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Sharing Christ With Our Jerusalem

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 ESV

The big question is this, how do we carry out the command to go and evangelize today? I have been through many training sessions on evangelism and the different ways of sharing the Gospel with those who do not know Christ. I personally believe that outreach is in the hands of our church members.

We offer opportunities to reach out to our community and this past Sunday was a good example of one of those events. Our Fall Festival was a great opportunity for our church to reach out to the people in our community and introduce them to Eastern Hills Baptist Church and as a result, have an opportunity to share the Gospel with those who might not know Christ. This year our response from our community was great.

We had over 500 people participate in our Fall Festival. Many of these don’t have a church home or perhaps don’t have a relationship with Christ. Thank you for how you responded and helped to make this event a success.

During the next two months we will have other opportunities that can be used for outreach and evangelism. Our Grateful Gathering will be November 23rd at 5:30 PM. We will gather at the Pines for a Thanksgiving meal, activities and a time of Worship. This is an opportunity for you to invite your friends and introduce them to Eastern Hills and Christ. On December 5th, we will have our musical presentation of the Christmas story, “Christmas Hope” at 4:00 PM in the Sanctuary. This will be another opportunity to invite your friends and introduce them to Eastern Hills and Christ.

We believe that the best way to share Christ is one on one. One person telling another how to know Christ in a personal way. The best person to share with your friends is YOU. 

Pastor Dan

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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