A Word from the Pastor
The miracle of life! As I sit
here and write this Diana and I are only 19 to 20 days away from welcoming Noah
Riley into the world. In fact, by the
time you read this he may already be here.
Many memories have begun to flood my mind about the anticipation and
excitement surrounding the birth of Eli.
And as special as Eli is to Diana and I, Eli is not the Messiah! Can you imagine how Mary and Joseph had to
be feeling 19 to 20 days away from giving birth to Jesus? Especially considering all the circumstances
surrounding Jesus’ birth. Imagine first
of all being a young virgin and finding out that you are pregnant. And not only are you pregnant, but you are
carrying the Savior of the world, God in the flesh, the light of the world, the
one that would die so that you may live.
On top of being pregnant as a virgin, Mary was not married as of yet,
can you imagine how Joseph is feeling?
That would be the ultimate “Lucy you gotta lot of splainin’ to do” (from
I love Lucy) moment. That is why the
angel of the Lord stepped in and explained what was going on. Then having to travel many miles to get back
to Bethlehem while being pregnant. On
top of that no one had room for Mary or Joseph even though they would have been
able to see that she was pregnant (some things you just can’t hide!). The next straw to break for Mary was
actually in the stable where she would give birth to Jesus. Finally after making it through all of this
your husband, your baby, and yourself would have to flee to another country to
escape the plot to kill your newborn son.
While this was a normal pregnancy as far as length of time, that is
where the normalcy ended. But because
of His birth, God made salvation possible for all who believe. Isn’t it ironic that country (USA) that want
to kick God out, has as their two biggest holidays (Christmas and Easter) that
involve the One they are trying to kick out.
So when you are tempted to think that no one loves you, remember God
went through all of this and death on a cross to show that He loves you. My challenge to all of us is to remember why
we celebrate Christmas, and then share God’s good news, Jesus saves!
Celebrating The Birth Of Christ.
“Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if we were as faithful to spread the Gospel as we are to spread
Gossip?”
Prayer Concerns
Be a Prayer Warrior….
“Lord teach us to pray” Luke 11:1
Shut-Ins: Frances Beard
Hospital: Jewel Booth, Virginia Wray
In Care Facilities: Tommy
Patsel,
Gerald Lamb, Connie Newman, Helen Moore
Home Recovering from Surgery or
Hospital stay: Ruth Martin, Jimmy Craig,
Jimmy Collins. David & Terry Bishop, Melissa Carper, Harold Chambers, Matt
Ferris, Billy Altman, Bobby Dillon, Debbie Wilkes
Birthdays
and Anniversaries…
Happy Birthday to…
Janie
Beard 12/16
Aubrey
Roberts 12/21
Bobby
Williams 12/12
Kyle
Williams 12/9
Marcus
Perdue 12/02
Happy Anniversary to….
Nolan
and Tillie Cassell 12/30
Bob and
Inez Flora 12/19
Ask The Pastor……….
Question: Why is a
church’s leaving its first love fatal to that church?
Answer: First of all thank you to the person that has
submitted this question. It fits in
really well with our Revelation study as well as with our 2008 theme of revival
in our personal life, family life, and in our church. This question is born right out of the Scriptures in Revelation
chapter 2 when God tells the church at Ephesus. First of all, what does it mean that a church left its first
love? To lose one’s first love means to
have lost your love for God since the greatest commandment is to love the Lord
with all your heart (Mt. 22:36-38). It
also means that you have lost your passion for fulfilling God’s mission for you
as a church. Every church has as its mission at the core to evangelize and
bring people to Jesus. It is possible
for a church to have great zeal and activity, soundness of doctrine and
practice, yet have its love for Christ diminishing. Doing church activities and having sound doctrine can not replace
your love for Christ. Why? Because it is not about what you are doing
as much as it is about why you are doing it.
It comes down to an issue of the heart.
What are your motives for doing what you do in the name of Christ? Now on to answering the question, why is it
fatal for a church to lose its first love?
The answer is very simple, if you are doing things for the wrong reasons
you will grow cold towards God and even the things that you are doing well will
eventually take a downward turn. Many
Christians go through this because they are on fire for God when they first get
saved, but as time goes on they fall into a routine and slowly they lose their
zeal for God until one day they wake up and the are bitter, old
Christians. Losing your first love
happens slowly and subtly, in many instances you never realize it until it is
too late. A church starts out on fire
and is really getting into worshipping God, but then as time goes on they lose
that passion. And then their doctrinal
preaching and teaching isn’t as strong, then they just start doing activities
to make it look good, and finally the church is completely ineffective. You can tell those that have love for God
and those who have left their first love.
My question to everyone including myself is this, why do I (put yourself
here) do what I do in the church? If
you feel as though you are just going through the motions or punching your
heavenly time clock each week or if God lays on your heart that you have left
your first love. I want to challenge
you to get back to it. The way you get
back to it is by being honest with yourself and God in prayer and be like David
in Psalm 139:23, 24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.” And as God speaks respond
to Him not only privately but also publicly.
Maybe you need to make a recommitment to God in church or have someone
be your accountability partner. Then
ask God to help you work on your personal worship time and Bible study. God is a loving and forgiving God, He will
take you back and help you get back on track.
The only way to get back what you lost is to return to the place where
you left it. Then and only then can you pick it back up and move on!
ASK THE PASTOR??…Many times we all have questions that we don’t
have the time or opportunity to ask the Pastor about directly. Each month we will select a question at
random and pose it to the Pastor. Please e-mail your questions to sdewwjd@yahoo.com;
you don’t need to include your name. There is a box on the back table if you
would rather place your questions there.
Got a question?
E-mail the Pastor or send it to me at sdewwjd@yahoo.com
Come
Celebrate With Us!!
Sunday December2nd- Adult Choir
and
Children’s
Choir - “Born in Bethlehem “
with
Angels We Have Heard on High
The Lord’s
Supper
Monday December 3rd-Deacon’s Meeting
Wednesday December 5th-Business
Meeting
Friday December 7th- WMU Christmas
Dinner
6pm (home
of Bob and Inez Flora)
Sunday December 9th-Adult Choir and
Men’s
Group - “So Much GOD “
Sunday December 16th- Children’s
Cantata -
“The Christmas Present”
East End
Christmas Dinner 5pm
(Friendship
Manor) Everyone Welcome!
Sunday December 23rd-Adult Choir Christmas
Cantata “He
Has Come - Christ Is Born”
Blessings of Christmas…
“For to us a child is
born to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he
will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince Of Peace.”
ISAIAH 9:6
Rejoice!
Hallelujah!
Getting
to know you ……
Thanks to the
people here at East End and the neighbors of this church I have been coming
here since I was around five years old. I was Baptized by Marvin Cudd at the
age of 10 in 1977. There where lots of people Baptized when I
was, somewhere around 20 or 30. ( Talk about Revival.)
Over the years
the people here, in lots of ways have helped raise me. And believe me, my
parents needed all of the help they could get. I am sure they thank you, and at
the time I may not have thanked you but now let me say to you all " THANK
YOU".
I have made lots
of friendships here, and feel like a part of many families. And even though for
various reasons some friends have gone on to other Churches or some families
have changed or some members have gone on to Heaven they and all of you will
always have a place in my life, heart and memories.
East End was
here for me when I got married in 1986. With your help my children who where
born in 1992 and 1999 had more clothes and diapers than any one could ever
imagine. And now the ones who helped raise me can now help my husband and I
raise them. You have been here for all of the good and for unfortunately some
bad that I know I could not have made it through with out this church family.
I have done many
things here at East End and I have learned a lot from them all. Some have been
for fun, like softball, boy, do I have memories, and football, the sprained
foot was not so much fun. Some have been for teaching others and myself by
helping with V.B.S., Sunday school and nursery. One thing I do is my form of
worship that I love to do and at times it is probably your pain, and that is my
singing. One thing I help do here turned out to help me with obtaining my job
and that was being treasurer.
If you have not
figured out yet who this, Here I Am, person is there is one thing that makes me
feel extremely special and this will be a very large hint and that is the fact
that I am a twin. My name is Jan my husband is Frank and my kids are Randy and
Brandy. My twin of course if Joy, but for the greatest part of our life here at
East End church someone very special figured out if I, we, were known as
joyjan, that would give people a 50 to 50 chance of getting our names right.
Thanks for
letting me be part of a WONDERFUL FAMILY!
Love,
Jan
PRAY FOR REVIVAL
Monday-Pray for yourself
Tuesday-Pray for the Church
Wednesday-Pray for the Roanoke Valley
Thursday-Pray for our Country
Friday-Pray for the Nation
Saturday-Pray for the Government
Sunday-Pray for all Pastors
Jesus wants you to not only bow your heads but also
bow your knees…….
Submitted by Shirley Elkins
Got News???
Is there some important news you would like to share with
us, family visiting, and a praise you would like to share, or maybe just a
humorous joke or two. If so please
e-mail me at sdewwjd@yahoo.com,
I would love to put it in the newsletter and share it.
Notes
from the Editor
Have anything to share,
please send it to sdewwjd@yahoo.com,
or phone966-4210, or better yet bring it with you to church, and give it to
Steven or Kathy Elkins.
Pastor
Justin Likens
Cell-
(540)312-4280
www.eastendchurch.com
Secretary: Kathy
Elkins
(540)966-4210
Pianist: Cheri Williams
Deacons: Steven
Elkins, Ronnie Harper, Gerald St. Clair, Bob Flora, Kersey Harper, Oscar Fix,
Nolan Cassell, Gene Beard
Editor: Steven
Elkins (540)966-4210
E-mail sdewwjd@yahoo.com
EAST END BAPTIST CHURCH
1030 MECCA STREET NE
ROANOKE, VA. 24012
540-343-3305
“THAT ROANOKE MAY
KNOW CHRIST”
LOVE GOD,
LOVE OTHERS,
SERVE EVERYONE
Christ Our Savior
Is Born.
East
End Baptist Ministries…….
Sunday
-
9:45a.m.
Sunday School
11:00a.m. Morning Worship
Wednesday - 6:30p.m.Prayer &
Bible
Study
7:15p.m. Adult Choir Practice
‘Jesus Is The Reason
For The Season’
MerryChristmas…
DECEMBER 2007