Baptism rightly should be one of our favorite topics as Baptist. As Pastor A.J. pointed out in our recent church conference, Baptism is the believer’s profession of faith as shown in the Scriptures. I thought it would be helpful to share from a class I used to teach on Baptism. This can be especially helpful to the young and those from other faith backgrounds who want to know why we believe as we do about baptism. Feel free to share this with others.
 
I. WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
1. To follow the example set by ­­­­­­­­­­­Christ. Don’t you want to be like Jesus?
Matthew 3:13  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14  But John tried to stop Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?" 15  Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him to be baptized. (HCSB).
 
2. Because Christ ­commands it.
Matthew 28:19  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (HCSB).
 
3. It shows that I really am a Christian/believer/follower of Christ.
Acts 8:12  But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (HCSB).
 
II. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?
1. It tells others that Christ was buried and was resurrected for me.
1 Corinthians 15:3  For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (HCSB).
 
Colossians 2:12  Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (HCSB).
 
2. It shows others my new life as a Christian.
2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. (HCSB).
 
Romans 6:4  Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. (HCSB).
 
Baptism doesn't make you a believer - it shows that you already believe.  Baptism does not “save” you, only your faith in Christ does that.  Baptism is like a wedding ring - it's the outward symbol of the commitment you make in your heart.
 
Ephesians. 2:8  For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift—9  not from works, so that no one can boast. (HCSB).
 
More to come in the future.
 
Pastor Pat

Are you ready for a scandalous history about Judah? He did not have a promising beginning. He and his brothers became jealous of his brother Joseph and threw him into a pit. When Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt came by Judah recommended selling Joseph, his own brother, as a slave to them.
 
Judah’s first son Er, was so evil the Lord put him to death. It was then the duty of Er’s brother to provide Tamar, Er’s widow with offspring to continue Er’s lineage. But when Onan refused to do this the Lord put him to death as well. After this Joseph, was afraid to let his son Shelah marry Tamar, and sent her away. One day she tricked him by disguising herself as a harlot by covering her face. Judah was intimate with her, not knowing who she was. When he discovered she was pregnant he insisted she be burned to death until he learned he was the father.
 
Meanwhile the Lord had blessed Joseph, and he became second only to Pharoah in Egypt. Then famine ravaged the land. When his brothers came to Egypt to buy food, they did not recognize him, but he knew who they were. When Joseph threatened to put Benjamin in prison Judah knew this would kill his father Jacob. He offered a trade instead.

“Now please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.” (HCSB, Genesis 44:33-44).
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Judah was a changed man. God can do amazing things with people. Don’t give up on seeing them changed for the Lord.
 
My Great Aunt was in the hospital with a brain tumor. She never married and was always a very proper lady. She always dressed very nice. Her speech and behavior were very respectable and classy without fail. But now she was so afraid she cursed at the doctors and the nurses. My mom was shocked at her behavior and asked if I could visit her. I asked my aunt if she knew she would go to heaven one day. Then I led her in a prayer to receive Christ. The Lord gave her a remarkable peace in her heart. Immediately her behavior changed. My mom was stunned and asked me what I said to her. It was a great opportunity to witness to her.
 
My mom had not been living as a Christian for many years. I had been heartbroken for her soul, and I prayed many prayers for her through the years. Sometime after this event with my aunt, Mom received Christ, joined a good church, and even began teaching children in Sunday School.
 
Don’t give up on people. Keep on praying for them. You never know when or how God will answer your prayers. Keep praying for your family, your neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. (HCSB, James 5:16).
​
Pastor Pat

The title is a quote from Genesis 1:28. All that is good in life comes from God. It is no coincidence that God created family first. He created it to bless us. He created the first family and blessed them.
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Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth." (HCSB)
 
Family is our first and essential source of blessing, goodness, and love. Family is where we are first loved. It is where we learn how to live. Everything from walking and talking, to growing to maturity. Family is where we are loved even though we aren’t perfect. It is where there is peace. It is where we can fail time and time again until we get it right and are loved and accepted the whole time. “There's no place like home” is so true.
 
All of human civilization and society rests upon the foundation of the family. If families fail nations fail. Societies devolve into chaos. Suffering, pain, poverty, crime, violence and death escalates. All we have to do is look at the news to see this dynamic at work.
 
The following is not meant to assign blame or fault at all. After all I came from a broken home myself. Many like myself have overcome this handicap to live productive lives but statistics show a more complete story. Children in single parent homes are 4 times more likely to live in poverty. They are 3 times as likely to be incarcerated as adults and most incarcerated adults grew up without their father. An alarming 85 percent of children with behavioral disorders are from homes without a father. Single parent homes produce children that run away from home at 3 times higher rates, are 4 times as likely to live in poverty, and their divorce rate when they marry is 35 percent higher.
 
As the family goes so goes the nation. If you want to ruin a nation ruin the family. If you want to damage the church, damage the family. So let’s encourage families to stay together and keep their vows before a holy God.
 
God created the family to bless us. If you have not had children, I cannot explain the incredible love and joy that fills your heart upon the arrival of your own child. And wait until you have grandchildren! Sadly, our culture today leads many to miss out on the incredible blessings of marrying and having children. So let us extol the blessings of marriage and families. We should encourage marriage, commitment, and steadfast love of couples so they and their children will be blessed.
 
 Pastor Pat
 
 

“Be prepared” is the Scout motto. We take it pretty seriously. After all, no one wants to go camping and realize at bed time they neglected to bring their sleeping bag! On my first week long camping trip as a young Scout I fell into a mud hole. I did not bring a change of clothes. Wearing mud the rest of the week was not my idea of fun. Once we forgot to bring any meat on a weekend camping trip. That was not fun!
 
Scouts are taught to use the buddy system. They go to their training, the dining hall and assembly in no less than two or three together. Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs. As Southern Baptists we are much stronger because we cooperate together to win the world to Christ.

Scouts are taught to teach those who are younger and prepare them for life. They teach them how to pitch a tent, tie knots, use a knife safely and responsibly, cook on a camping trip, look out for one another and much more.

The older Scouts teach young Scouts the Slogan, the Motto, the Scout Law, and the Scout Oath or Promise. The Scout Oath or Promise helps Scouts to prepare themselves in life. They make this promise at every meeting:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
 
What a great way to prepare them for life and encourage them to honor God!

God is also prepared.  He has prepared a city for us in heaven. “But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” (HCSB, Hebrews 11:16).

I am being trained in first aid and CPR. When you see me again I will be certified. I don’t want to ever have to do CPR on anyone but nothing can replace being prepared. I am prepared to save a life. Nothing can replace being prepared to save a soul.

Let us constantly be prepared to win others to Christ. 1 Peter 3:15, “but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (HCSB).

Pastor Pat

​                I have for a while been considering how blessed we are at First Baptist Walnut Cove. It fills my heart with joy to think of it.
                We have great facilities that are well maintained. We are in good shape financially.
                I am thankful for our faithful Deacons. We have excellent and faithful staff that minister well. It is a pleasure to minister with them. 
                We are blessed with an outstanding pastor. Week after week we are blessed by excellent preaching from Pastor A.J. He leads, preaches, counsels, and also serves as our music director.  Our choir sings so beautifully and greatly enhances our worship.
                Our church has a lot of people that serve others out in the community in various ways selflessly. We have many dedicated members who faithfully serve within in our church tirelessly.  There are so many good people here that are precious to me. We indeed are very, very blessed beyond measure by God.
                Most of all we have a marvelous Savior! His love never fails us even when we fail Him. How can we ever thank Him enough?
 
Pastor Pat

         I have for a while been considering how blessed we are at First Baptist Walnut Cove. It fills my heart with joy to think of it.
          We have great facilities that are well maintained. We are in good shape financially.
         I am thankful for our faithful Deacons. We have excellent and faithful staff that minister well. It is a pleasure to minister with them. 
     We are blessed with an outstanding pastor. Week after week we are blessed by excellent preaching from Pastor A.J. He leads, preaches, counsels, and also serves as our music director.  Our choir sings so beautifully and greatly enhances our worship.
         Our church has a lot of people that serve others out in the community in various ways selflessly. We have many dedicated members who faithfully serve within in our church tirelessly.  There are so many good people here that are precious to me. We indeed are very, very blessed beyond measure by God.
         Most of all we have a marvelous Savior! His love never fails us even when we fail Him. How can we ever thank Him enough?
 
Pastor Pat

​We had a new hire at our land surveying company. We will call him “Joe”. It was my responsibility to supervise him as leader of our survey crew whenever we went out of the office to work. Everybody was of the opinion he was a nice guy. Joe had a valid NC driver’s license so I decided to let him drive one day to evaluate his skills.
 
We had worked that morning and while on the way back to the office Joe was at the wheel. We chose to stop for a soft drink at the D & J Country store in the tiny crossroads community of Delway, NC. The store was located on the right just past the intersection of Hwy 421 and Hwy 903. Already dubious of Joe’s driving skills I cautioned him not to turn on his turn signal yet for I could see an 18 wheeler stopped at the intersection on the right with his left turn signal on. We were going North and the large truck was signaling to turn South on 421. Somehow Joe either thought he knew better than I did, didn’t hear me, or didn’t understand my instructions.
 
He turned his head, looked at me, and turned on the right turn signal. Just as I feared, the big 18 wheeler pulled out in front of us to make his left turn to go south on Hwy 421. “Stop!” I said. “Stop!” I repeated. For a third time louder I yelled, “Stop!”. I reevaluated Joe and concluded he didn’t understand that instruction either because he wasn’t stopping, no, he wasn’t even slowing down! At the last second I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it just in time to avoid crashing into the huge 18 wheeler.
 
Now Joe was very agreeable and would try his best to do anything you asked of him, but as the saying goes, he couldn’t pour water out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. I tried my best to find something Joe could do adequately on the job. After about a month I concluded there was not a single thing he could do that would not slow us down and that cost our customers money. We charged by the hour and land surveying isn’t cheap. Something had to change.
 
We didn’t want to fire him because there was one thing he could do well. Joe had 11 children with one more on the way. But very sadly one day I had to pull him aside and recommend that while he was still working for us he should look another job. He didn’t listen to me about that either for he just quit right then and there.
 
Our company owner was an outstanding Christian man. But we would have never had this problem if he had done a good job of interviewing and doing background checks. Because of this over time I had to work with alcoholics, incompetents, and convicts.
 
This brings me to the point. When hiring someone to minister to youth and children we need to take the time do a good job of getting the right person. We need to pray for the right person, our personnel committee, our pastor, our children and youth, and most of all, for God’s will to be done.
 
Pastor Pat

​A lot of us have had a burden on our hearts for a while. Several people have told me how much they want to see more children and youth in our church again. They tell me of the many that were coming before covid and in earlier times. We encourage one another to pray for the younger generations. Fervent prayers are being lifted up. They are crucial. It is so good to see that.
 
But the right attitude and purpose in our prayers are crucial if they are to be effective. Praying for youth and children because our church needs them doesn’t work in my experience. I have never seen those prayers answered. We should pray because they need Christ most of all and they need the church.
 
Children and youth desperately need our prayers. Our society has been turning away from Christian values for decades and replacing them with values that remind me of 1 Timothy 6:10 which in part says “some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (HCSB). The younger generation is suffering much.
 
So let us pray for our entire church to be passionate for the souls of younger generations. Let us pray that we are willing to make changes that may be needed to reach and win them to Christ. May we put our preferences aside to love and help them the way they need.
 
Let us pray for our personnel committee our pastor that they are led by the Lord to the right person to minister to our youth and children. Let us pray that we all in unity love and bless the youth and children.
 
Pastor Pat

    God built the foundation of all human life upon marriage. Before there was a society, before there was a nation, before there was a government, before there was the church, there was marriage. These all rest upon the foundation of marriage. Not one of these has ever existed without marriage. Jesus addressed the importance of this.
 
Mathew 19:4  "Haven't you read," He replied, "that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female," 
5  and He also said: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? 
6  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate."   (HCSB)
 
    God first created marriage as one man married to one woman for life. But Satan has viciously attacked marriage. You hear it said it is just a piece of paper, a legal issue set up by the government. Some want to redefine marriage or ignore it all together like it does not really matter but thankfully, it persists. It persists because we were created for marriage. God made us for one another and nothing we say or do can change that. Though God gave some the gift of being single to serve Him they are few in number.
    None of us would be here without marriage and families. In Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.’” (HCSB). After the flood once again “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’”, (Genesis 9:1, HCSB). Twice came the blessing and then the command to “fill the earth”. They go together. I believe it is still in effect for us today since we all are descendants of Noah. “Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, ‘Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you’”, (Gen 9:8-9, HCSB).
    Those who have many offspring are blessed. God blessed Abraham with numerous descendants promising him, “I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore.”, (Genesis 22:17, HCSB).
    Therefore for people to have their most blessed, fulfilling, happiest life I recommend marrying young and having lots of children. Will it be hard? Yes, but you choose your hard. Not marrying and having no children is hard too, especially in later life when regrets and loneliness sets in. “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?”,  (Ecclesiastes 4:9-11, HCSB).
    Many years ago my grandfather gave me an excellent piece of advice. He told me not to put off having a child until we could afford one otherwise we may never have a child. God provides what we need when we need it.
    God loves life. We see this in creation in the incredible abundance and variety of life He created. Let’s celebrate, encourage, and enjoy marriage, family, and children.
 
Pastor Pat

​          This is the month when we focus on love.  Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it (take the hint guys) and we all take particular care to romance that special person in our lives.  There will be flowers, or candy, or dinner, or some special gift just for the one we love.  Guys, remember now, household appliances such as toasters and vacuum cleaners are not what your lady dreams to receive from you on Valentine’s Day!  She desires something romantic and personal. 
          But Valentine gifts can be expensive.  Roses are astronomical.  We heard that the price for roses are set months in advance for this time of year so that it will not necessarily save you any money to purchase them in advance.  Could it be that the price of some perfumes, powders, and lotions was so high that it was what led the Fed to lower the interest rate? 
          But soon the candy will be gone, the cards will be put away, the flowers will wilt, and the expensive gifts will loose their freshness and new luster.  The romance of Valentine’s Day will fade away.  We tend to forget to romance our mate or special someone and the flame of love soon begins to flicker.
          But there is a way to keep the flame burning—it doesn’t require you to be charming, intelligent, or witty, it isn’t fattening, doesn’t require good looks, and will not bust your budget.  And, best of all, it works all year long.  What is it?  It’s all that free stuff that’s the best.  It’s the simple things.
          It is long hugs (best applied daily), saying, “I love you” for no special reason, writing a short love note and hiding it somewhere or using a dry erase marker to write it on the mirror.  It is remembering to kiss “Goodbye” and “Hello.”  It is opening the car door, or warming their car up, or cooking a simple meal.  It is just sitting and talking about their day and your day.  It is cooking his favorite desert or vacuuming the floor for her.  It is the day-to-day simple acts of love that keep the flame burning.
          No amount of money could replace these “gifts of love” if they are missing.  No one-time gift can begin to compare with these day-to-day special acts of love.  This is how love lasts from day to day.  This is how we keep the flame of love burning for a lifetime.  This is how we enjoy one another as God intended.
1 Corinthians 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, 
5 does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 
7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 
8 Love never ends. … 
          This reminds us of God’s love for us.  He always loves us.  His love never ends. He has promised never to leave us or forsake those who belong to Him.  Every day God’s love is just as strong for us as it was the day we came to Christ.  Isn’t God wonderful?
          So let’s love one another and praise the Lord!
 
Pastor Pat