NO. LIVERMORE — At the Oct. 22 North Livermore Baptist Church service, the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Invocation/Lord’s Prayer were recited. The hymns that were sung were “The Love of God”, “The Church’s One Foundation” and “Open My Eyes, That I May See”.
The service ended with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist and Janet Diaz is the pianist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.
The sermon, titled “God’s Doors” scripture from Acts 14:27. Pastor Bonnie asked, how many people will say “when God closes one door, He opens another” but how many people thought this was biblical? That statement has no foundation in the Bible. Doors do play a significant role in the Bible.
There are many doors in the Bible. One of the first doors is the Ark door. During this time, Noah was asked by God to build an ark to hold the animals and his family inside, by building it with only one door. This door represents God’s justice and mercy, as he judged the wicked world that was living in sin and showing His mercy to Noah and his family.
The next door that appears in scripture is the Passover door. This event happened years later from the flood and brought again judgment from God. This judgment was brought upon the first born of Egypt.
Moses told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and smear the blood of the lamb around their door frames. This door represented God’s protection for the Israelites, so when the Lord would go through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He would see the blood and pass over that house and the occupants would be safe.
Another door that we see in scripture is the Temple door. King Solomon was told to build the first temple to be a place where God would dwell among the Israelites. We know that God is holy and cannot be in the presence of sin, a door was created, so only the high priests could enter in.
This door represented our separation from God. We know that during the time Jesus died on the cross, the door or veil was torn down so we wouldn’t be separated from God.
The next door mentioned was the Shepherd door. Jesus said, “I am the door” (John 10:7) Noticed Jesus said He is “the door” and not “a door”?
Jesus was stating that He is the only way to be reconciled with God. We cannot get to Heaven, without going through Him. Next, Jesus told the people that the path to death is through the wide door and the path to Him was through the narrow door.
The next door that we read is the Cross. So far, each of the doors brings good news. Man is sinful and separated from God (temple door), so we need our sins blotted out. The only way is through the shedding of blood.
The blood of a spotless lamb was required (Passover door) to remove our sins. The Ark door symbolized man’s means of safety from death in the flood, Jesus (the Shepherd door) laid down His life for us.
Lastly, the Tomb door. When the angel rolled away the stone (door) away, showed us that Jesus overcame death as the tomb was empty, and Jesus was resurrected and alive. Our hope that through Jesus, we have eternal life. Each door God provided, brings us closer to Him and eternal life in Heaven.
Announcements listed in the bulletin are that the congregation will be collecting pie crusts for the Food Pantry. Bible Study on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon.
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