THE BAYSIDE BEACON Newsletter

“Bringing the Light to the Beach and Calvert County, Maryland”

-Bayside Baptist Church

  3009 Chesapeake Beach Road, Post Office Box 700

  Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732

-Telephone: 410-257-0712 and 301-855-0740

  FAX: 410-257-5977

 -www.baysidebaptist.com       

-Jim Howard, Bayside Webmaster

-Summer 2008 Edition: June/July/August

  The Reverend Daniel Howard, Pastor

Message From The Pastor’s Heart                 Help Us Renovate Bayside’s  Annex Building!

Greetings Bayside Baptist Church Family,

      As I write to you all this morning I am reminded by the servant Nehemiah’s example to finish the task. God directed Nehemiah to finish building the wall around the city of Jerusalem because the people were coming home from exile. The wall was in need of great repair, and it took time, effort, and money to repair and finish the wall. We too here at Bayside have a wall that needs repair. Our wall is the trailer, or (annex) as some lovingly have given it a new name, will be refurbished this coming June. The challenge for our congregation is we have a week to break it apart and rebuild it to serve the needs of our church family. This project will start on Sunday afternoon June 22 and needs to be completed by Friday June 27.

     You may ask why the need to take on this project? Just as in Nehemiah’s day the exiles came home to the place God had provided for them, so we have people around this community who are exiles looking for God’s kingdom. When the exiles come to God’s house we as God’s people ought to strive to have God’s house prepared for them. What is the result if God’s house has been rebuilt.

            First we read in Nehemiah 6:16 the enemy lost confidence and recognized God’s work was being accomplished. We today are in a battle against the enemy. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The enemy is real! We need to demonstrate to the enemy that we desire for God’s house to be ready for all the exiles who come to know Jesus personally.

            Second we read in Nehemiah 6:17 that many important leaders wrote letters of congratulation to Nehemiah and those who assisted him in the rebuild project. When we rebuild God’s house people notice. I will never forget traveling through eastern Tennessee and listening to a pastor friend of mine say, “Dan look at that church. Look at the grass, the weeds, and the repair work needed on the building. Once that was the strongest church in the community, now you can tell it is dying because it has not been kept up.” Church, it matters to those potential exiles that drive by our church building daily that we rebuild and keep God’s house looking vibrant!

            Third we read in Nehemiah 6:19 that some people came up to Nehemiah and verbally thanked him for rebuilding the wall. People were inspired to see how dedicated Nehemiah and his assistance were in this massive rebuild project. Luke 14:23 Jesus shares the parable of a master commanding his servants to go out into the streets and compel (inspire) them to enter my home for a celebration feast. Our lives and actions ought to inspire people to want to enter God’s house. One way for us to accomplish this is to be part of the rebuild project this June 22-27 here at Bayside—a Home Missions Project.  

                                                                        Pastor Dan

<Beacon Main Page> <Page2> <Page3> <Page4> <Page5> <Calendar of Events>