First Baptist Church of Midway

In Galatians 6:1-2, Paul admonishes us, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

We need to bear one another's burdens. Paul, in this passage, gives us some keen insight into what that looks like.

First, the word overtaken means to be taken by surprise, to suddenly fall into. In other words, the sin Paul is referring to is not a premeditated sin, but rather a temptation that suddenly came up, the person stumbled in, and now they are having trouble getting out.

Notice Paul also says, "If you're spiritual, restore that one." The word restore actually brings with it the thought of setting a dislocated limb. The role of the spiritually mature person is to skillfully and gently relocate the "limb" that has been knocked out of its socket.

I think this happens most often to baby Christians. They are suddenly invaded, they give in to some temptation, and they feel awful. Then the devil goes to work on them, "Some Christian you are! You hypocrite! You better never go back to church again! You're so wicked. You're probably not even saved." They do not know how to pull themselves out, and you and I need to help them get back in right relationship with God and the Church.

I had a friend who dislocated a shoulder one time. It took him 45 minutes to work it back in by himself. It would have been easier to have someone help him. And, that is true for us as Christians. We need to be there to help restore that brother or sister whose spiritual life has been dislocated.

LAST SUNDAY
     Yesterday we finished our series on Building A Life of Stewardship. We looked at Love & Faith from Ephesians 3. We saw that love is expressed by giving of what we already possess, where faith is giving of what we do not yet possess. We need to share that love and faith all throughout our lives, but mostly we need to do that with God. Give Him all that we are: our time, our money, but most importantly, all of us. It is His already, He has merely loaned us the things we have and the time we get. Let us be good stewards of His property so that one day, He will say to us, "Well done, you good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord." That message should be on the website by the end of today for those who missed it.
     Next Sunday we will be starting a new series called Kaleo which is a Greek word that means called, and in this series, we are going to look at four specific callings of the followers of Christ. The first calling that we are going to look at is that as disciples of Jesus, we are called to care. We hope that you are able to make it, for this challenging series.

MEN & LADIES' BIBLE STUDIES
     For the months of January, February and March, we will not be having our Sunday Night Bible Studies. In lieu of this service we are encouraging our Men and Women to join the Bible Studies that will be going on throughout the week.
     The ladies have been meeting on Sunday nights at 6 PM at various homes. The ladies are going through a book entitled, Becoming More Than Just A Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa Terkeurst.
     Likewise, the men are having their study on Saturdays at 9:30 AM. The men are going through Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders.
     If you missed signing up for this or are interested in joining, it’s not too late to join. Please see Pamela Bish for the ladies, and Pastor Robinson for the men. We pray and hope to see you involved in these studies. It is a great source of fellowship and study.

PLEASE NOTE - We will be forgoing our monthly meals for January, February, and March

February 27 - We will be partaking of the Lord's Supper following the Morning Worship Service

March 5 - Washington City Mission - for more information, please contact Rick Paterni or Gloria Kelly. There will also be a sign up sheet in the foyer by next Sunday.

     Visit us at www.fbcmidway.com for more information about our church, as well as previous sermons. Our website has much to offer.

First Baptist Church
210 Front Street| PO Box 545 | Midway | Pennsylvania 15060

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