NORTH LIVERMORE — At the August 28 North Livermore Baptist Church service the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Call to Worship was sung by Lew and Linda Lyman and the Invocation/Lord’s Prayer was recited. The hymns that were sung were “What a Wonderful Savior”, “A Child of the King” and “Living for Jesus”. The service ended with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist each week. Janet Diaz is the pianist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.
The Church had been collecting school supplies and backpacks for the area schools. A blessing over the backpacks filled with school supplies was done during the service.
The sermon, titled “God’s Will in my Life” and reading the scripture from Matthew 6:10. Pastor Bonnie began the service by saying that people seemed to always ask ‘what is God’s Will for my life.’ She went on to say that we always ask what we are suppose to do and if we are doing what God wants us to do. For starters, no one will be doing the will of God unless they are in a relationship with Jesus. The relationship must be there to hear from God, His Will in our life.
What is the will of God for everyone? Jesus explained to the disciples what God’s Will was. It is the same for us, as it was for them. God’s Will is that we have a relationship with Him, that we accepted Jesus as our personal Savior. God’s Will is that we love Him and everyone, including our enemies. His Will is also that we obey Him, to spread His gospel message, to align our desires with His Word, and to willingly put God first in our lives. God’s Will and plan for our lives is to glorify God in all we do, think, and speak. We need to be in worship with Him every day.
How do we know if we are in the Will of God? Pray, pray, and then pray some more. Always ask God first what His Will is in any decision we need to make. God has given us free will, but He wants to help guide us in all decisions. This world is run by Satan at the moment, so as Christians we need to be talking to God about the direction of our lives. We need to read His Word, the Bible, and to pray that God will show us His Will through His Word. We must seek God first and not what the world says and does.
There is a saying that ‘everything happens for a reason.’ Does that mean that it is in God’s Will? The answer is no. We must remember that we live in a fallen world and sometimes, Christians do what they want and forget to live out what God intends. It is us that mess up God’s plans for our lives. God has the perfect plan for our lives, but we choose not to follow His path and go down the path that looks good to us. Because of this, we end up in bad situations, out of God’s Will. But our God is a forgiving God and He will get us back on the right path for our lives, the path that leads to Him. Everything happens for a reason is usually said when a person is not in the Will of God and has chosen a path that is heading for disaster and people believe the saying because they don’t want to take the blame for not seeking God’s Will for their life.
The Bible tells us that Jesus did the Will of God. Remember the garden, the night before Jesus was crucified? Jesus asked His Father to take the cup away from Him if it was in God’s Will. It was not in God’s Will because Jesus was crucified and was resurrected so we could have hope in eternity. In John 6:38 it says “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me”, Jesus was saying that His life on earth depended on His Father’s Will for Him. Jesus came to earth so He could do His Father’s Will for each of us. He didn’t come to do what He wanted to do; Jesus came to obeyed His Father.
In our scripture, the purpose of it is not that God should do our will, but that we should do God’s Will, ‘Your Will be done’. God’s Will is for all people to come to have a relationship with Him through the saving blood of Jesus Christ and to know the truth of His Word and to spend eternity with Him.
Announcements listed in the bulletin were that the congregation will be collecting canned corn for the Food Pantry in the month of September. Bible Study is Tuesday at 1 p.m. Coming Events: September 3rd – Deacons/Trustees meetings, September 18th – Church Barbeque. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church.
For information, check out our website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon.
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