Douglas Baptist Church

Here’s where we are heading friends on our advent journey. I’m looking forward to these times together! Feel free to read ahead…

November 28 10:50am              The Promise Delivered       Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14
December 5 10:50am                The Promise Conceived     Luke 1:26-37
December 12 10:50am              The Promise Believed        Matthew 119-23
December 19 10:30am              Special Presentation           “O Holy Night”
December 24 5:30pm & 7pm     The Promise Received        Luke 2:1-7
December 26 10:30am              The Promise Realized         Acts 13:26-33

Check it out here

I realize that Christmas can be a tough time for many folks. The season can bring to light all kinds of things in our families and personal lives. There are those who are dreading this Christmas for all kinds of reasons. At this point you aren’t even sure how you are going to make it through the season!

For those of you feeling like this, my prayer is this-that you will “let God’s promises shine on your problems.” You may have guessed by the quotation marks that I borrowed these words. Please know I truly mean them and will be praying them for all those who are struggling this Christmas.

As a prayer these words can be powerful and even more so when one considers where they originated. They are the words of Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. I can only imagine the struggles and problems this woman must have faced in her lifetime and yet she found strength in the promises of God!

May we all let God’s promises shine on our problems and receive His strength today as well as in the days to come!

As always I am looking forward to this Sunday. I know there are all kinds of things that take up peoples time once the weekend arrives but personally the part of the weekend I enjoy most is getting together with my faith family! This Sunday our theme is “Whatever it takes.” The part of the Bible we will be focusing on is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. If you get a chance have a look at it before coming on Sunday morning. At one particular point in this passage Paul writes that he has “become all things to all men.” Give that some initial thought…we’ll be talking about it more on Sunday. Would love to see you!

If you follow the blogs at DBC at all, you may notice that I’ve changed the heading on one of the blogs, from “Youth Blog” to “Pastor Dan’s blog.”  While I’ll still use this blog to update some youth events, I’d like this to be a chance to share with you some of my thoughts…

It’s getting close to winter (I love snow!  Can’t wait for some to stick to the ground) and so I took my car to the garage this morning to get our studded tires on.  What was supposed to be a 45 minute visit to Wonder Auto turned into an almost 2 1/2 hour stay.  Fortunately, I thought ahead and took a book with me.  It was a great opportunity to do some substantial reading and dreaming for ministry at our church.

A significant part of the book I was reading (Formational Children’s Ministy by Ivy Beckwith) challenges the readers to consider how we use stories as we teach and share the gospel of Jesus with our children.  Beckwith writes that “Bible stories are all about other people recognizing God’s activity in what for them might have begun as a very ordinary week.”  Too often we dissect the Bible stories looking for some moral truth, and forget to take them as they are given to us.  Much of the Bible is written in a story form, recounting how God engaged people over a period of centuries.

We are people who love stories.  When we’re with our families and friends, we share stories.  Most people, when choosing a book to read, will choose a story.  There’s something about being human that causes us to get lost in a story.

So, what is your favorite Bible “story”? (I know some people might cringe at how I’m using the word “story.”  I am definitely not implying that the Bible is a collection of fairy tales or fictional events.  I like the word “narrative”)

For me, one of my favorites is found in 2 Chronicles 23.  It’s the story of Jehoiada; a priest who remembers his commitment to God, and leads the nation in a period of revival as he takes down the usurping queen and reinstates the proper king to the throne.  It reminds me of how, as a pastor, I need to be reminding myself of my leadership.  Are people being pointed to God by the way that I lead and serve?