“Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord”

That is the opening line for the chorus of an old gospel song. I like it for a couple of reasons. First, it reveals a belief and a faith that God can and will fill my cup, my heart, my longing, my mind. It is amazing that the Creator of the universe would actually have a desire to bless me and you. Who am I that He is mindful of me, that He loves me? Yet, I sing and pray in faith that our loving Heavenly Father will fill my cup—my emotional, spiritual, physical, mental and social cup. I can run on empty for a while, but eventually, I will need a refill of God’s presence, His “unction”, His grace and mercy. My car can get low on gas but it cannot run without gas. So, I fill it up. So it is with our souls. We must ask, seek and knock with the request that He fills our cup.

The second part of that line is equally important: “I lift it up Lord”. We typically will not seek help until we know we need it. It is easy for me to not pay attention to the spiritual, emotional, physical gauges as they move toward empty. How can I ask Father to fill my cup if I don’t know my cup is empty?

So, I spend time daily giving the Spirit of God another opportunity to speak. I seek to listen to Him as I read scripture and as I pray. I believe God speaks to us in many ways: through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, godly people around us and ultimately through His Son, our Lord Jesus. In order for that to happen, it helps if I ask Him to “fill my cup” and in the process make the effort to “lift it up”… to do what is necessary to put me in a place where He can, indeed, fill my cup.

I do not believe there is a right way or just one way to spend time with the Lord. The way I have been using for years is the old tried and true A.C.T.S. method of Time Alone With God. The “A” stands for Adoration: I spend time praising God. Sometimes I sing, sometimes I read Scripture that praises Him. The “C” stands for confession. There needs to be a time when I ask the Spirit to reveal any wrong way in me. As He does, I confess them and ask God to change my way of thinking. The “T” is thanksgiving. It has been my habit of a couple of years now to every day write down 3 things that I am thankful for. Giving thanks is a powerful “cup filling” exercise. The “S” stands for supplication or seeking. It is when I pray for others. Like I said, this is not the only way to have a quiet time with God…this is just the one I am currently using.

“Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord, come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of heaven feed me till I want no more, fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.”

Praying for your cup to be filled,

Pastor Tom

IS VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL STILL WORTH THE EFFORT?

I know the question almost sounds blasphemous. It is a good question and my answer is “YES-ABSOLUTELY YES!”. Not because it is a tradition that goes way, way back. A hundred years ago when I was a child, I attended VBS at Dorchester-Waylyn Baptist Church in North Charleston. It was almost a southern ritual that churches had VBS and that neighborhood kids went. But that is not why I think VBS is still worth having.

Every year, just in Southern Baptist world, there are 2.5 million children that attend Vacation Bible School. There were 70,135 professions of faith/salvation experiences. Think about those numbers. Drug deals, child abusers, and others with evil intent are after those same children. And God gives us the opportunity to reach them before the devil does. It is so worth it.

For many churches Vacation Bible School is the most evangelistic mission event of the year. Last year Southern Baptist identified over 155,000 prospects as a result of VBS. Think of the families that number represents. And one result most of us would not think about: 1,383 children responded to God’s call to mission work. Yes, VBS is worth it. Children get a week of Bible Study, over 15 hours of discipleship, learn fun praise songs, food and snacks, and recreational games that get their faces out of screens. It is so worth it.

VBS could not be accomplished without the large number of volunteers. Many of our volunteers work all day in and out of the home and then come to serve. That kind of heart is hard to beat. By the end of the week, they are exhausted but are blessed knowing they have touched so many lives. All together, Southern Baptist Vacation Bible Schools gave over 6 million dollars to missions and connected the local church to families in the community. Is Vacation Bible School still worth it? Look at the numbers.

Start praying for next week’s Vacation Bible School, June 21-25. Pray for the volunteers, pray for the children, pray for those who will make professions of faith. This could be the best year ever. Let’s pray as though it all depends on God and let’s work as if it all depends on us.

See you this Sunday…don’t forget we are giving away 2, count them, one, two, grills this Sunday for Father’s Day. Mom…use this to encourage your husband to attend. The nine o’clock has about half the number of people…I would attend that service if I really want to increase my chances of winning a grill. Both will be given away hopefully in good natured fun. Thank you to our two members who donated the grills!

Pastor Tom

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU JUST CAN’T BEAT!

Would you agree with that? There are some things you just can’t beat. You can’t beat a good Sunday family dinner that includes a well made mac-n-cheese and banana pudding for dessert. You can’t beat a really good hot dog and a coke at a Braves Game. You really can’t beat the first hug from your church family after social distancing for over a year! Your list will be different, but we all have things you just can’t beat.

For three Wednesday nights in June, June 9, 16 and 30, the JIBC family is invited to gather at Folly Beach at the Folly Beach County Park. You can’t beat it! The beauty of the beach, the healing sound of the waves, the cool breeze of the evening, sitting around with friends, beach games…it is hard to beat.

Pastor Kent has put together three Wednesday nights in June for our church family to gather for fellowship and friendship. Janie and I are planning on being at all three. By the way, I know there are 5 Wednesdays in June. Two will have already passed by the time you read this, and one is the week of Vacation Bible School (June 21-25). That still gives us two to enjoy together. Janie and I take our chairs and a sub sandwich and sit and soak in the beauty of friendship as well as the beauty of the beach. There are some things you just can’t beat. It is not too late to join us for June 16th and 30th.

Just when you thought that was enough, we also have Wednesdays in July “UNDER THE OAKS” MOVIE NIGHTS. July 7, 14, 21, and 28 we will host our church family and community for a movie event. Again, bring your chair and enjoy a fun night under the oaks. There is a rumor we will have food trucks! This is a kid friendly event that will be lots of fun. We have upgraded our equipment so the movie looks great on the big screen!

What a great opportunity for us to catch up on the fellowship we have missed over the past year. Come on out, meet some new friends, see some fun movies and eat some popcorn. What is not to love!

Really, there are some things you just can’t beat!

Hope to see you this Sunday as we continue a new teaching series on Family Values Written In Stone. The Ten Commandments are just as important today as the first day God delivered them to Israel.

Blessings,

Pastor Tom

DISCOVERING MEMBERSHIP AT JAMES ISLAND BAPTIST

This Sunday, June 6, we will host another Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. It is one of my favorite classes to teach. First, it helps me put names and faces together. We are blessed to meet new families and new people each week. Those passing moments usually do not allow us to talk at length and share stories. Second, Class 101 is a great next step for someone who has been attending the JIBC. If you have attended more than a few times, you are probably ready to go a little deeper and “look under the hood and kick the tires” so to speak. This is the perfect, no obligation way to do just that. Those attending have the opportunity to hear my heart about what we believe and why we believe it. We begin with the basics of salvation, baptism and Lord’s Supper; go onto our purpose and lifestyle statements; then we review our strategy…why we do what we do and how we do it; we conclude with our structure, our affiliations our ministry partners. I really do get excited about teaching this class and I am passionate about the benefits to those who participate. Did I mention we will throw in child care and a free meal?

Can you imagine having a baseball team with players who might be on the team or might be on another team? No, it is hard to imagine any organization or team not knowing who is on the roster and who can be counted on to help the cause. Church membership is important in that regard. It is a commitment to be in a relationship with a church family. Often this family is closer that our own biological family. Church membership gives us a place to love and be loved, to encourage and be encouraged, to pray for and be prayed for, to bless and be blessed.

If you have not been a part of Class 101: Discovering Church Membership, I really want to encourage you to be a part of this one. Like the old milk commercial that says “Milk...it does a body good”. I think it would make a great commercial: “Class 101: Discovering Membership…it does a Body good”. I really do believe it has done the body of Christ known as JIBC good. I would love you to be a part of the next one, this Sunday, June 6, starting at 4 PM. Contact the church office to register.

By the way, the restart for Celebrate Recovery went great Sunday night. Pastor David and the Student band were at their best. I almost went “bapticostal” with joy! Well done, well done!

Pastor Tom