Opawa Baptist Church

“I have a friend who left the Baptist church because he was
sick of communion having the stuffing preached out of it; he preferred to just
sit with the mystery of the whole thing. I am mindful of that warning as I
preach on this subject. You don’t need to understand the chemical composition
of bread to be nourished by it, likewise I have no idea how a cd works but I
enjoy the music they make. So this discussion today is just my attempt to throw
a little light on one side of the mountain.”

"At the original last supper he ate with the man who would betray him, the man who would publicly deny him three times over the following twelve hours, and nine others who would shortly abandon him in his hour of most profound need, leading up to and including the crucifixion. If they were acceptable people to take that first communion with then why aren’t we? "

We looked at 1 Corinthians 9 on Sunday:
1-2 And
don’t tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I’m
perfectly free to do this—isn’t that obvious? Haven’t I been given a job
to do? Wasn’t I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting
with Jesus, our Master? Aren’t you yourselves proof of the good work
that I’ve done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority
of my commission, you can’t deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

"Forrest Gump said that life is like a box of chocolates, Rod says that life is like an old fashioned doughnut with a hole in it. Some things like real idolatry are wrong every day of the week and five times on Sundays. Other things like eating food offered to idols or doing yoga are discretionary, they are not wrong in themselves but may do harm to others"

So I have no idea what this Christian life was all about, how do I now live, what’s important and what’s not? What
are the rules? How do I please God and avoid annoying him?

Your life is telling a story; what is it saying?  What words are you using to tell speak the gospel message?  Are you telling it?  Who is listening to your story?

Phil talked about building connections with his non Christian
neighbors, do you have people in your life that you are praying will
follow Christ?  What is the next step to take with those particular
people? How can we support each other in evangelism?

An excerpt... "When I was the pastor at Ilam Baptist, the whole gay
marriage thing was going through and predictably many Christians were upset about
it.  It seemed to me that there was a lot
of shouting from both sides of the debate but little listening.  So I thought, how might we address that at
our church."

An excerpt:
"So we are never to judge our leaders? Are we supposed to park our own wisdom and discernment and just be obedient little clones? If we are not to judge people then how are we to select our leaders in the first place?"

An excerpt:
"Our leaders, our mentors contribute to our growth but they don’t determine it or make it happen.  God
gives the growth.  When something that we read or hear leads us to
change in a good way, it’s a still a work of God.  The Spirit may use
someone else’s insight to grow you.  Ask any preacher – we all have
stories of offhand or tangential comments that God has really used to
heal or grow his people."