A good day

It's late and I am tired so I am not going to write much today. So I have just two quick thoughts to pass on.

First, I finished a series of four sermons based on the Book of Ezra today. I have to confess that from a preacher's standpoint, it was one of the best series I have ever preached. Every message had some poignant words for us to hear. I know God spoke to me and I hope he spoke through me as well. As a New Testament preacher I don't often get as excited about preaching from the Old Testament but this series was different. I think it was because my focus was on the church and what God is calling us to do. Things are good at First Baptist right now and I think we can all feel the Holy Spirit doing things and preparing us for the next steps.

Which brings me to my second point. We had our 208th Annual Meeting today after church. It included fellowship around the tables at a soup and sandwich lunch. We talked about the things we have done and began to get excited about what lies ahead. It was a good meeting.

Too often I hear stories about the nightmares at other churches. Meetings turn into battle grounds. Budgets become stumbling blocks. Sometimes people are even put down and disrespected. We are blessed at First Baptist. Even when there is an honest disagreement about something, we hear each other and strive to come up with a plan that works for most of us. We are not a rich church, but God has blessed us. That is why we are looking to do more in the coming year. We believe that" to whom much is given, much is required." We have been given much.

A special word of thanks to Bob & Helen Walker who provided the soup today. It was great. Thanks to George Strouse and Sandy Stone who assembled the Report Booklets yesterday.

Just a reminder about next Sunday: We worship at Central Baptist at 10:30 a.m. Sunday School is there as well beginning at 9:08 a.m.

Cal