Why Study the life of David? He is the most outstanding type of our Savior Jesus Christ. David was chosen by God, anointed, reigned, and in many ways he was illustrative of Jesus. When we think of David, we think of his greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is an arrow pointing to Calvary as we study the Life of David.
[sermons series=27]
The first pillar in our missions statement is to Magnify JESUS through worship and the Word. In order to magnify JESUS through worship, we take great care and time in selecting both hymns and praise songs that convey biblical truth. We strive to balance the great hymns of Christianity with the great praise songs of Christianity. We recognize that God is focused on the heart of the worshiper, not the particular style or genre of music. But we strive to balance that with the fact that Jesus said we must worship Him both in “spirit and truth.” Therefore, we do take care and make sure that the words of the songs we sing are biblically accurate.
We also strive to magnify Jesus by preaching and teaching the Word of God accurately. Our leadership believes that one of the greatest problems facing Christianity today is the lack of care taken with the Word of God. We believe in Biblical preaching that will both educate and challenge Christians. Our goal is that when you leave RGBC after the Sunday morning sermon that you take at least two things with you from the sermon:
A second major emphasis of RGBC is “moving believers in JESUS toward maturity and ministry.” This second pillar is built upon the first one. As believers worship God in “spirit and truth” and consistently hear and apply the Word of God to their lives they will begin to mature in their faith. As believers mature in their faith they can then effectively minister to others. Maturity and ministry go hand in hand. As one matures in their Christian faith, they can then minister; and as one ministers they will continue to mature in their Christian faith.
A third emphasis of RGBC is “Making JESUS known to our neighbors and the nations.” This pillar is built upon the first two. As believers mature and take an active part in ministry within the church, they can then be better witnesses outside of the church. Jesus has mandated that believers take the saving message of Christ to their homes, their places of employment, their schools, and to the entire world.
In keeping with our mission, RGBC is thrilled to have a Spanish speaking church, Iglesia de las Americas, meeting on our premises. Iglesia de las Americas holds their own 11:00 am worship service in Spanish. This is exciting, to know on Sunday morning that while God is ministering to English speaking believers, He is at the same time ministering to Spanish speaking believers in the same building! This serves as a microcosm of what Jesus is doing around the world in the hearts of people … of all nations.
It was quite a week. Angie saw her first cockroach and even swept up a mummified rat in the house! Steve had dry wall fall on his head and pull a nail out of his shoe. Bob Tucker lost a little hair off the top of his head, eyebrows, and eye lashes when he was burning some wood and a gust of wind had the fire lick up his body once. I had a broken soul…. that is my shoe broke and we tried many venues to “heal this soul” of mine.
We had many laughs together as we worked side by side with a team from Canada. Oh how it blessed us to bind with them in God’s work. There are so many praises, lessons, and struggles that I don’t think I can blog an initial trial momentarily for I am overwhelmed by the work the Lord is doing through His body of believers. This same Spirit that is at work in me is also at work in these Canadians, in Mississippi believers, and in you, my brothers and sisters, and Old Forest Road Baptist Church.
“In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2: 21-22
How huge is He? He binds us to become be a sanctified place for the Lord to dwell! His Shikinah glory! Thank you for partnering with us with your treasures and time in prayer. We return to you this weekend but it will take weeks to reflect upon such refining lessons we have attained in such a short time. Pray that we are pliable to His continued work in our lives.
Eternally family,
Ann Croteau
“Humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.” ~ A.W. Tozer
“It will do us good to be very empty, to be very weak, and so to go about our Master’s work.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
These quotes seem to sum up the experience that I have had this week in Gulfport. Simply, it is all about Christ. The moment that my “self” was put ahead of the Lord, I became discouraged. But once I put Christ ahead of everything and purposed to serve Him and Him alone, then I was satisfied in Christ. It didn’t matter if I heard the word “thanks”, or was given a grateful smile (although this did happen!). My joy comes from the Lord and Him only! This has been the biggest lesson I have learned this week: putting into practice what I already knew to be true…to serve others “as unto the Lord”!
Praise God!
