March 29, 2010... Training Materials

Greetings to you on this cool Monday morning... but the rest of the week is looking warmer... spring like.

PERSONAL NOTE: I want to thank all of those who participated in the Sunday am. worship service. It was a great time. Thanks are offered to Sue Warner and Bud Myers for their work with Kings Kids and Savior Singers. We always appreciate it when the kids participate. Thanks Bud for your rendition of Watch the Lamb. The song along with the video presentation is very powerful.

We enter into a very joyous season and yet a very somber time. What we call Easter is actually more of a season of events rather than just a holiday. We started off Sunday with Palm Sunday and next will be our Maundy Thursday gathering on April 1, 2010... which is followed quickly by Good Friday which will be held at the Episcopal Church this year. Sunday, the fourth of April is Easter Sunday, commonly referred to as Resurrection Sunday. The day begins with an Easter breakfast at 8 am. (did you sign up for it?) followed by a great Easter worship service at 9:30 am. featuring a cantata by our choir. You won't want to miss this day. Come and join us and consider bringing a friend.

REMINDER: Plan now to decide who you are going to invite to our first summer concert program on Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 4 pm. We are going to kick off our summer concert series with the ladies group, REJOICE. If you remember, they were here last year and did such a great job that I asked them to kick off our series this year. We are looking forward to their ministry here. Take advantage of this outreach event. Other groups this summer will be:

• June 27... The quartet, RECONCILED.
• July 18... Mark and Andrea Forester, a duet.
• August 29... The Gospel group, Heaven's Call, a mixed group.

Each concert will be given on a love offering basis. We trust that you will enjoy the groups and see the outreach possibilities.

MONTHLY AUDIO: Please see the March 1, 2010 blog in order to get the link that will allow you to hear and download this month's audio.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FEATURED ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Missing Genius. I think that you will find it interesting.

BONUS THEOLOGY ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: What Does Science Reveal About When Life Begins?

YOU CAN KNOW THE WILL OF GOD: In Matthew 5: 24 the will of God is revealed when it states that we are to be reconciled to a brother. It is reconciliation first, then sacrifice. In other words, we should take care of relationship problems first before we approach the Lord with our "religious sacrifice" so that our "worship" of God has meaning and not just going through the ritual. Read the entire passage (verses 21-26) to see what God is saying.

ADVANCED DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: The Life And Times Of Elisha The Prophet.

LEADERSHIP QUOTE: "Your attitude determines your altitude". John Maxwell

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL: Please click on this LINK in order to read Today's Devotional.

I trust that you will have a great week of service as we all focus our attention on the tremendous sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf.

In His Majesty's service, Pastor Darrell

March 22, 2010... Training Materials

Greetings to you all on this end of March Monday morning.

PERSONAL NOTE: I want to thank everyone involved in the service on Sunday morning. We had a fine time together. I applaud you as a Church for your recognition from the State of Mich. ABC concerning Missions giving in 2009. I don't know if you remember, but that is the second year in a row that we have received it. I believe it is almost totally due to our faith promise program. Praise the Lord.

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. This is a great season to invite a guest to share the service with you. Our Easter schedule is:

• Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 7 pm.... Maundy Thursday Communion service.
• Friday, April 2, 2010 at 7 pm.... Good Friday service at St. Christopher's Episcopal.
• Sunday, April 4, 2010 8 am. Church-wide breakfast and 9:30 am. worship and cantata.

We look forward to your presence on this very special weekend.

MONTHLY AUDIO: Please click on the link in the March 1, 2010 blog in order to download the monthly audio if you have not already done so.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FEATURED ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Servanthood: Our Money or Our Lives?

BONUS THEOLOGY ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Why Children Need Father-love and Mother-love.

YOU CAN KNOW THE WILL OF GOD: Today I will share with you two commands from God's word which clearly express the will of God for you. First, Titus 3 and verse 9 states that we are to avoid foolish questions... getting into controversies which are not profitable. Second, in the same passage, avoid quarrels over the law. The text makes it clear that this is unprofitable and futile. Do things that are profitable to others.

ADVANCED DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Passing the Peace Pipe: Conflict Resolution. Please read with interest.

LEADERSHIP QUOTE: "You can observe a lot just by watching." Yogi Berra

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL: Please click on this LINK in order to read today's devotional.

I trust that you will have a good day as you serve your Lord.

In His Majesty's service, Pastor Darrell

March 15, 2010... Training Materials

Greetings from cool and misty Grand Blanc, Michigan. I Trust that you will have a great day.

PERSONAL NOTE: Let me bigin today's blog by thanking everyone who had a part in the Mission's Conference. I thought that it was very good... good information and good challenge. A mighty thanks goes out to the Mission's Committee for all of their work in it. Thanks to our musicians who provided us with special music. I also wish to thank Leroy, John, Jordan and Greg for their mission's presentations which helped us better understand who and what we are supporting. Thank you to everyone who made the Satuday evening meal a success... good food!

Thank you to everyone who came out and made the conference what it was. I know as we begin our new missions year that God has some great things in store.

Hey Rich, thanks for the special vocal on Sunday for the worship service. I had not heard that arrangement of The Midnight Cry.

MONTHLY AUDIO: Please see the March 1 blog in order to click on this month's audio link if you have not already done so.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FEATURED ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: "Keep it Personal".

BONUS THEOLOGY ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: "When Will the Day of the Lord Take Place?".

YOU CAN KNOW THE WILL OF GOD: If you will turn to First Timothy, chapter 6 and verse 20, you will see where it is God's will that Timothy (and us by extension) is instructed to turn away from godless chatter and phony knowledge disguised as truth. There are all kinds of ideas floating around. Just because someone says something, dosen't mean it's true. God's Word does not contradict the truth. Watch what you "buy" from the marketplace of ideas. This is God's will.

ADVANCED DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: "How I Know Christianity is true". I know that you will find this challenging and hopefuly helpful.

LEADERSHIP QUOTE: "Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them." Earl of Chesterfield

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL: Please click on this LINK in order to view today's devotional.

May God's blessing be upon you as you serve the Lord this week.

In His Majesty's service, Pastor Darrell

March 8, 2010... Training Materials

Welcome to you all on this sunny Monday in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

PERSONAL NOTE: This past Sunday was our first Sunday with our new Music Director, Rich Brotemarkle. Welcome Rich... and we look forward to your ministry in our midst in the days and months ahead.

We were glad to have our Word of Life missionary, Bobby Francis with us for the morning worship service. It was good to see him and hear about what is happening with Bobby and his family. I will be meeting with Bobby in a couple of weeks to go over strategy concerning his support levels and our teen program.

This week begins our Mission's Conference here at First Baptist Church... it all starts on Wednesday evening. I encourage your attendance to each night's events. This time is a highlight of the year on the Church calendar. Wednesday, March 10, 2010 will feature Bro. Leroy DeMasellis from Rock of Ages Prison Ministries. Having Leroy is a great way to kick off our conference! I pray that through this short mission's conference that we will be blessed, instructed and challenged. The conference will run from Wednesday through Sunday. We will feature a variety of ministries and outreach. Our Theme for the conference is BRING THEM IN.

MONTHLY AUDIO: Please see the March 1, 2010 blog in order to get the download link for this month's audio.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FEATURED ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Unhappy? Maybe That's good!

BONUS THEOLOGY ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Demons: What Are They?

YOU CAN KNOW THE WILL OF GOD: In Romans 16 and verse 17, the will of God is that each one of us watch out for those who cause division and steer clear of them... they are clearly not serving the Lord in what they are doing and they may actually entrap you in their way of operating.

ADVANCED DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: Answers To Questions Most Asked by Gay-identified Youth. Read and be informed.

LEADERSHIP QUOTE: "A little security is sometimes worse than no security at all." David T. Chase

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL: Please click on this LINK in order to read today's devotional.

May God bless you as you serve Him this week.

In His Majesty's service, Pastor Darrell

March 1, 2010... Training Materials

Welcome to my site on this very sunny Monday morning in Grand Blanc. Because we are already in March, my thoughts are turning to spring.

PERSONAL NOTE: Just this morning I completed preliminary preparations for our summer concert series. I am looking forward to it. It took a little longer to organize then I had planned, but we had to make several adjustments in order to accommodate the musicians' schedules. Here is what it will look like:

• April 25, 2010... Rejoice will kick off the series. This is a ladies' group from Port Huron who were with us last year.
• June 27, 2010... Reconciled, a local quartet from Flint. This will be their first time with us.
• July 18, 2010... Mark and Andrea Forester from this area will be here. They have been here in years gone by.
• August 29... A concert to coincide with our Rally Day. Our guests will be Heaven's Call from Palos Heights, Il. They are a mixed gospel group.

Plan now to take advantage of the concerts in order to make each concert an outreach opportunity.

I want to thank Rev. Roy Schwarcz for ministering to us on Sunday. It was very interesting and uplifting. Thanks, Roy.

I wish that you would pray for me as I am scheduled to be on TV channel 49 on Monday, March 8, 2010 at 2 pm. Many lives will be affected by what the Pastor's panel says.

MONTHLY AUDIO: Please click on this LINK in order to hear and download the audio: Dependence On God, part 2.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FEATURED ARTICLE: Please clink on this LINK in order to read and download the article: CALLING... Leadership Lessons from the Prince of Egypt.

BONUS BOOK RECOMMENDATION: I would like to recommend the Thomas Nelson book entitled: Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible, J.I. Packer and M.C. Tenney, Editors. The single volume will cover things like the ancient world, chronology, archaeology, Ugarit, geography, agriculture, money, laws, marriage, clothing, music, etc. The book is a fairly large vol., but it is reasonably priced. Every teacher should have a copy.

BONUS THEOLOGY ARTICLE: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: The Bible: How Should We Interpret It?

YOU CAN KNOW THE WILL OF GOD: In I Thess. 5:22 The will of God is expressed by saying that it is God's will that we abstain from all appearances of evil. In I Peter 2:11 it also says that we should abstain from all fleshly lusts. These two passages together make it clear what God's will is for each of us... now if we will just practice what we know is God's will!

ADVANCED DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING: Please click on this LINK in order to read and download the article: How Does The Ten Commandments Fit In With Paul's Explanation To The Galatians?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE: " The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity." Mark Twain

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL: Please click on this LINK in order to read today's devotional.

I pray that your week will go well and that your service for the Lord will be pleasing.

In His Majesty's service, Pastor Darrell