Sunday January 10, 2021
First General Baptist Church
620 Maple Ave. Owensboro, KY 42301
270-683-8383
January 10th , 2021
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We are glad to have EVERYONE here to worship the Lord with us.
If you are a guest, we thank you for choosing us to worship with today.
If you are looking for a church family, we would love to have you
as a part of ours. Please fill out the guest card in your pew
and put it in the offering plate if you would like
more information about our church.
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Opening Song
Welcome & Prayer Bro. Bob
Hymns of Praise
Today’s Message “Pray Believing” Bro. Bob
Matthew 21:18-22
Hymn of Commitment
Announcements & Closing Prayer
Please place your offerings & tithes or any other donations you
make in one of the four plates on the altar benches or the back pew.
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Rev. Bob Kennedy, Pastor 270-314-3352
Mon-Wed 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon 270-683-8383
Pam Lockhart, Secretary 270-683-1978
270-929-7460
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Notes from the Pastor: “Pray Believing ”
It’s the final week of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. He already made
His triumphant entry. He’s cleared the temple of the moneychangers
and now He and His disciples are making the morning walk from Bethany
back to Jerusalem. Jesus is hungry and walks up to a fig tree but it has no
fruit. Barren fig trees are used a few times in the Old Testament as an
illustration of Israel trying to live without loving God. We don’t know what
Jesus was thinking other than the fact that He told the fig tree, “May you
never bear fruit again”. The fig tree withered and the disciples are
shocked. What’s happening here? What are they and we to learn from
this moment?
Rather than telling them what He was thinking with the fig tree, Jesus
decides to tell the disciples and us about the power we can have in
prayer. He tells them they can have the power to cast mountains into
seas. Can you imagine that? In a different passage of scripture, Jesus
tells the disciples that the amount of faith required to do such a task
would be the size of a mustard see. We have that much faith. Don’t we?
There would be no eternal virtue to the disciples or us trying to cast a
mountain into a sea. But Jesus is equipping the disciples to conquer
multiple other mountains of fear, sorrow, weakness, loneliness, temptation
and doubt? And those are just a few. So, Jesus tells us how to throw
those mountains into the sea of victory. Listen carefully to Jesus’ instruct-
tion: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”.
Jesus is not talking about the size of your faith. Only a mustard seed is re-
quired. He’s talking about the size of your God.
What do you believe about your God? Who does He call Himself?
What does He promise to do in the lives of all who commit to knowing
Him? In the book of Hebrews, the Bible says, “He that comes to God
must believe that He is God and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him”. What does my commitment to knowing Him and
what I ask Him to do in my life say about what I believe about Him?
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask
whatever you will and it will be done unto you by My Father in Heaven”.
The greatest challenge in prayer is what I believe about God Himself.
The scriptures will help me know what He wants me to know about Him.
And then I will know what He hopes I will ask so that He can move
mountains in my life. Praying based on what I am learning to believe
about God results in a completely different list of mountains I ask God
to move. Pray believing what He says about Himself. And watch the
mountains move. Praise the Lord!
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The Record Shows
Total Tithes & Offerings for Jan. 3rd $ 2,520.00
Van Fund for Jan. 3rd $ 150.00
Total Van Fund to Date $ 27,064.00
Honduras Offering for Jan . $ 0.00
In memory of Lewis Massie $ 25.00
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Today is the designated day for our Honduras Offering but you can give any time you
want. We are committed to supporting 2 Honduran churches and their Pastors each
month with $100.00. This small amount for us is a huge blessing for them. So many
people can hear about the love of Jesus with our help. If you would like to give to this
ministry, please place your donation in the small mission’s envelope in your pew or
mark the large envelope “Missions”. Thank you for your support.
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Keep Your Fork – The Best is Yet to Come
There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had
been given three months to live. So, as she was getting her things “in order”,
she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain as-
pects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the
service, which scriptures she would like read and what outfit she wanted to be
buried in. The woman requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Every-
thing was in order when the woman remembered something very important to
her.
“There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly. “What’s that?” came the
pastor’s reply. “This is very important,” the woman continued. “I want to be
buried with a fork in my right hand”.
The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
“That surprises you doesn’t it?” the woman asked. “Well to be honest, I’m
puzzled by the request,” said the Pastor. The woman explained. “In all my years
of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when
the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone one would lean over
and say, ‘Keep your fork’. I knew something better was coming like chocolate
cake or apple pie! So, I just want people to see me in that casket and I want
them to wonder ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep
your fork – the best is yet to come’.”
The Pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good
bye knowing this would be one of the last times he would see her before her
death. He knew she had a better grasp of Heaven than he did. She KNEW that
something better was coming. At the funeral, people were walking past the
casket and asking, “What’s with the fork?” During his message, the Pastor told
the congregation about his conversation with the woman. He told them about
the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The Pastor said he could not stop
thinking about the fork and told the people they probably would not be able to
either. He was right. So, the next time you reach down for your fork, let it
remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come!
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Prayer List
Shirley Wilson
Ralph Lockhart
Fred Love
Ella Mae & Ray Peay
Lois & Earl Davis
Charlotte Hall
Jordan Bolin
Ami Yeiser, G.W. & Neal’s granddaughter-in-law
Denise Maupin, Shirley’s daughter
Lori & Allison Johnson, Jim & Margaret’s neighbor
Carl & Jean McKenney, Faye’s brother & sister-in-law
Chris McKenney, Faye’s nephew
Agnes Powers, Lois’ sister
Jimmie Johnson & daughter Vickie, Lois’ brother
& niece
Lois & Carla Clayton, Tommy’s mother & sister
Randy Polk, Wayne’s friend
Marvin & Josephine Boling, Clayton’s friends
Marcie, Lois’ niece
Wes Curtis, Randy & Charlotte’s son-in-law
Dylan Guy, Randy & Charlotte’s grandson
Nikki, Jim B.’s niece
Alyssa Cain, Brenda’s friend
Joan Howell, relative of Carrol
Nada Carol McDonough, relative of Carrol
Larry Cartwright, friend of Bro. Bob & Rita
Tammy Estes, friend of Brenda
Alan Garst, Chris’ uncle
LaDaysia Coates, neighbor of Jim & Margaret
Sherry Benson, Jane’s friend
John Bolin, Jim’s brother
Joe & Benita Troutman, Carrol’s brother &
Sister-in-law
Kathie Gillespie
Kerry Nottingham
Liam Fields, Charlotte’s great-nephew
Ernie & Betty Moore, Sally Reynold’s parents
Amy Foreman, friend of JoNell
Calvin Foley & family, friends of Jim & Margaret
Caleb Howard & family, nephew of Charlotte
Dorothy Harper, friend of Brenda
Shirley Durbin, Charlotte’s sister-in-law
Steve Ford, friend of Randy