The new meeting place is on Capital Boulevard in Youngsville between Embarq (traffic light at Capital Blvd and Sunset Drive) and Sheetz (traffic light at Capital Blvd and Holden Road). The meeting place is on the north bound side of Capital Blvd (same side as Sheetz and the opposite side as Embarq). Look for the sign on the left side of the building saying “Messiah Baptist Church meeting Place.” There is also sign on the right side of the building for “Capital 1 Auto Brokers”.

You can reach the meeting place from the northbound lane of Capital Boulevard. Also, you can pull through the back of the building from Fish Stallings Road which comes out on Holden Road at Sheetz and intersects Sunset Drive off of Capital (see map).

Remember, we will begin our meeting at the same time as usual: 10:30 a.m.

This is a great example of the service that Jesus taught about in Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus demonstrates the kind of servant we need to be (especially our leaders) by serving two people who the crowd considered to be unimportant.

The ultimate demonstration of God’s justice is found in the incarnation, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the path of greatness in the kingdom of God is a downward path, making yourself a servant of more and more people.

Well, I recently met Jon. We had lunch together, and last Sunday he met with us. I asked him if he would tell me about his time with us. I told him that I would like to post it on my blog (before I received his description). So, this is what Jon said about meeting with us last Sunday (he wrote it as a letter to the church):

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Dear Brothers and Sisters of Messiah Baptist Church,

For the last few years now, my spiritual instincts have told me that something was missing from my overall church experience. My whole life as a believer, I assumed any dissatisfaction with the “worship service” was the result of my inadequacies or my lack of “spirituality.” I’m still inadequate, and I’m still not very spiritual, but something was telling me that I wasn’t the only thing broken.

The Lord has taught me quite a bit over the last year, and I have finally taken the step of faith to leave my existing church and search for a deeper church experience … something closer to what we see in the New Testament, and what I believe Christ intended. That is why I greatly anticipated my visit to your church this past Sunday. Of course, anticipation wasn’t the only feeling I had. I was also a little skeptical, perhaps somewhat afraid. I’ve been reading a lot lately about simple / organic church, and in the back of my mind, I can picture the type of people this might attract: rebels, non-conformers, heretics, etc. (somewhat kidding). What if I was dissappointed? What if what I have been envisioning for over a year was a big let-down?

Any reservations aside, I found myself being mostly excited to visit with you. I was eager to experience some of the things that we actually read about in the New Testament. I am happy to say that I was very filled and fulfilled by our meeting together. I was surprised (while also not surprised) by how natural it felt, as if I was in my element. I guess the best way to describe it is to say that it felt very “balanced.” I guess one of my fears was that it would seem like, “let’s do everything we can to not look like an institutional church!” … “let’s be extremely different!” Rather, it felt like a genuine pursuit of our Lord’s idea of church. I was comfortable in the corporate sense (as a fellow believer) but challenged in a personal sense (in light of what we studied). It was refreshing and it was very balanced.

Here are the elements of the meeting that meant most to me:

Fellowship — I felt very welcomed among the group. It wasn’t just the “hello, welcome to our service, glad you’re here today.” It was genuine, meaningful conversation. You were interested in who I was and what was going on in my life. The meal was also very special. It gave everyone a chance to further connect and spend time together. I loved the fact that there was no sense of hurry or “look what time it is!” … We were just content to share our time.

Family — I love that the entire family is included in the meeting. We love having our son in church with us now and I like the idea that he can learn with us as he matures.

Interaction — I personally liked the circle seating arrangement. I don’t know how you normally do it, but it seemed very appropriate for sharing amongst the group. I love that everyone had an opportunity to share, read scripture, and have input (and it was decently and in order). I also loved the fact that there was freedom to be vulnerable, whether it be a hard situation someone is going through or even a sin that needs to be confessed.

Music — I’m assuming you usually have a guitar or something (which I like), but I enjoyed being able to sing without a lot of extra noise. It allowed me to focus on the meaning and the message of the songs. I was glad to see a good balance in the song selections (hymns, choruses, etc) … all familiar. A couple of songs did seem to “drag’ on a little bit, mainly the ones with a lot of verses (but I’m sure that’s just the old worship leader in me). I’ve yet to develop a comfort level with “contemporary” church music or the idea that “worship” is all focused on the musical part of the service, so I was definitely pleased to see that the corporate singing (and the whole meeting for that matter) appealed to the spirit rather than the emotions.

Bible Study — What a great lesson and very good insight from the whole body. I left having discovered new truths shared by all those who had something to add. It was refreshing to see a meeting where the Holy Spirit has more control than we do. Yet, it was not a “free-for-all.” Everyone shared (with humility) according to their spiritual insight. I did not sense that anyone was trying to draw attention to themselves by what they had to say.

Now, I can finally say that I know what I’ve been missing! Thank you all again for allowing a fellow brother join your family for one day. I certainly look forward to doing it again soon.

Until we meet again,
Jon

As Jesus says later, it is impossible for someone to enter the kingdom of God on their own abilities. However, he also says, “With God, all things are possible.” Our entry into the kingdom of God is not dependent upon our actions, but is completely dependent upon God’s grace.

However, for those in God’s kingdom, our focus should not be on the hereafter – that is, life after death. Instead, the kingdom that Jesus has been speaking about is a way of living that other people can take note of. The kingdom of God is about living God’s will today, not after we die.

Scripture only describes three entities as multiple and yet one – God, husband/wife, and the church. Both the husband/wife and church relationship demonstrate the image of God. The question of divorce is related to our understanding of the image of God. (By the way, this is true of church “splits” or separation – they are extremely damaging.)

Also, Jesus points out that the Pharisees are misusing Scripture. The Pharisees (and others) added human traditions to Scripture so that they were able to keep the rules. Eventually, they could not differentiate between their own man-made rules and God’s law. If they had stuck with God’s law, they would have discovered that it was impossible for them to keep.