Words are some of the most powerful things in the universe. God even used words to create the universe when He said in Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light,” and there was light. No wonder that God gave His church special abilities to speak words into people’s lives. These spiritual gifts include teaching, encouragement, and exhortation. Think about your life. There are times you need to be encouraged when downcast, corrected when wrong, taught when ignorant and motivated when apathetic. Words are so important to the Christian life that one doesn’t become a Christian without them. Romans 10 declares that in order for people to believe in Jesus they must first hear about Him and this is predicated by somebody telling them. The role of evangelist is still needed in our lives. And this is why spiritual gifts that involve speaking or communication are crucial to our spiritual growth. If you want to read ahead for what we are studying this Sunday, check out 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 and Romans 12:6-8. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and whether you have been given a speaking gift.

For many of you, this may be welcome back after a busy summer! We thought it would be a good idea to familiarize you with our various ministries kicking off this fall season, so grab some food provided, and please plan on checking out the ministries after the Sunday morning service. As far as what we will be studying this Sunday, our focus will be on what some have called the sign gifts. Signs are important because they point to a greater person or place. Spiritual gifts that are sign gifts are to point us to Jesus and help us find our place in the body of Christ where we cooperate and contribute with the Holy Spirit to build up the church. I encourage you to prayerfully read 1 Corinthians 12:8-11; 14:1-40 to better acquaint yourselves with these sign gifts. And may God use this series on spiritual gifts as a pivotal moment in our lives to serve Him in greater ways!

Happy Labour Day weekend! I hope you have had a great summer! This Sunday we launch a long-awaited series on spiritual gifts entitled Spirit-Built! We hope every believer will discover their spiritual gift and use them to build up the church for God’s glory. Pastor Aaron will be preaching on Sunday through 1 Corinthians 12:4-7. Please read this passage ahead of time and come with your questions as you hear him preach God’s Word.

I recently read about a man in a church that my brother-in-law pastors, who shows up every Sunday and walks into the church auditorium. What does he pray for? Five things:

Conviction. He prays that God uses the Word in a way that brings conviction to the hearts of people.

Brokenness. He prays that having been convicted, people would experience a form of brokenness and godly sorrow over their sin.

Repentance. Having been convicted and broken, he prays it leads people to life change as they turn away from sin and look to God.

Reconciliation. Having turned their hearts to the Lord, he prays that people would experience two forms of reconciliation. First, a reconciliation between God and them. Secondly, a reconciliation between people and people.

Joy. Ultimately, once people act on what they hear and turn their hearts to the Lord, he prays for the fullness of God’s joy to fill them.

What if we started to pray like that man for ourselves and others each Sunday? If you came to the Prayer Encounter at Shiloh this past Wednesday, we learned about how to pray using the ancient prayer book of God’s People - the Psalms. We prayed for the next generation of kids, youth and young adults at TBC. And we learned to pray for conviction, brokenness, repentance, reconciliation and joy.

This Sunday, we conclude our series on cultivating the heart with the emphasis on seeking one thing. We are to seek the Lord. Prayer is one of the chief ways we seek the Lord. Beloved, seek Jesus with all your heart. Make prayer a priority in your life.

What are you looking at? It is a crucial question because our eyes are connected to our heart. You might think I need an anatomy lesson, and I am confusing the mind with the heart. However, in the Bible it is your heart (the all-encompassing term for the inner person) that is connected to the eyes. This is what we will find out and explore further as Pastor Jason leads us through Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 6:19-24. Recall that our eyes are the window to our soul, so let’s keep our eyes on Jesus.

When our missions team was in Czechia this summer to assist our missionary Christina Mayer, I was impressed with how the Czech people grow fruit and vegetables everywhere. Many of the trees throughout their cities bear fresh edible fruit, which are available for any passersby to eat. Czechia is flourishing in so many ways - economically, biologically, and even growing spiritually. One of the highlights of the trip for Michael Duguay, my son Josiah and myself, was to get to know a Czech family who were so hospitable. This family took the whole team to their house in the country where they grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables and raise chickens. I picked a fresh peach off one of their trees and it was the tastiest and juiciest peach I have ever had in my life. When I turned over the peach, I noticed a few bad spots on the fruit. This was a reminder that from first appearances and even tastes, fruit can look wonderful to eat. However, we need to inspect the fruit before consuming. This is also true in the spiritual realm. Our hearts are bearing fruit. Pastor Jason will remind us from Galatians 5:16-25 and Matthew 15:19-21, to inspect the fruit of our hearts so that they glorify God.

How is your heart? Do you know? Most people suffer from heart attacks because they are unaware of a blockage or high cholesterol or a defect. As much as we care about your physical heart here at TBC, we care first and foremost about your spiritual heart. This is why we are starting a 4-week series on the heart led by Pastor Jason. This Sunday we will be learning about the heart from Proverbs 4:23. May God use this series to heal our broken hearts and align them with His!

How are we going to support and carry on the mission of Jesus Christ? This week as we wrap-up our study in 1 Corinthians, we are going to find out how to support and carry on the mission of Jesus Christ from 1 Corinthians 16:5-24. I believe that there will be enough action points that God will impress upon you to do at least one of them.

You are in for a real treat this Sunday as Steve Adams (the former Lead Pastor at Forward Church) will be preaching. Steve has made a big impact for the Kingdom of God. He is a close friend of Temple and helped us as our consultant a few years ago. We are reaping the benefits of his sage advice. My only regret is I won’t get to hear Steve live when he preaches as I will be preaching myself in Czechia. Please pray for Steve, our services, and the Czechia Team to bear much fruit for God’s Kingdom.

Wayne Baxter continues on in our series, Holy Together in the Gospel, a study in 1 Corinthians, preaching from 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 and then leading in a time of celebrating communion.