Focus on Faith

First Baptist Church CRASH Kids - Wednesdays from 6-7 pm Fresh Connect - Sundays 6-7 pm 1st - 6th graders welcome. September is Open-House Month at BUMC ·September 14th: Student Sunday (All students will be recognized and prayer offered for a successful school year.) ·September 21st: Teacher Sunday (All teachers, including Sunday School teachers, will be recognized and prayer offered for their service.) ·September 27th: Saturday Night Hill Country Praise featuring Mother-Daughter Duo Taylor Weaver & Heather Dillard.

In its fourth year, Hill Country Praise is scheduled for Saturday, September 27, in the courtyard at Blanco United Methodist Church. This event began its tradition to provide greater fellowship within its own community of faith and community at-large. For the first time, we begin with a hamburger cook-off at 5:30p.m.

When my Uncle Mort accused me of “dealing loosely with the truth,” I knew that facts were stacked heavily in his favor. Were I not in his close circle of kinfolks, the charge might well have been one for bald-faced lying. “You’ve been writing about me in your column for four years,” he blurted.

He had failed at his job. Tomorrow his troubled wife and family would share his shame. Legal action would undoubtedly be brought against him. Prison time might be ahead...or worse. His position as head of a Roman prison made him responsible for the safekeeping of every prisoner in his care and to lose even one could seal his fate.

Someone invited me to their 'space' at myspace.com. It seems to me that it’s an internet website where people can display their pictures and “be themselves” OR a fantasy. It could also be a place where people can talk about who they really are, no holds barred. No one can ever know you as well as God.

Heb 3:1 says, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession (confession), Christ Jesus.” Jesus is the Apostle of our confession. Jesus is the High priest of our confession. How do these two roles differ? An apostle is an ambassador; a delegate (2Cor 5:20, Prv 13:17).

When our children were in their teens, a high school senior friend (a daughter of a local pastor) was involved in a serious auto accident that threatened her ability to ever walk normally. Doctors predicted her chances to recover completely were only about one percent. Undaunted by these precarious percentages, our youngest daughter gave this unforgettable response: “God can do a lot with one percent.” What about this kind of faith? Is it sensible to pray about situations that seem impossible or is the risk of loss of faith too great to pray about things that call for trust in God when answers to our prayers demand miracles? Perhaps a better question is about what kind of praying pleases God. In his book, “Getting Things From God,” Charles Blanchard, a former president of Wheaton College, wrote that there is not one record in the Bible of God rebuking praying people for asking too frequently or too largely, pointing out that the opposite has often been true.

Blanco United Methodist Church kicks-off a new season by celebrating special people in our lives at both services, 8:30 and 10:55a.m. We invite the community to join us for any of these special events either in person or in spirit. We extend to all a healthy, successful, and blessed school and work year!

My child . . . You may not know Me, but I know everything about you...Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up...Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways...Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered...Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in My image...Genesis 1:27 In Me you live and move and have your being...Acts 17:28 For you are My offspring...Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived...Jeremiah 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation...Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in My book...Psalm 139:15-16 I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live...Acts 17:26 You are fearfully and wonderfully made...Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother's womb...Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born...Psalm 71:6 I have been misrepresented by those who don't know Me...John 8:41-44 I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love...1st John 4:16 And it is My desire to lavish My love on you...1st John 3:1 Simply because you are My child and I am your Father...1st John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could...Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father...Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from My hand...James 1:17 For I am your provider, and I meet all your needs...Matthew 6:31-33 My plan for your future has always been filled with hope...Jeremiah 29:11 Because I love you with an everlasting love...Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore...Psalm 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing...Zephaniah 3:17 I will never stop doing good to you...Jeremiah 32:40 For you are My treasured possession...Exodus 19:5 I desire to establish you with all My heart and all My soul...Jeremiah 32:41 And I want to show you great and marvelous things...Jeremiah 33:3 If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me...Deuteronomy 4:29 Delight in Me, and I will give you the desires of your heart...Psalm 37:4 For it is I who gave you those desires...Philippians 2:13 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine...Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager...2nd Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles...2nd Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you...Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to My heart...Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes...Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father, and I love you even as I love My son, Jesus...John 17:23 For in Jesus, My love for you is revealed...John 17:26 He is the exact representation of My being...Hebrews 1:3 He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you...Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins...2nd Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled...2nd Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of My love for you...1st John 4:10 I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love...Romans 8:31-32 If you receive the gift of My Son, Jesus, you receive me...1st John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from My love again...Romans 8:38-39 Come home, and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen...Luke 15:7 I have always been Father and will always be Father...Ephesians 3:14-15 My question is...Will you be My child?...John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you...Luke 15:11-32 Love, Your Dad, Almighty God

Good preachers, bless ‘em, are made of sturdy stuff. They are sitting ducks for criticism, and, as moving targets, usually can’t move fast enough. In life’s shooting gallery, their battered canvases would be pock-marked by arrows and broadsides. Such persons are called upon to be “all things to all people.” Perhaps there are no tougher assignments…. * * * * * Oh, this goes for “fair” preachers, too.