Monday, January 19, 2009

Faith of Barak

Sunday was a great day. The Bible says that "This is the day that the Lord has made, let's rejoice and be glad in it". And that was what we did at "The Luke" yesterday. It was a great day all day yesterday. We spoke on the Faith of Barak (Judges 5: 1). It was about how Barak believed in God and exerecised his faith. God talked directly to Deborah and she told Barak what God's plan was and Barak believed because he had faith. Our Choir sang beautifully yesterday. We owe thanks to Mr. Antonio Jones for having faith and patience in our choir. Oh Lord you have brought us from a mighty long way. And last but not least at all TWO (2) souls were saved.

Sunday Evening we were at Marrs Memorial for their Brotherhood Anniversary. Marrs and Pastor & 1st Lady Smith hold a special place in my heart. They are very instrunental in my ministry and a couple that do I look up to. Their brotherhood sang beautifully. This I have to tell you because it was really funny. I was motioning to my sister Barbara about giving a response to the welcome, well my other sister Betty was sitting behind her watching and thinking I was talking to her. Well Betty got up to give the response and Barbara and I both were shocked.

We spoke about Barak's faith again but we used a different text this time we came from Mark 9: 23, 24. We used the title "Yes We Can". Yes we can if we truly believe the man didn't really realize who he was talking to when asked Jesus if he was able. Jesus' ableness was not in question. "He is able to do abundantly above all that we can ask or even think". All we have to do is believe. The father was worried about his son he had went to everybody else but not to Jesus. He even went to the disciples and they couldn't help. 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” If we believe, We Can. We can shout out like O'bama "Yes We Can".

It was a beautiful day, and our choir was beside theirselves again yesterday evening. I had really been worried about our attendance at our evening services, so I made a pact(agreement) with our members that if we don't go as much will you come more, they said yes and they held up their part of the bargain yesterday. They really made me proud to be the pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church.

I would like for everyone to pray for our new president as he is inheriting a lot of problems, but all things are possible with Christ. Also let's pray for safe passage for everyone traveling to and from Washington D.C. and that they have a good and respectful time.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

My Letter from the Pastor


Happy New Year!

I greet you in the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Well, St Luke 2008 was a prosperous year for our church. We have grown spiritually and we have learned a lot more about being like Christ and we have gotten quite a few things accomplished. As I have said before, we have started doing the work of the church instead of church work.
With God’s guidance we have added over twenty new souls into the kingdom. Some by letter and some by Christian experience and the ones that really make me smile are the ones by Baptism. Now, that’s really doing the work of the church.
I would like to personally thank you for the increase in our giving. I am so glad that we are learning how to tithe and how much it means to God that we do tithe. Some of us have caught on and some of us have not. So, let’s pray for the ones who have not and keep on praying for those who have. Let’s continue to pray for God to take our giving to new heights. Also, let’s not forget about our pledges we can boost our finances with them. Remember that it is in giving that we receive!
As of this day, any new members that come to us whether by Letter, Christian Experience, or Baptism will be attending our New Members Class. They will learn their responsibility to the church and the church’s responsibility to them. If we hold members accountable, the members must also hold the church accountable.
I know everybody wants to know about the building project we are trying to start. I will be talking with Mr. Paul Mastrolia and a few different builders real soon and finding out where we stand on our mission of building our new sanctuary. We all know that what God has for us, is for us. All we have to do is keep the faith and don’t give up. Believe me, “God has a blessing with St. Luke’s name on it”.
I am truly enjoying my pastorate here at St. Luke! I am learning and growing at the same time. Let's pray that we will grow stronger in the Lord together. Hold on to GOD's unchanging hand and let our souls say YES, YES, to his will. YES to his way; come what may, let our souls still say YES!

And don’t not forget to check out our website: www.stlukeonline.net
or our
Pastor’s Blog: http://revrcdrake.blogspot.com


Your Pastor,
Rev. Robert C. Drake Sr.

Three things God knows about you that you don't know!

We had a beautiful First Sunday of the year. I was overjoyed at all that took place today. I spoke from the 139th division of Psalm. We(Me & God) talked about:

"Three Things that God knows about you that you don't know"

1. God know your POSSIBILITIES. He knows what you can do even when you don't think you can do it.Remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. The key words are Christ who strengthens us.

2. God knows your LIMITATIONS. The song writer said that "He never puts more on you than you can bear". He won't give you something to do that you can't do. He knows your limitations! If he tells you that you can do something, then YOU CAN DO IT. Remember he knows your possibilities and your limitations.

3. God knows your NEEDS. But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus(Phil. 4.19). Now if he can supply all your needs why do we worry. We have gotten spoiled and now we just know that our needs are automatically supplied. Now we think all we have to worry about is our wants. But God only supplies all our needs if we follow Him.

It was a wonderful day. We brought two converts in. One by letter and one by baptism. God is really blessing St. Luke and we have to get ready for our blessing. Remember God's got a blessing with our name on it.

We suffered a great loss this week. Sis. Ella Ballinger the wife of our former pastor Rev. W.W. Ballinger has gone home to be with GOD. We offer our deepest sympathy to her family. Please keep her family in your prayers.

stlukeonline.net

Just wanted to let you know about our website. Check it Out!