Announcements for the week of March 29

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

Interested in digging deeper into the Word of God? Registration is open for JIBC’s own Reformed Baptist Institute. Please pick up a flyer off the Welcome Center table today for more information.

There will be a Ministry Council Meeting on Monday, April 6 at 7 PM in the JIBC office. This meeting of elders, deacons, ministry directors, committee chairman, and church staff is for the coordination of church ministries. Please be in prayer for these brothers and sisters as they serve.

Praise God for His growing church! Our worship space has been nearly full lately! As you enter on Sundays, please sit toward the front and leave space for others who may be arriving after you. And please don’t bring food and drink into the sanctuary.

Food Gathering Next Week for Street Children’s Ministry and the Ministry of our sister Indonesian Language congregation. Please come with non-perishable food items or cash donations.

Open your hearts

If the love of God is in us, then we must open our hearts to the needy.

1. We must remember that words are important.
2. We must remember that actions speak louder than words.

Challenges for us:

1. We must always share the words of the gospel.
2. We must pray for our missions committee and missionaries.
3. We must pray for and support our church mercy ministry.
4. We must pray the Lord would us how to help the needy.

Sermon Text: 1 John 3:17-18

17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Don’t Just Stand There!

Dear friend,

“Don’t just stand there, do something!” Long before you ever heard this familiar phrase, the Lord’s disciples heard something like it. In fact they heard it from a couple of angels.

Jesus had just spoken his last words to his nearest friends before leaving this earth. He gave them an outline of what was going to happen, what they were going to do. He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Immediately after saying this he ascended into the clouds of heaven. His disciples stood staring into the now Jesus-less sky. That is when it happened.

Two angels appeared and asked them an accusing question, “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Now let me paraphrase what the angels were saying. “Don’t just stand there! He will be back. He told you what you were to do. So get going. Move along!”

The words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 apply to us all. He wants us to be his witnesses. That is to say, he wants us to tell other people about the means of eternal salvation through faith in His work on the cross (John 3:16). His blood was shed for our sins and the whole world needs to know. We can start right here in our own neighborhood (our Jerusalem). Then some of us ought to head out into the nearby towns (our Judea). Still others must go into difficult and uncomfortable locations (our Samaria). Finally, some need to go far away to a place where no one has heard the gospel (the end of the earth).

Friend, what will you do with this bit of information? Will you just stand there looking? Or will you be a witness for Jesus?

Your servant,

Stephen

Rev. Stephen St. John
Pastor/Elder

Youth Sunday, March 22

“Be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Ephesians 5:18-19

March 22 was Youth Sunday, and the young people of JIBC served as ushers, greeters, and the praise team. Their worship was a blessing to the congregation and melody to the Lord–thank you, kids!

Special thanks to John and Apolyna Suwardi for their patient and dedicated assistance to the Youth Praise Team.

The next Youth Sunday will be May 24!

Love is Active

If we want to understand love, then we must learn about true love from the word of God.

1. What is true love?
2. What is false love?
3. How can we put true love into action?

Sermon Text: 1 John 3:16

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Announcements for the week of March 22

Youth Sunday This Sunday is Youth Sunday, and the Praise Team, Usher and Greeter positions are held by members of the JIBC Youth Group.

Men’s Bible Study (Lunch edition) will be this Wednesday at 12 PM at the Outback Steakhouse. Come for fellowship and Bible Study.

Interested in digging deeper into the Word of God? Registration is open for JIBC’s own Reformed Baptist Institute. Please pick up a flyer off the Welcome Center table today for more information.

If you are eleven to sixteen years old you are invited to join the JIBC Friday Youth Fellowship (FYF) this Friday from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Baguley’s. Dinner and Bible Study are provided. For more information, please contact Edna Romulo or Jill Sharp.

Baptism There will be a Baptism Service today at 2:30 PM. Please join us at the Tirtayasa location for this important event. The service is expected to last about 30 minutes.

Well done good and faithful servants! In the providence of God, the Alexander family is moving back to the United States soon. In fact, this is the last Sunday they will be at JIBC. We are thankful they have been a part of our church family and are especially grateful for Greg and Rachel’s ministry in our Sunday Schools over the past two years. May the Lord bless and keep them!

Lord’s Supper Next week, March 29 we will have the Lord’s supper

He is Sufficient

Dear friend,

Sometimes things simply do not go the way we want them to, even when we have asked God for help. If you have had this experience, you are not alone. In fact, you are in good company.

The apostle Paul had a problem. We are not entirely sure what it was. He calls it a “thorn in the flesh.” This has caused many commentators to think it must have been some kind of a physical aliment, but we cannot be certain. Whatever it was, we know he asked God to take it away. Paul says, “Three times I prayed to the Lord about this (the thorn) that it should leave me” (2 Cor. 12:8). What was God’s answer? Apparently he said, “No, I will not take it away.” Although the Bible does not say so, I suppose Paul must have responded with a very natural, “Why not Lord?” God answers the potential question saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9a).

Sometimes, God allows us to continue struggling with something so we will remember to find happiness, satisfaction, and peace in Christ only. This is what the apostle decides to do. Instead of complaining against the Lord he says, “For the sake of Christ I will be content with weakness, insults, hardship, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). And why is he strong? Because the power of Jesus Christ is preparing him for all eternity!

So there really is no such thing as unanswered prayer. God always answers for our good (Rom. 8:28). Sometimes, however, he gives a “no” answer so we remember not to look for contentment apart from our Savior Jesus. He is, after all, sufficient for us!

Your servant,

Stephen

Rev. Stephen St. John
Pastor/Elder

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