People of God, we are blessed to bear witness to this milestone marking 200 years of service in the mission of God’s Gospel. I look forward to celebrating a high time of worship and a sacred time of re-dedication of the membership as we enter the 201st year of First Baptist Church’s existence. It clearly pleased God, the Master Orchestrator, to bring us together in this moment in time to grow us up together in Christ’s love and to prepare this church to be an even greater blessing in the world today. I’m excited to receive others who God will lead to worship God here and make FBC their church home also. I smile when considering how God orchestrates His perfect will in our spheres of time and geography.

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Timely are the words of the Apostle Paul recorded in Acts 7:24-27:

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“The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor He made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and He allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.”

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Just think, wherever life began for us we were destined to know Christ’s saving grace, newness of life, and each other! We were to become His lighthouses of hope in Westwood where over two centuries, former generations were placed here to do the same thing. They believed the power of The Gospel. It was worth being taught, lived out, passed on. They answered God’s high calling in Christ, laying His foundation here, keeping the doors open through prayer and sacrifice, enabling others to find peace and eternal life also and to fight the good fight of faith!

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A prayer for the First Baptist Church Westwood of today: “Lord, we ask that that You pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us in full measure. Lord, build this vineyard into a place where people are free to worship, grow and serve. Lord, open our eyes to truly understand where You are at work and building Your Church at this moment in time. Make our church a place that can be called home by all people. Make us a light in Westwood whose glow is seen much farther away! Lord, grant Your people here courage and opportunity to reach out to friends, colleagues, neighbors with the love of Christ.” [1] 

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May we never forget Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.”

 

Find Us Faithful

(Hymn by Jon Mohr)

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"O may all who come behind us find us faithful;

may the fire of our devotion light their way.

May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe

and the lives we live inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us find us faithful."

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Happy Anniversary and peace to us all!

Pastor Catherine

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[1] Adapted from Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun)