What's the Future Hold???

I want to get you thinking about what the future holds for us at First Baptist Smithville.

Church, would you dare to dream? Church, would you dare to think that we could be more than we are now...so much more?

Will our dreams come true because we will dream small dreams? I pray not.

I remember a few points in my life where someone asked me the question, "Mark, where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Intriguing question. The question shows how big or small your vision is. It shows how big or small your world is. It shows what your priorities are.

So...church, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Dream big. I am.

Peru Info Meeting

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to everybody from the TBC annual meeting to remind you about the Peru info meeting.

It's this Sunday evening (11/16) immediately following the evening worship service.

If you're even the least bit interested in possibly going with FBC to Peru in 2009 then come to this meeting.

Mark

Sunday Preview: Politics (11/9)

So...now that the election is over we'll be talking about a political issue this Sunday. I'm going to tell you exactly what the Bible says this Sunday (just like I do every Sunday).

If you want to read ahead a little bit you can check out 2 Peter chapter 2 and Romans chapter 13. Good stuff.

See you Sunday...

Mark

Sunday Preview: Worship and Life (11/2)

This Sunday we will finish our worship series with the sermon "Worship and Life."

So what you do think? How is worship connected to life and not just something that we do for an hour on Sunday morning?

Our text for this Sunday is Romans 12:1-2.

See you Sunday...

Mark

Peru Mission Report & Involvement

I'll be sharing this Sunday night (10/12) about the Peru mission. At the end of the service we will take time as a church body to affirm whether or not this is the direction that God has for our church. Please be in prayer for this time as we discern God's will.

We start at 6:30pm. Don't be late!!!

Sunday Preview (10/12): Worship and Eternity

We start a new sermon series this Sunday about worship. Our first sermon will be on worship and eternity. Here's some Scriptures for you to preview that we'll be looking at this week.

Revelation 5
Revelation 7:9-12
Revelation 19:1-10

For our discussion this week...

What is worship???
How important is worship in the life of a Christian?

Last Day in Coracora

Today is our last day in Coracora. We will begin the long journey back to Lima this afternoon.

Yesterday we spent several hours at the orphanage playing with the kids and talking with the house parents. We shared the gospel with the house parents. They were all very deeply entrenched in Catholicism. Catholicism is not only the religion of the town, but it is completely interwoven with the political and business aspects of the town as well. You cannot turn anywhere that you do not see it. More about this later.

We had a great night with our Bible study group last night. As I told you yesterday we have found and man who will continue leading the group. Yesterday afternoon we were also able to work out a location for the group to meet. Praise God.

The situation is very fragile because all of the people meeting in the group are new believers, but we do not trust in human strength. We trust in God who is able to do far more than we could ever ask or think. We have given Andres, the leader, a schedule of Bible passages to lead the group through until we can send another team back to Coracora. Pray for him to understand the passages and lead well.

Pray for our safe travel. I look forward to seeing you and worshiping with you again. We are blessed.

I love you church...

Mark