“...This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” from -1 John 3:16-24

International Ministries Global Servants Carlos Bonilla & Mayra Giovanetti make living and teaching the commands aimed at a disciple a core part of their work. They not only teach how to teach, but they live with and teach by example. They once shared a story about Laura Erica, a seminary student they worked with who started a discipleship program in Nicaragua.

Read more at fbcmuncie.org/blog

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“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” - Hebrews 13:6-16

FBCM is excited to welcome Jordan and Mindy Morris to lead worship on Sunday, April 21, 2024. They are the Camp Directors of Indian Creek Baptist Camp in Bedford, IN. Jordan will be preaching the message on this year’s camp theme: Always. In addition to reading Hebrews 13:6-16 and Psalm 118:1-6, you can prepare for worship by reading Pastor Kendall’s interview with the Morris's on the FBCM blog!

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See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! - from 1 John 3:1-7

Light and Dark. Children of God and Children of the Devil.

The book of First John often speaks in stark terms.

It can leave us with a lot of questions.

For example: how is it that the writer (the Elder) can say:

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1:8).

And, then, also say:

How can these both be true?

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"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

When you think of Holiness, what do you think of?

Maybe you imagine a solitary monk or nun in the wilderness, away from human contact, the world, and all temptation.

This idea of holiness is that holiness is separate, alone, and distinct.

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“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” From 1 Corinthians 15:12-26

Easter! Resurrection Sunday. Bright colors, pastels, Sunday dinners, and celebrations. Bunnies and baskets. Springtime and life. These might come to our mind: good things, fun things, things of this world.

And then we walk into church. We hear about a man who died a gruesome, horrible death on a cross, was laid in a tomb which was not his own for days – and on the third day an angelic messenger tells his friends who are looking for his body: “He is not here! He is risen!” (Matthew 28:6). He rose – and the Christian faith makes a remarkable claim. He did not rise in our hearts. He didn’t represent an idea that lives on in his followers. As John Updike wrote: “Make no mistake: if he rose at all / It was as His body.”

But, we might well ask: even if we were to believe such an extraordinary thing happened, what does it mean for our lives?

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Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Our scriptures for this week are Mark 11:1-11. Pastor Kendall will discuss how we betray God before we even know it and explore how God works even when it seems like nothing has happened.

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Then [Jesus] returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” From Mark 14:32-42

When I played soccer in high school, I wanted to like running for the sake of the game and my teammates. But my lungs were of the opinion that exercise was a form of torture and should be illegal. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

Desire to moderation but Lay’s chips won the bet and you couldn’t have just one? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Meant to keep your calm but your firecracker disposition exploded on your family? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We could fill a hundred blogs with example after example of our contradictory experiences. We aren’t evil. We’re just human, like Peter, James, and John. We’re just too weak to follow through with things God asks.

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Peter said to Jesus, "Even though all become deserters, I will not."

On the phone with a friend, I mentioned that I never ask Jonathan to feed the baby at night because “He’s just too loud. He doesn’t know how to get out of bed quietly without waking me up. So it’s not worth asking him.”

Lo and behold, when I got up to feed the baby later that night, I tripped on a shoe. That shoe caused me to do that awkward half-stomp-half-run thing to keep myself from falling. And for some added flair, somehow I accidentally slammed the bedroom door on my way out. Not only did I wake Jonathan up, but my oversized dog came galloping down the hall to see what the commotion was while the baby let out a dramatic gasp from her nursery.

Apparently, I’m worse at getting up quietly than my husband. Whoops.

Of course, you don’t have to be married with a baby to have a similar experience. There’s something hardwired in our brains that makes us think better of ourselves than others. Cue the song, “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you…”

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“Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” From Mark 14:10-21

I’m generally a rule follower, but there’s one rule of the elementary school cafeteria that I often ignored: no trading food.

It’s not that I disliked what I was eating. I packed my lunch, so I knew it was all stuff I liked! But once a week, there was at least one friend who saved up some extra allowance to buy the really special snacks: Fruit Gushers, Oreos, or an extra slice of pizza. And if you were lucky enough that particular day, you might have something they liked enough to make a trade. "Move over slimy turkey sandwich…helloooooo Cool Ranch Doritos!"

As Americans, I guess you can say capitalism runs deep in our culture. So much so that we learn as early as the schoolyard how to barter for what we want. This is resourceful of us if nothing else. But the constant desire to “trade up” for “the next best thing” leaves us in a hollow, never-ending search. And this has dire consequences when it bleeds out of the commercial economy and into our spiritual lives.

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"While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head" from Mark 14:3-9