It is easy to consider all the negative that is going on in our world today, the division of  people, the lines being drawn, and miss the goodness of life that God provides. The conflict in Israel, the voices levied for and against personal opinions and agendas, tend to leave us conflicted and worrying about the future. The death that is attributed to mental illness and our lack of understanding on how to curb the aggression and action.

 

A deeper look at Psalm 118:22-23 tells us, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This has come from the LORD; it is wondrous in His sight.” In the church we know this is referring to Jesus as the cornerstone of our faith. No matter what comes our way, our cornerstone remains steadfast. Be careful to whom you give your ears and hearts. News agencies are at most times good for information, if we understand the spinning that takes place. But, it is always beneficial to look to the LORD. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the    author and perfecter of our faith. It is in Christ that we find hope and direction.

 

I am so thankful for you as a people of God.  Together, we have taken it upon ourselves to take care of our needs while also reaching into the future. We are so blessed by God to be used by Him in making Him known. Always remember, God uses all circumstances to make Himself known. All things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We are using our gathering space to bring our church together while also inviting others to come and see. What a blessing to get to lead a church that goes beyond what is seen to what is needed.

 

At our last member meeting, we voted to collect a special Building Offering on Sunday, November 12. It gives us an opportunity to come and think about what God has called us to do together. As a part of this special offering day, we have also been asked to join a communal church effort to finish the last house for Habitat for Humanity. It is a blessing to come alongside three other churches in our area: First United Methodist Church, Kerrville Church of Christ, and Impact Fellowship in completing this neighborhood. The first $25,000 collected on our ingathering day will go to support this endeavor while the additional funds will be applied to our building debt. Blessed to Bless is more than a campaign, it has always been a movement of Trinity Baptist Church for God’s glory. Thank you in advance for your contributions to bless our community.

 

At this season of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for your faithfulness to God’s movement among us. May we see more and more of God’s  activity as we submit to His leadership and direction.

 

In Christ,

We believe in God the Father, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in the Holy Spirit and He’s given us new life. We believe in the crucifixion, we believe that He conquered death, we believe in the resurrection, and He’s coming back again, we believe. These are the words to the chorus of the song, We Believe, by Matthew Hopper, Richie Fike, and Travis Ryan. Those words have been a part of our singing vocabulary for many years and hopefully a part of our spoken vocabulary as well.

 

What we believe is important because it not only describes who we are but what we do. It is important that we pass along our truth statements to our families. Our children will be more likely to make them their truth statements when they see our words and actions working together.

 

I am excited about our “We Believe” series. It is both affirming and encouraging to know we are moving in the same directions as a faith family. It has been a blessing to see students and adults coming to follow Jesus in biblical  believers baptism. We are still scheduling others. God has been faithful to bring fruit when we are faithful to tell His story.

 

At Midweek this month, we will be encoring our marriages through a time we have entitled, “Loving on Marriages.” On October 18th, 25th and November 1st and 8th, we will be gathering to celebrate God’s gift of marriage and consider next steps of faithfulness and blessing. I am a firm believer that as goes marriages, so goes the families; as goes the family, so goes the community; as goes the communities, so goes the country.

 

I want to thank Mike Mullens for helping to put together our most recent time of praying during the Jewish festivals for the Jewish people to come to recognize Jesus as Messiah. May we continue to pray for Israel, the Jewish people and the world as often as they come to mind. It has been an added blessing to pray for the Jewish people during the days of their fall festival days. I know for a fact that those who attended Midweek were blessed as we studied and learned together.

 

Great things are happening at Trinity Baptist Church! My prayer is that we continue to think outside the box and minister outside the walls of the church. Our city needs to hear about Jesus and the relationship that He provides. The foundation of everything we do that matters hinges upon declaring Jesus is LORD. Let’s continue to join our voices and our paths as we declare God’s good news to those around us.

 

In Christ,

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”  Jeremiah 29:7

 

These are the words spoken to the children of God as they were taken into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was the command of God to His people soon to be living in a culture that was not in favor of following God’s ways. Of course, to be honest, the children of God had not been following God’s ways prior to their captivity and thus their captivity. Notice that God sends them to a place not necessarily godly, but they were to pray for the welfare of that place. God did not leave them. God was with them. God even shows up in mighty ways through Daniel and his three friends. God showed up because they chose not to bow down to worship an idol or cease from praying.

 

God is at work all around us through His Spirit in His people. The world as we know it seems to be moving in not so positive directions. But, there is still a narrow way that leads to life. If we who are traveling the narrow way in Christ, will pray for the areas we have been sent, God will make Himself known to His glory. As a  noted cultural theologian has stated many times, “It is always too early to give up on what God is doing.

 

”Thank you, Trinity, for your summer faithfulness. As we come together this fall, I pray we will deeply consider our next steps of faithfulness. God is so worthy of our living and only what we do in His name will last. I ask myself and would encourage you to do the same, “God, is there an area in my life to which I need to pay closer attention to obedience?” Our ministerial staff spends time together seeking ways to engage in Kingdom assignments and redemptive significance. We as God’s people do not want to be caught off guard with what is coming our way in these days in which we live. May the church be doubly prepared to shine like stars as we hold firmly to the word of life. Then, we will understand God when he also says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Trinity Baptist Church will be a great place to be this fall. There are many next step opportunities available through Bible studies and small group connections. God blessed us with an incredible summer and I anticipate we will see His continued work among us this fall. The month of September will see many guests come on our campus for ministry opportunities. The Arts and Crafts and Car Show will bring several vendors as well as purchasers to our doors. The very next week we will see First Blessing bless children and families as we serve breakfast, share spiritual conversations and distribute new shoes for students.

 

God has blessed us with new space and it is a joy to see people filling it for His glory. Thank you, Trinity, for your faithfulness.

 

In Christ,

 

The summer is certainly hot … for ministry opportunities. As the temperature increases in numbers, so have the people who have begun to follow Jesus as His brothers and sisters. July has seen both Horizon Youth Camp and Alto Frio Preteen Camp come and go. Neither went by without making very significant changes in the lives of both adults and students. We had youth and preteen campers come back home different than when they left for camp. What a blessing. We hope to celebrate baptisms for the remainder of the summer months as we fill the baptistry with water. Praise the LORD! 

 

The summer winding down means that school is ramping up.  On August 13th at 4:30 pm we will gather at the church and distribute some written prayer sheets for our schools, teachers, and students. We will then travel to schools in our area to prayer walk the perimeter praying over all that God intends to do this year in students’ lives. We are trying to find a prayer captain for each campus who will in turn rally others to join them in praying. If you live near a school, and want to just travel to the school around 5:00, we hope to arrive and begin praying then. If you can’t make it to a campus or are not up to prayer walking, we will also have a group of people praying over all the schools through a media presentation in our Family Life Center led by Sue Owens (for those who need air conditioning). We will have water and information to distribute at 4:30 when we gather. Come and help us pray on site with insight.

 

God is faithful. We live in a time when it is easy to get discouraged. Remember, God is not surprised by what is taking place. He has assembled His Church to make a difference in these days. We can not only live in this culture at odds with what we believe, but we can actually thrive in this culture as well. Be faithful to serve and move as the Body of Christ. Let’s commit ourselves again to make a difference as we pool our stewardship for God’s glory and use our talents and gifts to serve Christ. 

 

I am blessed to start year twelve as Trinity Baptist Church’s pastor but even more blessed to get to travel these days alongside you. You are an amazing people of God. It will be  amazing to witness together what God has in store for us.  

 

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”   Ephesians 3:20-21    

 

In Christ,

 

“Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.’” Psalm 16:1-2 (NKJV) 

 

“Keep me safe, my God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the LORD, ‘You are my LORD; apart from You I have no good thing.’” Psalm 16:1-2 (NIV) 

 

“Save me, O God, because I have come to you for refuge. I said to Him, ‘You are my LORD; I have no other help but yours.’” Psalm 16:1-2 (Living) 

 

“Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to You. I say to God, ‘Be my LORD!’ Without You, nothing makes sense.” Psalm 16:1-2 (Message) 

No matter what is taking place around us, we have a place to run. It is to the LORD. It is a place of trusted refuge. Though the different Bible translations use a few different words, they all say the same thing. They all agree, “In God We Trust.” As we celebrate our nation’s independence this month, may we celebrate our trust in God as well. I am one that believes we have independence today because of our trust in God. I believe better days will come if we return to trust in God.

 

In God we trust is not only a motto but a philosophy of life. “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

Psalm 20:7 Several trust in their own efforts or the efforts of others. We are blessed to get to travel this journey of life together and lean on and into one another, but our greatest trust is in the LORD. As we live in such a way as to bring God glory, let us do so with our complete trust in Him. After all, it is His renown, His reputation, that  matters in the end. We will add to or distract from His purpose in the way we trust and live.

 

The summer has entered with extreme heat. Please take caution as you plan your activities. There is a reason we call it summer casual. We are not telling anyone how they should dress on Sundays, but it is a little warmer in the Worship Center when the outside temperatures rise above 95 degrees. We have our air conditioners running at 80% and are making plans to cover what we can for the summer. I will not wear a jacket again until after Labor Day.

 

God has blessed us with great days already this summer and we are anticipating great days to come. We will have our Family Gathering with ice cream social on Sunday, July 23, at 4:00 in the Family Life Center. If anyone needs to try out some ice cream recipes, I heard the office is     willing to be a test group. There are many days of summer ahead of us but, in reality, we will be into the fall before we know it. Take advantage of our times together as we prepare ourselves to live as God’s representatives every day.

 

For those who are interested, plans are being discussed for taking a trip to the Holy Land in  September, 2024. Further details will be shared as they are secured.

 

Thank you for being such an active faith family. God has given us much to do and you are faithful in your service to the LORD. Thank you for recognizing your blessing and in turn blessing those around us. 

In Christ,

 

It was so good to be with our Church family on Sunday. Our journey to Israel was amazing but it is good to be home. There is so much to share from our trip and over time we hope to pass along our insights and blessings. Many of you have traveled to Israel yourselves and know how life informing and even changing it can be.

 

I cannot express enough how thankful I am for our ministerial staff. I am fully confident that when I am away that Trinity will not miss a step as a result of our team of ministers. Thank you, JD and Wes, for filling the pulpit and the rest of our staff, Clint, Kellee, Sharron, Frank and Charlie, for helping to pastor our incredible fellowship. Keep the Barganiers in your prayers as they prepare to sell a house and start the search in Kerrville for a place to live.

 

We start the summer on the go. Our Dominican Republic Mission team leaves this week and Vacation Bible School will be here before we know it. This summer will be full of ministry opportunities. One of the blessings of our trip was sharing with other pilgrims on our journey about our wonderful faith family in Kerrville. I am excited for what God has placed before us as we travel together.

 

This summer there will be a gathering of Texas Baptist in McAllen for our annual convention. Every five years we hold it in the summer and invite all our Texas Baptist Affinities to join us. We will travel to McAllen on July 16th and return on the 18th. We are allowed 25 messengers who will vote on the business and future direction of Texas Baptists. If you would like to go, call the church office and we will add your name to the list and officially vote on you as a messenger to represent Trinity Baptist Church. Sue Owens will then get you information regarding lodging. If you can go, it is a worthy event to see just how big our Texas Baptist family is and all that we do together.

 

It is easy to think about walking through time as we have in the past. Sometimes we put our travel on auto-pilot and in doing so, we miss many life-affirming moments. On the day that Melinda and I visited the southern steps into Jerusalem, we could see different formation of steps. The steps closer to the walls of Jerusalem were more uniform and were much newer than the others. The older steps were not uniform, nor were they even the same height. It would be impossible to walk up those steps habitually without considering your steps. To navigate successfully, one would need to look down at least every so often.

 

Let’s not move through this summer in a habitual way without considering what is before us. Remember where we are going, toward the LORD. Remember, He has next steps for us. Be sure to look to the left and the right to see others traveling with us. As we arrive at the same places, God has much to both tell us and remind us. I am excited for our journey together. I am looking forward to others we will encourage and meet along the way. God is doing a great thing among His people. Let’s celebrate it together.

 

In Christ,