What a great day it was Sunday at BBT.  Joel and Dana and his group led us in Praise and worship.  It had been a couple of months since we had seen them and it was really a blessing to be with them again.  Joel and Dana presented the church with a new projector after the service.   These two amaze me every time I get around them; they are so loving and giving and so ready to do God’s work.  It is truly a blessing just to be around them.

We also celebrated Cheyenne's 3rd birthday.  She is getting so big and she is really such a sweet little girl.  I hope I am around to see her grow into the young lady God created her to be.

I also was lucky enough to get to see my great grandchild who was born last Wednesday.  My grandson is so excited about being a new dad and we got to bless the baby in the hospital on his birth day.  Our pray is that this will help these two very young parents realize the
blessings and responsibility that lies ahead for them.  They are in our prayers.

This week is the last Sunday in January and I am going to bring a message on “ The adventures of Discipleship”.  The scripture verse is Mark 1: 14-20.  This is the short story of the first disciples called by Jesus.  It does not tell the whole story just the beginning.  It shows us what Jesus expects us to do when he calls us.  There is a lot to look at this week so I hope you will be in Church on Sunday ready to answer the call to be a disciple.

Please keep spreading the word of what God is doing at BBT and invite you relatives, neighbors and friends to visit with us on Sunday afternoon.  Please pray for those listed in our prayer request last week and continue to pray for Lee Cagle and her family as they are trying to move on after the passing of Chuck.  Pray for one another and in your prayer time take out to just tell God how grateful you are for his mercy and grace.  We will see you on Sunday and spend another great Sunday at BBT.

Pastor David & Pris

Welcome followers of BBT.  I hope you are having a blessed week.  We enjoyed services on Sunday as Linda brought her introduction to a new class on Discipleship and Larry brought a message about “You deserve it” or do you?  I really enjoyed the service and it was good to see Ruth sister again and Larry and his brother's family as well.  We had to say goodbye this last week to a good good friend Chuck Cagel .  I hope to be able to have a memorial service on Sunday the 29Th if his wife Lee wants to have another service.  We will miss Chuck and all he does for BBT.

This week Joel and Dana will be back after missing for 2 months and we are so excited to see them again.  There are some great things going on in their ministry and we are looking forward to hear about them.  Joel will lead us in Praise and Worship this week.
Please don't miss the chance to be there and receive what God has for you this Sunday.

Please keep praying for our ministry and the members who make up this group of believers.  We are very fortunate to have been blessed by God and we need to remember what Larry spoke to us about last week, we do not deserve what we receive but because our God Love us so much and is so merciful we receive what we could never deserve. We are a child of the King of Kings and we need to be grateful for every blessing we have because they are all gifts from God.  Please plan on being in our service this week we start at 2:30 pm and it can be a life changing moment.  We love you and can't wait to see you on Sunday.  Do good things to the people you come across because that is exactly what God wants you to do.  We will see you Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris

We’ve all heard it.  We’ve probably all said it of ourselves.  Advertisements are full of it, and we’re all too ready to believe it.  Is it true?  Whatever “it” is, do we really deserve it?

When we speak of ourselves or someone else deserving something, we’re relying on our concept of justice to make that determination.  Whether the desert is good or bad, we did something for which it is a just consequence.  We may use the concept more generally regarding someone’s overall character, but character is revealed in action.

I cannot at this moment recall any time I have heard the phrase “I/You deserve it” spoken truthfully.  The speaker may have believed it, but that didn’t make it true.  We usually have an inflated view of ourselves and what we deserve.  God tells us what we deserve through the Bible (Rom 6:23) and there’s nothing good about it.  We deserve death.  Every breath we take is an act of His mercy.  Every good thing we have comes from Him (James 1:17.)  When we start thinking this way our whole attitude changes.  Demands are replaced with expressions of gratitude.  Pride is overcome by humility.  There is no room for jealousy.  We will find ourselves glorifying Yahweh, creator and Lord of all that is and the only one who truly does deserve it.

We can be thankful that we don't get what we deserve.  Instead a merciful and loving God made a way for us to get the exact opposite of what we deserve.  It is His gift to us that we never could earn.  What happens if we let that reallity shape the way we live?  Let's find out!

It will be great to be part of BBT in 2012.  I have missed services over the last 2 weeks but I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year's Day.  As we start a new year at BBT we have a lot of great memories to look back on in 2011.  We have also shared some tragic moments together as well.  That is the way life is. There will be times of Joy and times of sadness; there will be moments of hill top experiences and moments of valley dwelling.  It is the time we spend in the valley that will tell us how strong is our faith.  We will learn more from our trials then we will from our victories.  We need our victories and we realize they are not really our victories but God's, but we need them. We need to see our prayers answered and we need to see God working in our lives but the truth of the matter is God is ALWAYS working in our lives. As we have talked about so much in 2011 God is closer to us in out troubles then any other time.  We need God always and we especially need him in our most darkest time.  My desire for 2012 is to be closer to God then in 2011.  That means I will need to be prepared to see God working in my life when people around me may see the absence of God. I pray that I will learn from what God has for me and we as a church will be closer to each other and closer to God then we have ever been in our lives.

I am excited about getting back in the pulpit this next week and I want to share some more of what I believe God has for us in 2012.  I want to talk about the "defining moments" in our lives.  The scripture this week comes from Luke the 2ND chapter starting with vs. 25 through vs. 32.  This is the story of a man named Simon that sees baby Jesus for the first time. He has spent his life looking for the Messiah and God had promised him he would see him before he died. What has God promised us?

 There are many new resolutions we can make for this new year but only the ones we keep will benefit us.  Lets not make empty promises that we can't keep but lets also commit ourselves to the things that mean something to us.  I want you to share this Sunday some resolutions that mean something to you.  Remember when you say it out loud in front of others you are making your intentions known.  Be brave,  be bold,  be accountable.

This week we will also start a chance to share how we feel about somebody in the church.  If you would like to share this week call me and let me know.  Keep praying for each other, think good thoughts about your fellow Christians and do good things for the people you meet.  You can make a difference and never know it.  We love you and can't wait to see you on Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris