Where Do You Go For Help?

How long has it been since you’ve been in trouble? Maybe you were traveling and took a wrong turn before arriving at your destination. After wandering around lost, you finally found the fortitude to stop and ask for help with directions.

Or maybe you were assembling that new toy you bought as a gift for one of your children, and after trying to figure it out on your own, you broke down and read the instructions.

Or maybe, you were trying to navigate a new program on your computer and after a few hours of fruitless frustration, you finally hit the “help” button on the upper right section of your toolbar for assistance.

Or maybe, your problems are a little more serious. Perhaps you have tried to determine how to stay afloat during a season of economic adversity. Perhaps you are trying to keep your marriage together during a season of mounting distress. Perhaps you are trying to stabilize your business in a season when many are operating in a deficit. Perhaps you are trying to find a sense of peace after wrestling with an excessive load of guilt, grief or anxiety. Perhaps you are trying to revitalize your walk with God after a season of spiritual dormancy.

When you are in trouble, where do you go for help? Psalm 46 begins with these words of affirmation: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” This Sunday, as we continue our series, The Music of the Spheres, we will explore Psalm 46 as we talk about how God wants to be your helper in times of adversity.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study. Be encouraged to invite a friend or neighbor who needs to hear a positive word from the Lord to join you this week.

"Footloose with the Lord of the Dance"

Just in case you missed it....here is the central idea from Sunday October 12:

"Footloose with the Lord of the Dance"
Psalm 30

God wants to put a new dance in your step and a new song in your heart.

8-10 I called out to you, God; I laid my case before you: "Can you sell me for a profit when I'm dead? auction me off at a cemetery yard sale? When I'm 'dust to dust' my songs and stories of you won't sell. So listen! and be kind! Help me out of this!" 11-12 You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance; You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers. I'm about to burst with song; I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough.
Psalm 30:8-12 The Message

*You can state your case before God with candid honesty.

*Only God can make you footloose from your past.

*God wants to choreograph your steps as you dance to a new tune.


As a Christian, God doesn’t want your life to follow “the same old song and dance.” God wants to teach you a new step and a new tune through which to celebrate and share God’s love and grace.

Just in Case You Missed It

In recent weeks, many of our sermons, columns, and devotionals seem to be pointing us toward an upgrade in the way we worship and minister at First Baptist. We are a good church with a great heritage, but I believe God is inspiring, prompting, and leading us toward something that is more challenging and more demanding than what we have experienced in the past.

Just in case you have missed one of the Midweek or Sunday worship gatherings, or you haven’t read The Builder word for word, here are a few excerpts from recent weeks:

The way I see it, most of us are at our best doing “hands-on” ministry. If as a people of God we are much better at doing ministry than talking about doing ministry, why do we invest so much time doing the latter?

One good way to honor God is by faithfully managing and wisely investing all of the assets and resources that God places in our care.

Procrastination, lethargy, and laziness develop when we don’t take ourselves and our responsibilities seriously enough. Stress, anxiety, and depression develop when we take ourselves and our responsibilities too seriously.

In a world where faith and science are all too often portrayed as adversaries rather than partners, we need to be reminded that the natural universe joins the biblical revelation in singing the chorus of God’s greatness.

Be careful…most every generation wants to change a few things passed along from their parent’s generation but then for some strange reason they want the process of change to stop with them.

One thing we learn about stewardship from the Old Testament is that God is never pleased with re-heated sacrifices and recycled offerings.

Getting in tune with God will refresh and refocus your life.

If God is the great artist working on a masterpiece, think of your life and think of our church as God’s canvas, and remember that God’s paintbrush is still wet.

Here’s a preview of what you will hear this Sunday when we talk about being “Footloose with the Lord of the Dance” from Psalm 30:

God expects more from us than “the same old song and dance,” day after day and week after week.

God wants to teach us a new step and a new tune through which to celebrate and communicate God’s love and grace.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study. Don’t miss it for the world!