In the last week of January five years ago I had the great privilege of becoming your pastor.  This week begins my sixth year of ministry with you.  Will you permit some brief reflections and some hopes for the future? 
 *Among the things that have meant much to me are seeing people saved.  Hundreds of folks have come to know the Lord.  Pray to Him that continues to happen through His church.
 *Also new children being born to young adults and dedicated to the Lord, attending services, singing in the choirs, and filling the children’s Sunday school rooms, and growing up active in the church.   
 *Strong in my memories also are the many saints who have gone on to their eternal reward in the last five years.  Heaven is now sweeter for us all because we know some of God’s wonderful servants who are waiting for us there. 
*New Sunday school classes have begun. We have had an increase in people studying God’s Word in Sunday school and through discipleship classes.
 *The choir has continued to grow and amaze us all with terrific, God-honoring music. You are a people who worship the Lord well. It is a joy to worship here.
 *Several have expressed their call into ministry and are now preparing to serve God through additional schooling.  Others are already serving as pastors in other churches
 *FAITH participants continue to share Christ with the lost and share loving concern with the saved. 
 *The building debt has fallen from $2.1 million to $600,000, for an incredible average of $300,000 per year paid on the principal. 
 I hope the future years will continue to be years of growth, love, worship, and service to the Lord Jesus.  Despite the economic downturn, I hope to see the debt eliminated within the next three years and significant funds begin to be gathered for the next phase of the Master’s Plan. 
I dream of increased ministries, especially with apartment ministries, ministries to those in prison, new Sunday school units formed to increase the fellowship and build new leaders in our fellowship, and increased recreational ministries.  I dream of increased participation in FAITH and other outreach events. 
 Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our Lord for the past five years.  I don’t take it for granted.  Let’s dedicate ourselves to seek His face and live wholly for Him in the days ahead, dreaming of what He can do among us. 

Joshua 3:5 says, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 
Love in Christ, 
Bill Patterson

And while I’m giving kudos, I’d like to share appreciation for the terrific job our Sunday school teachers and classes do every Sunday.  Sunday school attendance rose by four per cent this year and the church averaged above five hundred people in attendance each Sunday for the first time in many years.  Keep up the good job, teachers and classes.  There is nothing like studying the Bible in a small group fellowship.

Beginning on the first Sunday in January, I will begin to teach a new Sunday School class on Sunday afternoons at 5 p.m. in the conference room.  We will be using our LifeWay “Bible Study for Life” (BSFL) curriculum.  The class is open to all generations and is especially targeted for three groups.

There are some in our church and area who cannot come to a class on Sunday mornings due to their work schedules, but are open to attending a Sunday afternoon class.  Others teach children or youth and may want a class of adults with whom to study.  The third targeted group is Sunday school teachers who use the BSFL materials.  Each Sunday we will try to study the lesson for the next week.  This will be an excellent opportunity for teachers to preview their lessons.

So, are you in one of these groups?  If so, I’d love for you to attend.  We will have a good time and get into the Word of God every Sunday.

From the Pattersons, we wish you the most joyful Christmas you’ve ever had! 

Love in Christ,   

Bill Patterson

The music of Christmas will help make the season exciting for you—especially the Christmas specials of our children’s choirs this Sunday night and of the Richland Christmas Festival by our adult choir on Dec. 13th and 14th.  Pray for these events.  Ask the Lord about inviting someone to come with you. 
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Economic times have been difficult lately.  However, we can learn much in lean times.  Specifically, we can learn there is much we can do without.  Also, we can learn to be more sympathetic with those in need.  I am so thankful for the way First Family has reached out to needy families over the years, and especially in times like these.  I don’t know of any people who give more generously to those in need.  You proved that in the way you reached out after Hurricane Katrina, in the way you continually provide food for the needy, in the way you minister to those in times of extreme difficulty, in the way you gave well over two hundred shoe boxes full of supplies for children around the world, and in the way you have generously given to the annual mission offering to take the Good News around the world.

Another thing we learn in lean times is to be grateful for the abundance the Lord has given us. A pastor was famous for praying invocations of joyful gratitude every Sunday.  No matter how hard things were, he could always find a reason to give thanks.  One Sunday morning, the entire town was iced in.  Only a few hardy people struggled to the church worship service.  Everyone was damp and cold and miserable.  One man said to himself, "There's no way the pastor will be able to give thanks today."  But when the service began, the pastor said, "Lord, we thank you that the weather is not always like this." 

Dear brothers and sisters, give thanks in all things.  Never flag in your zeal for the Lord.  Count it all joy to do without some things so that you can share with others.  And, above all, share the Good News wherever you are.  Go to others with the Good News, especially at the season of the year when we celebrate His coming as the Good News to us.  Love in Jesus, Bill Patterson

Why is that important?  Because Sunday School is one of the best markers we have for the overall health of our church.  When people enroll and begin studying each week in Sunday School, it is likely they are growing in fellowship with other Christians.  They are getting into the Word of God.  They are growing in fellowship with other Christians.  They are getting service opportunities for the Lord.  They are maturing in faith.  And, since Sunday School is the trough from which our other programs feed, they are helping other important aspects of the church such as the Women’s Ministry, the Youth program, the Music program, etc.

What we desire at First Baptist are not just decisions - important as they are.  We are after disciples.  Becoming a disciple starts with a decision.  But it continues with a daily following of the Lord.  And how can we follow Jesus without regular Bible study with other Christians?

So, keep up the good work.  Spread the good news.  Encourage your Sunday School teacher.  Pray for your teacher and class members daily.  And, pray about helping sponsor a new class.  We need three or four new adult classes.  Are you interested in being a missionary to help start one?  Let Bro. Tim Tolleson know.

Love in Him,  

Bill Patterson

P.S. Thank you for all the wonderful cards and thoughtful expressions of love which you shared with the staff and me during the month of October.  We serve because the Lord has called us to the joy of ministry; however, to serve where we are loved makes such a difference.  Thank you for making First Baptist a loving family in which to serve Him!

Helium was up, feathers were down.
Paper was stationary.
Fluorescent tubing was dimmed in light trading.
Knives were up sharply.
Cows steered into a bull market.
Pencils lost a few points.
Hiking equipment was trailing.
Elevators rose, while escalators continued their slow decline.
Weights were up in heavy trading.
Light switches were off.
Mining equipment hit rock bottom.
Diapers remained unchanged.
Shipping lines stayed at an even keel.
The market for raisins dried up.
Coca Cola fizzled.
Caterpillar stock inched up a bit.
Balloon prices were inflated.
Scott Tissue touched a new bottom.
And batteries exploded in an attempt to recharge the market.

While market fluctuations may affect your life, aren’t you glad that they are not your life?  Your life is bound up not in Wall Street but in Jesus Christ, not in money but in the Master, not in this world, but in the world to come.

Yours in Christ,    

Bro. Bill

“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me.”  That is what Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20.  What is the crucified life?  Does your life and mine reflect it?
Beginning this Sunday through the next Wednesday is the time of our scheduled revival.  Will it be a genuine, God-sent revival or just a series of Gospel meetings?  The answer will depend on whether we live a crucified life.

You see, God wants us to be revived people.  But God will not force a crucified, revived life upon us.  He waits patiently for us to respond to His call on our lives to die to self and to live to Him.

As your pastor, let me ask you to yield yourself to the Lord.  Will you ask Him who to bring with you to the revival meetings?  Will you pray for the revival efforts?  Will you commit yourself to attend, expecting God to do great things as we gather to worship Him?

William Carey, the father of modern missions wrote, “Attempt great things for God, Expect great things of God.” 

Love in Him,
Bill Patterson

“Imagine there’s no heaven,                                    
 It’s easy if you try.
 No hell below us
 Above us only sky.
 Imagine all the people
 Living for today. . .

 Imagine there’s no countries
 It isn’t hard to do.
 Nothing to kill or die for
 And no religion too.
 Imagine all the people
 Living life in peace. . ."

A catchy tune and a country fractured by Viet Nam and the hippie revolution catapulted Lennon’s “Imagine” to the top of the charts.  While there is nothing wrong with a world of peace, love, and understanding, the problem is that Lennon’s solution is not the way to arrive there.

Unfortunately, The Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, Wisconsin, still lives in Lennon’s mixed-up utopia.  While Americans, on the seventh anniversary of 9-11, were remembering more than 3,000 victims murdered by Islamist terrorists, the Freedom From Religion Foundation was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a full-page propaganda ad in the New York Times.  Their ad blamed religion for the horrors of September 11.

The ad said “One of the lessons of 9/11 is that there is no greater source of terrorism, strife, bloodshed, persecution, or war than religion.”  By “religion” they meant not only Islam, but Christianity.  The ad went on to say, “The history of Western civilization shows that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons FREE FROM RELIGION.”

Chuck Colson replied to the ad in his Breakpoint commentary:  “I don’t think the untold millions of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, or Mao’s China would agree with such gross stupidity - unless by “social progress” the Freedom From Religion Foundation means innovations like Auschwitz, the Gulag, and World War II.”

Colson went on to say “the only thing that stands in the way of dangerous Islamo-fascism is Christianity.  It has preserved an amazing degree of freedom, even freedom to bash your own country and the faith of its people.  If the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to test that proposition, maybe it ought to . . . try to run that same ad in any Muslim country.  Good luck.”

Way to go, Chuck Colson.  Satan still tries to convince people that there is no heaven, no hell, and this world is all there is.  He is increasingly successful in tricking people in our own nation that Christianity is the problem.  And that is why we must stand for the Lord Jesus - boldly and unashamedly - while there is still time.

The bits from the above song by Lennon and from the above ad by Freedom From Religion should be enough to propel us to pour ourselves into our upcoming revival.  Dr. Danny Lanier will be preaching and Rev. Larry Black will be leading our music for the revival on October 5-8.  Pray, commit yourself to be present for every service, and ask God who you can bring with you to High Attendance Day in Sunday School on Oct. 5.  Let’s do all we can to further the Gospel.

A better song than Lennon’s “Imagine” is the recent Gospel song, “I can only imagine.”  A more accurate worldview than that of Freedom From Religion is that of the Lord Jesus.  He said in John 9:4, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work.”

Working with you for Him,    

Bill Patterson

The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents an hour.  The average worker made between $200 and $400 a year.  More than 95 per cent of all births took place at home.  Ninety per cent of all doctors had no college education, but attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press as “substandard.”

In 1908 sugar cost four cents a pound.  Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.  Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.  Most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.  Only six per cent of Americans graduated from high school.  But - there were only 230 reported murders in the entire United States!

Try to imagine what life will be like 100 hundred years from now.  It boggles my mind.  Life changes so rapidly.  It is difficult to say with certainty what life will be like in a hundred years.  The rate of change is increasing, not decreasing.

Here are some things that are certain, though.  People without Christ will still be lost and in need of Christ.  Jesus will still be the only way of salvation.  The Bible will still be the Word of God.  The church will continue to be the means through which missionaries, evangelistic work, worship, and Christian service continue.  Lives of integrity, preparation, and yieldedness will still make a huge difference for Christ.  Onward to the future! 

Yours in Christ,
Bill Patterson

By the time you read this column, I will be in Kentucky, leading revival services for a Baptist church outside of Henderson.  When I pastored First Baptist Church of Henderson for ten years, I also taught a few college courses across the river in Evansville.  Southern Baptist work in Indiana is relatively young, so the state does not have a Baptist college.  To help train interested students, the state convention partnered with Oklahoma Baptist University to offer college courses in their major population centers.  I served as an adjunct professor and usually taught a course a semester.  I have kept up with many of those students over the years.

The revival I will be leading will be at a church where one of my former students is pastor.  He impressed me with his zeal and his love of the Lord Jesus.  As we have talked about the revival, it is clear that one of the things he wants from me this week is mentoring in his church work.  He wants me to evaluate the church and give an experienced opinion of what he and the church should do.  This is similar to the way I have learned from Dr. Don Mathis in the two revivals and Capital Funds Campaign he led for our church.
 It is fun learning from someone more experienced.  It is also fun mentoring someone.

The reason I mention these things to you is that you have served as a mentor to a number of young people as they have grown up through First Baptist Church.  Two weeks ago Brian Bridges, who was called into ministry while here, was ordained into the Gospel ministry.  FBC has supported the Bridges while in seminary and during the Hurricane Katrina ordeal they underwent.

This Sunday night, another man called into ministry while at First Baptist, Sam Greer, will preach for us.  Sam is now in the PhD program at New Orleans Seminary.  Aren’t you proud of these two and so many others who were called into ministry from our ranks!

One of the ways we mentor is to encourage others and give them opportunities to serve.  This Sunday morning is “Youth Day” in our church.  Young people will have the opportunity to teach your Sunday school class and lead in other aspects of worship.  Bro. Shannon will preach the morning message.  Never miss a chance to pray for and encourage our youth. 

Who knows but what your pat on the back, your smile, or your words of encouragement will be just the thing needed to help them along life’s journey for the Lord.  After all, He is the chief mentor of us all. 

Love in Him,     Bill Patterson

James Draper, former President of LifeWay Christian Resources, says it this way:  “the kind of weekend Christianity we have would be unknown in the New Testament.  It would be unknown in most of church history.  The kind of people who died to get Scripture to us, people like Wycliff and Tyndale, wouldn’t recognize the kind of Christianity we have today.  The big thing to me is that Jesus died so He could be ‘everything’ in our lives.  To most of us, He’s become ‘something’ (but not everything). The idea that we have been put in the world to spread the Gospel is foreign (to us).”

Think about it:  Is it too much to ask that God’s people attend Bible Study for an hour a Sunday prior to morning worship?  Is it too much to ask that we give one night a week for twelve weeks to learn to share the Gospel and to go out to invite others to His church and to His salvation?  Of course not.

For the God who gave His only Son to die for our sins, anything He asks is very little.  And then, just to think, the ones who give the most of themselves in following the example of our Lord are the very ones who get the most enjoyment out of the Christian life.

Last night I visited one of the senior saints of First Baptist Church.  She is 89 years old.  While there, she gave me a Bible test sent to her by her Sunday school teacher.  I remarked that I was surprised that she knew so much about the Bible.  She said, “Of course, I read it every day. . .My Father taught us Bible verses when we were growing up. . .We were in Sunday School and worship every time we got an opportunity to go.”  She went on to recite the twelve Apostles - and didn’t miss a one.
 

It was obvious her life was joyful.  I asked Mrs. Grantham her favorite Bible verse.  She replied, “Rejoice evermore.”  I’d gone there to encourage her, but found she had encouraged me.

The point of this all?  Get into a Bible Study class.  If you are not presently enrolled in Sunday, you are welcome to join the Pastor’s Class in the sanctuary at 9:00 am.  Teach your children the Word of God.  Join in the upcoming semester of FAITH.  And soon, you, too, will be rejoicing evermore. 

Love in Christ, 

Bill Patterson
 

Hats off, too, for Shannon Shivers and his team of volunteers who traveled to Nashville.   Three years ago our youth shifted from Centrifuge to MissionFuge.  They still have Bible study, worship and games, but with the added dimension of serving others (missions).  Shannon has found, as have many other youth ministers, that youth grow far more when they have hands-on activities in service to our Lord.

Thanks also to you - that’s right - to you, dear Christians.  It is your faithfulness in giving your tithes and offerings that allows our youth and children to make these life-changing trips.  Yes, the children and youth and their parents contribute a considerable amount to help defray the expenses.  The costs of running a children’s program and a youth program are far more than parents alone can bear, however.  Your faithful gifts through the Lord’s church help provide Sunday school literature, lights, ministers’ salaries, building maintenance, heating and cooling, vans, gasoline, and a host of other costs that go along with ministry.  One day when you get to heaven you will reap the rewards of knowing how very much your contribution of prayers, tithes and offerings helped to shape the lives of others for the Lord Jesus.
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 Last Sunday we had the joy of having a person who grew up in FBC, Richland, Rev. Marcus Peagler, to lead the musical portion of our worship.  It is always thrilling to see someone who grew up in the church and who is doing so well in ministry.
 On August 10, we will have the opportunity to ordain another person who has been an intricate part of the work of the Lord at FBC.  Brian Bridges will meet with the Ordaining Council at 4:45, in the chapel and will be ordained at the 6 PM worship service.
Brian and Karen have been chosen to start back a church which folded after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.  They hope to give a new start to FBC, Waveland, Mississippi.   
 

All for Him,    

Bill Patterson

It cannot be denied that the early founders of America thought they were founding a nation whose God is the Lord.  Christopher Columbus sailed to carry the light of the gospel to nations that had not yet heard.  His very name meant “torchbearer for Christ,” and he tried to live up to his name.

The early pilgrims came over on the Mayflower to make known the name of Jesus Christ and to worship Him in freedom.  Inscribed on the walls of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C., is the Ten Commandments.  Our three branches of government were gathered from the principles laid out in Isaiah 33:22:  “For the Lord is our judge (judicial), The Lord is our lawgiver (legislative), The Lord is our King (executive); He will save us.”

George Washington, our first president, said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”  John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, said, “The highest glory of the revolution was this:  It connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with those of Christianity.”  John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said, “It is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

The early Congress ordered ten thousand Bibles for distribution among the Indians.  They authorized a chaplain and decided to open all their meetings with prayer.  The largest church in America used the Halls of Congress for a meeting place for years.
When Thomas Jefferson was President, the Presidents at that time were also Superintendent of Education for the Washington, D. C., school district.  Jefferson ordered that every student should study the Bible and the hymnal.  When Jefferson penned the words in our Declaration of Independence, he deliberately appealed to the Creator.  He understood that liberty was not a subjective choice, but a divinely ordained condition for which people are designed.  Therefore he referred to “self-evident truths” and to “Nature’s God.”

Teachers today can be fired for doing and saying what our founders did and said.  Our nation has forgotten what our founders knew:  without God there is no liberty. 

Without God there is just an empty universe with no meaning, no unalienable rights, and no proof that liberty is better than tyranny or life is better than death.  Without God there are no rights and no wrongs.  Everything becomes a matter of opinion and power.  Yes, without God, we have a world where thugs roam the streets; corruption rules many offices; and the weak, elderly, and unborn are at risk of being terminated.

Let’s remember what made America great.  Let’s return to our declaration of Him-dependence.  Let’s live all out for Jesus and help turn our nation back to the Lord who so greatly favored us in years gone by.  “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”                                                          

Yours in Him,    

Bill Patterson

Fram and Putnam go on to quote a retired corporate manager saying, “It is pretty scary” and to cite a poll saying only 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction.  They note our President gets an approval rating of only a third of the people and that the rating of Congress is much lower than the president’s.  And, they cite that “food is becoming scarcer and more expensive on a worldwide scale, due to increased consumption in growing countries such as China and India and rising fuel costs.”
 

Now for the bad news and the good news.  The bad news is that the Bible doesn’t predict this world is going to get better and better.  It prophecies it will get worse for many.  The good news, however, is that your hope and my hope are not in this world.
 

I’m not saying we shouldn’t work to make our world a better place.  God clearly tells us in His Word that we are stewards of this world.  We are to administer it wisely.  We are to preserve and conserve it and to try to leave it better for those who follow us.  What I am saying, though, is that our ultimate hope is not in this world.
 

Our hope is not tied to the economy.  Our hope is not tied to who will be the next president.  Our hope is not tied to weather conditions.  Our hope is not tied to the actions of others.  Our hope is not tied to the price of oil.
 

God is still on His throne.  His Word is still true.  His ways are still best.  Come what may, dear believer, keep on looking to Jesus.  He is our hope.  Our citizenship is not in this world but in heaven to come.
Read Philippians 3:20 and 21.  And then . . . rejoice in the Lord Jesus.

Love in Him, 

Bill Patterson

• Should I marry this person
• Should we have children and, if so, how many?
• Should I go to college and, if so, where?
• Should I accept this job?

Of course, there is no more important decision in life than whether or not to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.  Following that decision, into what church should my family and I plant our lives?

Our Vacation Bible School will keep the church buzzing next week.  Pray for the teachers, leaders, and children.  Under Mrs. Stacy Covey’s excellent leadership, there have been thousands of hours of training and preparation for VBS.
 

During VBS, many children receive the Lord Jesus.  During Bible School or family night, families will choose whether to join the fellowship.  Pray for these children and their families.  And pray that each First Family member will be found faithful in carrying out the Great Commission of our Lord to a lost world.

Love in Christ,    

Bill Patterson

            In the same way, we must have love.  God made us that way.  A life without love is a dehydrated soul that shows its condition in moodiness, withdrawal, loneliness, insecurity, fear, acting out, anger, or a dozen other ways.  Of course none of these ways help.  They are like mirages to a man dying of thirst in a desert.  As the old song by the Beatles says, “All we need is love.” 

            And, fortunately, we have love.  We know it first from our mothers who poured their lives into ours.  Their feeding us, changing us, holding us, and loving on us showed love.  If you are among the fortunate ones who have a living mom, let her know how much you appreciate all she did to bring you life and love.  Let her know of your love for her.  Write that note, make that phone call, don’t put off that visit, and say those kind words.  Many of us wish we still had a mom so we could do these things.  They won’t repay the love she gave us, but they will show mom she is appreciated. 

            And speaking of showing love, read these words from Romans 5:8:  “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Think of it.  We began knowing love from the sacrifices of mom.  We learned of God’s love by His sacrifice for us. 

            The song The Love of God captures some of the depth of His love:

            The love of God is greater far

            Than tongue or pen can ever tell,

            It goes beyond the highest star

            And reaches to the lowest hell;

            The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

            God gave His Son to win:

            His erring child He reconciled

            And pardoned from his sin.

            Could we with ink the ocean fill

            And were the skies of parchment made;

            Were every stalk on earth a quill

            And every man a scribe by trade;

            To write the love of God above

            Would drain the ocean dry;

            Nor could the scroll contain the whole

            Though stretched from sky to sky.

            This Mother’s Day give thanks to your earthly mother and to your eternal Father. 

Love in Him,

Bill Patterson

Bro. Tim Moak and I are in front of you Sunday after Sunday.  But the church really functions on the backs and hearts and wallets of hundreds of volunteers who give of themselves week by week without reservation, without fanfare, and without need to be recognized.  These are the unsung heroes of the church. 

The early church was also full of unsung heroes.  Some of them are named briefly.  Think of Priscilla and Aquilla who, having left Rome due to persecution, established a tentmaking business with Paul so they could make a living while they shared the Gospel (Acts 18).  When opposition grew in Corinth, the three moved to Ephesus.  Through their influence on Apollos they made a difference in Corinth.  In Ephesus Priscilla and Aquilla established a church in their home.  Despite hardships, they remained faithful.  They made a difference for Christ in the lives of others.  We don’t know much more about Priscilla and Aquilla but they were heroes of the faith. 

Other unsung heroes have even less space devoted to them in the Scriptures.  Quick, who was the person who delivered the letter and supplies to Paul from Philippi while Paul was in prison?  Off the top of your head can you supply the name of the priest who furnished David something to eat when he was escaping from Saul?  The Bible doesn’t tell us the name of the lad who voluntarily supplied his loaves and fish for Jesus to multiply.  Yet his mother apparently packed her son’s lunch that day and he offered it to Jesus not knowing that the lunch was the raw material for a miracle. 

And that’s how it is with unsung heroes.  You give and work and serve and pray and help others.  And you are willing for eternity to deal with the rewards.  God gets the glory and that’s all that matters. 

Do something for an unsung hero of the church this week.  Give a word of thanks.  Write a note.  Smile at them.  Speak a kind word.  And then, determine to be an unsung hero yourself.  Decide to do something for the Kingdom that no one but God knows. 

Celebrating unsung heroes with you,

Bill Patterson

There was a list of comebacks including Mohamed Ali’s return to reclaim the heavyweight boxing title after eight years of banishment from the ring along with a number of other sports feats.  You may be interested in the number one comeback of all time as selected by the staff of Sports Illustrated.  It was the fact that, after His crucifixion, Jesus came back from the dead.

Remember, Sport’s Illustrated is not noted as a religious magazine.  Yet, what Jesus did was so significant that it affected all of life and eternity.  Even with all Jesus did for us in His resurrection, I believe the Bible indicates that there will yet be an even greater comeback in history.

Yes, it is the second coming of our Lord.  Jesus is coming again.  The second coming of our Lord is one of the most cherished doctrines in history.  It is also one of the most attested doctrines in the Scripture, with dozens of verses attesting that He will surely come.

The Christian has the resurrection power of the Lord inside.  The Christian also has the doctrine the Bible calls “the blessed hope” to spur us on.  With Jesus’ power on the inside to help us and His second coming to motivate us, we lack nothing.

There are two lessons I want us to learn from Jesus’ two comebacks.  1.)  You’ll never meet a person so far down that they can’t come back with the help of the Lord.  Don’t give up on others.  Reach out to someone who needs a comeback.  Aren’t you glad someone didn’t give up on you!  2.)  Do something big for God this week.  His resurrection power within will help you.  When He comes again you’ll be glad you did.  Now, what was it you were feeling the Lord wanted you to do?

 Serving the coming-back Lord with you,     

                                                        Bill