Announcements for the Week of February 1

Men’s Bible Fellowship (evening edition) will be this Wednesday at 7 PM. in the JIBC Office. Come for fellowship and Bible Study.

Baby/Child dedication If you are a member or associate member of JIBC and are interested in a baby/child dedication then please give your name to our ministry assistant Dina today. Otherwise you may call or email her at the office during the week. Later you will be contacted to make arrangements for the dedication of your child during a Sunday morning worship service.

Ministry Council Meeting There will be a Ministry Council Meeting tomorrow at 7 PM in the JIBC Office. “The purpose of the Council will be to facilitate ministry activities through communication and coordination” (JIBC Constitution 7.8). Please pray for your elders, deacons, ministry directors, and church staff as they meet to discus the busy ministry of our church. Pray that God would be glorified in this meeting and the activity that comes as a result!

Deacons meeting There will be a Deacon’s Meeting on Sunday, February 8 at 9 AM in the JIBC Office.

Special Speaker Next week we will have a special speaker. Dr. Matthew St. John is the teaching pastor of Bethel Evangelical Church in North Dakota. He has preached in many different countries and previously served as senior pastor at the historic Scofield Memorial Church. Of course, he is also Pastor Stephen’s older brother. Please be in prayer for Pastor Matthew’s ministry to us next weekend.

Do Something Daring

Dear friend,

Is God calling you to do something daring for His kingdom, but you are held back because of the risk involved? Maybe someone you know has become the voice of discouragement in your ears?

When John G. Paton determined to leave his successful ministry in Scotland for work among tribal people in the New Hebrides, there were many who sought to discourage him. Most did this out of love and because they wanted Paton to continue his work in their midst. One dear gentlemen, frustrated with the risk Paton was taking cried out, “The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!”

The missionary replied with these cutting but brilliant words: “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms, I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms, and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”

Each of us who trusts Christ is headed to the same heaven. There in glory, the suffering of our bodies will be ended and we will enjoy the pleasure of God’s presence together. This being the case, we need not be afraid of danger in this life. In fact, because of our expectation for eternity, we can bravely serve him in this life. So do not hesitate, dear friend, to do something bold for Christ. Have that conversation about the Savior with your non-Christian friend, stop that questionable practice that you participate in at your workplace, and abandon those bad habits that you think you cannot do without. Some of you might even be called away to serve our King in a dangerous land. Go bravely, go boldly, go with the knowledge that your resurrected body will be as fine as those who play it safe.

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20b).

Your servant,

Stephen

Rev. Stephen St. John
Pastor/Elder

Christian Obedience Begins on Day 1

If we want to understand the Christian life, then we must listen to the whole gospel. This includes repentance and faith.

John is reminding us of this in these verses. How does he remind us?

1. He says that obedience to God is part of the Christian life from the very beginning.
2. He gives an example of what the obedient Christian life looks like.
3. He give an example of the false Christian life.

Sermon Text: 1 John 2:7-11

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Hammer Swings

Dear friend,

Do you ever wonder if you are making a difference for Christ? Amy Carmichael, the long time missionary to India, heard an illustration which became a great source of comfort in her ministry. Someone asked Amy, “If you beat a rock with a sledge hammer 100 times and then the rock breaks, which swing broke the rock?” Of course each swing was necessary.

This is a great way to think about ministering to others. Perhaps you have tried to encourage your non-christian friend or family member to trust Jesus, but they will not bend the knee before Him. Maybe you have repeatedly warned your Christian brother or sister to turn away from some dangerous sin, but they have not yet repented. Remember, no matter what the results are, each attempt is important. Each opportunity you have to share the truth of God’s word is a swing of the hammer and one day that last swing will land. Perhaps you will not even be there. Someone else might land the last blow, but the Lord is using all your swings!

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6).

Your servant,

Stephen

Rev. Stephen St. John
Pastor/Elder

Announcements for the Week of January 18

Men’s Bible Fellowship (evening edition) will be this Wednesday at 7 PM in the JIBC Office. Come for some good food, fellowship, and Bible Study.

Baptism Certificate If you were baptized at JIBC in 2008 and have not received your baptism certificate, please see our Ministry Assistant, Dina after church today to get your certificate.

Youth fellowship The JIBC youth group will be bowling at Pasaraya mall on Saturday 24 January, from 2:00-4:00 PM. See Jill for more information. Please provide individual transportation. We will be meeting at the bowling alley.

Sunday School Attention, moms with 2-5 years old children, please see Mrs. Edna at the Ushers and Greeters’ table after service today.

Donate If you would like to donate a refrigerator and microwave for the church offices, then please see a deacon or call Dina in the office. These items will be used by our staff during the week and will also be helpful for evening functions such as Bible Studies and other church functions.

Lord’s Supper Next week, Jan 25 we will have the Lord’s supper

Knowing You Know Him

If you are a Christian, the love of God is perfected in you.

NOTE: That is not to say you are perfect.

• If you are a Christian, then you must have a relationship with God.
• If you are a Christian, then you must obey God.

This is how his perfect love is manifested in you.

Sermon Text: 1 John 2:3-6

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The Law that Gives Freedom

Dear friend,

One of my students at the high school where I taught was stopped by officials for driving recklessly. It was the culmination of several weeks in which he set aside as many rules as he could. He was not obedient to his teachers, his parents, or his Lord. Apparently he had decided he wanted to be free from authority and felt that a world of opportunity would open up before him if he cast off the restraints of his youth. The opposite happened, however, and he found himself less free - without a car, without the freedom to see his friends at school, and in deep trouble at home. It took this young man (who is now a dear Christian) some time to learn that the rules in his life were for his own good.

Likewise, when our Father in heaven gives rules, they are for our good. There are many people in the world who mistakenly think they will have a limited life if they submit to the commandments of God. They think the path to freedom means throwing off all Divine restraints. But this is not the reality of our world nor is it what God himself says. In the Bible, the Lord tells us that His laws are for our good and they help us live a free life:

“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25).

So, if you want to live a full life, then do what God says! Most importantly of course is to obey the gospel by believing in Christ. Did you know God commanded us to believe? This is the perfect and greatest example of how obeying God sets us free!

Your servant,

Stephen

Rev. Stephen St. John
Pastor/Elder

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