JAY — At the Jay Baptist Church Sunday, March 9 service, Pastor Chris Dalessio welcomed the congregation and opened the service with prayer. Music was provided by Becky Pelletier. Announcements were made and the following hymns were sung: Come, Now is the Time to Worship, Because He Lives, and Jesus is Coming Again.

The Sermon concluded with Chapter 20, The 1,000 years. An Angel came down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and threw Satan into it for 1,000 years. This is the first resurrection (Rev 20:1-7). At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be released from prison, and he will continue to deceive the nations (called Gog and Magog) in every corner of the earth . Even after 10 centuries of peace and righteousness, led by Christ himself, so many people will still choose to reject God and follow Satan.

Those who still reject God will face eternal consequences. Believers in Christ will be shown amazing grace and be forgiven. No matter who we are or how terrible our past. We still can have our name written in the Book of Life. By admitting our failures, and entrusting our life to God in Jesus Christ, and building a new life according to God’s will, we become a member of God’s family (Rev. 20:11-15).

John sees a new heaven and earth, and voices celebrating the restored relationship between God and man. At the same time, John is reminded that sin, and those who choose it over God, are condemned to the “second death” of hell (Rev. 21:1-8).

John struggles in explaining the New Jerusalem in terms others can understand – it is indescribable. The description also emphasizes the perfect holiness of this New Jerusalem, and that only those who put their faith in Christ, will be found there (Rev. 21:9-27).

The book of Revelation climax is here, portraying the eternal state as a new and better garden of Eden. God will recreate his creation, and his healing power will be easily accessible and intimate and face-to-face relationships with God will be the norm. What a source of hope this picture is for us no matter how bad our life may be now there is hope for the future if we accept the wonderful offer of salvation that God holds out to us through Jesus Christ, we will someday be a part of the blessed world.

Like the apostle John, we can pray for Christ to return soon because we know for certain that he will come. This will not only give us hope to preserve during tough times, it will deepen our personal relationship with him. As we trust in him and possess the hope of meeting him face-to-face, we will grow closer to him. Then Christ’s unconditional acceptance and unlimited power will continually undergird us. Yes, Jesus is coming. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people (Rev. 22:1-21).

Services ended with singing “How Great Thou Art” led by Dan Gower; and reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

At the March 16 service, Pastor Chris Dalessio welcomed the congregation and opened the service with prayer. Music was provided by Becky and Dick Pelletier.

The meaning of The Lord’s Prayer from the Bible (Matt: 6:9-13) was the sermon. The Lord’s prayer gives us a beautiful framework for prayer, covering praise, confession, gratitude, and request. It’s a reminder that prayer isn’t just about asking for things, it’s about adoring God, seeking forgiveness, and asking for help in a balanced way that strengthens our relationship with Him.

Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed means holy or sanctified. There is no one holy like the Lord (1 Sam. 2:2). The first step to any prayer is to give God glory and honor and praise. Jesus also directs us to acknowledge God as our Father in heaven.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it in heaven. Praying God’s will to be done in our situation puts His agenda before our own. We can certainly pray specifically for our hearts desires. He knows them anyway. But ultimately our main desire should be for God’s will to prevail.

Give us this day our daily bread. Here Jesus instructs us to pray for the provision of our needs, no matter how seemingly insignificant or mundane. Pray for things that you need and thank Him for all that He has already blessed you with.
And Forgive Us Our Trespasses, as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against. We need to regularly ask God to search our hearts and reveal our sin to us. We need to regularly be confessing those sins to God and asking Him to forgive us. The mark of a truly humble heart is a genuine desire to apologize for wrongdoing and seek for forgiveness.
You may not think that you regularly need to forgive others, but this doesn’t just refer to obvious conflicts. This could mean forgiving someone for disappointing you or letting you down, as well as forgiving someone who had wronged you.
It is our duty as Christians to portray the love of Christ to the world and this means forgiving when the world would say retribution is justified. This means forgiving those who slander you or speak against you when the world would say that they don’t deserve your kindness. This is not an easy task. A flesh will fight against this tooth and nails so we need to regularly pray for the strength to forgive others.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This part of the prayer is important because our flesh is weak against temptation. We should also pray that we do not cause temptation for any other brother or sister in Christ. Pray also here for protection and safety as we have a real enemy who lives to attack God‘s people. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen

On Sunday, March 23, Pastor Chris Dalessio open the service with prayer. Announcements were made and hymns were sung. The sermon was entitled: Mission vs. Vision.

A mission represents the fundamental reason for a church’s existence, rooted in God‘s command and purpose. In short, the mission is “what you do” and focuses on what needs to be done now.

A vision is a specific aspirational goal that a church seeks to achieve in the future. It helps a church to focus its’ efforts and resources on a particular outcome. A place where broken people can find healing.

Without a mission, you will have no day-to-day focus. Without a vision, you will have no end goal. God’s kingdom is a treasure meant to be shared.

Before descending to heaven, the Lord chose 72 other disciples and gave them the ambitious task and privilege of sharing the message of the Messiah throughout the land. When the 72 disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name”. “Yes” Jesus told them, …”but don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you, rejoice because your names are registered in heaven” (Luke 10:1-20).

That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. As the crowd grew, He got in a boat and sat there. He told many stories in the form of parables. When asked by the disciples why he was speaking in parables, Jesus replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, not them”. When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there (Matt. 13:3-23).

The Book of Acts provides a history of the events that followed the resurrection of Jesus. A key verse is “ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The role of the witness is simply sharing your faith and personal experience with Jesus, demonstrating God’s love and seeking to help others find a relationship with Him through your words and actions. It involves living a life that reflects God‘s character, showing kindness, compassion, and love for others.

Announcements:
Sunday service: 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday fellowship: 6 p.m.
Wednesday Bible study: 9:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 13, is the Quarterly Business Meeting being held after the church service.