What's New?

    

      Do you make New Year’s resolutions?? I do. Why?? Because you never hit a goal that you don’t set.

     When the Lord finally had Paul’s undivided attention on the road to Damascus you might remember what Paul said, “6 ...Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6 NKJV)

     Some people get really frustrated trying to make spiritual progress and I’d like to suggest a possible reason in hopes of helping your get out of the rut you may feel like you are in.

    So many Christians want to be Spirit-filled, but have they ever asked why God should fill them with His Spirit?

     Imagine a man pushing a car into a service station. It has no battery in it. The car has four flat tires, a hole in the gas tank, and half the wires are disconnected. The attendant comes out, looks at this rattle trap, and says, “May I help you?”

     And the man says, “Yeah, fill 'er up.” What do you think that attendant would say? “What for?” would be appropriate. I think God sometimes says, “What for?” to us. Instead, we need to just sign the contract at the bottom and say, “Lord, You fill it in.”

     Bow before the Lord, open your hands and say, “Lord, It's all You. I am nothing but a vessel for You to use. Use me as You will.” “13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13, NASB).

    Step #1—Look forward. Don’t think of yourself in terms of what you have been. Leave the past in the past. God wants you to look ahead. Your enemy wants to remind you of your history. You have yet to discover your God-ordained potential.

     Step # 2—Prioritize. Paul said, “One thing I do..” and the he put all of his effort into the most important thing (straining). He longed to attain the prize of the Christian servant.

     Nehemiah was a man who knew how to get alone with God. He fasted, prayed, and wept; then God told him what to do.  Have you done that? Have you sacrificed and surrendered to the Lord to discover His will for your life? Or are you just putting yourself into neutral and letting life happen to you? Do you have a focus?

     God has something that He wants you to do. You are special to God. Nehemiah said, “God had laid something on my heart.” If you'll listen, God will lay something on your heart.   Get alone with God this month; discover what He wants from your life and how to do His will.

     2011 would be a great time to start doing many of the important things that God has already challenged you to do. So when someone asks you, “What’s new?” I hope you have an answer.

Watching Jesus make ALL THINGS NEW!

Pastor Marty

ADVENT: The Long Awaited Appearance

     I’m excited like a young child eagerly waiting for Christmas morning. Why?? It looks like we have a tremendous opportunity to launch into a Hispanic Ministry in Kirksville.

     For those who are concerned about cost and budget issues. We will be able to start this new work with zero money down and payments of zero dollars per month!!

     Here’s what has transpired: A couple of years ago, after speaking to several Hispanic families as we made visits, I had asked the pastor of the Hispanic Mission in Milan if he’d every thought and prayed about starting a work in Kirksville. His name is Bro. Carlos Lozano. At the time he couldn’t do it.

    Then last month he came by and we visited. Now we’d like to share the vision with the family at First Baptist get them to begin praying for this ministry.

     I believe it will be good not only for the people that are reached by it, but it will be good for us too. As we wrap our arms around this group of people and live and love and serve from the same location, it will shape our hearts to be more like God’s heart.

     At this time of year, we always pray and give toward foreign missions—not it is coming to our door! We will be holding conversations about this in our various groups, Sunday School, etc. I would especially like feedback and ideas about how the we can make this a sweet ministry expansion because of careful planning.

   Just like Jesus was the ultimate advent (Is. 9:2, 6) “2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them . . .6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” This is our day to share His light with others.

Anticipating Jesus’ second appearance,

Pastor Marty

PASTOR’S PEN—NO SUCH THING AS LUCK!

     I’m a goal setter. I can’t help it. I love leadership materials by people who know how to achieve great things; John Maxwell for example. Goal-setting is a wonderful way to measure progress.

     According to my life plan from 20 years ago, by now I was supposed to have earned my doctorate, be teaching at a respectable seminary and publish several books and articles. Those goals turned out to not be a part of God’s plan for me. So far none of that has happened, but many other amazing things have happened.

     As I think about how we will progress through the month of March in a joint study called One Month to Live, the subtitle: “30 Days to a No-Regrets life” gives pause to stop and see how you and I have been doing on our life goals.

     One of the principle reasons for failure is that we don’t stop and include God in our goal-setting.. Think of the great victory experienced by God’s people at Jericho . What happened next? Joshua sent men to spy out the land of Ai. He failed to stop and seek God’s plan ~ he simply moved instinctively. The men of Ai sent them running away with 36 casualties of battle. Finally in Joshua 7:6 He wept and grieved and God was able to point out some sin among the people.

     Once free from that sin, they would forever remember to listen carefully for the voice of God to lead them and follow all of His instructions. Well, they remembered it for a little while. Allow me to offer you some ideas for goals that God is interested in setting with you for 2010. Hopefully they will help you establish a “No-Regrets” lifestyle.

     In the midst of your quiet time as you pray and dig into God’s powerful Word, write down a few short lists:

     A) Set 2 Spiritual Goals (2 Pet. 3:18) “18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity”

     B) Set 2 Physical Goals (Rom. 12:1) “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ”

     C) Set 2 Mental Goals (Rom. 12:2) “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

     D) Set 2 Social Goals (Rom.12:10) “10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor ”

     E) Set 2 Stewardship Goals (Luke 6:38) “38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

      March `10 will be a busy month as we find our places of service and help the Arise race (April 3 - race forms available at http://www.fbckvmo.org/) become a major outreach event. It will get even busier as we prepare an amazing Easter Cantata on April 4th.

     My challenge to you is to so thoroughly set your goals with God that you prevent the “tyranny of the urgent” from taking over and setting our agendas. Kerry Shook refers to our lives as the dash between two dates. In his book he asks “Are you living for the DASH, knowing fully who you are and why you are here? Or dashing to live, hurriedly spending precious time chasing things that don’t really matter..”

     Isaiah 46:9-11 says “9 Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, ... saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; 11 ... truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. ”

     It’s not just a cliché, God really does have an amazing plan for your life. A plan that will bring you far greater joy and challenge than you ever thought you could accomplish. I look forward to the results of these next 30 days.

In His service and love,

Pastor Marty

Learning to live a

“No-Regrets” life

Pastor’s Pen
What about LOVE?!?
Remember in the great “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13 , God tells us of ALL the great things we might experience, the greatest of these is LOVE.
Unfortunately most of America has reduced the concept of love to the temporary emotions of attraction and romance। However, Not only is the greatest of these, love, it also never fails; meaning it never stops.
Love is so much more than a feeling It is also the defining characteristic by which believers should be identified। John 13:34-35 says “34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another 35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Then there are all kinds of tests of our priorities in love. God will put our love to a test as He did with people of the Bible. Abraham was tested by being willing to give his son back to God as a sacrifice.
The Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10 & Luke 18) who wanted eternal life was asked to select what would be his ultimate love in life...his wealth or following Jesus. His story was a very sad ending especially from the point of view he has today!
We have customized our special observance of Valentine’s Day to accommodate people from all walks, married, single, single again, teens, college students and even middle and high school students.
Since the big day falls on a Sunday, we’ve made it FREE। We’re planning things that will make you laugh `til you cry and then cry `til you laugh. Special music will be provided by Unique Ensemble. Plan on having the best Valentines Day celebration ever!
Bro. Charles is getting pretty excited about an Evening to Remember '10, (Feb. 14th @ 6 p.m.)!

Your loving pastor,
Marty Joplin

January - late

The Pastor's Pen— Let's Do It Again in 2010

The second chapter of Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians warns the believers in that town to not get discouraged because of the different and sometimes undisciplined people who were being added to the fellowship. And he makes a special point in verse twelve to challenge the church: Don't give up, Don't get burned out! The NASB translation renders God's instruction this way: "¹³ But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good." If you've been around the First Family for the last seven years you might have good reason to think Paul is speaking to you. There was so much to do during the 3 plus years without a pastor and over the last 3 plus years we've moved through all the normal and some abnormal adjustments. I still remember pulling in to our new address on Orrick Trail and seeing so many people putting an "extra shine" on our home. It seemed that we just got everything put away when suddenly I faced medical procedures that caused me to be anesthetized 3 times in 6 months. I'd never even been overnight in a hospital until we moved to Kirksville! And how you all stood beside us during my recovery—what a blessing!!

We've been through significant changes in the office and administrative staff during this time as well and we pray that this team that is assembled now can remain and improve as we serve together.

As I read over the calendar for 2009 I smiled. So many wonderful things happened. We came out of 2 semesters of "Operation Kirksville" door to door visits along with our three sister SBC churches in K'ville. Tim Sadler preached our spring revival and we had 2 nearly full "Experiencing God" classes. This reached a pinnacle on Easter Sunday. I had planned to preach a short sermon as we were going to baptize 19 people on a single Sunday. Good thing too, as my voice was almost gone.

Three years ago we were fortunate to have 4 or 5 college students pass through our doors on Sunday. By May of `09 we'd gotten used to feeding more than 100 students per week with our college meals ministry. Thanks to Robbie and the many people who have helped in that ministry we are no longer letting the job of reaching students totally fall on the BSU. That work set the stage for Joe & Erin to begin teaching the college Sunday School class and now a dozen or more students actually wake up for Bible study at 9:30 each week!

AngelFood Ministry of which we've been a site for over 2 years was rocked by scandal at their corporate level. For a number of reasons we decided to "not grow weary of doing good." Instead we researched a good alternative and in January 2010 we are officially a "Food Share America" site. This enable the Family at First help people maximize their grocery dollars in an increasingly troubled economy. We're helping meet real needs and earning the right to minister to people and bring the Gospel to lost right here in our town.

By Fall & Winter we enjoyed 1) a single Sunday with evangelist Clyde Chiles which brought 20% of our congregation to the altar, 2) have up to 2 visitation teams going out every Tuesday night, and 3) took our whole Christmas program down the road to the Baptist Student Union. So what can we look forward to in 2010? Expanding youth ministry? Another mission trip? It depends on our determination to not grow weary. These acts of service are your love-gifts to the Savior.

In total the New Testament warns us 4 times to not grow weary. Rev. 2:3-4 says, " ³and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." So one serious danger is continuing the same work, but with the wrong passion. Hebrews 12:2 tells us how to keep the right mind-set—"Fix your eyes on Jesus (not people) when the writer says "²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." And finally Paul warned the Galatians (6:9) "⁹Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Don't stop before you finish your race!

 

More later,

Pastor Marty