Author: Cisco Baez

Words from the Pastor
I am not sure how many of you read the front of the bulletin (Or how many of you read any of the bulletin for that matter!), but as I was praying about and inserting a new scripture on the front page, I read this quote:
The church of Jesus Christ is to minister to people at the point of their need. It’s not a sacred society for snubbing sinners. It’s not a hotel for saints. It’s a hospital for sinners. It exists to help the hurting and aid the broken. Be the church God intends by inviting all people to know Christ and receiving them into fellowship when they express faith! Now even though I put the quote there, I am not sure where this quote came from or who wrote it, but I really do like it. We, you and I, are the church of Jesus Christ brothers and sister! We are His bride; we are His body! We represent Him on this earth. We are what people see when they think of a Christian. We are His ambassadors the Bible calls us. An ambassador represents something. Where ever the United States has an embassy in a foreign country, that land where that embassy is located on is considered sovereign land of the United States and the people that live and work in that embassy represent the United States, just like you and I represent the Kingdom of Heaven. In II Corinthians 5:20 Paul tells the church at Corinth this: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God.” We, as Christians are Christ’s ambassadors, as through God were making His appeal through us it says. If you read this passage of Scripture in context it is talking about Christ being made sin for us so that we could share eternal life with Him in Heaven. That is suppose to be our message to the world around us. That is what we are to share with people on a daily basis. We, as Christians, are to be sharing our faith with the lost and dying world around us. Verse 21 reads this way: “God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” That really does thrill me brothers and sisters! That is what we, as true Christians, are supposed to be sharing with the world around us! We should be sharing our hope that we have in Jesus Christ with others as true ambassadors of Him.
“Okay preacher,” you may be saying, “how am I supposed to share my faith with people that don’t want anything to do with church or the Bible?” Well, we share our faith through our actions. We share our faith through our love for those that are hard to love. We become the body of Christ here on earth. We always must preach, and sometimes we even have to open our mouths. Father, help me to be Your ambassador.
Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve

Words from the Pastor
Where does you confidence lie? Where do you put your trust? Are your feet firmly planted on the Rock and is your anchor holding there? Do you realize that if we are Jesus Christ’s, we have given Him permission to do whatever He deems necessary to do to make us His disciples? And He wants disciples that will never falter! His desire is that as we go through things that we are able to say, “Not my will but Yours Father,” like Jesus did the night before He was betrayed.
This isn’t anything new. Isaiah wrote way back in Isaiah 29:16, “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?” Even way back then Isaiah thought of God as the potter and himself as the clay.
And, as Isaiah wrote, “You turn things upside down…” Have you ever felt that way? Like your whole world has turned upside down? That the way you had planned it out wasn’t even close to the way that God was leading you and you were a million miles away from the goals that you had set? That’s the key word here. The goals YOU had set.
As Christians we need to seek Him and ask Him to lead us and show us which way he wants us to go. Seems rather crazy doesn’t it? I mean, didn’t He give us a brain and shouldn’t we use it? Shouldn’t we use our own smarts to work out our problems and our issues? No, we shouldn’t. You see, God has the ability to see the end from the beginning. He knows what is best for our lives. And if we will just trust Him in all of our circumstances, life would be so much more enjoyable! Like it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all of you heart and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
That’s how the Apostle Paul could trust Jesus and rejoice even when he was in prison. Paul had such a close relationship with God that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had it all under control! That no matter what happened that it was all going to work together for his good and he was safe in the palm of his Master’s hand. Same way that Daniel knew that the lions weren’t going to have him for dinner. And so many more! Think about it! Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve

Words from the Pastor
Welcome to the July RFFD of 2019! It is so wonderful to have you with us here today. I am excited to see you all here and I hope that God speaks to your heart and you allow Him to change you from the inside out.
Did you know that God is in the business of changing lives? Max Lucado said, “God takes us just like we are but He loves us to much to leave us that way!” In other words, He is going to work on us as much as we will allow Him to so we can live that abundant life that He offers us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Do you know who the “they” are in that verse? The “they” are you and me. We can have a full life because Jesus came and died for us! Some versions have translated the word “full” as “abundant”. Life more abundant. That sounds great to me, life to the full, or life more abundant! But does that mean He is going to change our circumstances or take away all of the issues that are clouding our way right now? No, it sure does not. Even though our Heavenly Father loves us more than we could ever imagine, He will not remove our troubles, but He will help us through them. Not to say that God will not preform miracles and that He can’t remove our problems, but most of the time He allows us to go through them so we can learn from them and learn to be more like Jesus.
In Hebrews 5 verse 8 the writer tells us, “Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered…” Jesus, who was God in the flesh learned obedience through the things He suffered! Sounds pretty wild, doesn’t it? Why Jesus? He was perfect! He was from Heaven for crying out loud! But even Jesus needed to learn to follow God. To allow God to have His will done in Him because Jesus was just as human as you and me, yet without sin. I believe that Jesus had to show you and me that it could be done. He was obedient in everything because He led the way for you and me! We know that He was perfect and we know that we can never be perfect here on earth, but we can strive for that! Isn’t that beautiful?
You see, Jesus is the 2nd person of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And being that He is God and that He laid down all of the glory of His heavenly home and came to earth so that He could become a sacrifice for you and me and allow us to have the chance of having eternal life causes my heart to sing. No other person has done that. Buddha went to the grave and is still there. Mohamud went to the grave and is still there. Any other person that people worship died and is still dead! But not our Savior Jesus. And He did it for you and me. He looked at you and me and He said, “They’re worth all of the pain and suffering that I will have to go through. I will be obedient to My Heavenly Father so they can have a way into eternal glory. Yes sir, they are worth it!” And I Praise the Lord that He did it!
Please let me know if you need anything. Naomi and I love you! -Pastor Steve