This week, I am excited to travel to Turkey with a group from First Baptist to sail along the coast, following in the footsteps of Paul. We will be visiting Ephesus and other significant sites from his missionary journeys. While I am away, you are in for a special treat! On Sunday, September 14, Kyle Matthews will be leading an all-music service. Then, on September 21, Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Dean of Duke Divinity School, will preach. You do not want to miss these services!
I will be back on Sunday, September 28, but that Sunday will be special as well. Dr. Jennifer Bashaw, Associate Professor of New Testament and Christian Ministry at Campbell University (Ph.D., Fuller Seminary), will lead Sunday School for youth and adults on the topic: “How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself and Your Family.” She will also join us during worship, and the sermon time will take the form of a Q&A between her and me—we are in for a great September at First Baptist.
Finally, if you were here for the first Sunday of “The Road to Christlike Character” sermon series, I discussed how human beings are primarily desiring, not just thinking, creatures, and our actions flow out of what we truly love rather than what we merely know. I reflected on how Jesus’ question in John 1,
“What do you want?” calls us to examine the deepest longings of our hearts, as these desires ultimately determine who we become and what we worship. By intentionally orienting our hearts and habits toward Christ through practices such as prayer, worship, and service, we can realign our desires and cultivate a character that reflects God’s love.
On Monday morning, I received an email from Ashley Abreu about how the sermon impacted her family. She wrote, “I just wanted to reach out and let you know how last week’s sermon touched my 10-year-old’s heart. When you spoke, she heard you say that the more we serve as the hands of Jesus, the easier it is to grow up, and naturally be inclined to serve. That really resonated with her empathetic heart. She promptly went home, grabbed her cash, and asked to go to the dollar store to make care packages for the unhoused. Then she went to school and asked her girlfriends to help her make bracelets to sell to raise more cash for bags.”
Ashley’s daughter not only got the sermon—”the more we serve as the hands of Jesus, the easier it is to grow up inclined to serve” (our habits form our character)—but went home and lived it!
—Carol