THE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE

This past Sunday I started a series of messages entitled “Soul Training: The Good and Beautiful Life”. The messages will come from the Gospel of Matthew, particularly the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. James Bryan Smith has written a strong series of books: The Good and Beautiful God; The Good and Beautiful Life: and The Good and Beautiful Community. As I read these books a few years ago, I took note and made plans to teach a series of lessons from them. Jesus invites his followers to “re-think” their current view of life. Jesus was and is the ultimate example of how to live a life free of lust, anger, worry, greed. He found a way to live in the Kingdom of God every moment of every day. The rest of this summer we will examine the teachings of Jesus. I hope we will accept his invitation to follow him and to experience the Good and Beautiful Life.

THE CHURCH ANNIVERSARY

We have celebrated 67 years on this corner as James Island Baptist, the Church at Riverland Terrace. What a joy to be a part of the family. This week we have a celebration planned. We are celebrating the Lord’s Supper…remembering what He did for us on Calvary. We celebrate baptism remembering what He is still doing in us…changing lives. We will worship Him in gladness…because He is worthy. We will remember the past and give thanks for those who worked with Him to pave the way for us. We will eat and laugh because the joy of the Lord is upon us. We will welcome again our Chinese brothers and sisters and rejoice at the goodness of God to bless them so greatly. We will break bread with the Hispanic church, Luz Y Verdad, thanking God for Pastor Claudio and his wife Claudia and their wonderful team. What a day of joy and celebration. Now…if only the rain will hold off until 3!

By the way, no 8:30 service this Sunday. Sunday Morning Connection Groups as usual, combined service at 11, and, then celebration of a good old fashion cookout afterwards. Please, dress casual and comfortable. We will have music, melons and mountains of food!

UPDATE ON THE PROPERTYThe process was delayed just a little. Details are still being worked out. As of Monday morning, we still do not consider this a “done deal”. What we can say is the deal is still being worked out. The deadline of closing by July 1 was moved to July 11 and now moved to next week sometime.

We were moving quickly because of a closing date of July 1. So we rushed the process while still trying to give you all the information we could. As we said from the get go…if we can answer any questions for you concerning the process or the property, please feel free to ask. Until then, we pray for His wisdom and have no worries. His will be done.

See you Sunday in celebration mode!

Pastor Tom

Rejoice about this: if all goes well, this summer we will have JIBC family serving internationally in China, Romania, Ukraine and Burma.