It's been awhile since I have blogged at all, so I have lots to catch up.  I could write about the many baptisms that have taken placed here at Baybrook, or how it seems that this school year went by extremely fast. ( Austin is graduating in June)  Everywhere I look, it seems the God is up to something here and I can't put to words how excited I am at all He is doing.  I could even write about the "Feet to Faith" Sunday we recently had and how wonderful of a time that we had serving at Kidz Harbor or how God replaced our AC units that were stolen at our church.  All of it points to a loving God who absolutely wants to use us in His Kingdom, despite our failings. 
While I could write about all of this... I just did... what's really been on my mind and heart has been what a fellow pastor spoke about recently.  He posed this question... "How to we serve our Lord, Jesus; if He is not here physically for us to serve him?"  If we're to be true followers of Christ and serve Him daily, how to we do this when we can't see or touch Him today? 
The answer to this lies in Matthew 25 ....   ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The key verses in all of this is verses 35-40.  "when we do it to the least of these, my brothers, you do it for me!" 
How do we give gifts to Him?  How do we serve Him?  How to we honor Him?  We serve His children, the ones He died to forgive, the ones He loves.  It should not matter if they are "like us" or not, if they smell nice, act right or from this country or not. "

It's never easy, but Jesus warned us about that many times.  So, how are we doing?  How am I doing?  Will He say that I fed, clothed visited Him when I do see Him face to face?

Joe

We now have on our church calendar the dates that we'll leave these walls and minister to our community on a Sunday morning.  (April 2nd and October 3rd)  I'm so looking forward to these days and meeting new people and learning new ways to minister.  I wonder sometimes what Jesus would think if He walked into our church on a Sunday morning, or any church for that matter. (He's there by the way) Would He be pleased at what takes place?  Or would He remind us that we are the Light of the World.  That light within us should be set high, where people can see it, not hidden.  I love to meet new people because that is one of the ways I can let the light of Jesus shine in me, allow Him to love others through me.  That's why I play basketball at places like the YMCA and things, to meet new people. 
I'll be back preaching from the book of Acts this next Sunday and I'm reminded that while we're getting out and ministering to others, it is the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit that is able to change lives.  Acts 17 is all about how a small group of men "turned the world upside-down."  It was not their strength or power or intellect, but the power of the message they brought, and I love that message... that  Jesus suffered and died and rose again! 
Keep praying for our church, our staff and me; that I'll be what God wants me to be. 

It seems everyone is blogging, tweeting or facebooking these days, and these are great ways to communicate in a world of new technology.  So, not wanting to miss a new way to  communicate, here I am intering this new world of blogging.  It's the beginning of a new year and I feel I'm about a decade behind in some ways in all of this.  I equate this with learning a new language at an old age; children learn languages so easily when they are young, but as the years accumulate, learning seems to get harder and harder.  So, please excuse me as I "learn this second language" and try to commuicate.  This blog is for Baybrook members and visitors mostly.  There are many times on Sunday  that I just don't have the time to speak on all that God has placed on my heart or the things He is teaching me during the week.  It may be a place where I can put my thoughts and allow others to get to know the "inner " Joe.  This blog is where I'll try to catch anyone, who is willing to read, up on what goes on during the week.  It may be long some weeks and at other times very short.  I'm not sure how much I will put up each week, but something will be new every week.  First week of 2011 -  I have so many thoughts roaming my head.  I LOVE the vision God has for this church (being externally focused and getting outside the walls), but I feel I don't communicate this the best all the time.  I want us/me to get INVESTED in others this year,  to serve the community is such a way that we have a real IMPACT on their lives.   James says  that faith with out action is dead and I never want to be a part of a dead church.  This year I'm calling myself to action, to live my faith OUT LOUD in such a way to impact others and see God change lives.  This action should not be just for "me", so that I feel appeased that I "did something".  NO!  Action that God lives through and moves through, to see Him glorified and others changed!  That's my desire.  This may sound a little like the ramblings of a mad man, but I hope you'll see my heart and ultimately, see God move in YOU!  I hope you'll comment on these from time to time and let me know you more as well.



Seeking Him,
Joe