearing about the devastating Hurricane Ian that has reached landfall and produced a state of emergency for five states, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. We remain prayerful for the safety of loved ones and the rebuilding that will need to take place as a result of the high winds and water. In times like these it brings some comfort to know that neighboring states are ready to assist with the needs. Hurricanes and natural disasters put us all in the position of appreciating assistance from fellow human beings. Join me as we continue to pray how God will reveal Himself though these circumstances. I have heard from our Texas Baptist Men teams that they are on standby and may be called to go at any time. What do we do when what we consider to be basic needs are gone? Several of you have experienced storms both natural and physical. There is a silence and awing of events that follow such times. When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, Trinity Baptist sent teams of church members along with the Texas Baptist Men groups to assist in any way needed. I am grateful for the spirit of a church that is willing to go and get dirty, to walk alongside people who have needs of shelter as well as comfort. As followers of Jesus we are always called to be on standby whenever there is a need. Closer to home I am counting the blessings of a community and her leadership that stands consistent with Biblical standards. Both in our schools and our public library, there are those who give leadership to books that are appropriate for ages and community standards. We are blessed to have our City Officials and our School Board to give proper direction. Let us find ourselves supportive of those who are helping to lead us in the right directions. As we continue to think about blessings, we are getting closer and closer to a date for our grand opening of our new ministry space. Another blessing that overflows everyday is the faithfulness of Trinity Baptist Church to our godly assignment together. It is exciting to see the building taking shape and ceiling and floors being put in place. All of this because of our agreed upon direction and faithful support. Thank you Trinity for all you are doing. A Blessed Community is our new sermon series. We will be looking at the beatitudes in Matthew 5. I hope you will journey with us from Sunday to Sunday as we see the blessings of God and the faithfulness of God’s people. Please remain in prayer for our Minister of Worship Search Committee as they work though the process of discovering our next Minister of Worship. Remember we have been blessed so that we might bless others in return.

 

In Christ,

 

The world has never been boring. Everyone who has ever lived, lived in interesting times. We most certainly see interesting things around us today. We can notice the evil that is so prevalent around us or we can focus on our response and provide an escape. As I shared recently in a sermon, I have never lived in a time when the church is so opposed as it is today. There have been worse days in our history, but our post-modern culture presents challenging assignments for the church.

 

I am not depressed. I have read the end of the book. Nonetheless, these truly are interesting days. How we respond to everything going on in our world today speaks volumes about our faith and trust in God’s plan and solutions. It is time for us to hold strong to our biblical upbringing. It is time for us to stand on the truth of God’s Word. It is time for us to refute heresy with gentleness and respect allowing others to see the validity of our message. Sin carries consequences and a life lived in the Spirit produces fruit.

 

I recently read some great advice regarding our response to our current situations. We are challenged to walk with God today in what we know while waiting for tomorrow to come. We ought to be preparing ourselves for what is coming our way while at the same time living productive and fruitful lives. We desire for others to see the good things we do and glorify our Father in heaven. Our faithfulness is a powerful witness to those around us.

 

So how do we spend our time? We should consider evaluating what is most important and give our highest cause our greatest service. We are moving closer to a grand opening to a new opportunity. A new gathering place and teaching space. I am already anticipating greeting you in our new entrance. It will be joyful to look down from our walkways to see the fellowship taking place.

 

Faith family, you have been faithful to the task and faithful to your commitment. We are experiencing God’s blessing because we are sharing the blessing God has given in order to bless those we know as well as those we don’t know yet. Thank you for your faithfulness.

 

I want to also express my thanks to Carrie Overby who has served faithfully as our Worship Ministry Assistant. Carrie will be stepping down at the end of this month. Carrie is greatly involved in our worship ministry as a participant, but has also provided great leadership. Stephanie Clarke will be coming on staff this month to work alongside Carrie. We are grateful for all of God’s provision and are blessed by such a great group of ministers and assistants. Thank you, Carrie. Welcome, Stephanie.

 

Stay tuned to the announcements coming your way. We hope very soon to let you know when we will celebrate a grand opening to our new building. Who knows, we might even bring back donuts.

 

In Christ,