Farewell OBC, What a Time We've Had

Dear Friends,

Even though my tenure as pastor of OBC will end April 30th, I wanted to write the May

Beacon Pastor’s Page. I wanted to thank you all, in writing, for 16 wonderful years of ministry together. I have been either a pastor or youth pastor for about the last 23 years. 19 of those years were spent at the Ogunquit Baptist Church! First, I was youth pastor under Dave Clark, and then pastor starting in 2007. So OBC and all of you have had a big influence on my experience of what it’s like to be a pastor. You have made it a real joy! Burnout is common among pastors, but it has not happened to me. Largely that is because of your care, kindness, grace and maturity in Christ and I appreciate it greatly!

I also want to thank you for caring about my family and treating my boys with love and

grace. Thank you for remembering that they are just human beings, like we all are. They are not perfect and you have not expected them to be and I thank you sincerely for it! They are great young men though, and I’m very proud of them, but you have been an important influence in them becoming young men who love the Lord and also look on His church with fondness and gratitude! Some pastors’ kids do not, but mine do! You are a big reason they do! They too will miss you all!

We have had ups and a few downs over the years (mostly ups though!), but we have

continued to push through seeking to do the Lord’s will and work in our church and in the community. A “resort town” is not a normal place to do ministry! But we have never stopped trying to understand our community and minister accordingly. I believe all that hard work has paid off and that we have gained some insight in how to reach the Ogunquit area. Praise God!

We’ve seen many wonderful people come and go over all those years. Some have gone

home to the Lord; others have had to move away for various reasons. We miss them and look forward to seeing them all again someday! We have seen people become believers and be baptized and others grow in their faith. I give thanks to God for it all, and for your partnership as we have tried to do our best through it all. We have put many different ministries into practice. Some have been quite effective and others less so. But we pressed on, seeking to do God’s will because we love Him and we want to see others adore His sacred Name as much as we do!

We have held out the truth of God’s Word and the hope of Christ’s love to a fallen world. Without your support and encouragement, it would have been much more difficult for me to preach the truth the way I have been—especially recently. As we see our culture continue to run headlong away from the Lord, speaking the truth of scripture boldly becomes even more vital to our mission. I know that truth and the good news about Jesus will continue to go forth from the pulpit at OBC and from all its members in the future. Thank you for your faithfulness to Him, to His Word and to His Gospel and for being a beacon of His light to the world! It has been my pleasure to shine that light with you for the last 16 years.

I will continue in prayer for the Ogunquit Baptist Church and everyone who is a part of it, that the Lord will bless you and expand your ministry. I know He will be with you always to the very end. Please remember me in prayer as well, that I might grow in wisdom and courage and that I might be used of God for His Kingdom everywhere He sends me.

Until we meet again.

In Christ,

Pastor Jeff

The Journey of Lent

I’m writing this on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023...otherwise known as

“Fat Tuesday”. Though I admit, I’ve done so badly on my diet in recent

months that now every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday for me! Tomorrow is Ash

Wednesday. As Baptists, we don’t make much of the church year. But at OBC

we have tried to at least mark these important days and use them as

reminders to turn our thoughts toward the Lord and whatever specific aspect

of what He did for us each special day celebrates. This year, in this article,

for Ash Wednesday and Lent I want to remind us of this truth: Jesus knew the

cross was coming.

I don’t know about you, but for me often the anticipation of some

worrisome event is just as bad as the event itself. Now, I’m not sure we could

say that of the cross! But Jesus was in such agony in the Garden of

Gethsemane that He sweat blood, so He WAS anticipating the cross and it

caused Him much pain. Ash Wednesday and Lent is a time for us to turn our

thoughts toward the cross in a special way and perhaps, as much as we can, to

walk toward the cross with our Savior. For He told us that if we wanted to be

His disciples, we would have to take up our own crosses and follow Him.

That’s why traditionally believers give up something for Lent—to remind

themselves of the suffering of Christ and of all that He gave up for us, and to

pledge allegiance first and foremost to Him by saying, “this thing I love, Lord,

I give it up because of my devotion to you!”

But Lent is also a time when we remember that Jesus knew what was

coming as He travelled, taught, healed and blessed others. Luke 9:51 says,

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely

set out for Jerusalem.” He “resolutely” set out because He knew what would

happen there. And so in a sense, Jesus’s suffering began weeks before the

cross, as He moved ever closer to it, purposefully. We mark this journey, this

time, in which the Son of God willingly, resolutely, travelled to the place of

His death—a death of atonement for us—with 40 days we call Lent. Let’s

remember tomorrow, Luke 9:51, that Jesus made a conscious decision, knowing

all that would happen, to turn toward Jerusalem, to turn toward giving up His life

for us. Let’s travel that journey with Him over the next 40 days, fixing our minds

on Him, giving Him first place in our thoughts and life, consciously, purposefully, decisively, whether by giving up one thing, or many things, or by a special Bible

study or time of prayer or the wearing of ashes, or the telling of His sacrifice to

others. Let’s “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” with Jesus our Savior, walking alongside Him, loving and honoring Him with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength until

the joy of Easter Sunday comes—and forever!

In Christ,

Pastor Jeff

The Attitude of Mary

When the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary to announce the conception of Jesus, he tells her that she has found favor with God. Wow! What a thing to hear from an angel of the Lord! Was there something special about Mary that God might take notice and show favor to her? How is it that she came to be chosen by the Lord to bear the Son of God and be his mother? As you are surely well aware, there are vast differences between various Christian traditions in how much focus is put on Mary. Baptists rightly focus on Jesus, but sometimes we ignore Mary almost completely. We probably shouldn’t though, because there IS something special about Mary. There IS a reason that she found favor with God, a reason she was entrusted with what was pretty much the most important mission even taken on by a normal human being. That reason can be found in Luke chapter 1.

Christmas is coming. That means it’s time to start thinking about buying presents for our loved ones. Sometimes it can be quite challenging to come up with a good Christmas gift for certain people in your life. Everyone has that one relative who seem to already have everything! What do you get for that person? And the same might be said of God Himself. What in the world—or out of this world—could we get for the One who made the world!?! Everything belongs to Him! What gift could we give Him to make Him sit up and take notice? What could we ever do for Him? What could we give Him that would put a smile on His face this Christmas?

Mary knew the answer. That’s why she found favor with Him. That’s why God knew He could entrust such a vital mission to her. The long-awaited Messiah, prophesied by the great prophets, prepared for by Israel, the Hope of the Nation and of the World would be entrusted to a poor young woman. Mary couldn’t support a baby! She wasn’t wealthy! But God could easily provide material things—we just said He owns it all! No, He wanted someone who was special in a certain way, not wealthy in material things, but rich in something else. Mary was special. And we all can be special in the same way, if we want to. All we need is the same attitude Mary had. What attitude was that?

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38.

Mary was dedicated to serving God. She was at the Lord’s disposal. She was selfless and humble and gave herself to God to serve Him in whatever capacity He chose. She was His. Are we? Would we say the same thing she did? When God shows us His will for our lives, will we respond like Mary did? For God does have a mission for your life too, doesn’t He? Yes. He does. He has a mission and He has supplied you with gifts to be used for that mission. How will you go about serving Him? If He calls you today, are you ready to say, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said”?

Mary served God and Jesus His Son selflessly and without reservation. May we determine to do the same, this Christmas and always.

In Christ,

Pastor Jeff