WHAT A SPECIAL SUNDAY!

Celebrate Recovery meets every week, 52 weeks out of the year. There is very seldom a Sunday when we do not meet, even on holidays. That being said, there are some Sundays that are special. This coming Sunday will be one of them. We have been adding back to our Celebrate Recovery services piece by piece. First we added group meetings, then the celebration worship and then the fellowship meal. Now the last piece is being added…we will be meeting back in the Worship Center for our Celebration time. Pastor David has been leading worship in the fellowship hall, but it is just not the same. This Sunday, we will gather back in the Worship Center at 6:15 with the praise band.

Here is my request. Would you consider joining us for the first Sunday back? We will worship from 6:15 until around 7 when the CR small groups will divide up into their women’s and men’s groups. Before Covid hit, we were running around 45 people every Sunday night. The Charleston Center is not able to come back just yet. They may start back in June but we are not sure.

Some of the students from the Student Ministry are playing in the CR Praise band, so the youth will be joining us for the worship time, and then will exit for their own meeting! I am so excited and would love for you to help get us started with a good crowd, ready to praise the Lord. There is a fellowship meal at 5:30, a nursery is provided and there is a children’s ministry.

By the way, this Sunday morning, we will have one of our favorite events…the cardboard testimonies. I hope you will be able to be there in person or at least watch it online. It is always a highlight to see what God is doing in the lives of His children!

Blessings, keep on coming back!

Pastor Tom

WE’RE NOT JUST SOUTHERN ANYMORE!

You may have heard, or might hear soon, that the Southern Baptist convention is considering changing the identity of our name “Southern Baptist”. The new alternative is one that I really like. It is more descriptive… “Great Commission Baptist”. In fact, this year’s theme at the Southern Baptist Convention will be “We are Great Commission Baptists”. Now, let’s deal with some questions and concerns. First, I know that change is hard whether it is good or bad, wanted or needed…change is hard. Technically, they say change is not hard…it is the transition that is hard. Okay, whichever. I have found that change can be challenging. Second, this is not an effort to be politically correct or incorrect. It is not a part of the current day movement of removing our history or being “woke”. As far back as 1903, Southern Baptists raised the question of changing our identity as just “Southern” to something that better reflects our commitment to all of North America and the world. Nine years ago, in 2012, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to approve the alternate unofficial name change to the more descriptive “Great Commission Baptist”. That was years ahead of this crazy trend of trying to erase or re-write our country’s history. So do not associate the two of them. We embrace the strengths of our past and we should repent and seek to correct the sins and failures of our past. If we can do better and be better we should do better and be better. My goal is to lead our church to be spiritually correct not politically correct.

Years ago JIBC tried a slight rebranding and tried to add “The Church @Riverland Terrace” to our name. It had nothing to do with rejection our past or not embracing our past. We were trying to reach out to our community with a name that would not limit interest to just those who wanted to attend a Southern Baptist Church. The experiment came out as “The Church @Riverland Terrace, James Island Baptist”. I thought it was a worthy experiment. I cannot tell that it made any positive difference. I still think it was a good faith effort to help us reach our community.

The name Great Commission Baptist is a positive, biblically based name. I like it. It will take some getting used to and it will be hard to change and get it out of our DNA. If it helps us stay focused on missions and helps us break down unnecessary barriers to reach those who desperately need the Gospel of Jesus Christ…then bring it on. We are not just “Southern” anymore. By God’s grace we have expanded across North America and to the far corners of the world. Let’s pray together “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Charleston Baptist Association newsletter has written a great article on this topic with some helpful resources. To read more than my reflections on this article, check it out at www.charlestonbaptist.net.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

THE PRODIGAL HAS RETURNED!

Janie and I have been gone the last three Sundays. By God’s grace and goodness, we were able to fulfill a lifelong desire of seeing the Grand Canyon. We did see it…and it lived up to its reputation. We had never been out west except for business trips or conferences and we had never been to Nevada, Arizona and Utah. We talked about it for years and just never made the time. This year we pulled the trigger and went. We have as strong a staff as we have ever had and so I felt completely confident that our Father would bless them to do whatever might need to be done. I want to thank our staff for covering for me during our time away. Thank you.

By the way, I think you will understand why we do not ask our staff to advertise when they are gone. Social media is too easy for people with bad intentions to access. We do always try to let our leaders know when we will be out of town.

At age 65 our pace is a little different from the glory days. We would spend a day hiking and then the next day recovering! Our first week, we spent a day at each of the following areas: Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire State Park, Zion National Park and the Hoover Dam. Don’t get me started on the Hoover Dam jokes!

The second week we left Nevada and went to Sedona, Arizona. There we spent two days at the Grand Canyon. It really is awe inspiring. We would just sit and look and marvel at our Father’s creation. It looked like God made His beautiful world and then took all the left over beautiful pieces and made the Grand Canyon. We spent a day at Red Rock State Park and several other popular hiking destinations. We would carry our lunch and find a quiet place and just enjoy His beautiful creation.

All that being said…the prodigal preacher and his lovely wife have returned! I am back in town, in the office and looking forward to being with our church family this coming Sunday. I will be beginning a three part teaching series I am calling “You Have A Story To Tell”. This Sunday we have the Parent-Child-Church Dedication at the 11:00 Worship Service. And on Sunday, May 30 we are planning on Celebrating the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. If you would like to participate in any of these services, please let us know. You can call Neale at the church office at 843.762.0244.

To God be the glory! Good Lord willing, see you this Sunday!

Pastor Tom

PART TWO: WHY IS CHURCH MEMBERSHIP SO IMPORTANT?

Last week I wrote an article about the importance of Church membership. We live in a day when institutional importance and authority are challenged and even abandoned. For example, I grow so sad and weary when I hear someone say that the wedding license is just a piece of paper. A check made out to that same person for $100,000 is just paper, too…but I do not think they would take it so lightly. Some may take the institution of marriage so lightly because it carries responsibilities and commitments. That same feeling can be found in relationship to church membership as well.

The fact that something is a trend does not in any way make it right. That is a slippery slope and a very dangerous way to gather your values. “Let’s see how the majority polled and that will be my position” or “let’s see what all the people in this age group are doing and make that our value”. We have political leaders that seem to be entirely driven by polls and crowds. Their values seem to be the values du jour! What shall we believe today?

Followers of Christ have a foundation that is sure. We have the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus, the inspired Word of God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of the saints. A church family and church membership is important to us because it is important to our Father. “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family…and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19 (LB) We are trying to build a church with members who have a sense of ownership with an attitude that they are all in! They are contributors, not just consumers of religious goods and services. We are family and belong to one another. The Bible has over 40 of these “one anothers”: pray for one another, encourage one another, admonish one another, etc. It is going to be very difficult to carry out these one anothers without one another.

In Class101: Discovering Church Membership we begin the discipleship process by teaching the basics of membership: Our Salvation, Our Statements of Purpose; Our Strategy and Our Structure. We want to make sure everyone is as on the same page as we can possibly be. That has helped to reduce and avoid some strife and division by making sure we all know, in advance, where we are going and how we are getting there. Not all churches do things the same way. Not even all Great Commission/ Southern Baptist churches do things the same way. Class 101: Discovering Membership lets you see how we do it. Hopefully, God is glorified, Christ is exalted and honoredand lives are transformed by His grace.

We love having family and friends attend to be a part of James Island Baptist Church. We know not everyone wants to join and not everyone will join. They are 100% welcome to come, attend and be blessed by the wonderful family known as James Island Baptist. When they are ready to move out of the stands as spectators to become participants, fully devoted followers of Christ, we will welcome them with open arms…and lead them through Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC.

I love being all in with James Island Baptist Church! If you are interested, the next Membership Seminar is Sunday, June 6. You can register now by contacting neale@jamesislandbaptist.com or text DISCOVER1 to 843-762-0244 or simply call the church office at 843-762-0244.

Pastor Tom