Communion Sunday!

"Getting Your Finances in Order" (1/22/2017 Message)

“Getting Your Finances in Order”

Money does fly! "Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Proverbs 23:5

Do you find your money making uncharted flights to places you can't recall? If so, you may need to get your finances in order. Tomorrow, January 22nd during our morning Worship Service at Carrollwood Baptist Church at 10:30 a.m., I will sharing some very practical biblical principles on managing our finances. This would be a great time to invite someone to worship since this is such a common area where we all probably struggle at times. Look forward to seeing you for worship!

Pastor Joe

Sunday's Message, "Get Your House in Order"

“Get Your House in Order”

There once was a good king named Hezekiah. One of his trusted advisers was a prophet, a spokesman for God named Isaiah. Isaiah came to him one day with some bad news, Hezekiah would soon die. And so he told Hezekiah, “Put your house in order, because you will die; you will not recover” (2 Ki. 20:1, my emphasis). What do you do when the doctor tells you that you only have three (3) months to live? Hezekiah was stunned and began to pray and weep before God, he put his house in order, he prayed, and God was merciful to him and gave him fifteen more years.

“Get your house in order,” it’s an expression we use to say that “we are going to arrange our affairs, we are going to make some changes, we are going to work on some areas of our life.” Over the next two Sundays (1/15 and 1/22), I’ll be dealing with some areas of our lives that may need to be put in order in 2017, areas like our walk with the Lord, applying God’s Word to our lives, making peace in our relationships, and getting our finances in order.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey of getting your house in order, for the glory of God and for your good. All are welcomed at Carrollwood Baptist Church where Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Bible studies for all ages is at 9:15 a.m.

Look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Pastor Joe

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3

This Sunday's Sermon at Carrollwood Baptist Church (1/8/2017)

A Singular Resolution, “I Press On”

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:12, NIV

This is the season of New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you focus on a couple of areas each year, or perhaps you’ve already left your 2017 resolutions behind altogether. I recently heard someone describing that the key to successfully keeping your new year’s resolutions is to set goals that are achievable and measurable. Otherwise, you will soon get discouraged and give up. And that your goals should tie in to a greater purpose in life. The same is true of our spiritual life. At times we set goals that are worthy but we get discouraged soon after we make them.

Having dreams, godly goals and desires is a good thing. Paul lived out the Christian faith with about as much diligence and intensity as a person could. But even though Paul was serious about finishing well as a Christian, he never seemed to lose the joy of the journey of faith. Paul successfully lived with the tension of the “now” and the “not yet.” What I mean is that Paul maintained the right perspective in life. He knew that he had not arrived in the Christian life but that did not discourage him at all, he knew the best was yet to come. And this motivated him to “press on.”

“Pressing on” this year means that I acknowledge that I have a long way to go and that’s ok. “I’m not there yet, but I want to be.” In Philippians chapter three, we discover that “The Christian finds fulfillment by holding to the perspective of not having arrived in the Christian life while simultaneously pressing on toward the goal of becoming like Christ in everything.”

This Sunday during worship we will look at what it means to have a singular resolve to “press on” towards the goal of becoming like Christ in everything. That is a resolution worth keeping! All are welcomed at Carrollwood Baptist Church where our Sunday morning Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Life-changing Bible studies for all ages begins at 9:15 a.m.

Looking forward to seeing you and worshiping with the family of God at CBC this Sunday!

Pastor Joe

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3