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A Ministry of Encouragement?
In Ephesians 4:29 we read "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them" (New Living Translation). This verse provides us with a tremendous challenge. It calls each of us to a ministry of encouragement. Is that what we are known for? Do people around us find us to be a great encourager?
You are a person of great worth, so great in fact, that Christ was willing to die for you. You are so valuable to God, that God was willing to watch his son die for you, though God could have stopped his cruel execution at any time. And this value was placed upon you before you did a single thing to "earn it." We are valuable because God loves us unconditionally.
Your personal value is also based on the fact that God made you and God does not make junk! Each of us is "wonderfully complex," a "marvelous workmanship" (see Psalm 139:14).
These two facts will never, ever change, that God loves us unconditionally and that God made us marvelously. This is a solid basis for self worth and it is a sound basis from which to work in carrying out a ministry of encouragement. Believe it, then live it! Who could you encourage today?
See you in church.

Attached to Heaven While on Earth
We celebrate both St. Patrick's Day and Easter this month. St. Patrick dedicated his life to sharing Christ with others. Christ sacrificed his life for our eternal well-being.
This prayer calendar runs from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday. Each day has a suggested prayer item with accompanying references. This can help make our Lenten season more meaningful.
Many people have the unfortunate notion that God is like Santa Claus. They expect Him to provide every imaginable wish. It doesn't seem like fun to consider pleasing God, doing what He put us on the earth to do, and to honor God by doing everything we can think of to make the world a better place. Some people talk about others as being "so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good." They might be referring to people who talk the talk rather than walk the walk. In eternity Christians are only rewarded for the things they do out of love for God and in Jesus's name. We have before us a challenge to stay in such complete communication with God that we naturally do things which honor God and are helpful to others and make this world a better place. In this Easter season when St. Patrick is honored, hopefully we can dedicate ourselves anew to focusing on Christ so that He can work through us to accomplish His purposes even if we never see the fruits of those endeavors. God doesn't call us to be successful in our work for Him. He calls us to be faithful in keeping our eyes on Him and being His Hands and Feet.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Happy Easter!

These are the words of a song we sang last Sunday (Jan. 23) in the morning worship service. What a beautiful prayer. Is it really the desire of our heart? Do we really wish to be a sactuary, a physical touchpoint where people can come to be introduced to God and God's wonderful will for their life? Are we "tried and true," so solidly consistent in our Christian walk, that no matter when people come to us, and accurate portrayal of Christ is given? It is quite a prayer request, isn't it? And obviously we cannot do it on our own. That is why the prayer. We as God to give us this consistency. We ask God to make us into this type of sanctuary of God's Holy Spirit. Who is God sending our way, that needs sanctuary; that needs to meet God in honesty and safety and love? Are we looking ofr such a one? Are we prepared to minister to them, to be their sanctuary? Are our doors open? Let's keep singing the song as a prayer to God and just see what happens.
See you in church, the sanctuary that equips us to be a sanctuary.

Happy New Year!
A recent devotional in Our Daily Bread pictures "a leaf-strewn road through the mountains of Vermont." Those who use the road can enjoy a smooth and beautiful ride over difficult terrain. To make this possible, others had to work hard to chart the route, clear the trees, and level the rough spots. In a way, all Christians are road builders. We are paving the way of faith for the next generation. The faithfulness of our lives may determine how difficult their journey will be. Will they have to repair the damage we have done to the road? Will they be able to build new roads for others to find the way to God?
As we enter a New Year, this picture is an important one on which to reflect. What faith, or lack thereof, do our children actually see in us? How about our friends? How about the neighbor's children? How we live out our faith in the daily grind speaks volumes and people are both watching and listening. What type of road are we building for them, through this rough terrain of life in 2005? Are we teaching others how to worship, pray, and study God's word by our example? Are we building a road of Christlikeness so co-workers can see in us what Jesus would do in our situation? As road builders for God, we have a very important job to do. Future spiritual travel depends on us. Let's work at it together, as a crew. The job is far too big for one person alone. That's why we need to get together regularly both to work and to encourage one another.

Are You Ready?
A cartoon in the paper this week describes how many of us feel as Christmas approaches. The mother is cooking, looking tired and frazzled. She asks, "Don't you just hate all the stress of the holidays?" Unwisely, Dad responds, as he leans back and drinks a can of pop, "What stress? Why don't you just throw the turkey in the oven?" The next frame shows Dad in the oven, wanting to get out! Many of us feel that preparations for holidays, even Christmas, are so wearing that we don't have time to enjoy it! We make lists, buy, wrap, and mail gifts, put up decorations, including the tree with all its lights and ornaments (some made by our kids as they were growing up), buy more gifts, make more cookies and candy, cook all kinds of special goodies, bake special cakes, go to parties, have parties in our home, clean house, go to church and participate in all the Christmas plans — whew!! Notice I left out the most important part — preparing our hearts spiritually for the greatest Gift ever given, God's Gift to us of His only Son. Well, I didn't leave time for that, did I?
Here's another place where we need to examine our priorities. How many sweaters, video games, and other "stuff" do we really need? Can we control what we want or do we feel that we must continue with buying, wrapping, baking, and so on until we are so happy that the holidays are over and we can get on with our lives? Here is our challenge: We are now in the Season of Advent, a time of preparing our hearts to celebrate God's Gift to us of His only Son. Make time every day to be thankful to God (that's the real meaning of our Thanksgiving holiday), and choose to read His Word and talk with Him and worship together. Let's give Him some of our time, energy, and resources as we grow toward Christlikeness.
And prepare to celebrate! Enjoy Christmas this year! Get ready!

Thank you for visiting the brand new web site of First Baptist Church of Fargo! I hope that you will find the new site useful. This site will be updated every week with news and other tidbits.
There are still certain parts of the site that are unfinished. There will be a larger amount of updates than usual for the next few days as I prepare the site for the grand opening. Keep checking back!
Thank you and God bless.

Worry Is A Misuse of Imagination
Now that's what I call a good slogan on a bulletin board (that's where I saw it) or on a bumper sticker. God gave us this wonderful imagination and we tend to use it to imagine all the bad things that could happen to us or our loved ones. Such an abuse of our gift of imagination is like slapping God in the face. "You meant it for good but I will use it for evil. The art of worrying is what I do best. I refuse to stop." And then we wonder why we are stressed out all the time; why we have ulcers or other health issues. Worry is the grit that gets in our motor and eventually causes it to cease. Worry is the river that becomes so deep it drains all other thoughts into it. Worry has this tendency to consume us.
So when do we step over the line from genuine concern to worry? From the careful planning that comes from looking at all sides of an issue to plain worrying? The line is usually crossed when we obsess about something that is out of our control. We need to do the best we can in everything, but there are many things in life taht are simply beyond our best trying, like the health or safety of a loved one who is out of our sight, like the free will of other people, or like even the weather. So we control the things we can and then worry about the rest. Doesn't leave much room for God to work, does it? Doesn't require faith or trust in God, does it? Satan uses worry to keep us defeated in our spiritual life. How long will we let him win and destroy our abundant life with worry? When we are ready to change, let's take and follow Paul's prescription:

"Don't worry about everything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful that the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 4:6-7 NLT

Let's invite God to guard our imagination against the misuse of worry, that we might worry less, trust God more, and live out the abundant life God has for us.