NO. LIVERMORE — At the North Livermore Baptist Church Feb. 21, service the congregation was welcome in by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service.
The Call to Worship was read and the Invocation/Lord’s Prayer was recited. The hymns that were sung was “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty”, “Footsteps of Jesus”, “Our God Reigns” with “Go Now in Peace” to complete the service. Linda Lyman is the organist each week.
The sermon, titled “Who is in the Kingdom of God” reading the scripture from Matthew 4:17-22. This week we begin the journey towards the cross. We celebrate the cross and what it means to us as Christians every day, as we look forward to Easter.
Pastor Bonnie began with how at Christmas time we celebrate Jesus’ birth, throughout the year we focus on His teachings, His mission, His life, and during this time of the year we focus on His death and resurrection. As we learn more about His Word, we have read that all must “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” If we are to celebrate in any part of Jesus’ life, we must be part of it and for us to be part of it, we must repent of our sins and live our lives for Him. We cannot enter into Heaven unless we are a part of the Kingdom of God. We must repent and be forgiven by God to be part of God’s Church.
Too many people believe that they are in the Kingdom of God’s family by going to church, doing good works, volunteering, etc. This is a mistake for people to hold on to. There is only one way into the Kingdom and that is through Jesus Christ. You are “in” the Kingdom once you repent and accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Even John the Baptist preached this to the many people who surround him.
In the scriptures that was read, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were doing what they normally would be doing, fishing, when Jesus came to them. When Jesus told them “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They all got up and followed Jesus. They all left their old lives to begin a new one as a follower of Jesus. That is what Jesus asks us to do, when we repent and follow Him, we leave our old life behind to begin a new one with Him. We need to remember a new life, brings a new direction and we need to be ready to follow it. God will show us the way, step by step and we need to be obedient to do it by trusting God. We must let God re-create our lives so we can do all things He has asked us to do and so God will be glorified.
What Jesus said to the men, “follow ME and I will make you fishers of men” He is saying to us today. If we are willing to give up our old ways and to follow Him, He will show us how to be in service to Him. We need to continue to seek His Kingdom and His Ways to be fulfilled with His grace and mercy here on earth.
Pastor Bonnie went on to say that living in the Kingdom of God, as His children, gives us the safety of knowing we will be living eternally with our risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
Announcements listed in the bulletin was that the congregation will be collecting canned fruit for the food pantry in February. February 28th, we will be having another Free Drive-thru meal. The meal will consist of a generous helping of chicken noodle soup, crackers, roll, and a dessert. Pick up will be from 11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Preordering is welcome by calling the church at 897-5377
and leaving a message with your name, phone number, address, how many meals and if you need your meal(s) delivered. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church.
For information, check out the new website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. Also, on the North Livermore Baptist Church’s Facebook page the sermon is posted and on their website is a link to YouTube for the sermon. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. (If there is a no school day in the school district, Pastor Bonnie will not be in the church’s office that day)