NO. LIVERMORE — At the North Livermore Baptist Church July 25 service the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Call to Worship was read and the Invocation/Lord’s Prayer was recited. The hymns that were sung was “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, “Jesus Loves Even Me”. We concluded the service with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist and Janet Diaz is the pianist each week.
As the congregation came into the building, the ushers passed out a plastic egg to each person. Pastor Bonnie told the congregation to hold onto them until the sermon.
The sermon, titled “One Faith”, and reading the scripture from Ephesians 4:4-6. Too often we prioritize things in our lives that we put God toward the bottom. We have heard the saying “don’t put all our eggs in one basket” because we can’t count on someone being everything to us, as sometimes they move on from being friends, we could lose all our money if we put it all in one stock, etc. There are too many variants in this world. According to the scripture Ephesians 4:4-6, God’s Word is telling us that we can put all our eggs in one basket with our faith in Jesus. The scripture tells us there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. As the number seven in scriptures means completion, all these things make us complete in Jesus. Knowing that faith is believing and trusting in Jesus for our every need. Jesus says in John 14:6 that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me”, this is what we believe in, our one faith. Not just for our good works, not just for donations to charities and to church, not just for helping others out, we do those things because of our love for Jesus Christ in our lives. We do those things because we know that Jesus has called us to do those things. Doing just those things will not get us into Heaven, only accepting Jesus as our personal Savior will.
Too many people will put their eggs in the things of this world. People put their eggs in the stock market, in relationships, in their jobs, in their trucks/cars, homes, “toys” or anything that looks appealing to them. They chase after the sin in this world and figure they have time later for Jesus. That is the wrong way to think about salvation. There is no better time than to accept Jesus now and to live your life for Him. As Christians, we need to put all our eggs in one basket, the life of Jesus.
We each have been given one egg, what we do with the egg is a decision we each need to make. Do we put it in this world, a temporary place or do we put it in the true basket of faith in Jesus Christ? We know when we put our egg in the basket of faith in Jesus, we will fine true contentment, happiness, joy, fulfillment, success, and eternal life which is for eternity. Our egg is our life, a life that God created each of us for, He gave us skills, talents, energy, thoughts, actions, and our purpose for this time in our lives. We need to remember we either are all in the basket of faith in Jesus or we are not in at all. We cannot be in just a little, it is all or nothing. Jesus died on a cross for each of us, He gave it all for us.
We have one body, which is the Church, God’s Church. We are all different, but come together to be one in Christ. There is one Spirit, the Holy Spirit that comes and lives in us when we accept Jesus as our personal Savior. The Holy Spirit fills us with the presence of God in each of us. There is one hope, and that hope is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, so we can have a future with Him in Heaven. Jesus is our only hope for this world. One Lord, there is only one Jesus. No one else can make claim to being our Lord and Savior. There is only one faith, the only faith is in Jesus, who unites all believers together knowing that someday we will all be in the presence of God. There is one baptism, baptized in the water, immersed in the waters as an outward sign of the inward faith we have in Jesus. Finally, there is one God and Father, as Christians we are in one family, for one Father. God brings unity to His children as one unit, one family. The gospel of Jesus Christ unites us all together into one family, the family of God. We find salvation, peace, and hope in the name of Jesus.
We will never find true peace unless we put our egg completely in the basket of faith in Jesus. Only then, can we attain everything that God has for us. Pastor Bonnie dropped her egg in a basket she had in the front of the church, as she ended with a question, “Are you going to keep your egg because you can’t give 100 % of yourself to God, or place it in the basket of faith in Jesus?”
Announcements listed in the bulletin was that the congregation will be collecting Crackers for the Food Pantry in the month of August. The church’s barbecue will be held after church service. The surveys handed out last week in the quarterly business meeting are due on August 1st. If anyone would like to become a member or be baptized should see Pastor Bonnie. The prayer chain list will be updated, if anyone would like to be added to the list, please sign up. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church.
For information, check out the new website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday’s from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
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