C H U R C H C O V E N A N T P T . 1

At our recent Leadership Retreat we discovered that as members of Ogunquit Baptist Church we are to subscribe to our

CHURCH COVENANT. You can find a copy of that covenant in the back of our hymnal. It was suggested and received that we as a fellowship of believers ought to review that covenant periodically. This month I thought that we would look

at the first 2 paragraphs of the COVENANT. (Members of the Ogunquit Baptist Church adopt the following covenant which expresses their intent to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all matters of congregational life and daily living):

“Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and having declared the same in baptism, we solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.

We promise, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to seek to love one another as Christ loved us: sustaining each other with Christ-like concern, remembering each other in prayer, aiding each other in sickness and distress, being slow to take offense and always ready for reconciliation.” Philippians 2: 1-5 presents us with a Biblical foundation for these 2 paragraphs of the COVENANT:

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Paul The Bible also gives us a very practical process for solving conflict in the church in Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the 2 of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Jesus

The purpose of any covenant is for us to find agreement on how we are to believe and behave in the local Body of Christ, so that those on the outside looking in might see our fellowship and say,“My, see how they love one another.”

This especially true for our children and grandchildren.

Let’s talk.

Pastor Brian

Tending the Fire

Inside our condominium in Florida, we have a fireplace. I know, that sounds strange, especially when you consider that the parsonage does not have one, and it’s in Maine! One of our favorite things to do is to sit by the fire and read or just stare into the flames and listen to the logs crackle. Doing that is very relaxing. I have learned over the years that if you do not tend the fire, it slowly burns out.

Tending the fire, requires securing fuel for thefire. No fuel, No Fire. The kind of fuel determines the quality of the fire; hard woods are superior and do less

damage to your chimney. The fire burns best when the logs touch each other, and if bedtime is approaching and you want the fire to die out you stop adding fuel and separate the remaining embers. You control the intensity

of the fire. I have observed after interacting with thousands of folks, that some of us experience stress in our lives. No matter how spiritual we are, stress and fatigue can cause us to revert to our old ways of compensating. We reboot to the default. We all are thinking, emotional, physical, social and spiritual beings. For some of us emotion is the default. Stress triggers emotional response and that response is often expressed in anger. The Bible knows this. It doesn’t forbid anger. It tells us to not hurt each other in anger. It’s not ok to say, “Well that’s just the way I am” and then go on and hurt people. We separate the logs in our fire. At the point of anger, if we’ve been tending the fire we can draw on one of those good hardwood logs to fuel the flames of love, acceptance and forgiveness. As you know love covers a multitude of sins. You might be asking “How do I do that?” Start by daily praying this simple prayer found in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” NIV God will reply and when He does, think about it and then repent, turn away from your ways. You will find, in that moment- Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. When you receive it give it to THAT person. Tend the fire. In the coming months I will write more about tending the fire and what kind of logs are necessary to produce an intense life changing fire.

PASTOR BRIAN SHORE

Knock, knock, knocking at your door..

Recently my son took me fishing. He asked me where I would like to go. I replied, “I

would rather go catching than fishing, so take me there.” He knew just the place. We did

some serious catching. I have pictures. At this point I have to be honest, I wasn’t looking

forward to fishing. I hadn’t been in years and I had memories of the hot sun and little

catching. My last boating adventure included nauseous feeding of the fishes. In fact, many of my past fishing adventures ended that way.

But I trusted my son. He knew where to go and how to catch fish. I had HOPE in him

because his fishing past and his promise that we would catch fish. If I had relied on my

past, I’d have passed on the trip and missed the joy of that day and the promise of more

catching in the future.

The past can be a beggar knocking incessantly and demanding that we give more and more, each time he arrives. And while in our naivety, we’re willing to give, he’s really there to rob us of present joy and any HOPE for tomorrow. He’s there knock, knock, knocking.

Don’t let him in.

HOPE eternal is also knocking. In the midst of the reality of Job’s suffering he received

this promise, “You will be secure because there is HOPE; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

You will lie down; with no one to make you afraid…Job 11:18-19 NIV. Even though Job had experienced great suffering, He found HOPE in the promises of his relationship with his most hope inspiring God. In the season of Advent we are reminded of the promises of God manifested in the coming of the Savior. The promised one. The Prince of Peace.

He’s knock, knock, knocking at your door.

Open the door.

Let Him in.

Pastor Brian Shore