Remote Service Links

During the “Stay at Home” orders due to COVID-19, we are live-streaming our services from our home via Facebook Live. The videos of these services have been uploaded to my YouTube channel as unlisted videos. Click the message title below to go to the videos. I will keep updating the list until we are able to return to our normal church services in our church building. I trust these will be a help and encouragement to you in these trying times.

Pastor Tim

Videos of Remote Services

3/22/20 - AM - Help for the Troubled Heart (John 14:1-3)

3/22/20 - PM - Jesus: God Shown to the World (Hebrews 1:1-3)

3/25/20 - Wed - Encouragement in Trials Pt 2 (Lesson 21 in 1 Peter)

3/29/20 - AM - A Life of Ministry (Luke 17:1-10)

3/29/20 - PM - Jesus: Better Than the Angels (Hebrews 1:4-14)

4/1/20 - Wed - Our Example of Suffering (Lesson 22 in 1 Peter)

4/5/20 - AM - Healed But Not Whole (Luke 17:11-19)

4/5/20 - PM - Angels: God’s Ministering Spirits (Hebrews 1:4-14)

4/8/20 - Wed - In the Days of Noah (Lesson 23 in 1 Peter)

4/12/20 - AM - The Resurrection: The Basis of Our Hope (Mark 16:1-6)

4/12/20 - PM - The Danger of Drifting (Hebrews 2:1-4)

4/15/20 - Wed - In the Days of Noah - Take 2 (Lesson 24 in 1 Peter)

4-19-20 - AM - The Kingdom Within (Luke 17:20-21)

4-19-20 - PM - Why Salvation is So Great (Hebrews 2:3)

4-22-20 - Wed - Baptism’s Difficult Passages (Lesson 25 in 1 Peter)

4-26-20 - AM - The Characteristics of The King’s Return (Luke 17:22-37)

4-26-20 - PM - But We See Jesus (Hebrews 2:5-9)

4-29-20 - Wed - Eternal Values (Lesson 26 in 1 Peter)

5-3-20 - AM - Reaching God’s Ear (Luke 18:1-8)

5-3-20 - PM - Tasting Death; Giving Life (Hebrews 2:9-10)

5-6-20 - Wed - Profession or Possession (Lesson 27 in 1 Peter)

Keep On, Keeping On

With the ever increasing demands upon our time, our talents, and our resources, ones commitment to the Lord and His Church, sadly, can wane. We allow such things as family, friends, jobs, activities, possessions to prioritize themselves in our already over-loaded schedule, and before long, we have drifted from the Christ-centered life that the Christian is called to live. How does this happen? Perhaps it happens effortlessly, that is, we stop putting effort into our daily walk with the Master.

Have you ever looked back at how you handled a particular situation in your life, and thought “Wow, I really blew that”, or “Oops, I should have done things differently?” I know I have, and I am guessing the same could be said of you. Satan wants to discourage and dishearten us so that give in, and give up trying. We stop working at our spiritual lives, so that have more time for rest, which we naively believe will bring peace. We replace the best with something less, and then wonder why our desire for God and His church is just not what it used to be.

The Biblical answer is clear, “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.” There it is, the recipe for peace. It is not busyness. It is not putting something else first. It is not self-centeredness. It is not the multiplication of material possessions. It is a mind that is stayed upon Jehovah. When do that, make Jesus and His will our greatest priority, our Bible reading, our prayer time, our church attendance, our service, will all take care of themselves, and we will begin to see the world, the way He sees it.

A life of Christian mediocrity is not what we have been called to. We have called to deny ourselves, and follow Christ. Then, we may hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” It was the young missionary William Borden who famously said: No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets! My friend, Keep On, Keeping On, for HIS glory.

Revival

Dear Friends of Little Sandy Baptist,

Tomorrow morning we begin our "Special Meetings" with Pastor Cary Borkert from Portsmouth, Virginia.  Pastor and Mrs. Borkert both have servants' hearts and desire to be used by God while at our church.
I read this morning, in a Baptist Bread devotional entitled "The Place Where Revival Begins," that one definition of Revival is "The church falling in love with Jesus all over again!"  Wow!  Isn't that what we all need?  To 'fall in love', all over again, with Jesus!  Why, you might ask?  Why should we want to or do such a thing?  One reason, among multitudes, will suffice.  In the words of the blind Fanny Crosby, "I shall know Him, I shall know Him,  .. By the prints of the nails in His hands." Need we say more?  Because He is our Lord, and Savior, Christ is not just to be first in our lives, He is to be preeminent, in ALL things!
Will you join me in prayer that our church will be Revived?

Pastor Tim    

Delight in His Word

If you have been attending our Wednesday night services, you know that Bible Study has been our topic for the past few weeks.  From The Baptist Bread I read the following devotional which was written by Dr. Michael Hall, Vice-President, Providence Baptist College, Elgin, Illinois.  Ps. 1:2, "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." "Years ago, shortly after joining the army, my sweetheart and I were engaged to be married.  While I was in training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, in Indiana, we were separated for a few weeks.  Each day I would go to the post office to see if I had any mail, and often there would be a letter from this 'knock-out', brown-eyed brunette to whom I was engaged.
Upon seeing the letter I would casually pull it out of the box, put it in my pocket and read it a day or two later when I had the time.  Really?  No way!  I wanted to read what she had to say to me!  Why?  Well, because she was the love of my life, and I loved to hear from her.
How does it work, then, for the Christian who says he loves the Lord and is grateful for what He did for him on the cross, to read the Bible only when there is nothing better to do?  I'm not sure my future bride would have been very impressed to find out that I wasn't all that interested in reading the letters she sent me.  That being the case, what do you suppose God thinks?
I certainly delighted in getting my fiancee's letter and often thought about it throughout the day. The Bible has been called God's love letter to Christians.  If you aren't interested in reading His letter, perhaps, in your case, you are reading someone else's mail."
May we be people of the Book!  I love the old adage: "The Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who is not!"

Atheism vs Hypocrisy

Dear Friends,
Admittedly, the sun has risen and set many times since my last post.  That does not mean, however, that our church is not in my thoughts and prayers.  God has a plan and purpose for Little Sandy Baptist Church and I am thankful to be a part of it.
This past week, Pope Francis criticized members of his own church, suggesting it is better to be an atheist than one of "many" Catholics who he said lead a hypocritical double life. (Reuters) Now, while there are many things about which I would take issue with the Pope, I see his point in this comment.  I believe he used the term atheism to show his strong animosity toward those who 'say' one thing, yet do the opposite.
If this hypocrisy were confined to Catholicism only, we might happily take up the chorus and arrogantly vilify the hypocritical, double-lifers.  However, we look no further than our own Baptist denomination to find similar instances.  I have been known to say, "If you are not going to live as a Christian should live, then lower the 'Christian Flag' from your life and do not let others know that you claim Christianity."  
The consummate Teacher said it best, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"  This may well be the ultimate contradiction of terms, "No, Lord!"  Let us look anew into the mirror of God's Word to see if we are living our lives in a way that glorifies Him. May we never become the subject of any pastor's sorrow over those who profess to be one thing, yet their lives say something completely different.    

God Gave Us Music

Have you ever thought about the power and influence of music? There is an old saying outside a German opera house that says, "Bach gave us God's Word, Mozart gave us God's laughter, Beethoven gave us God's fire, God gave us music that we might pray without words."

We as Christians have been given a new song. The Psalmist said in Psalm 40:3, "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." God designed music to be such an integral part of our lives as a vehicle through which we can praise Him.

The Calvary Quartet, from Greenville, SC

Please plan on attending our Homecoming services on September 11th, 10 AM and 11AM, and have your spirit refreshed and your soul stirred through the God-honoring music of the Calvary Quartet.

The Wonder of the Word

I am thankful that God has allowed our church to partner with various missionaries who are serving the Lord on other parts of our globe.  This past Sunday night, Missionary Don Hodge reminded us of the importance of The Word of God in the hands of the common man.  It seems that the more copies of God's Word that one has, if a person is not careful, can lead one to take the owning of God's completed revelation to man, The Bible, for granted.  May we NEVER get over the wonder of having in our very hands, the infallible Word of God.  May we be faithful in 2016 to daily read a portion of God's Love Letter to man! 

Homecoming Sunday

Dear Friend of Little Sandy Baptist,
Tomorrow is our annual 'Homecoming' Sunday.  Because of space, we do not have 10:00 am Sunday School in the morning.  This is done in order to be able to set up for dinner on the grounds after the 11:00 am worship service.  Please bring food for your family and a bit extra for visitors.  Brother Mark Pierce, Assistant Pastor at Junior Furnace Missionary Baptist Church, Franklin Furnace, Ohio, will be our guest speaker.  Please pray that God will bless Bro. Pierce as he speaks to us. 
Homecoming is a great theme as we believers look forward to the 'great' homecoming, when the Bridegroom, Jesus, comes and calls His Bride (the Church) to Himself.  As Jim Hill wrote in his song, "What a Day, that will be, when my Jesus I shall see."   We need to ask ourselves, "Are we living in light of His imminent return?"  See you tomorrow, Lord willing!  Pastor Tim

Missions: The Life-Blood of the Church

Dear Friends of Little Sandy Baptist,

It was just two weeks ago that Fred, Christie and Sean Basto shared with us their ministry in the Philippines, a country that is half way around the world.  Tomorrow evening, August 23rd, we meet a missionary who is on his way to Norway.  Nahum O'Brien is just beginning his pre-field ministry.  On September 13th, we will meet another new missionary to our church, Brother Eric Stovall and family.  The Stovalls have been on pre-field ministry for nearly three years.  For some, the question may rise, Why Missions? Why would families spend 3 to 5 years raising support?  Why would people leave their families, and give their lives to tell others of the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ?  Further, why then would Little Sandy Baptist partner with missionaries in their service for God, given that many serve in foreign countries?
It was Pastor Randy Carroll who I first heard use the phrase, "Missions is the Life-Blood of the Church."  Many times in the ensuing years I have quoted or thought about that statement.  I am convinced that it is indeed right on target.  Missions is what keeps a church actively spreading the truth that Jesus Saves!  Missions gets our focus off ourselves, and on to the needs of others.  Missions obeys the command to 'Go into all the world . . "  Missions is indeed, The Life-Blood of the Church.  May God give us a renewed heart for Missions and Missionaries. 

Missionary at Little Sandy

I want to encourage everyone to attend this Sunday's evening service, as our special guests will be the Basto Family, one of our missionaries to The Philippines.  They will be giving us an update on what God is doing in their ministry.  We look forward to hearing about God's moving in the hearts of the Filipino people.

Website Launch

Dear Congregation and Friends of Little Sandy,

We are excited about the launching of our church's very own webpage.  It is my hope that we will now be "visible" to folks who are searching the web for churches to visit in our area. Keeping everyone up to date on future happenings at Little Sandy is a big part of the purpose for the webpage. Please visit often and tell others how they can learn more about our church at www.LittleSandyBaptist.com.

Pastor Tim Wright