Apr 12

Re-Joice – Graciousness

As we continue to talk about Joy I think it's interesting to see that Paul says "let your reasonableness be known to everyone."  This speaks to the attitude of rejoicing. Your attitude determines your altitude.

Some translations use gentleness or graciousness. So with the three words we get a good picture of the attitude that comes from someone who is rejoicing. It truly is a state of mind that leads to actions or attitudes in our lives.

Think about the people in your life that are gentle, not that they are wimpy, but that they are able to have self control in how they treat others. These are the people you seek out. You know that they are going to be encouraging and helpful.

The same goes with graciousness. When you encounter someone who is gracious you know that they will extend grace to you, even when you fail or mess up. They seem to be ok with allowing you to be you and not expect you to be perfect.

Finally, reasonableness is something we all need in this world today. With so much of our world going off the deep end and being unreasonable, we just need people who seem to have some sense! When we are reasonable, we are the type of person that can get through life's difficulties without flipping out.

Put all this together and we have someone who can be joyful in all circumstances. When you are the kind of person that is reasonable, gracious, and gentle you will always have a following and be able to give the reason for you joy.

Apr 12

Re-Joice

RE-JOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS

I've been spending some time in Philippians 4 preparing for our Wednesday night Young Adult study. It is such a good passage for this day and time. Paul writes Philippians which is often called the Epistle of Joy from a jail cell. Explain to me how that's possible?

We know the answer is, that it's not humanly possible. It is however possible by the supernatural result of remaining in the Spirit of God. Like Paul says in Philippians 1:9-11 "He prays that these believers in Philippi, are filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ."

Sometimes in life we can get knocked off our rocker. We can end up feeling beat down, tired, frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. That's when we need to be reminded to Re-Joice! I know that's not how you spell it but I think it comes across better that way when we say we feel like we have lost our joy and we need to find it again.

Joy is there for us. Not joy in this world or joy in tacos but the true joy that is found in Jesus. The joy that we all desire.

We are RE-Minded so many times in scripture of Satan's plan for us. One that includes "stealing, killing, and destroying our joy(John 10:10). That same verse also tells us that Jesus wants the opposite, he came so we could have life and have it in abundance. That abundance includes a life of JOY.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness[a] be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

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Mar 07

Young Adult Ministry Launch!

Today is a new day in my journey as a pastor. I start a new job as Young Adult Pastor. I have served since July 2018 as Student Pastor and today I make the move to a new ministry. I am excited to see how God uses this new chapter in my life and ministry.

I have always felt a strong call to encourage and equip. So as I have been praying and planning with the leadership at our church, First Baptist Panama City I feel like this is a great new role for me. I love to build relationships and disciple people and at this stage in my life this seems like a good move for me.

On Sunday March 6, 2022, we had an initial meeting with some of the young adults in our church and got some good feedback as to where to start. The goal of this initial meeting was to see what the needs and desires of the current young adults in our congregation are. I feel like I have a great place to start.

Ultimately I started out by saying we will take our starting point by looking at the early church in Acts 2. Our ministry will be focused on the Word of God and connecting with the family of God. I figure since the Bible is a good place to start.

As we discussed the following items came up.

  • Outreach & service opportunities
  • Missions
  • Discipleship & Deeper Bible study
  • Community & Fellowship
  • Intergenerational Church involvement

As a result of our meeting we will begin by doing the following:

  • Wednesday March 30 6pm - Spiritual gift discussion/Where to serve and get plugged in.
  • Sunday Night April 3 6pm - Young Adult Volleyball Night
  • Wednesday Nights April 6-27 - 6pm YA Discipleship Class

This is just the beginning for our YA ministry. It's a good place to start. Please pray with me and for me as I seek God's vision and other leaders.

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